The Art of Disruption

Week 1 – Collage and mixed media basics

In the first workshop, we walk through the work of long-time artistic disruptor and true anarchist Jamie Reid, whose iconic collage ‘celebrating’ Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee helped catapult the Sex Pistols to fame and ignite a movement. Students will learn collage layout and technique and have access to a wide array of mixed media materials and vintage and current paper ephemera.

Week 2 – DIY Fashion

Dame Vivienne Westwood defined the look of the punk movement with her cutting edge, DIY fashions. She later touted the slogan “Buy less. Choose wisely. Use it longer.” Westwood helped bring attention to the ecological and human rights issues surrounding fast fashion. In this workshop, students will be encouraged to bring in outdated items of their own while they learn stencil, basic alteration, and distressing techniques to refresh old pieces.

Week 3 – Street Art

Street artists from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Banksy have long communicated social issues, political opposition, and civil awareness through the language of street art. Others, such as the Truth In Advertising collective, started making changes to advertisements over 30 years ago, sharing their techniques with fellow artists world-wide in an effort to entice the pubic to question the barrage of media surrounding them. Prolific Toronto artist and co-founder of Parkdale Provincial Park, Martin Reis, leads the class through the basics of how to ignite a revolution using street art as a tool of grassroots activism.