Art Spin Announces Public Sweat, A Fusion of Art and Sauna Culture

A unique community experience of art, saunas, and sweat bathing
March - April 2023, Harbourfront Centre

TORONTO, Feb. 1, 2023 /CNW/ - Art + Sweat: Get ready for the heat at Public Sweat.
The creative team behind Art Spin embarks on its latest iteration of innovative art in alternative spaces as it introduces Public Sweat, a participatory sweat bathing experience and platform for contemporary art. This unusual context for engaging with art invites visitors to immerse themselves in the shared values of sweat bathing practices around the world: community, connection, and care. Public Sweat will take place from March 15 to April 23, 2023, at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Visit the Public Sweat website to book a session and learn more.

Public Sweat is a unique fusion of art, sauna culture, and sweat bathing. Indoor and outdoor experiences will include lounge spaces, a cafe, a cold rinse, and a multidisciplinary range of contemporary art programming to be experienced while guests sweat in artist-designed sweat bathing structures. The structures will serve as both public artworks and inclusive public spaces where visitors are invited to leave their daily armour at the door, and share in a moment of self-care and community care.

"There are many beautiful elements common to sweat bathing cultures all around the world, in particular, we wanted to bring a sense of social connection to Toronto through this project," said Rui Pimenta, Co-Director and Co-Curator of Art Spin. "We're always interested in putting art in unique spaces, and the fact that Public Sweat is created by artists and surrounded by art creates an exciting entry point into sweat bathing," added Layne Hinton, Co-Director and Co-Curator of Art Spin. "We invite visitors to bring their bathing suits and towels, and a sense of curiosity."

Artists were commissioned by Art Spin to design and build sweat bathing structures that function both as a standalone artwork, and as a usable hot space. Confirmed artists for Public Sweat to date include: Simone Jones, SHEEEP Studio, Christie Pearson, and Chris Foster.

Abandoned Splendour by Simone Jones brings together her passion for film history, video, sculpture and electronics, with an interest in the nature of perception to create a cinematic sauna experience in a form inspired by Victorian-era industrial wood burners. "My sauna, Abandoned Splendor, positions these former industrial giants as spaces of contemplation, loss and wonder," says Jones, whose design will be enhanced through an intimate soundscape by collaborating artist Mitchell Akiyama.

Garmabeh by SHEEEP references ancient Iranian bath houses that were an important social setting for centuries prior to the introduction of piped water. Garmabeh creates a structure of intricate geometries and materials to make a space that speaks to traditional Iranian medicine's four main temperaments; hot, cold, dry and wet. SHEEEP is an experimental studio by Reza Nik and Connor Stevens, working at the intersection of community, culture and architecture.

Geospheric Sweatbath by Christie Pearson connects bathing, utopian communities, and the DIY spirit. Pearson, an artist and architect, is the author of Architecture of Bathing: Body, Landscape, Art (MIT Press 2020) and her extensive world travels in pursuit of diverse bathing practices has led to her design that pairs architectural geometry with rich natural materials.

Mobile Sweat by Chris Foster has combined his interest in the social possibilities connected to sauna culture along with his experience building saunas to convert a used utility trailer into both a sauna and a vessel for other layers of arts programming. Foster's nomadic wood-fired mobile sauna design includes an embedded video screen and sound system to allow for further artistic interventions and collaborations.

Single ticket prices to Public Sweat range from $20-35 with options to purchase 4-Pass tickets for multiple visits. Early Bird pricing on single tickets is available (limited quantities).

Publicsweat.com | Instagram: @public.sweat | Facebook: Public Sweat | TikTok: @publicsweat Twitter: @publicsweat #PublicSweat

ABOUT ART SPIN | Since 2009, Art Spin has been activating decommissioned venues and unique public spaces to produce ephemeral projects, curated exhibitions, and bicycle-led art tours. Programming site-specifically, across disciplines in alternative spaces, is at the core of their curatorial methodology and their desire to make the audience experience more engaging while reimagining the possibilities of public art in the process. Art Spin is behind some of Toronto's most exciting contemporary art events including the in/future festival at Ontario place in 2016 and the downtown exhibition area for Nuit Blanche in 2019, along with a whole host of projects and exhibitions; Holding Patterns, the Tower Automotive Building Exhibition and the Kajama tall-ship art tour - to name but a few.

The venue partner for Public Sweat is Harbourfront Centre. Public Sweat receives funding support from: The Government of Ontario; the Canada Council for the Arts; the Government of Canada; the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario; and Waterfront Toronto.

MEDIA GALLERY

SOURCE Art Spin

MEDIA INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES: Rui Pimenta and Layne Hinton, Co-Directors and Co-Curators of Art Spin; MEDIA INQUIRIES: Katie Saunoris | [email protected]