Von Bark's Top Ten Aesthetic Events of 2003 (links by SM)

1. Royal Art Lodge & Guy Maddin double-header at Harbourfront: The R.A.L. pretty well defined the "throw tons of small stuff against the wall and let the viewer sort it out" concept, which is a concept I like alot. And I have also noticed several shows this year at Katherine Mulherin's various gallerys which reflect this approach, and I enjoyed all of them, also alot. The R.A.L. reaffirm that despite any imperfect experiences we may have had in the past, the process of collaboration is still an inherently holy one.
   
   As for Guy Maddin, well, the guy is just a f*cking genius. He knows how to build an idea which is tons stranger than anything I could possibly imagine, and then proceed to execute it in an even more astonishingly inconceivable manner. Every time I see one of his movies, I think: "He couldn't possibly top this". Then he does.
   
   
2. Scott Carruthers 'Oroborous' at KM-Bus: SC is my main man, in my personal opinion the most under-rated artist on my street, although we note that Hive Magazine recently gave him a well-deserved rave review. He fuses together the past, the present, & the future in a brutal short-circuit, and the sparks fly.
   
   
3. Fabienne Lasserre at Luft: Now this is right up my alley: interpretations of Classic Hellenic Mythology, rendered in vivid wacky bent Miro-esque pop-art styles, using colour schemes which alternate between subtle understatment and jarring glare. Cool.
   
   
4. Tyler Clarke Burke at Sis Boom Bah: the design mastermind behind the 'Three-Gut' look continues lots of interesting experiments lately. Keep looking.
   
   
5. Some Owls at Zsa-Zsa: I walked by the window a couple of days ago, and it was full of freakin' Owls! If you know Andrew Harwood, call him up and ask him to look at my web-page: Amazing and Important Owl Facts You Should Know. Then convince him to print it out and staple it to the wall. I probably should ask him myself, but I don't really know him that well and I feel a bit shy. Maybe I will get around to asking him... by the time the show closes. (note: if you look in the window of Tern Art Supplies beside the doorway, you will see a really cool small Teutonic Owl affixed there).
   
   
6. The Man Without a Past, a fine Finn Film by Aki Karismaki: For some reason which is not known, I did not get out to watch very many movies this year, but this one I did see, and the profound understatement of it haunted me for days afterward. I think one of Aki's main themes here is: Compassion is not expressed in words, but in actions. The characters seem mostly incapable of communicating through language, but that's okay, because they DO care, and that is the important thing. One of Aki's sub-themes suggests that The Salvation Army might be more than just a mundane religious/charity organization, but actually a sort of divine art-cult inspired by American Rockabilly. Now that is a fascinating idea.
   
   
7. Freeshow Seymour screening at the Gladstone: charming short films and animations which get the balance right: it IS okay be both funny and sad! My favourite is 'Patterns'; & if you see C.Ziedler ask her if the audio was meant to fade out before the end; John Porter told me that he thinks it is intentional.
   
   
8. Toronto Politics: After decades of stagnation and confusion, the government in the city where I live began flirting with the concept of Democracy. What a novelty.
   
   
9. The Langley Schools Music Project: the charming and erudite David Wisdom, broadcasting from the West Coast for CBC, is one of the few disc jockeys to have a distinctive effect on my music listening habits. He turned me on to this brilliant stuff. Okay, it was from 1976-1977, but I heard it in 2003. "Angels love enthusiasm far more than perfection".
   
   
10. 'The Prague Visitor' by Number 11 Theatre: an imaginative summoning of the spirit of Franz Kafka, which perfectly compresses literature, history, theatrics, gymnastics, dance, puppetry, and cooly efficient minimalist special effects into an adorably digestible experience. I love these guys and gals. I do not get out to see live theatre much, but we also enjoyed Neccessary Angel's reading of Euripides' 'Bacchae' (where the beseiged King Penthius tries in vain to hold back the tide of Dionysian rapture sweeping his realm, and perhaps inadvertantly but most sublimely communicates that tragicomic sense of wounded pride and humiliation which 'The Kids in the Hall' were so good at conveying).

Unfortunately, for me the biggest Art-Story this year was a tragedy: A dead pigeon was found in the park, and Lola' Magazine folded. It is not just that hardly a week goes by when I still see something interesting and say to myself: "That would make a good shotgu-...oh.", it is also that I have linked the development of my creative identity along with the evolution of the pigeon, and the loss has shook me personally. But we move on. I also really miss Catherine Osborne's politely crafted replies to my often daft story proposals. Maybe someday, I might post some rough drafts of the ideas which didn't fly, for a good laugh. And if you hold your breath waiting... you might turn blue.

(& speaking of local magazines, what the heck is going on with Exclaim!? Are their editors high or just retarded? First they git rid of their comix section, then they git rid of 'BlaB'. Maybe they think that if they remove all the fun stuff, then people might take them more seriously as a voice of critical culture. I think that people will just think that they are more boring). Von Bark 2003