Bill Burns

Lives and works in Toronto, ON, Canada

Artist statement

My current project operates as a reenactment of advanced capitalist trade. It begins with acquiring a container load of salt in China. Then we ship the salt from Shanghai to the Port of Vancouver. From Vancouver the salt travels onward to Newfoundland where we trade it for a trip of goats. We set off with our goats (perhaps three or four) and a small team of keepers and a veterinarian, from Newfoundland by sea now to Liverpool, now to Greece, now to Egypt, Lebanon, Georgia, Turkey and Slovenia before returning to New York. In each instance we use a different transport conveyance and trade for livestock, foodstuffs, or dry goods. I consider it to be a long duration performance. It goes something like this. Once the business of arranging and transporting our trip of goats from Canada to Greece is completed we trade them for a load of raw honey. By and by we depart Greece, with a hopper full of honey, bound for Egypt. After receiving our moorage assignment at Alexandria we haggle for several days before closing a deal for the exchange of honey for zinc. Once we have made our honey for zinc swap we arrange shipping through changeable waters toward Lebanon. Now in Beirut, we exchange the base metal for olives. From Beirut we conduct ourselves through swarms of traffic toward the Bosporus, passing through by barge and tug before continuing to the Black Sea port of Anaklia, Georgia. Sliding into a slip at Anaklia we negotiate a trade of olives for timber. We hurtle back toward...

Artwork

• The Salt, the Donkey, the Goats, the Honey, the Milk, 2021. happening
• The Salt, the Donkey, the Goats, the Honey, the Milk, 2021. happening
• The Salt, the Honey, the Goat, the Milk, the Brass Band, 2021. performance collaboration
• The Salt, the Donkey, the Goats, the Honey, the Milk, 2021
• The Salt, the Donkey, the Goats, the Honey, the Milk, 2021. happening
• The Salt, the Donkey, the Goats, the Honey, the Milk, 2021. happening
• The Aeroplane in Distress, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Curator Who was Treated Badly, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Salt Mine, 2020
• Cooperation Between Species, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Customs Hearing , 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Aeroplane that Crashed with a Load of Potatoes, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Snorkeler and the Whale, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• Remembering Your Dreams, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• When the Curator Dropped the Lawsuit, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Country Singers , 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018. performance
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018. Donkey Walking/performance
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018. Donkey Walking/performance
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018. Donkey Walking/performance
• The Donkey, the Salt, the Apples, the Honey, 2018
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2017. performance
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2017
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2020
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2017
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2020. performance
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2016. performance event
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2016. performance event
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2016. performance event
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2016. performance event
• The Goat Milking and the Mixing of Milk and Honey, 2016. performance event
• The Whale, the Bee, the Chocolate Bar, and the Cariboo , 2019. watercolour, pencil
• The Donkey, the Truck, the Goat, the Whale, 2020. watercolour, pencil
• The Oil, the Milk, the Salt, the Donkey, the Whale, 2019. watercolour, pencil
• The Goat's Milk Transport, 2019. watercolour, pencil