The Artists' Newsstand | The Last Stand

I’ve enjoyed every visit, and every project hosted by the Artists’ Newsstand, but I also think the work is much more than the sum of these parts. I think it’s a brilliant intervention and Jess Dobkin’s unwavering dedication to it is meritorious. It would have been impressive to do for a month, but she took the leap and signed a year-long lease, no doubt underestimating just how much work it would take to keep the project afloat.

The year is up and tonight is the closing party, titled The Last Stand. It’s the final day of Zanette Singh’s installation, and the last chance to stock up on zines, artist multiples, and discounted drinks and confectionary. The booth is open from 3-8pm with the dance party send off (with DJ John Caffrey) running from 5 to 8pm.

Visit the Facebook page here, for more information:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1514974878812091/

Shannon Gerard | Plants You Can't Kill

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday December 2nd) from 5 to 8pm,  the Artist-Run Newsstand presents PLANTS YOU CAN'T KILL by Shannon Gerard.

Unlike many (most?) artists' multiples, Gerard's crochet plants make great gifts, even for the art averse on your shopping list. The exhibition and sale includes fuzzy cacti, hanging terrariums, and other potted plants.

The installation is on view until December 23rd, but visitors during opening hours receive a free 'participant' pin (above) and hot chocolate.

The newsstand also has other appropriate holiday gifts: books, zines, confectionary, etc. It is located at Chester Station, in Toronto.

Harley J. Spiller | Keep the Change: A Collector's Tales of Lucky Pennies, Counterfeit C-Notes, & Other Curious Currency

Harley J. Spiller
Keep the Change: A Collector's Tales of Lucky Pennies, Counterfeit C-Notes, & Other Curious Currency 
Princeton, USA: Princeton Architectural Press, 2015
112 pp., 5.5 x 8.5", paperback
Edition size unknown

"Harley J. Spiller began collecting money at the age of five when, home sick from school, his father tossed him a sack of pennies and a Whitman coin folder. In the five decades since, author Spiller has amassed one of America's most extensive collections of unusual financial artifacts as well as a wealth of anecdotes and quirky historical details about U.S. currency. In Keep the Change, Spiller takes an irreverent look at our most uncommon coins and bills.

Readers learn why greenbacks are green; what happens to worn-out bills (compost is involved); how artists navigate the fine line between art and mutilation; whether it's ever acceptable to burn money (short answer: maybe); and how coin clippers and counterfeiters through the ages have profited by manipulating money. This highly selective tour through currency legends and lore will inspire readers to look with a new sense of wonder at the bills that pass through our hands every day."

- Press release

Don't miss Spiller's talk tomorrow night at Chester Station, at the Artists' Newsstand.

Harley Spiller presentation

A week from today at the Chester Station Artists' Newsstand (see tags for details) I will be launching Born on A Train, the newspaper project in the below post, from 5 to 7 pm.

Following this the station will host a talk by Harley Spiller. Spiller is a collector whose collections have been displayed in museums around the world, and whose writings have appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker. They are primarily of things with no monetary value.

His archives of 10,000 Chinese menus, which date back to 1879 and come from over 100 nations, is now housed at the University of Toronto Scarborough Library as part of their new Culinaria food studies program.

We saw him speak in an alley in front of mmuseumm a couple of years ago, talking about his collection of defaced currency (see above). There were only a couple of dozen people in attendance, but one of them was David Byrne, who rode up on his bike (see post here). Spiller was smart, funny and engaging.

At the newsstand he will present the talk "Newsstands, Mutilated Money, Dim Sum & Then Some" and then sign copies of his new book Keep the Change. He will also be "Newsie-in-Residence" at the kiosk on Friday November 20 from 4PM-7PM.

It's worth the trek to the east end of the city, and you can get there and back on one token.

Artists' Newsstand Events