FROM THE ARCHIVES: "Performance art trio The Hummer Sisters (VideoCab Co-Artistic Director Deanne Taylor, Janet Burke and Jenny Dean) tossed their name into Toronto’s political ring in 1982 with a well-documented and well-executed campaign called “ART versus Art,” and to everyone’s surprise they came in second place in the 1982 municipal election with 12,000 votes. Their major competition was Art Eggleton who did become the Mayor of Toronto that year. The Hummer Sisters focused all of their attention on art, rallied and mobilized the artistic troops using a newly popular art form called “video art.” Slowly becoming more accessible to the general public, video cameras and commercial grade technology were the media of choice for The Hummer Sisters, and they used them wisely and well. Political platform issues included live/work-zoned spaces for artists, political accountability to all citizens and a freeze on building development on Queen Street West. The Hummer Sisters made history with their ingenious campaign, which stirred the local zeitgeist with political cabarets that involved hundreds of actors, designers, musicians, artists and art lovers and supporters throughout Toronto. With their 2nd place, runner-up status, The Hummer Sisters paved the way for many artists and arts organizations to finally believe that they could actually be real players in the often unreal world of politics. Their slogan “ART versus Art: This is no Job for Politicians” became an instant hit with the growing population of artists living on Toronto’s now infamous Queen Street West strip — an arts community that The Hummer Sisters put on the cultural map with their legendary campaign." -Keith Cole
