Living in 10 Easy Lessons is a video installation consisting of ten short single-channel videos, posters, and a pamphlet, all of which are based on interviews conducted by Linda Duvall and Peter Kingstone with women whose work is street-related.

This project explores the invisible skills that these women have developed in their daily lives. Each person interviewed has been invited to teach one of the artists an ability that she has perfected and which she considers to be essential to her activities, for example: begging, selling drugs, protecting herself on the street or in a car, simulating sexual penetration, concealing objects on her person, procuring alcohol, looking like a woman, or obtaining more money on the grounds that she comes from an “exotic” country.

While making this project, the artists met with several women who use Toronto’s shelter services. These services offer various courses intended to extend their users’ skill sets, but the know-how that these women already possess is often overlooked or even discouraged. With this project, the artists aim to create a context in which these skills can be recognized and learned. While re-evaluating the teacher/student relationship as well as the way in which we validate skills, Duvall and Kingstone question the roles that gender, experience, education, and authority play in traditional teaching models.

 

Linda Duvall is a visual artist who presents within gallery contexts, on the web, and within defined public communities. She has completed degrees in Sociology and English (Carleton University) and Visual Arts (OCADU and University of Michigan). She is currently a Professional Affiliate at University of Saskatchewan.

Duvall has exhibited both locally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Art Gallery of Hamilton, Dunlop Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno Guatemala City, Custom House Gallery Westport Ireland, Box Hotel Gallery Barcelona, Thunder Bay Art Gallery and TPW Toronto. She has participated in various public art events including CAFKA Kitchener, Nuit Blanche Toronto, SPASM Saskatoon, Open Engagement Regina, and Future Cities Hamilton.

Duvall has participated in several international residences including Ephemeral  Architecture Residency in Barcelona, Chambre Blanche Web Residency in Quebec City, Banff Centre for the Arts, and the upcoming d’clinic Residency in Lendava, Slovenia

 

Peter Kingstone is a Canadian artist based in Toronto. Kingstone has a degree in Philosophy and Cultural Studies from Trent University and a Masters of Fine Art form York University.  Kingstone has received numerous grants from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts.  He was awarded the Untitled Art Award (2004) for Best Show in an Alternate Space.  Kingstone’s work digs through history, community and narrative to examine our lives today.  His work focuses on video and video installation including drawing, sculpture and photography.  Kingstone has shown in video festivals and at galleries across Canada and throughout the United States, including The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, Ohio State University, Columbus and The French Embassy, Ottawa.

 

articule acknowledges the logistical help of AXENÉ07 for this exhibition.

Exhibitions  

Participating Artists: Linda Duval (Saskatchewan) Peter Kingstone (Ontario)
Curator(s):
Credits: Image : Linda Duvall et Peter Kingstone, Living in 10 Easy Lessons (video still), 2011