2boys.tv (Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard) are a Canadian art duo based inMontreal,Quebec, active since 2001. Lawson graduated from theNational Theatre School of Canada, and Pollard from theEmily Carr Institute of Art & Design andConcordia University. Lawson and Pollard are also known both asGigi L'Amour andPipi Douleur. The team and real-life couple work in video-supplemented performance, video, and installation and have presented in arts andqueer spaces across theWestern Hemisphere,Europe, andNew Zealand. The duo is known for its extravagant and intense stage spectacles.[1]
Performance studies scholar Peter Dickinson notes that their performance work "supplements acamp aesthetic derived fromdrag with sophisticated video projections, original and found sound scores, the art of lip-synch and object-oriented and site-based installation (...)".[2] 2boys.tv is interested in the plasticity of video, often using it in a sculptural way instead of as a large screen.[3]
The name2boys.tv resulted from looking for a web domain name for the project. "(...) We came across this .tv which both referencestransvestism and transversalism," the duo toldThe New York Times in a 2011 interview. "But it's actually the domain of the small island in theSouth Pacific calledTuvalu. The country sold off its domain name to raise money because it's sinking due toglobal warming. And, of course, we're two boys."[3]
Lawson, Stephen. "Emcee Etiquettes: Experts Weigh In on How to Host the Perfect Cabaret Night."Canadian Theatre Review, vol. 177, 2019, p. 67-72.
Pollard, Aaron and Stephen Lawson. "Bonus Insert."Canadian Theatre Review, vol. 150, 2012, p. 1-17.
Pollard, Aaron and Stephen Lawson. "Tightrope, Translation and Transformation."Performance Research, vol. 21:5, 2016, p. 131-133.
They are recipients of the 2009Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for outstanding achievement by mid-career artists working in theInterdisciplinary Arts,Canada Council for the Arts.[4]