Seasons End Liquidation Shop

"Seasons End Liquidation Shop" is a nod to the past, present, and speculative future of the neighbourhood.

"Seasons End Liquidation Shop" is a variety store, celebratory funeral, and ritual ending of part of Alum Teresa Tam, BFA '14, Media Arts artistic practice.

It is a place of exchange intended to consider many of the items used in a series of Tam’s previous projects that have been running since 2013 and all connect thematically to the concept of various kinds of shops. Throughout these past projects, Tam’s accumulation of objects (those found, purchased, and produced) has been closely connected to questions concerning identity, authenticity, labour, social commerce, practical and emotional attachments, and as vehicles for bodily interaction.

Here, Tam marks the end of the Shop Series through the trade of the objects themselves, as well as their attendant stories, connections, and contexts. Rather than cash, the liquidation of these items intends to yield relational assets through a connective and reciprocal experience of information sharing.

Situated at street-level on 9 Avenue SE, "Seasons End Liquidation Shop" also reminds us of how these transformations—via the ebb and flow of obsolescence, relevancy, and capital—impact livelihoods and are often the agents of change and displacement. However, by offering as a contrast and counterpoint a different kind of relational economy, Tam suggests that through the act of liquidation new kinds of ideas, identities, and connections can emerge.