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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Put June 17 in your calendars - Smiling Buddha, 961 College Street, 7pm. Casual evening of screenings and readings featuring Lorna Mills, Andrew J. Paterson, Sally McKay and Von Bark. More details coming soon.
From Pierre Tristam's Burning Lebanon:
"What sadder fascination to watch and read journalists from al-Jazeera to the Wall Street Journal try to give their interpretation of this latest conflagration, to, quote unquote, try to make sense of it, as if there is anything to be made sense of when senselessness is the preferred and universal fuel. What sense is there, regardless of the legitimate objective of getting those barbaric militants out of the Palestinian camp and out of Lebanon if possible, to attack them with barbarism in turnto blast off civilians in the refugee camp like so much collateral irrelevance? Once again, those paying the heaviest price are those who have nothing to do with the fight. Who to blame first is silly. The genealogy of responsibility is as long as Abrahams. No one can be spared, no one should be. But in the immediate vicinity of the mayhem, lets not be too relative, either: those Datah al-Islam types think nothing of spreading destruction, of using terrorism to their limited advantagenot that the action theyre involved in against the Lebanese army can be termed terrorism (no battle between combatants can be). The consequences of the battle, of course, can be. The Lebanese and Palestinians of Tripoli and Nahr al Bared camp are being terrorized no less than the Lebanese were terrorized by Israels invasion last summer. And who are those fanatical Fatah al-Islam types, what are they, if not much more than the latest collection of ideological rags wrapped in perversions of Islam pretending to serve the cause of Palestinian nationalism? Theyre minor-league butchers who think a stint of loitering and ganging about Iraq makes them kings in their miserable little camp."His eloquent outrage attracts some of the most heated and literate responses that I've ever read online. (Check the comment thread for his post.)
(image from Rugs of War)
Outed as a spy! Say it ain't so Ryszard! (thanks to Anthony Easton for pointing this story out)
Oh well, the proof of his value is in the pudding (that being his magnificent writing). He now joins my rogues' gallery of authorities, full of serial rapists, saints, fascists, communists, liberals, romantics, pedants, spousal abusers, bad parents, ideologues, subversives, dictators, philosophers, oligarchs, autocrats, bank tellers and worse.
--sally mckay & L.M.
All the above images were taken by Joester.
I expected the Maker Fair to be good wholesome geeky fun, but I didn't expect it to give me teary-eyes and lumps-in-the-throat.
On the human-powered midway people flung themselves around in the air on beautiful gawky machinery using bicycle technology. It was fossil-fuel-free but in no way smug or preachy, just thrilling dang coolness and exciting fun that made me feel sort of nice about the future for once (albeit in a Russell Hoban kind of way).
There was also a huge hall full of tables, glue guns, trashed computer pieces, masses of other misc. bits of detritus and about 500 kids digging through piles and bending over their projects, completely absorbed in making some groovy weird shit. It reminded me of the Diorama Extravaganza, but on a massive scale. Could've stayed in there all day.
At the gates we were met with SRL-style fireballs that shook the ground and made you worry about your eyebrows. Also a multi-storey version of the old game Mouse Trap, very reminiscent of Der Lauf Der Dinge by Fischli and Weiss. Also a gi-normous walking giraffe-type thing with pretty LEDs and a fibre-optic tail. It talked when you petted its nose.
There's a bit of video here but it makes the rides and fireballs look much tamer than they really were.
Of course there was lots lots more. My favourite art-like presentation was a performance; a guy knitting a red scarf with big drum-stick sized needles, playing his drum kit in time as he knit (video). We also got to meet artist Phil Ross with his sad little plants in glass tubes, maintained with light and nutrients regulated to keep them alive but not growing. "Survive, not Thrive."
We were there for many hours, and didn't even get to see the doggie monorail. I wanna go again next year and help Rob Cruikshank man a booth. Rob, you gotta do it! More fun than anything else ever.
Note: joester and I had competing candidates for most geeky guy at the fair. There were a lot of people wandering around with tinfoil on their heads, but they didn't compare to the pony-tailed dude who'd made his own Segway (joester's pick) or to the white-short-shorts-wearing guy I'm championing, overheard telling a good looking young woman who was working a booth: "There's lots of information on the internet, just use Google."
Happy Victoria Day, Dear Little Blog People!!!!
From general-anaesthesia.com:
"Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert first took an interest in chloroform in 1848. However, her physicians had grave reservations about the safety of obstetric anaesthesia. Victoria's seventh delivery, Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942), took place in 1850 without the aid of an anaesthetic.
The Queen's senior physician, Sir James Clark ("a walking medical calamity"), was especially dubious about the innovation and its low-born users. However, The Prince Consort was remarkably well-informed about anaesthesia and pain-relief. In early April 1853, Prince Albert first summoned its leading English practitioner for an interview at Buckingham Palace. Four days later, on 7th April 1853, the man who made "the art of anaesthesia a science", Dr John Snow, administered chloroform for the birth of Prince Leopold. Snow did so again for the birth of Princess Beatrice in 1857.
"Her Majesty is a model patient", declared Dr Snow. He refused to disclose any more details despite many importunate inquiries from the Queen's loyal subjects."
The only things more wonderful than a Queen or Horse painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (who was able to paint with both hands at the same time, for example, paint a horse's head with the right and its tail with the left, simultaneously..)
...are the doggies.
I'm comfortable categorizing that last Landseer as a dog since the lion's head was obviously plonked onto the body of a Golden Lab [you may discuss this subject amongst yourselves]
some 20th century Italian opera, based on John the Baptist,
image sourced by Anthony Easton
CAMP WILL SAVE US ALL: Curated by Rachel E. McRae
for the insideout video festival
Monday, May 21, 3:30pm
at the NFB, 150 John Street, Toronto
In the midst of tabloid breakdowns and reality TV confessions, Camp comes to the rescue! When artifice reveals more than documentary, I say to hell with virtual reality, gimme fiction!
Nikki Forrest and Nelson Henricks, My Heart is the Devil
Satan is in your video!
Diane Wilkins, Cremmate: Muffy
Your loved ones aren't just in your thoughts; they're in your coffee.
Mark Kennith Woods, Designer Gays
These perky, offensive stereotypes will feng-gay your straight way!
Wayne Yung, Asian Boyfriend
Lonely? Just call 1-800-ASIAN BOYFRIEND!
Kent Monkman, Group of Seven Inches
"I have for many years contemplated the race of the white man "
Shawna Dempsey & Lorri Millan, Lesbian National Parks and Services: A Force of Nature
The dutiful, do-gooder Lesbian Rangers cheerfully educate the public on their activities and the preservation of the natural queer world.
Peter Kingston, Join The Army
A very persuasive recruitment campaign.
Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay Uropop
Sometimes after a long night of dancing, a boy just needs a bit of refreshment.
Steve Reinke, Regarding the Pain of Susan Sontag (Notes on Camp)
It's all done in post.
George Kuchar, Song of the Whoopee Wind
To Godzilla, to house pets, to good old familiar friends; George Kuchar sends his well wishes to all creatures real and manufactured.
John Forget, Renew
Some "cliches" will always be worth fighting for.
David Weissman, Beauties Without A Cause
A bombshell, waitress, hairdresser and devout Catholic decide to go for a nice little drive.
...and since we're on this topic:
I only started watching Dancing With The Stars because I wanted to see if Heather Mills' prosthetic leg would fly off.
It's OK, we're cousins. (no we aren't)
I gotta plug a bunch of events coming up soon...
York Quay Galleries are having one of their multi-exhibition space openings on Thursday. Crystal Mowry will be showing the next phase of her installation, Ongoing Ideal Forms (After Versailles). It's a must-see.
opening: May 17th, 6 pm 9 pm 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
On Friday night, Jim Munroe and a team of editors are screening their "lo-fi sci-fi no-budget feature" Infest Wisely. I've seen a rough-cut and it's a hoot. Here are some details:
The advance screening on Friday May 18th, 7pm, at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue, s. of St. George Station) is sponsored by celtx.com, projectwonderful.com and theculturalgutter.com. $5 gets you admission, a limited-run 1" button, and a nanite-enhanced treat. http://infestwisely.com for the trailer and more info.
Next week on Thursday, May 24, I'll be moderating a panel for Subtle Technologies called Art, Science, and the Emotional Response. Some of the panelists are scientists, some are artists, all are heavily involved with microbiology. Come out and hear what Oron Catts, Abigail Salyers, Michael G. Schmidt and Jennifer Willet and Shawn Bailey of Bioteknica have to say to one another. Here are some details:
Thursday May 24 2007
8PM
Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
Auditorium
100 McCaul Street, Toronto
Admission $10 or included in Festival pass
And...my artist brother Joe McKay is graduating from Berkeley this week with his MFA. Congratulations Joester!
Carlo Cesta: International House of Sunshine
May 17 June 23, 2007
Opening Thursday, May 17, 6-9 pm
International House of Sunshine 2007
steel, metal garage door, plexiglass, 7 x 8 x 8
Chateau Blue 2006-07
chromed steel, metal garage door, plexiglas, 8' X 7' X 7'
Insulated Shed 2006-07 aluminum, metal garage door, plexiglas, 6' X 8' X 14'
(an earlier post on his work)
Jennifer McMackon wrote about Carlo Cesta in a recent issue of Big RED & Shiny.
Fuse Magazine launch tonight: 7 pm, at Smiling Buddha Bar (961 College Street, Toronto). Screenings curated by Jonathan Culp start at 8 pm.
Don't go! Something horrible will happen!
I got a strange email offering readers of this blog a 10% discount on tickets for this event. Knock yourselves out!
LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS
AMJAD
CHOREOGRAPHER ΙDOUARD LOCK
The romantic ballet as it has never been seen before!
We are pleased to partner with The Hummingbird Centre to offer this unique discount to La La La Human Steps newest creation, AMJAD at The Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts for one night only on Tuesday, May 15, 2007.
Simple select one of 3 ways to purchase tickets to AMJAD and quote the discount code PRLALA to receive a discount:
CALL Ticketmaster at 416-872-2262 and quote PRLALA to receive your discount
ONLINE at www.ticketmaster.ca in the promotions and special offers box please input the discount code PRLALA to receive your discount
IN PERSON at The Hummingbird Centre Box Office, quote the discount code PRLALA when purchasing your ticket at the window
Thicket 2: Stranded
by Sally McKay and Von Bark
at Fly Gallery until the end of May
(1172 Queen Street West, Toronto)
best viewed after dark
The Movement Movement (Jessica Rose & Jenn Goodwin) : Run the ROM
9:30AM, Saturday May 12, 2007, Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queens Park, Toronto
new work by Lorna Mills curated by Cheryl Sourkes
at akau inc. 1186 Queen Street West, Toronto, Canada
April 13, 2007 - June 9, 2007
L to R Bletchingly, Infomint, Lucky Hubble 2007 MFD, latex paint, video
Last night Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham's documentary, Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, was on TVO. Has anyone else seen it? SPOILERS ALERT. I found it pretty gripping and pretty upsetting. Christina Zeidler, local artist and the hotel's manager (and a woman I've known since she was a kick-ass young sprite doing Petzine and the brilliant "Domestication is Resignation" animal stickers with her pals), gave amazing interviews, very honest and sometimes hard to watch.
Anyone who's been around the Queen West scene for awhile is probably going to feel implicated. The crux of the story is the transition of a flop-house and neighbourhood watering hole staffed by working class women, into a hopping boutique hotel and city-wide art venue. The development started when the place was sold to a partnership, the Tippins and the Zeidlers. The Tippins seemed to be pretty uninterested in the welfare of the residents, focussed on preserving the building as a piece of heritage architecture. The Zeidlers, who eventually took over full ownership, had a much more ambitious plan, which was to keep the residents and bring in artists and art audiences, slowly renovating and maintaining a space where these two classes could co-exist.
But it turned out that the building was in such bad repair that slow renovation was not an option. Also, members of the staff were not really comfortable with the increasing art crowd.
Eventually, Christina Zeidler had to implement the very hard decision to relocate the residents. The Zeidlers worked to make the transition as easy as possible, helping financially, and helping secure new places to live. Meanwhile the bars and stages downstairs were filling up with young and beautiful art people. (Not being particularly young nor beautiful, I am nonetheless part of that crowd.)
Roemer and Graham give us intimate profiles of one of the residents, and one of the staff members. The resident is Marianne, a frail but charismatic hoarder who is eventually forced to leave (I don't know by whom) because roaches are running through all her stuff. In a series of heart-breaking scenes she packs her overwhelming things into garbage bags and piles as much as she can into a taxi while the filmakers try to help.
The staff member is Marilyn, a chamber maid who's been there for many many years and cares a lot about the residents, to the extent that she buys sheets and curtains and art for the rooms at yard sales, out of her own pocket. Throughout the film we see her losing faith in the place, which is physically falling apart. Eventually, crying, she tells the camera that she's planning to retire.
I admire Christina for her ideals, and for the courage she showed in facing her role when she had to let some of those ideals go. But the whole thing is super sad. Christina spoke passionately about how the former residents are "remembered" at the Gladstone. It's hard not to see their shadowy former presence as a kind of value-added feature for the artists who have taken over, much like the shadowy former presence of artists is a selling point for condos sold as genuine "artists lofts." (And much like the residents' actual presence in bar was a draw in the early days. You know the way that artists tends to gravitate towards a really great "seedy" bar full of "neighbourhood characters".)
I don't know who rents rooms at the Gladstone now. Do poor people still stay there? Are there any long-term residents? The rates before the transition were cheap for hotels, but high compared to rent (Marianne was paying $1500 a month for a single room!). Would it be financially possible to keep the rooms open to poor folk and the bars open to artists? I'm very curious.
Even if it was possible to balance the books, however, I supsect that the ongoing grinding demands of working with poverty on a daily basis are not terribly compatible with the work of running a successful culture destination. I wouldn't be able to do it. The Zeidlers are ethical and committed and honest about the issues they face. They also partake in an activist role in urban development issues beyond their own buildings. I really admire them for all of that. And it's partly because of their honesty that Roemer and Graham are able to show us the heart-breaking damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspects of the Gladstone story. That's better than burying it!
Note: I knew that Leah Sandals, an art n' politics writer whom I admire, had some good strong opinions on this doc, and so I intentionally wrote this before I read her review. It's here.
There is another review of the film here by S. James Wegg.
Both of the above reviewers cut the Zeidlers less slack than I do. I can't extricate myself enough to condem the power politics of the situation with such clarity. But I very much appreciate both writers' points of view.
Jennifer McMackon: Now and Next Minute Curated by Christopher Brayshaw
CSA Space, #5 - 2414 Main Street, Vancouver, B.C., May 5 to June 3
Venice Rose 2003 Now and Next Minute Upside Down Reversal Photograph
Fairy Castle 2004 Now and Next Minute Upside Down Reversal Photograph,
Monica Tap: Sιance at Margaret Thatcher Projects, 511 W. 25th street Suite 404,
New York, May 10-June 16, 2007, Reception: Thursday, May 10th, 6 - 8 pm
From the Train I 2005 oil on Canvas, 58 x 73 in
Homer Watson Blvd (pickup) 2007 oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
Homer Watson Blvd 2006 oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
Homer Watson Blvd (phone booth) 2007 oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
Homer Watson Blvd (flurry) 2007 oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
In an earlier comment thread there was some discussion about Re-enchantment, a recent panel at the Art Institute of Chicago on art and religion (with Thierry de Duve, Boris Groys, David Morgan, Kajri Jain, Wendy Doniger, and James Elkins). In the comment thread Matthew Ballou, a faith-motivated artist who "spent a good number of sleepless nights on the ninth floor of that very same building in various states of woe over the issues under consideration by this panel" posted this link to a paper he wrote in response to the event. The paper is interesting, and I felt it was worth a front-page post. I am not a faith-motivated artist, but I very much appreciate the opportunity to hear about the "exclusion of spirituality from academic discussions of modernism and postmodernism" from the perspective of someone who is. Here are two bits that particularly gave me food for thought.
Simply put, the work of art that has the least potential for transgressing the self-conceived autonomy of the viewer is one most able to gain approval. The work that functions more as a sign than as a symbol is far closer to approval, since the sign tends to present itself to the autonomous self for review, whereas the symbol announces itself as avatar of a broader, even universal, conception which bears with it a kind of jurisdiction over the self.There is another response posted here, as well as readings submitted by some of the panelists.
[...]
Why is religio-spiritual content subject to the evaluation of theory and not the other way around? The problem with this arrangement is that theory denigrates practice by the expression of its critique. That is, the form of its existence is a questioning of praxis, hence the eternal strain inherent in the attempt to bridge the theory of a phenomena and the actuality of it. Any analysis of a particular practice, rather than reifying it, particularizes it in a hierarchical structure where the analysis plays the dominant roll of overseeing other. Thus by virtue of its own critical action, the theory of a discrete application becomes the arbiter of the value of that system. This is where the fundamental power of critique comes into existence. A theory of religious or faith-motivated art, then, must be a kind of violence exacted upon that art, for in its attempt to quantify, qualify, name, and place the systems and functions of that art, the theorizing acts as a systolic element that compresses the potentiality of anything it has defined. This is perhaps the fatal flaw of the Re-Enchantment panel: that their words could not seem to traverse the gulf between the disqualifying otherness of critique and the gut-wrenching, heart-felt arena of making artworks. They could not connect with the practice of making contemporary religio-spiritual art in any full measure; most of their time was spent describing it.
Standing Wave #3 2007 Digital C-Print, 50" x 74"
Standing Wave #10 2007 Digital C-Print, 50" x 74"
Andrew Wright: Water's Edge opens at Peak Gallery, 23 Morrow Ave. Toronto
on Thursday May 2, 4 to 8 pm.
I recently posted images of Andrew's previous work.
I've been on the board at Art Metropole for a couple of years now. For anyone who doesn't know, it's an artist-run centre that "specializes in contemporary art in multiple format: artists books, multiples, video, audio, electronic media, and so on." Art Metropole was founded by the Canadian artists' collective General Idea in the early 70s. Ann Dean is the director, and she's been with the institution in various capacities for a long time. Back in the early 90s I took some of my artists' books and flyers to Art Metropole to see if they might sell them on consignment. Ann was one of the first people to show enthusiasm for my work after I left school, and Art Metropole's support gave me tons of confidence. It also gave me a huge opportunity, as Michelle Jacques, curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario, saw my stuff there and subsequently gave me a major show in the AGO's Present Tense series.
There are tons of artists like me, working in strange media with queer and quirky concepts, who find interest, enthusiasm and distribution for their work at Art Metropole. Like Michelle, and countless other curators, collectors, writers, editors and artists, I have always gravitated there to browse and chat whenever the art system started to offer too much sameness and I was thirsty for something inspiring, smart and strange. It's also an incredible archive for all kinds of ephemera, posters, videos and books that give a tangible manifestation to the multi-farious history of conceptually-driven art.
Right now, the institution is setting up a second home in Second Life. Artist Ian Murray, (Ian Ah, in SL) is spearheading the project, and there are already artists gathering at the new space from all over the world. There's some reporting on the progress here, and a big opening event coming soon.
Art Metropole is currently publishing a new series of artists' multiples, the FWD Editions. Geoffrey Farmer's "Signs, Statements and Proclamations" launches this Friday. I hope everyone can come! (Friday May 4th @ 7pm - 10pm, 788 King St. West, Toronto)
Geoffrey Farmer, Signs, Statements and
Proclamations [Production Photo]
Below are images from the other artists in the series so far.
Derek Sullivan, Law & Order
(February 2007 - April 2007) [in progress]
Lucy Pullen, Infinite Outfit, Strip 4, 2005
Brian Jungen, Untitled, 2006
Wave 71 2004 Acrylic on board, 36 x 36 in.
Angela Leach : Abstract Repeat Series opens at Wynick Tuck Gallery,
401 Richmond St. W., Suite #128, Toronto on Saturday, May 5th, 2 to 5pm