Live trapeze painting performance makes debut at B.C.’s Bass Coast festival
A Canadian artist known for his viral TikToks swinging from a trapeze while pouring vibrant colours over a rotating canvas to create a painting took his method a step further this summer.
Callen Schaub brought his setup, named The Arena, out of his studio to create live performances at festivals across Canada.
The method translated well at Bass Coast Electronic Music and Art Festival in Merritt, B.C. – Schaub’s first live performance last month. He grinned, shouted, and poured paint as a crowd of festival-goers cheered him on. He built momentum to finally climb on the trapeze, swinging paint from two cans while hanging upside down.
“I’m just a kid who has to paint,” he said. “And I just never stopped.”
Callen Schaub/Joffrey Photo
He truly brings people along for the ride, whether that’s mounting a camera on his head in-studio for viewers to see his point of view or using the audience’s cheers to gauge how much paint to spill on the canvas.
Circus and art training converge for Callen Schaub’s signature painting method
@callenschaub“I could do that”♬ original sound – Callen Schaub
The Montreal-based artist first started exploring alternative methods of getting paint on canvas while in art school at the Ontario College of Art and Design in his hometown, Toronto.
“I remember our first assignment was to do anything you want on this four-by-four canvas. And I just watched as the rest of the class all approached their canvases with a paintbrush,” he said. “And just to try something different, I went to the potter’s department, grabbed a potter’s wheel, and taped my canvas to it.”
From there, Schaub took metalwork classes to forge his own spinners and used his circus school training to find more creative ways to add paint to canvas.
“I didn’t know I’d make a career out of it. But I just found a way to connect directly with my audience,” he said.
Schaub trapezes so confidently because of his circus background. He also used to work as an arborist, which helps him rig his own equipment setups.
To any negative commenters on social media who claim what Schaub does is simple, he welcomes them to try it themselves.
“I get comments like, ‘Anyone can do this.’ And I like to rephrase it. Like, yeah, anyone can do it. It’s a positive thing,” he said. “There’s no secret. Creativity is a group project, and I’m just trying to inspire people.”
Inspiring festival-goers to chase their inner artist
Liz Thomson, co-founder of Bass Coast festival, was thrilled they could bring Schaub on as a visual arts performer. She’d been following his work for years online, and it was an “instant yes” to have Schaub headline the visual arts ensemble of more than 50 interactive pieces.
Callen Schaub/Joffrey Photo
“He’s a master at combining everything. All your different senses are engaged. And the look in his eye. This is an artist who’s serious and performs with so much joy, purpose, and intention,” Thomson said. “It really draws you in. His passion is contagious.”
Both Thomson and Schaub hope that those watching the performance continue to nurture their own passions – and ask where they could go by following what they love.
“I’m just hoping it inspires other people who are watching to maybe take the work they’re doing and think about how to take it one step further,” Thomson said.
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