Our group of designers came together in 2009 when Patrick Turner (founder of the design company Thout) invited a handful of local designers out for drinks to chit chat about design. This social meeting became a regular event to discuss the design profession in Toronto, current projects and trends and it seemed a logical step to use the collective enthusiasm to create a curated group exhibition.

Heavy Metal was the first show formed by the group, which entailed creating works entirely in cast metal and exhibited in 2010 in Toronto. Visits were made to foundries, pattern makers, and machine shops to understand the processes involved in producing pieces for the show. The works could be described as robust, earnest things with few moving parts and a workhorse sense of durability.

Tools was born out of this energy as a show which sets its curatorial goals upon making or reinterpreting tools as new objects. New faces have joined the group to participate in a show, which writes its own mandate as it moves along. There is no material that binds the works together, but rather an investigation of what tools are and mean in a contemporary setting.

In the future, this group will continue to grow and adapt to discuss, debate and create in a casual yet critical way.

 

Dieter Janssen's HeavyLight

Joy Charbonneau& Ed Zec's Great Lakes

Crawford Noble's Big Vessel

Rob Southcott's Relief

Opening Night from Last Years Heavy Metal Show