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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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There's an interesting "but is it art?" thread going on here.
Thanks to Ben for sending me this link to funny movie reviews a website called Exile for English-speaking, currently-living-in-Moscow, ex-pats from around the globe.The reviews are a larf and there's a great rant about Kill Bill.
Thanks also to Joe for running the stunningly popular prereview site. Some recent posts include Stepford Wives, Scooby Two, and Cheaper by the Dozen. Write 'em and read 'em cause what's good for one is good for us all.
These are my 'whatever, I do what I want' years. No progeny bugging me for shoes or college funds, parents healthy and independent, hormone levels basically stable. I'm sittin pretty in a plethora of bachelor girl delights. I am aware, however, that there's a tradeoff: my geriatric years will be spent without any guilt-ridden younger people to do things for me. But I'm a responsible adult - I have a plan! I'm gonna need internet, a toilet, a bed, a window, booze, and some neighbourhood kids I can bribe to get me smokes and tins of beans. For the past ten years I've had my eye on the Parkview Arms (above) as the perfect seedy downtown rooming house for my sunset days. Imagine my concern when all the other biggish buildings in the neighbourhood have turned into $400,000 condo blocks! Where are we losers supposed to go? But check it out - the Parkview Arms just upgraded their image to match their fancypants neighbours with a classy new neon sign, and a lick of shiny brown paint. Hang in there Parkeview Arms, my retirement plans are still a go!
The TPSC is opposed to billboards and corporate ads, much in favour of postering and under-the-official-radar public art. The pole full of staples is a recurring theme, and makes a nice visual metaphor for public interaction. Unfortunately the articles in this first issue tend toward the overly-ernest-and-slightly-boring end of the urban activism scale. But there's a lot of talent on the Spacing team, and I suspect these problems will get worked out over time.
Last night I went to an informal slide show by Toronto artists who participated in the Havana Biennial. Bill Burns, who has been making tiny safety gear for small animals, created this kit for the biennial. It's a miniature version (the flip-flops are about 3 inches long) of everything that prisoners are given in Guantanamo Bay. The kit includes, bedding, an orange boiler suit, buckets, the Koran, a prayer cap, flip-flops, a foam sleeping mattress, soap, and a toothbrush. Unfortunately, when Bill arrived in Cuba, the organizers became worried about the piece, and he was asked to show his safety gear instead. He complied, and "accepted that the small animals of Cuba have as much right to safety gear as small animals in Canada." Last night Bill made a great presentation about the whole affair, speaking as a representative of the Safety Gear for Small Animals company, with an i-photo slide show behind him of street dogs in Havana. He displayed his Guantanamo case for us, and kindly let me take some pictures.
I have been a big fan of Bill Burns since I first saw his great little art book, Analgesia, years ago at Printed Matter in New York. The book takes the form of a promotional publication, or annual report for a pill mine and factory, with full colour photos of little tiny men digging pills out of the ground and loading them onto trucks and conveyor belts.
Quote from Analgesia: "Animal testing is out of the question; samples of product are scientifically tested for acidity, taste, efficacy, and possible non-analgesic properties before being allowed into the Inert Halcyon Sector (IHS). The IHS is often called the first line of defence against chronic pain."