Category Archives: comedy
May 15, 2023 Mysterious gifts in the mail
I love a social experiment.
In 2019 Scott White and I created Intangible Adorations: Experience The Icon. Read about it here on Broadway World.
I also created LAW Thought Certificates A CBC comedy blog reposted by story about selling these certificates and some people we angry with me that I made so much money so easily. The more ridiculous I make my experiments, and the more I say they are fictitious, the more people seem to believe me. I sent local artists who inspire me Unlimited LAW Thought Certificates, to think about me gratis as much as they wanted.
An undocumented international pandemic offshoot project was Did you get an ADORATION in the MAIL? Starting in 2020 I sent anonymous artistic packages to thirty artists that inspire me. Hand written letters, collages, small gifts from my practise and red herring messages. I love paper-based mail and I love a good mystery.
At the beginning of pandemic I received a wonderful plug in massager with a cryptic message and no return address. Recently I received a Pink Panther T Shirt and a silver cross necklace. I wear them both and think often of who might have sent them. I also got a year long paper magazine subscription of Toronto Fashion sent to Haus of Dada. I actually really enjoy this for collaging.
I am full of appreciation as all of the gifts are things I would not have bought for myself but am enjoying.
Yours ’till the USA drinks Canada Dry!
Tags: art, Canadian Art, collage, haus of dada, lisa anita wegner, mail, mystery, social experiments
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Canadian Art, comedy, dada lab experiments
February 17, 2020 Repetition, Provocation and the Investigation of Expectations.
Lisa Anita Wegner (°1973, Toronto, Canada) creates performances, installations, films and conceptual artworks. By parodying mass media by exaggerating certain formal aspects inherent to our contemporary society, Wegner makes works that can be seen as self-portraits. Sometimes they appear idiosyncratic and quirky, at other times, they seem typical by-products of American superabundance and marketing.
Her performances often refers to pop and mass culture. Using written and drawn symbols, a world where light-heartedness rules and where rules are undermined is created. By rejecting an objective truth and global cultural narratives, her works references post-colonial theory as well as the avant-garde or the post-modern and the left-wing democratic movement as a form of resistance against the logic of the capitalist market system.
Her work urge us to renegotiate performance as being part of a reactive or – at times – autistic medium, commenting on oppressing themes in our contemporary society. By using popular themes such as sexuality, family structure and violence, she creates with daily, recognizable elements, an unprecedented situation in which the viewer is confronted with the conditioning of his own perception and has to reconsider his biased position.
Her works demonstrate how life extends beyond its own subjective limits and often tells a story about the effects of global cultural interaction over the latter half of the twentieth century. It challenges the binaries we continually reconstruct between Self and Other, between our own ‘cannibal’ and ‘civilized’ selves. By demonstrating the omnipresent lingering of a ‘corporate world’, she touches various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matter can be recognized, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation and the investigation of the process of expectations.
Her works are saturated with obviousness, mental inertia, clichés and bad jokes. They question the coerciveness that is derived from the more profound meaning and the superficial aesthetic appearance of an image.
-500 Letters
- 1 comment
- Posted under art therapy, Canadian Art, comedy, dada lab experiments, film and art, Love Letters, performance art, Uncategorized
October 31, 2014 Performance Artist’s Perceived Gender Affects Audience Reaction
Since Nuit Blanche on October 4th 2014, artist Lisa Anita Wegner has been performing as Thin Blank Human with her face and body completely covered in a white spandex suit. She talks about the surprising experiences of her audience interactions these last weeks as she talks to Fritz Snitz.
In the weeks leading up to Lisa’s third and last Nuit Blanche installation TRIANGLE: Ascension into Another Golden Age, Lisa discovered bending light with mirror film, a practise she calls Light Painting. Her mind was blown open so wide from this discovery she never recovered. In the days leading up to the event Lisa was not able to decide on an outfit for Mama Dada/ Space Guide. Several days before Nuit Blanche it all came together when Lisa found a white spandex morph suit and she never looked back.The Thin Blank Human came to life.
Q: On the eve of your Performance/ Projection/ Sculpture installation TRIANGLE: Ascension into Another Golden Age you were interviewed by local news and walked once to The Black Cat as The Think Blank Human, with only a headset and GoPro camera her your head. Tell us about that.
A: My outfit really wasn’t coming together, and when I saw the morph suit I felt like I’d found it and I decided to put my original Space Guide outfit on a mannequin and be The Space Guide’s Soul. This also felt right for the light painting that I was excited to do. I decided I was the spirit of Mama Dada who travels through space and time. In the suit I felt comfortable and free, the only thing is I really can’t see. I had an interview with local news and I wore just the suit, the headphones and a GO Pro on my head.
I noticed during that quick interview that people stepped and leaned away from me when I approached and talked to them. And stared ay me with with open mouths. Someone on Dundas Street said “that’s a dude” as I passed. I walked once to The Black Cat from Haus of Dada and got similar reactions. The wind was cold on my body and I had an impulse to put a dress over the white morph suit for my own warmth and comfort. Without testing it in advance I put a Mama Dada dress over my suit and went back out.
I spent the rest of the night in a performing in a white morph suit and a dress and more obviously a woman I got friendly reactions and TRIANGLE: Ascension into Another Golden Age was a a wild success. That night Thin Blank Human was born.
Q: And then you performed a Strip Tease called Nothing To See Here.
A: Yes later in October I performed Nothing To See Here at The Canadian Alternative Arts Collective (of which I am proud to be a new member) and here is where the gender issue started to become interesting. That night I didn’t speak. I gestured to the writing on the back of my Flight Suit and then would do various strip tease dances out of the suit.
At first an older man said ‘You are spectacular, can I ask if you are a man or a woman?” I answered “I am a woman” and he said “really?” and stared at me longer. I said “yes my name is Lisa” and he seemed not to believe me. During this packed event I stripped out of the flight suit many times. A second man came over and said to me “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to punch you in the face.” I was surprised and responded playfully but didn’t stop. Third guy said “I don’t want to see a man strip. Stop it it’s fucking disturbing.” I said out loud “I am a woman.” I overheard another man say “that is not a woman, no woman would dance like that.” I also heard “no woman would wear that.”
Interesting. First of all who cares? These guys care. I was immediately reminded of friend and artist Steven Joseph, who was my MUSE for TRIANGLE, he is a male who is given a hard time on a regular basis by males who get angry with him for looking like a beautiful woman. 
These small examples led me to believe that I want to further experiment with gender and the morph suit. So my female body shape and female voice do not trump the idea that I’m a man. – October 27 2014.
Fritz Snitz is arranging for Lisa to perform NOTHING TO SEE HERE in New York City in 2015 following a series of performances in downtown Toronto. Tonight for Halloween Haus of Dada presents a Screening/ Performance/ Installation FREE SURGERY on All Hallows Eve where Lisa will be performing as The Faceless Dr. Wegner.
More about Thin Blank Human Artist Would Rather Give Ownership of Her Work to Those Who Inspire, Than Those Who Can Pay.
More: Performance Artist Charging Art Collectors To Think About Her
Tags: canadian, dress, gender, haus of dada, lisa anita wegner, nothing to see here, nuit blanche, performance art, strip tease, thin blank human
- 2 comments
- Posted under art installation ideas, art therapy, comedy, dada lab experiments, film and art, Love Letters
October 13, 2014 Artist Would Rather Give Ownership of Her Work to Those Who Inspire, Than Those Who Can Pay.
Artist Lisa Anita Wegner has had a wave of unexpected financial success when Haus of Dada started offering LAW Thought Certificates for sale. Originally priced at a mere $200 to think about Lisa, when they were announced as available the price shot up to sell at over a thousand times their original value.
An anonymous German collector was thrilled that he holds the first gallery sanctified thought, purchased at $300,000 CDN. He owns the thought of Lisa Anita Wegner in her signature white suit for 2014. “Many others are allowed to think it, but I own it- I paid for it” the collector boasts.“We don’t want Lisa saturating people’s minds, we want them wanting more. So we will stop the sales next week and then “Memories of LAW” ownership certificates can only be viewed be during upcoming March 9th performance at the Museum of Modern Art or next season as a guest performance at the Art Gallery of Ontatrio” says her manager who goes by his street name Wheels.
Unexpectedly the first week of October, Haus of Dada stopped the sale of these thought certificates and Lisa insisted the 3.3 Million CDN be divided amongst local charities.
“All this wealth flashed around felt creepy,” admitted Lisa, who will now be giving these valuable Thought Certificates to people who have directly inspired her. “If these folks want to cash them in, that is up to them. It is a gift.”
Bruce Willis poses with a rare shot of a LAW Thought Certificate. “I’ll never let this piece go.” Declares Willis
So artists, art patrons, curators and media are all waiting to see who is chosen to receive these valuable pieces of paper. “Finances will have nothing to do with it. They go to those who have given me something much more valuable than money. Inspiration and human connection.” says Lisa with a big smile.
October 13, 2014 Fritz Snitz for Haus of Dada
Tags: art, Art Collectors, Fritz Snitz, haus of dada, LAW, lisa anita wegner, performance art
- 2 comments
- Posted under art installation ideas, comedy, film and art, Love Letters
September 29, 2014 Performance Artist Charging Art Collectors To Think About Her
Toronto based Performance Artist Lisa Anita Wegner responded to New York Artist Lana Newstrom’s recent success with collectors, selling her invisible art.
Lisa immediately was inspired by this bold manoeuvre and teamed up with curators Fritz Snitz and Candy Warhol who started started charging art collectors to think about Wegner.In the first week alone, collectors in New York, Berlin and Saltzburg have paid out 3 Million to be the first to own the thought of Lisa Anita Wegner.
Lisa is represented by Haus of Dada in Toronto, although if you want to be in the ranks of these collectors you had better hurry. After a mere week there is already talk of limiting the purchases. An anonymous German collector is thrilled that he holds the first gallery sanctified thought, purchased at $300,000 CDN. He owns the thought of Lisa Anita Wegner shown below. “Many others are allowed to think it, but I own it- I paid for it” the collector boasts.“We don’t want Lisa saturating people’s minds, we want them wanting more. So we will stop the sales next week and then “Memories of LAW” ownership certificates can only be viewed be during upcoming March 9th performance at the Museum of Modern Art or next season as a guest performance at the Art Gallery of Ontatrio” says her manager who goes by his street name Wheels.
Lisa Anita Wegner will not let us forget her.
COLLECTORS information: http://www.mightybraveproductions.com/collectors
Article: The Dada Times, Toronto by Mama Dada
- 2 comments
- Posted under art installation ideas, comedy, dada lab experiments, film and art, Love Letters, Uncategorized
January 23, 2014 Ultimate Creative Freedom: The Birth of A Dada Nation
I have found such ultimate freedom and creativity in rewriting my history. Having Tobias Funke murder the real me is opening up the universe. My art flows through Mama Dada and I can’t wait to see what kind of child she raises. I now envision a Dada Nation, a place that my family builds where no linear timeline exists and all the rules are broken.
Mama Dada was an old child and every day she is getting younger. Papa Dada is so in love with her.
Tags: creative freedom, dada nation, dadaheim, dadovia, daisy semkiw blackburn, haus of dada, insert me anywhere, lisa anita wegner, Mama Dada, papa dada, tobias funke
- Leave a comment
- Posted under art installation ideas, comedy, dada lab experiments, film and art
January 10, 2014 Papa Dada: Rewriting Haus History Lab Experiment Day 1
I have a vision of creating myself as a whole family. Father, mother, self, sister, brother, child. I saw it as a silent black and white film series telling the fictional history of the Haus of Dada. The beginning is the meeting of Mama and Papa Dada. Mama Dada is an artist and Papa is a romantic fool who does everything Mama’s love. He is in love with the reflection of himself in her.
Slow is the new fast, so I decided to break this down to tiny pieces. Today I found a look and the beginning of Papa. He turned out silly and vain feeling like the bastard child of The Burger King and Dali. I think I’m onto something. Papa’s musical uncle is Klaus Nomi.
With this act, I activate the history of the Haus and so Papa Dada is born. Happy Birthday Papa I look forward to meeting you soon again.
Tags: black and white, character creation, dada, dada lab, family, haus of dada, lady dada, lisa anita wegner, Mama and Papa, papa dada, persona, rewriting history, silent film
- Leave a comment
- Posted under art installation ideas, comedy, dada lab experiments, film and art, Love Letters
February 25, 2013 inHaus creative team & the Exhaustion Hole
this is what i need to make stuff
dear exhaustion: you can be a bit overbearing, like a parent grounding me when i have to rehearse and perform the lead in the school play. i appreciate the message but sometimes i have deadlines. but you know what exhaustion? i appreciate you telling me to ease off. even though it took about ten people’s help and you didn’t go easy on me, i managed to get everything done, with one day to spare. by next week the reno on my space should be finished and that will be like heaven on wheels. greased lighting wheels. right now i am living in a cloud of construction dust, workman, cables, floor glue, and fumes. unable to locate anything and dogs barking at every workman move. that’s exhausting on it’s own.
dear ice: please cut me some slack especially when there is water on top. you’re slippery and i’m tired. i can’t fall anymore so i’m just taking main road. thanks i know you didn’t mean it.
dear technology: i want to thank you for being my in house creative team. thank you for always being available to me and for knowing my own creative brain . without you i wouldn’t be so creatively free.
dear brain injury you are a worthy opponent: you can kick my ass any day. any stress (physical illness, tiredness, over working) is compounded exponentially from the divine straight to the ridiculous. the trick my body is to shut my cognition down one level at a time. so when i’m exhausted the world doesn’t make a lot of sense. numbers, letters, sequences, passwords, phone numbers, questions, lists, addresses all lose their meaning. i feel that people are asking me things but the signal is interrupted. just general thought process becomes extremely difficult. an example: a task that i do every day like brushing my teeth: find tooth brush, find toothpaste, put the paste on the brush, run under tap, brush rinse what now what? ok done. these steps become challenges in themselves. preparing my toothbrush can take twenty minutes and then i’m literally in tears from the effort.
so this gets tricky when i have to keep on top of deadlines. especially because my tricky brain is shutting down and my tricky body is also trying to stop me: shooting adrenaline like i have to fight a bear. the general tasks to run a body (eating hygiene etc) take it all out of me. this last month i had several screenings, an larger art/film/fashion installation is starting up production, i have art showing next week and a speaking engagement. my biggest fantasy is a day off with no workman in my house. a sleep in without wild barking at the work. being able to go to a social event without falling asleep and being able to follow a conversation. having appetite (my appetite drops out when i have symptoms) is appealing too.
but after what felt like endless dark tunnel of tired, today there was a crack of light. after doing a few tasks and then walking tanner, i didn’t feel like i’d run a marathon. my brain wasn’t thinking through glue. my body is only aching a burning a medium amount! and i don’t feel overwhelmed with every tiny task. ahhh a type of heaven. it’s not the coolest feeling needing to be taken care of: not very empowering. i needed to make sure i was fed and driven to meetings and then home again. it’s hard to ask for help, especially with the basics of living.
on a side note, i am chuffed that google has accepted my work space as a “living modern art museum” and am continually glad despite my life being such a challenge by creative brain is on fire. writing this has been tiring but i did it.
for those who follow me on facebook you can see that the harder a time i’m having, the more creative output i have. i update there everyday http://www.facebook.com/lisaanitawegner here is some stuff that got me though the last weeks: mouth music mashup
come here me speak march 6th in toronto. “How Art Saved My Life” this week: http://wonderwomenworld.tumblr.com/Wonderfest
i feel my thinking slipping and it goes quickly. so i will bid you farewell for now. it’s been nice to be able to talk like this.
special thanks to all those who have gone above and beyond this last month. you know who you are. thanks for the help, the food and the drives and all the support.
i really couldn’t do it without each and every one of you.
yours till the usa drinks canada dry
lisa
Tags: brain injury, exhaustion, lisa anita wegner, ptsd, wonderfest
- 3 comments
- Posted under comedy, film and art
March 18, 2012 animated me / discombobulation
>
i am looking forward to the following things:
becoming more involved with the revue cinema society; my first gallery show; watching the rest of the prints be done; finishing post production on “one desert, two desserts” and seeing it on the silver screen; looking further into 259 mcdonnell as a shared studio and workspace; shooting something cool with carl elster and his wicked camera package; making my wife happy, getting my dog trim and fit; spending time with John Bertram; catching up on the post production of “plane crazy”; writing out the treatment for “my favourite mistake”; choosing a new inspiring intern; working more fully with arts planner sue edworthy; getting my first hdslr camera; getting a new macbook pro; and drinking the first delicious marbled cup of coffee of the day.
Amen.
- Leave a comment
- Posted under comedy, film and art
October 31, 2011 being in a zoo/ the inspiration perspiration balance
his is a double blog post about the last two creative projects i was involved in.
how it must feel being in a zoo:
Tags: creative flow, inspiration, jane siberry, kent monkman, lisa wegner, music video, pixel painting, the art fair, the art game, the three queens trilogy, vampire
- Leave a comment
- Posted under comedy, film and art
Lisa Anita Wegner 