ARTnotes

                 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART RECONCEIVED

          Imagine the Art Gallery as a Trojan horse, moving from site to site around the city, unleashing culture as it moves!  TBD-To Be Destroyed: Responses From a Call For Ideas consists of several parts, one of which is a wall-installation featuring  the results of "a call for architects to destroy existing paradigms about art galleries"(MOCCA). From purely speculative, largely incomprehensible culture-babble to eminently practicable, and clearly articulated, sixty-nine  architects each presents a single page encapsulating their vision for the future. One of the best is one of the simplest : make the gallery more inclusive   by unifying it with its locale. For example, remove the huge  iron fence and  parking lot in front of MOCCA and replace them with a walkway and inviting green space.

Populus

MOCCA, exterior

MOCCA,exterior

Populus, detail.

The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is moving from its current site on Queen Street West, so this concept will not be realized there, but it's worth serious consideration whatever form the next incarnation takes.