Remember that fun arcade-style claw machine you played as a kid? Now imagine if you could still play with it – but it’s massive, located right in downtown Toronto and filled with hundreds of useful pre-loved objects donated by the community? Starting today you can!
One of the artists using “the claw”
As part of the 7th annual Luminato Festival, STOCKPILE is a life-sized rendering of the claw machine located right in the Allen Lambert Galleria at Brookfield Place. It’s the brain-child of nine Canadian artists (Dean Baldwin, Brendan Fernandes, Diane Landry, Luanne Martineau, Divya Mehra, Graeme Patterson, Ed Pien, Charles Stankievech, and Mitchell Wiebe), Jorn Weisbrodt, Artistic Director, Luminato Festival, and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), curator Denise Markonish.
Giving a whole new meaning to “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” STOCKPILE is filled with all sorts of random objects that at one time had meaning to the people who donated them. I spotted everything from a giant inflatable shark and a huge Tigger stuffy to a massive Rubik’s cube and a plastic kiddie pool.
The objects were donated by the community and many have a story or a personal meaning behind them. Special items include a mother’s prosthetic arm that “facilitated the comfort of the amazing woman who raised me,” which the donor hopes the prize winner will give to someone in need, a never-used Polaroid camera set that was “always too precious to throw out as junk,” and a Carmen Miranda Cookie Jar.
Prosthetic arm
Aside from its prizes, the unique thing about STOCKPILE is how it works. For $2, you or your child get 2 minutes on the clock to operate a gaming-type console. This allows you to control the movement of one of the nine artists who is suspended inside and holds “the claw”.
Operating the Claw
Your goal is to position the artist above the object of your desire so he can grab it with the claw and drop it down through the hole. If you win, there are fun sounds of clapping and encouragement. If you lose, you get a pretty great prize too – a handy “Loser” card signed by the nine artists. That’s a pretty snazzy prize, so no one walks away feeling like a loser.
Getting my “Loser” card from the artists
To try out STOCKPILE with the kids and meet the artists, head on over to
Brookfield Place at 181 Bay Street in Toronto at the following times:
Friday, June 14 11:00am-7:00pm
Saturday, June 15 4:00pm-Midnight
Sunday, June 16 – Thursday, June 20 11:00am-7:00pm
Friday, June 21 4:00pm-Midnight
Saturday, June 22 11:00am-7:00pm
…and good luck!
Your blog post was like a guidebook that provided clear directions and valuable insights. I appreciated the practical advice you offered. To continue the journey, click here.
That looks FUN!!
Love it!!!!