The OCAD U Student Gallery was transformed into an interior landscape last night during Nicolas Robins and Christopher Benjamin Speck’s first collaboration, ASTRAL PLANE. The clean space was juxtaposed against the clusterfuck happening just outside, with dust kicking up from the rubble making McCaul Street look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. But a new order was open for exploration; one populated by shapes, colours and fashionable art lovers.

Dressed in matching yet contrasting outfits (Robins in white and Speck in black) the duo canvassed the space to chat with whoever had questions about their recently constructed world. As the pair explained, the environment and the space they worked in had a direct result in how the pieces were created and curated. ASTRAL PLANE came together after two weeks of living in the student gallery, with 14-hour days spent ideating, rejecting, creating, curating, rejecting, rinse and repeat. The output was a collection of illustrations, paintings and constructions with imagery that represented internal geography and shared personal symbology.

Last night, 52 McCaul Street belonged to Robins and Speck. The space was their world. And in the act of reading, recognizing and internalizing their imagery, the audience had permission to join.

My favourite were the pretty colours.

And the mini M&Ms.

Photos by Andrew Weir