We invite you to the cannibal lot, to intervene in the slow deconstruction of an old house.
Seeking installation and micro-residency proposals from artists, architects, thinkers and dreamers.
In 2021 we purchased a humble little house for ‘lot value’. According to the gods of real estate, the house standing on #823 Avenue i, in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, was a terminal case, a pile of decaying wood to be discarded. The house was definitely on its final days: sagging floors, broken beams and a crumbling foundation made repairing the sad old shack nearly impossible.
On borrowed time, the house became a home for 3 years. We inhabited it always knowing that the house would eventually have to be devoured. The Cannibal Lot came into being as a character in our minds. The lot sat watching and waiting for the right moment to prey on the house. The rectangular parcel, whose crisp surveyed lines gave it currency and power, lorded over us. We crossed our fingers that the furnace would last one more winter. We put food in airtight bins to ward off the critters.
Along the way, waiting and hoping for a few more days, we accepted the fate of the house, all the while thinking about how to say goodbye to the house. We questioned the idea of ‘value’. Surely, this warm little abode, full of history, memories, materials, had value? If not in its entirety perhaps in all its little parts?
We thought about how to properly honour the house as it was devoured? How could we turn this goodbye into a feast that creates nourishment out of the parts, and shares it with others? Can we invite people to feast on the house with us? Can we chew it slowly and digest it into something new? After the feast, how can we build something new that lasts another century? How can we create different kinds of value for our neighbourhood, for the land, and for ourselves?
We invite artists, designers, architects and other interested folks to come over and have our house for dinner! Propose an intervention, event or process that explores the ritual of saying goodbye to the house, and highlights different ways to show the potential of its constituent parts.
We are interested in people with practices that engage with buildings and land in critical and creative ways; traditions such as collective construction/deconstruction; radical real estate; demolition art; circular architecture and material reuse. For inspiration see the research page on our website.
As settlers on Treaty Six territory, in a neighbourhood with a strong history and contemporary presence of indigenous peoples, we encourage local indigenous artists and creatives who are interested in sharing their perspectives on land through interventions in the house.
ready to apply?
DETAILS
When?
We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis starting on Oct 1, 2024 until Dec 31st 2024 (or until all space is full).
The Cannibal Lot will be open to interventions:
until May 2025.
We will review applications weekly and reach out to prospective candidates to further assess the alignment of their proposal.
This opportunity will metabolize quickly, for quality morsels apply early.
What?
Cannibal lot is a shared experiment lead by Cyan Station Architecture and Object Work
Participants will be given a $50 CAD/day per diem for meals and daily expenses for the duration of their site-based involvement.
As well as an optional fee for participating in creating work for our crowdfunding campaign: $200 CAD flat rate or 50% of sales proceeds for the sale of artifacts created by the artist and sold for the fundraising. (Per CARFAC rates A.1.7 • Exhibitions with Art for Sale). For collectives this exhibition fee will be adjusted to $500.
A small materials & equipment budget as well as access to audio/visual equipment will be available for each project, on a case by case basis.
Visiting artists will be given accommodations in the house (1 double bed), though will be responsible for their own travel expenses.
The house has two front ‘studio rooms’ and each artist will be given one of these spaces for the duration of their project to modify and stage ideas, however artists are encouraged to think outside this room and consider the whole lot as their canvas.
Artists can propose something that lasts anywhere from 1 day to 3 weeks. We are looking for local and visiting artists, and we will be pairing up the projects to create dialogue between Saskatoon residents and visitors.
How?
Apply using the following application
Application – Google Form
If you need accommodations or require assistance please be in touch: feast@deviousplot.com