Beginning in January 2011, LIFT will co-present the Toronto iteration of No Reading After the Internet, a monthly opportunity to gather and read a text aloud, provoking theoretical illumination on media art works and the context within which such works exist. The focus of the salon series departs from an interest in cinema, but will accommodate the broad and ever expanding scope of contemporary art practices.

The Toronto manifestation of No Reading carries forward an ongoing endeavour that takes place in Vancouver.

The idea of a reading group isn’t new. No Reading nonetheless poses itself as an experimental learning and discussion space. Simply put, we are suspicious of our own reading abilities, and the extent to which our readings are conversant with one another. No Reading means to offer a slow space within which to retrace our steps in the hopes of discovering individual and collective ways through the realms of language and interpretation. The strategies we have at our disposal are twofold: through the yoking of our discussions to a text; and inducing conversations between those texts and related exhibitions or presentations.

The hope is that the varied experiences of those present will yield a spontaneous understanding of the particular text at hand, through the lens of the work it addresses. The idea is not to be lectured at, but to contribute to an emerging, communal reading.

Participation in No Reading After the Internet is free and open to everyone, regardless of their familiarity with a text or its author. Texts will be handed out at the salon. No pre-reading or research is required.

No Reading After the Internet is a project of the collective efforts of Amy Lynn Kazymerchyk, Alexander Muir and cheyanne turions.

For more information see the No Reading After the Internet website here