Slow Social Club X ExP with Sarah Finn

About the Event

This season, The Only Animal is hosting an eco-arts edition of our Exquisite Pressure series. They asked 3 artist groups to:

• explore a novel creation process reflecting ‘eco-centric’ values or concepts
• initiate a process or relationship that could have a life beyond the show

This March, join The Only Animal for a series of relaxed ‘Slow Social Club’ meet-ups to share research, experiments, and methods inspired by the artists’ residencies, leading to our ExP showing of the new works March 27-28, 2026 (tickets on sale soon!).

Feral Archive and ‘Decompositional Writing’ with Sarah Finn

Together, we’ll take a walk from What Lab to the nearby Feral Archive, where we’ll engage in decompositional writing inspired by our sensory encounters. Loose themes of decomposition and scale will guide a soft discussion.

Please bring walking shoes, a notebook and something to write with.

what to expect

It’s a 20 minute walk from What Lab to the Feral Archive, located near Victoria Park on Charles and Victoria. It’ll be an uphill walk there and an optional downhill walk back to What Lab. At the archive, visitors can explore the materials there, sitting or standing, as they prefer.

Please note that the archive is literally feral – with many of the pages/booklets in varied states of decay (including mold). Visitors will be provided with masks/gloves to engage with materials, and garage doors will be open to ensure airflow. As an alternative, participants can stay outside in the garden if they prefer (weather-permitting).You can read more about the archive and see photos here.

For folks unable to do the walk or experience the archive directly, there is an option to stay at What Lab, where there will be a few samples from the Feral Archive to explore, a printed version of the writing activity planned for the archive, and a member of the TOA team to support. This is also the plan if the weather is not in our favor.

Please see What Lab: Visual Story Guide for detailed info about parking, washrooms, wheelchair access to the space, and more.

We welcome your questions and access requests. Please email us at info@theonlyanimal.com.

Readings:

We’ll start at What Lab with readings of short excerpts from the following writing:

• Hildyard, Daisy. The Second Body. Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2024.
• Todd, Zoe. “Fish, Kin and Hope: Tending to water violations in amiskwaciwâskahikan and treaty six territory.” Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, vol. 43, Mar. 2017, pp. 102–107, https://doi.org/10.1086/692559.
• Check out the Feral Archive.

Please e-mail us if you would like to receive text in advance.

About the Artists