I Contain Multitudes
Peter Kydaond & Joshua Selvaraj
Every day, countless lives briefly intersect in the anonymous intimacy of the subway. Strangers gather on a shared platform, suspended in a moment of proximity—close enough to feel one another’s presence, yet worlds apart in experience. I Contain Multitudes draws us into that fleeting convergence.
This immersive installation transforms Trinity Square Video into a subway environment through three-channel projection and spatial sound. The rumble beneath your feet, the rush of air before the train arrives, the layered hum of the platform—visitors are not observing the scene, but inhabiting it.
Rather than documenting transit, the work reflects on it. Inspired by Walt Whitman’s notion of the self as expansive and multifaceted, the installation considers how public space can hold the vast interior lives of those who pass through it. In a place defined by movement and anonymity, I Contain Multitudes invites us to pause—and to recognize the unseen depth in every stranger we encounter.
Developed as part of an ongoing exploration of urban space and inner life, this multi-sensory work offers a moment of stillness within the constant flow of the city.
On view April 11 – May 16, 2026
Trinity Square Video
401 Richmond St. W., Suite 121
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
Founded in 1971, it is one of Canada’s first artist-run centres and its oldest media arts centre. We are a not-for-profit, charitable organization.
For 50 years, Trinity Square has been a champion of media arts practices. Our activities are guided by a goal to increase our members’ and audiences’ understanding and imagination of what media arts practices can be. Trinity Square strives to create supportive environments, encouraging artistic and curatorial experimentation that challenge medium specificity through education, production and presentation supports.
As video-based practices have become increasingly present across disciplines, Trinity Square engages artists and curators in critical investigations into the changing conditions of perception, materiality and the virtual. We consider all of our artistic activities and structures through a process of critical self-reflection, continuously evaluating the ethical positioning of our programming, jury structures, inter-organizational relationships, et cetera. In addition to holding aesthetic worth in its own right, our artistic programming extends our education and production activities in order to generate new knowledges.
Trinity Square’s programming is guided by three priorities: 1) promoting an expanded definition of media arts; 2) promoting the meaningful engagement of diverse voices in all levels of our operations; and 3) supporting and nurturing the production of new works by artists and curators. Our membership represents the diversity of the city and honours the original mandate of the organization—seeking to reduce barriers to access related to race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio- economic and physical ability.
