As a precursor to the Northen Ink Xposure tattoo convention (NIX), Toronto's Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art played host to the Art Fusion Experiment (AFE), which ran June 11-12. On Saturday night at M.O.C.C.A., canvases from the AFE will be auctioned off to benefit Art City in St. James Town, a Toronto-based not-for-profit organization "committed to providing free and accessible art programs to the children of St. James Town." 
The brainchild of Paul Booth and Filip Leu, the AFE was founded in 2000 while both artists toured with the Tattoo the Earth Festival, which was hosted by Booth. The two collaborated on a freehand chest piece on a member of the band Mudvayne, and soon after focused their collaborative attentions on canvas, the current domain of the AFE. As the Experiment was premiering at Booth's 1st Annual Massachusetts Tattoo Festival in 2001, the duo invited Guy Aitchison to join the team and "found that in doing so, a crucial balance was achieved."
Booth has since held events across North America and invited a multitude of artists to participate in the Experiment.
In addition to the Art Fusion Experiment, M.O.C.C.A. featured fine art pieces by tattoo artists from around the world as part of the Art of the Human Canvas gallery show, which runs June 11-15.
"You push yourself, you push each other. You know, I look over and think, 'Damn, I'm doing a painting with Paul Booth, it better be good!' Of course, he's probably like, 'I'll show this damn guy how to paint.'"
"[The Art Fusion Experiment] is about learning to let go of your own shit. If you come into it with an ego, it's probably not for you. I think it's actually easier for tattooists than non-tattooists: tattooists let their work walk away every single day."
 Damian (right)
Towards the end of the day on Wednesday, children from Art City in St. James Town arrived to get a lesson in painting and to make their own contribution.
I didnt have time to do this high school art project -- we were supposed to paint an animal -- because I was doing a tattoo on a friend. But it was a tattoo of a scorpion! So I marched my friend into class and when the teacher asked to see my project, I told my friend to roll up his sleeve and show her the scorpion. And she graded it.
Alex Adams (left, background)
"[Projects like the Art Fusion Experiment] definitely affect the way the average art fan views the skills of tattoo artists -- not that that's what it's all about, of course. But people here today weren't all here to see tattoo artists, they were just here to see art. They didn't want to see freaks, they wanted to see people at a museum doing cool stuff."
"By the time we were finished, the kids all just wanted to paint skulls."
Northern Ink Xposure runs June 13-15 at the Hilton in downtown Toronto. To see more photos, visit the galleries at BMEzine.com, and please consider buying a BME membership so we can continue bringing you articles like this.
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