#9 ThunderEgg Alley: A Dumpster Diver’s Paradise, 2007
Swintak – Toronto, Ontario
Installation, performance

- A downtown alley might not be the first place you would look for the makings of a five-star resort, but ThunderEgg Alley is exactly that. Informed by the abundant waste of our consumer-driven economy, ThunderEgg Alley exploits the natural landscape of Toronto’s refuse, transforming the material excretions of everyday life into abstract mechanisms of luxury. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to indulge in a dumpster diver’s paradise, complete with a spa, tanning salon and cardboard box boutique.

One of the more bizarre installations I experienced if not the most bizarre was the ThunderEgg Alley and the Dumpster Diver’s Paradise. Not knowing what to expect, a crowd of people are gathered in an alleyway beside a dumpster while two people dressed in white are trapped in doorway closed by an iron cage. The two people trapped in the locked up doorway dance in the confined space and then attempt to escape or reach for items outside their dungeon. At one point, an audience member offered one of the dancers a lit cigarette in which she took, burned her finger, smoked the cigarette, and then attempted to burn the lock on the cage. The setting alone was enough to get the message across, showcasing the more or less unappealing areas of Toronto and it’s abundance of waste that’s being created more and more everyday. Underneath all our luxuries, such as getting a car wash, or going to a movie or spa, lay the effects of our lifestyle, and that is creating an abundance of waste. I think the artist really attempted to make the audience aware of the ugly, ignored areas of Toronto such as our filth, which is downplayed most of the time but isn’t completely invisible.