Whine and cheese: the Complaints Choir is coming to Toronto

By Chris Dupuis

The Complaints Choir does more than give us a forum for
griping—it encourages love and understanding. Togetherness, 21st
century style.

An increasing number of artists are using flash mobs as vehicles
for dissecting social interaction—a kind of art-fuelled science
experiment. In 2005, the Helsinki-based couple Oliver
Kochta-Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen began a series of public
art interventions that spread to various cities under the banner
Complaints Choir. Citizens were invited to submit their complaints
about everything from quotidian annoyances to pressing world
issues, which were then used as lyrics for a song written by a
local composer, and sung by a choir (often in surprise public
locations). Since its inception, there have been more than 60
Complaints Choirs staged worldwide, in such cities as Birmingham,
Tokyo and Jerusalem. (The staff of CBC’s As It Happens organized an
on-air rendition in 2007, culling complaints from listeners across
Canada.) The Kalleinens treat the event as a community art project,
offering a format and certain guidelines, but giving participants
across the globe the freedom to take up the idea and make it their
own. Torontonians will be able to hear their beefs laid out
publicly for the first time this month, as part of the World Stage
Festival organized by Harbour front Centre, which has been
collecting pet peeves at lifestinks.ca since last fall.