Toronto multi-disciplinary artist Diane Borssssato lets the ssssnakes out of the box (indeed onto the bus!) and sets up the conditions for a sibilantly soothing exhibition-opening-ride with Herpetologist and Reptile Educator Blair Watson. SnakeBus builds on past actions taken by Diane Borsato whereby she hires surrogate professionals to carry out ideas at stake in her work, altering the works relationship to the viewer. On Snakebus, Watson will present an assortment of live turtles, lizards, and snakes in an adult-oriented talk for The Performance Bussss, available for riders to handle and experience up-closssse, thus proposing ways that knowledge can be tangible, that is, felt and held by viewers.

Diane Borsato is known for her relational gestures and mischievous interventions. In past works she has broken a world record, performed feats with her parents, moved weeds around, and eclipsed iconic architecture with a giant snowball. Her works have been presented in galleries and museums across Canada and internationally including the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, the AGYU, and the Power Plant. Diane Borsato is the 2008 winner of the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for achievement at the mid-career level in visual arts. She is currently a professor of Interdisciplinary Studio at the University of Guelph, and lives in Toronto.