War in London
Went to see the opening at Museum London on Friday night, without many expectations. I was surprised to find myself completely transported, taken out of myself by a new way of remembering and understanding the world. And I guess it’s that experience you’re looking for whenever you head out into the night.
Not that it was necessarily a pleasant transport. The Museum is a warzone these days. I went first to see the exhibit in the lower Forum Gallery, “Front by Front.” The first piece you notice is a pile of blue fabric balls piled in the center of the room. Along one wall is a row of shredded combat uniforms: sobering. Then on the back wall is a large format photograph of a row of women in combat uniform running across the tarmac of a landing strip in Kandahar. They look familiar, goofy, uncertain about whether they should smile or not. They are somehow very poignant.
The piece that will probably stay with me was a series of photographs of some kind of institutional looking place: metal doorframes, old rotary dial telephones, Teletype machines, plastic orange chairs from the sixties. The whole series was evocative but kind of mystifying until I read the explanation at the side. The photos depicted the “Diefenbunker” (http://www.diefenbunker.ca/), a nuclear fallout shelter built by the government during the height of the Cold War. And in fact it was the explanation that really attracted me. My obligatory Canadian history classes had given me the impression that Diefenbaker was kind of a putz, but it seems that the man tried to stand up to Kennedy by refusing (after some flip-flopping) to allow nuclear warheads on Canadian soil. After dealing with two non-confidence votes in Parliament, the resignation of his Defense Minister, and a dedicated smear campaign in the American media, the electorate ended up voting him out (it was our much-lionized man of peace Lester Pearson who ended up accepting the warheads). Standing up for principles at the cost of his political career, AND he was a Conservative. Damn, I thought, Dief had balls.
With balls in mind, I turned back to look at the exhibit in the middle of the room and it occurred to me that “blue balls” has some very particular connotations. I wandered over to read the explanation for that piece, which turned out to have nothing to do with lust. The balls were made with sheets from Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala. I felt kind of bad for my naughty assumptions, but seriously, that message is really mixed or missing from the piece itself. I’m sure the artist was well intentioned, but I don’t feel there was a real attempt to grapple with the subject. I may be more than usually critical though. I’ve spent a lot of time in Western China, and managed to pick up Mandarin and a smattering of Kham Tibetan. I have a lot of sympathy and affection for my Tibetan friends, but it’s a complicated issue that deserves a bit of research if you’re going to address it, artistically or otherwise.
I heard the sounds of microphone-enhanced speaking above, and followed the crowd upstairs. The curator said a few words, then introduced the star of the evening: artist and photojournalist Larry Towell. Towell has won every photography award you can think of, and is a humble, wry, and passionate speaker. His introduction to his exhibit, “Danger and Aftermath,” is a long list of thanks: thanks to Ronald Reagan for the Cold War; thanks to weapons manufacturers for putting a machine gun in every home in the Middle East; thanks to the CIA for trying to turn Latin America into a smoldering landscape of debris. Afghanistan, he tells us, has more land mines than any country in the world. It’s a country full of people with missing limbs.
And his exhibit upstairs includes photos of amputees and prosthetic limbs. It sounds hackneyed until you see it yourself. It’s an Afghanistan (and Palestine) that you don’t see in news reports. It challenges you to imagine what it must be like to live daily in a landscape of rubble and immanent violence. Photos of men arrested because they were family members of a man accused of planting a bomb, profile and frontal shots of their faces. The man at the bottom doesn’t even look into the camera, his eyes are cast downwards in a recognizable look of indifference and resignation. It’s all happened so many times.
The daily-ness of war is even more evident in the exhibit beside Towell’s photos, “Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan.” (link). When the curator was describing the exhibit, I imagined it was the brainchild of some NGO trying to empower women to tell their stories. No, these rugs are made by unknown weavers, given to husbands or brothers, passed on, traded, dealt, until they ended up in this remarkable exhibit. It gives them an air of authenticity: these are real attempts by these anonymous women to express what is happening around them. And war is literally woven into the fabric of their lives. The rugs show tanks, helicopters, the hideously named and designed “butterfly” landmines. Men and children with limbs being torn off, oddly but resonantly bringing to mind early computer games in their pixelated simplicity. There was one of an airplane flying into the World Trade Center, but a lot of these rugs were made before 9/11. It struck me very viscerally that Afghanistan has been a battleground since 1979. Anyone under the age of 33 has never known anything other than a state of war. The median age in Afghanistan is 18.2 years.
Has war become normal for them? It has become background to us (Oh right, Afghanistan. Are we still there?). It’s good to be reminded how abnormal it is. And art is able to express the affect, the emotion, the experience of this expansive and unraveling world in a way that gets missed by media sound bites. But I’m not sure what to do with this excess of affect now. What is someone like Larry Towell trying to convey, and who is he speaking to? Most people don’t spend their evenings at the Museum. I guess you can ask the same question of all art. And the old answer to everything, incomplete and harsh as it is, is that you do it because you have to.
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Pop Culture events that have sent me into an emotional spiral
Let’s get this out of the way. I am a little too obsessed with pop culture. I realize my own problem, so there is no need to shame me.
Did Justin Bieber get a new hair cut? What inspired said haircut? When he gets up in the morning does he style with Maple Syrup in ode to his Canadian heritage – these are all things I NEED to know. And once I become aware of said knowledge I need to reiterate it all to my office mates and text all of my friends. I like to think it is an endearing quality versus annoying.
I seem to take tragedies that occur in the wondrous tinsel town world a little too seriously. I think it’s because I have problems dealing with my personal emotions, so when Kim Kardashian gets divorced I use it as an excuse to bubble out all of my personal anger and grief in the name of a Kardashian tradgedy. My therapist says I need to take accountability for my own emotions instead of pinning the root of my feelings on people that I haven’t even met and situations that don’t remotely affect me… and if I had a therapist they would also say that I am a compulsive liar.
With that being said, here are a few examples pop culture events that have sent me into an emotional downward spiral:
Heath Ledger’s Death
Heath's career was soaring high in 2008. Brokeback Mountain was made a couple of years prior and he just finished up his work with the The Dark Knight with his chilling portrayl of The Joker. It was an indicator of great movies that would have come from him. But Heath will forever be ingrained in my memory as Patrick Verona from ’10 Things I Hate About You’. The day he died I had just sloshed back to the college news room after a ridiculous 12 hour day covering the absurdities at City Hall. Needless to say I was not the most emotionally stable at the time. I walked in to a group of people (who knew of my unnatural fondess for celebrity lore) asking me “Have you heard the news?” What news? Did our Nazi program director finally quit? No, it was something unimaginably terrible - “Heath Ledger’s dead!” someone finally announced.
I brushed it off as a sick joke. I laughed, but promptly sat down at a computer to bring up Perez Hilton.com. Then I was slapped in the face with the sick pink headline “HEATH LEDGER DEAD!”
I ran outside and called my mom… and cried. And then I proceeded to do a live to air on the radio through tears, no, not about Heath. About whether strippers should be paying taxes or whatever minute issue they spent three hours debating at City hall (I am nothing but professional – take note potential employers!). I went home and fell asleep with tears drying on my face while watching Heath run across bleachers singing ‘I Love You Baby’ in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.
The White Stripes break up
I have been a huge fan of The White Stripes since I was 15 years old. They are tied for my favourite band of ALL TIME with The Beatles. I am so dedicated to the White Stripes' music that I have a tattoo in ode to their greatness. The White Stripes had been on hiatus for about two years. Part of it was Meg White was dealing with anxiety issues and Jack was busy with side projects (The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather) and building his empire, Third Man Records, in Nashville.
But through it all I kept hope that soon they would release a new album and go back on tour.
One day in my twitter feed, a promising chirp of a tweet appeared - Jack White makes White Stripes Announcement. "This is it! A new album!" My hands trembled with anticipation as I opened the link.
"The White Stripes Break Up!" screamed the headline. I read the story about 5 times. No matter how amicable the split was, it still meant no more White Stripes music - ever. I was at work so I felt I had to keep it together. I quietly got up from my desk and walked calmly to the bathroom and proceeded to bawl...for 15 minutes. My office mates probably thought I was taking a giant dump, but we are pretty close, so I was comfortable with them thinking that.
Later that day I went in to talk to my boss and was clearly dishevled and not paying attention. "Sorry," I apologized. "The White Stripes broke up - I mean the greatest of rock acts to my generation..." I stopped myself from rambling when I was met with a blank, disapproving stare.
After escaping to the privacy of my own home to properly mourn, I surrounded myself on social media with people who felt the same, and we shared our grief. I also filled my emotional void with Taco Bell.
**Sidenote - I always told myself if I met Jack White I would tell him what a huge mistake he made by letting The White Stripes disinegrate (And that I love him with every ounce of my being... too much?). In reality when coming face to face with Jack White I could only sweat and hyperventialte... However, I think he understood the emotions I was trying to convey at that time. If there is ever a White Stripes reunion – you can thank me.
Michael Jackson's Death
I was never a devout Michael Jackson fan. I loved his music, and had a few records, but I never bought a replica thriller glove on eBay. Regardless, this was a sad day for Deanne. I feel like I had an emotional attachment to Michael Jackson - I have always championed for MJ. Throughout his trials and tribulations, myself and Macauly Culkin have always believed in Michael's innocence.
After I heard the news of his passing, I cracked open a bottle of wine and collapsed on the couch. I watched CNN for about three hours and cried. And not just a small wimper of a cry, but full out balling to the point where I couldn't catch my breath.
My one roommate came out to check on me. "Deanne you're being silly. It's just Michael Jackson, it will be okay!"
"You don't understand!" I wailed. I wanted to punish her for not understanding my emotions. "Anderson Cooper is gay - he will never love you!" Low-blow, but I am not the most rational person at the best of times, so this was a hairy situation.
After I had driven away everyone I loved, I eventually turned the channel to The Beast, Patrick Swayze's show. In this paticular episode Swayze was having a heart to heart with a young black child. In my drunken emotional state I interpreted it as Patrick Swayze telling young Michael Jackson that everything would be okay - but now I know it was actually young Michael Jackson telling Patrick Swayze he was next... (**None of this actually happens in any episode of The Beast... maybe I was just accessing the psychic powers I never knew possessed.)
AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys' fame marries
Every girl my age had a favourite Backstreet Boy member (or if you were a fan of the rival group *NSYNC, you loved Justin Timberlake). AJ McLean was one of my first loves. He was tattooed, died his hair, wore mesh shirts and sunglasses - he was my dream man from the ages of 10 to 15 (that's a lie - 10 to 25).
I stood by him when he went to rehab - I understood that life in the spotlight was hard. But we made it through that. There were still more albums, more concerts, and more occassions of me screaming my voice raw professing my love.
When AJ was off the coke and put on a bit of pudge, I still loved him – even when he went back to rehab. Although he obviously wasn't on cocaine so I don't know what that was for... regardless we made it though all these ups and downs.
Now in this day and age it is even easier to stalk celebrity loves because of social media. Through twitter I knew that AJ (aka @skulleeroz) had been seeing someone for awhile. Then one day it came out that he was engaged. "That's fine," I told myself. "Celeb engagements never last". But this one did. They went through with it.
The part that through me over the top was that all the BSB boys were there taking pictures of each other having a great time at what I feel should rightfully be my wedding. This was another instance where I grabbed a wine bottle (I'm not an alchoholic, I swear) and torchured myself by looking through pictures. I ended up curled around my computer singing 'Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely'. It was a low moment for me, and I feel closer to all of you now that I have shared it.
The Seperation of Heidi Klum and Seal
They have adorable children and had the best couple’s Halloween costumes. Remember the sinful Eve and Apple costume (Seal was Eve, priceless!). This was a couple that was going to go the distant and grow cute, hunched over and old together. They were a perfect couple - Heidi Klum is drop dead gorgous and ...German. And Seal has a voice that gives the feeling of kittens licking your eardrums as you eat cotton candy.
THIS was love! They filled me with hope that one day I would find someone that would wear crazy Halloween costumes with me and maybe one day we would make beautiful interracial babies. BUT NOW THERE IS NO HOPE! The day I found out of their seperation I went to the Humane Society and filled out papers to adpot 25 kittens so I could start my life as a crazy cat loving spinster (Joking). But seriously - I was proud as I only let myself have a moment of sadness. I listened to 'Kiss From a Rose' about 3 times while taking deep calming breaths. I kept it together, but in my heart it had been solidified, that if Heidi and Seal can't make it - no one can. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A LIFETIME OF LONELINESS, SUCKERS!
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There may be a few more, but I would like you all to see me as at least a partially sane person. And ladies are supposed to keep an air of mystery around them, amiright? *jauntily tips hat and makes abrupt exit*.
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Market Lane Redesign Almost There
The Vancouver based firm who won the contract called it Figure Ground, Kelly Pedro calls it a living room, I call it a step in the right direction for downtown London. The City of London has announced the winning submission for the desing competition of Market Lane. Hapa Collaborative, out of Vancouver, proposed a design that would allow the space to be used in all four seasons, in the day and the night and for cultural as well as utlitarian purposes. Key design features are the starry sky overhead lighting, illuminated orb seats and a bench inspired by the meander of the thames river.
I like the renderings, which can be seen in high resoultion, along with the four other designs on the city website - www.london.ca.
I'm curious to see how we're going to maintain this type of high quality public space, I dare say there should be a line in this year's budget specifically for maintaince and programming. What if there was plan for the programing and maintaince of the space all year round? How much would that cost? How much would that add to the experiene of downtown London?
As a former one-day resident of Market Lane (I even got pizza delivered) I know that changing the design is an important step but it's not the last one. I swept, tidied up, invited friends for lunch and baddminton, which played an important role in making the space feel right. A plan around maintaince and programming (movies, performers, ect) is necessary and should involve all the neighbours and stakeholders: Covent Gardne Market, Downtown London, City of London, Fanshawe College, and Market Tower. Could we find a space in this year's budget for the next step and keep this momentum going?
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2012 Mp3 Workout Mix
The 2012 Mp3 Workout Mix is Here!!
Compiled in this .Zip file are my 4, 2011 Mp3′s Mixes - Totaling 1.5 Hours of Music!
Propel your 2011 body into the 2012 body you want before summer hits! It’s always easier with music!
- Step 1. Download Workout Mix HERE {zip}
- Step 2. Load it on to your iPod/Mp3 Player!
Bands You’ll Hear:
Florence + The Machine, The Naked and Famous, Calvin Harris, Holy Ghost!, Chromeo, Hot Chip, Cut Copy, Penguin Prison, Foster The People, Handsome Furs, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix and More…
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Party Etiquette
The holiday season is upon us – that means Christmas parties, New Year’s parties and another year has passed and I haven’t accomplished anything with my life parties. I know some of you think that partying is a free for all for morals where you can throw rules to the wayside and get down with your bad self (or whatever you kids are saying these days to describe fun). Believe me, I understand. One of my mottos has always been gotta have nothing but a good time (which may or may not be a Poison lyric). However, no matter how jiggy you are about it get – there is always party etiquette that must be adhered to.
My lovely roommate (Krista Lee Mitchell) and I have compiled a short list of rules. Rules, which I assumed to most people would be common knowledge. But apparently some people have been raised in a forest by wolves.
*(These may or may not have been inspired by true events.)
1 – If you’re going to bring snacks – bring good snacks.
I once graciously welcomed new party guests into my home. They promptly handed me a bag with pride. “Ooo snacks, aren’t these awesome people. I am sure we will be BFFs” I thought naïvely. When I opened the bag I found Tiramisu in a soggy box, three Halloween sized chocolate bars and a Costco bag of Ruffle chips. Okay, listen people! If you are going to bring chips to a party, make sure they are flavored chips. If you are coming to my party, they better be dill pickle chips. If they are plain chips make sure there is dip to accompany them. We are not animals, Ruffle chips were not designed to be eaten alone. COMMON SENSE! When I am a party guest I always go the safe route, I forgo traditional snacks and bring wine, a gift of class. That six dollar bottle of wine will command more respect than plain Ruffle chips and tiramisu combined.
2 – Don’t bring guests that have to call their parents
An acquaintance once brought two young ladies to our party times. I’m all up for new peeps joining the party. But it makes me very uncomfortable when my roommate has to talk on the phone with a young girl’s mother and promise her that everything is going to be okay. You are forcing my roommate and I to lie in our own household, not cool. Because everything is not going to be okay. These (presumably)underage girls are going to go to a bar and get shit-faced and maybe engage in illicit actions. I can’t have those actions on my conscience. Please only bring guests to a party if they are legal age. Because it makes everyone uncomfortable and makes you look creepy.
3 – If you make a mess in my bathroom, clean it up
I know things can get a little sloppy. But if you make a mess in the bathroom, clean that shit up. Either figuratively or literally. And if you drop a bottle of vitamins in the toilet do not continuously flush until they go down. Because it gets stuck in the pipes and causes sewage to fill the bathtub and causes both tenants and landlord rage.
4 – Don’t have a threesome on your host’s couch
I know I have the sexiest couch known to man. The couch is so sexy it is commonly referred to as ‘Morris’. And if Morris was not an inanimate object he would be a man of Burt Reynold’s stature who smokes expensive cigars and swills scotch (Swill? Is that what one does with scotch?). So the blame is not completely on those engaging in the act. The shiny Zac Efron pillow only enhances said sexiness. I know it may take a lot of will power. But please DO NOT have a threesome on my couch. I really cannot stress this enough. If you break this rule, you have just broken all friendship boundaries. Also, the material on my couch causes rashes, so it really doesn’t work out for anyone. I like to call this Karma Rash, suckers.
5 – Do not trash your host's apartment
If you are past the point of no return. Go to sleep. If the party host made you a little bed on the couch and tucked you in, you better stay there until morning. Do not get up and wander my apartment. Do not go into my fridge, eat leftover chicken wings and leave the bones and sauce strewn around my kitchen. Do not open a bottle of my wine and drink it all. And please don’t go into my roommates room and try on her ballet slippers. It’s awkward for all parties involved.
6 – Back away from the stereo
If we are in my house, we are listening to my music. Be it death metal, Japanese boy bands or new age chanting, it’s my house and my party. Don’t touch my iPod or record player…. Ever.
7 – Drunk girls like to dance – don’t make it weird
I’m a white girl, and when I have a few too many wine spritzers I like to “whoop whoop” and dance badly, I’m a walking stereotype. And so are the majority of my friends. So if an impromptu kitchen girl dance party starts, don’t lurk in the corner and film it on your iPhone. This is creep-a-licious in the worst way possible. We are in a safe space! If we wanted to be objectified by dill holes we would have gone out to any of the sleazy clubs on Richmond Row.
Please take these helpful tips into consideration when at your next party - keep it classy. I'm sure your host will thank you.
Merry Christmas, kids!
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Favourite Albums of 2011
My Favourite Albums of 2011 (indie music) are categorized into 4 groups. Group A holds my absolute 1st Favourites, Group B – my 2nd Favourites and so on. LPs and EPs have been considered equally. These are Albums that I have listened throughout the year along with many singles from other bands who’s albums didn’t make the cut. You’ll hear those songs if you Follow me on Twitter or are a fan of my Facebook Playlist Page. Make sure you take some time out to listen to the bands below.
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{2o Mp3′s} Download the .ZIP file to get 1 song from every album mentioned below.
Favourite Alubms of 2011 {LPs and EPs} – 20 Mp3s
Artist / Album
Group A – 1st Favourites:
Cut Copy / Zonoscope
Florence + The Machine / Ceremonials
M83 / Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
Washed Out / Within And Without
Hooray For Earth / True Loves
Group B – 2nd Favourites:
The Generationals / Actor-Caster
Foster The People / Torches
Holy Ghost! / Holy Ghost!
The Vaccines / What Did You Expect From The Vaccines
Waylayers / Hear No Lies
Group C – 3rd Favourites:
Dum Dum Girls / Only In Dreams
French Films / Imaginary Future
John Maus / We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Lesands / Sweet Skin
The Black Keys / El Camino
Group D – 4th Favourites:
Active Child / You Are All I See
The New Division / Shadows
Handsome Furs / Sound Kapital
Radiohead / The King of Limbs
Neon Indian / Era Extraña
{2o Mp3′s} Download the .ZIP file to get 1 song from every album mentioned above.
Favourite Alubms of 2011 {LPs and EPs} – 20 Mp3s
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Tom Chamberlain is a DJ who plays New Indie & Alternative Dance Music within the Indie sub-genres of Rock, Pop, Electro, Surf, Funk and 60s Inspired music.
Living in London Ontario Canada, Tom has played venues including, the Morrissey House, APK Live! and the MET.
He currently DJs once a month at The Morrissey House for the Live DJ Event, called, “Pumped Up Kicks”.
Download MP3 Mixes:
http://soundcloud.com/tomchamberlain
Next Events:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pumpedupkicks
Get Indie Music in your News Feed:
https://www.facebook.com/pumpedupkicksplaylist
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Rebecca Belmore Billboard Project
Rebecca Belmore is one of Canada’s most important contemporary artists working today. She is at the center of a court case that is dealing with the rights artists have to their work once it enters the commercial gallery system.
I want to inform you of what is to happen in London on Thursday December 8 2011.
London, Ontario based-artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner proposed to Rebecca Belmore a billboard project. The unveiling of this project is happening on Thursday December 8, and everyone is invited! To begin at 6:30 pm, people will meet at the corner of Ridout and York St.
Later in the evening, Jamelie Hassan, Ron Benner and Rebecca Belmore will be in attendance for a concurrent event hosted by LOLA at Museum London.
I am not very legally minded nor do I know the correct legal terminology to use to tell you about the situation, I therefore, wrote to Randall Gray of the Rebecca Belmore Legal Fund and to Jamelie Hassan, one of the coordinators of this independent billboard project for LOLA 2011.
Rebecca Belmore Legal Fund: Randall Gray shared with me his personal opinion.
How are the rights of Canadian artists at risk if the court does not decide in Rebecca's favour?
There is a chance that once decided in Court, Rebecca's case could become a "precedent" for later cases involving similar facts and issues. In other cases where artists and their dealers have similar disagreements, either the artist or the dealer could point to Rebecca's case as the precedent that would decide their own case. If the Court supports the gallery's argument that only the gallery can end a contractual arrangement – not the artist, then other dealers may use this precedent to their advantage and the rights of artists would be diminished.
If the courts do decide in her favour how will this better the situation for Canadian artists?
The legal precedent would confirm that both artists and dealers are on an equal footing in contract law, and that a gallery's unilateral expectation of 'future revenues' is not a valid constraint on the artist in all artist/dealer agreements.
Why do you think the courts have allowed for this to go on?
Unfortunately, delays (adjournments) are very common in civil cases. This is one method by which the party with the more resources (i.e. money, power, time, corporate or establishment lawyers over independent or small firm lawyers, etc.) can exhaust the resources of the weaker party. There is typically a considerable power imbalance between dealers and artists that often results in artists capitulating to dealers in any legal dispute. Without the help of other artists and many sympathetic supporters, Rebecca would have not been able to fight this lawsuit for almost five years
What steps can be taken to ensure a gallery holds up their ends of contracts so that we can better protect the livelihoods of artists?
Artists want to have their work displayed, and they want to make money, and they often don't like the business side of art. As a consequence, artists are often overly anxious to be represented by dealers and they don't take steps to protect themselves. Dealers sometimes take advantage of artists and in any conflict it is usually the dealer that has the advantage of lawyers, more money and more credibility with the Courts.
Artists have to better protect themselves to "level the playing field". Here are three important steps to consider:
The first is to ensure that artists only enter into agreements that are defined in legally binding, written contracts. Far too many artists and dealers rely on 'handshake' agreements. Some dealers actually refuse to employ contracts – artists should strictly avoid this kind of arrangement. Should the artist / dealer relationship come into dispute, an oral agreement is of little use to the artist and the dealer almost always prevails in a legal battle. CARFAC has developed a legal contracts resource guide that is designed to help artists protect their rights (http://www.carfacontario.ca/~carfacon/services/books/ac).
Step two is for artists to be more actively aware of, and participate in, the business aspects of their relationship with dealers. Far too often artists rely on their dealer to take care of all that 'unpleasantness' related to the business of art. This deliberate detachment and ignorance of the business side of art puts artists in a vulnerable position should their dealer be less than ethical.
Step three: artists should be selective about the dealers they work with. The vast majority of dealers are honest business people and many are members of professional associations that set a high standard for ethics. Artists should likely only support dealers that are members in good standing of reputable professional associations (one such example is the Art Dealers Association of Canada http://www.ad-ac.ca/). Before doing business with a dealer, artists should ask around to determine whether that dealer has a good reputation among other artists. Too often, artists ignore or discount information that other artists have been 'screwed over' by the dealer in the past.
The second part of the interview was conducted with Jamelie Hassan:
If the courts do decide in her favour how will this better the situation for Canadian artists?
If Rebecca and her lawyer get this case resolved in her favour it should demonstrate that the commercial dealer has to be ethical in their dealings with artists. That artists should have the right to end their contractual agreement if they so desire. In many situations, we have seen that the gallery dealer can end their relationship with an artist without impunity at any time.
What steps can be taken to ensure a gallery holds up their ends of contracts so that we can better protect the livelihoods of artists?
I do not have much experience with commercial galleries – but I do comprehend when something is happening that is unfair and unreasonable to the situation of the artist. Artists need to have the courage to challenge unfair situations that arise between commercial galleries and artists – as Rebecca Belmore has done, at great cost to her creative work. I think the commercial art world in general is difficult to comprehend - the value of the artist’s work is not reflected in the financial transactions. Only rarely does that happen.
Why London? How do you connect with Rebecca Belmore's story?
Certainly, London, Ontario is a city whose history of activism has many examples – one obvious & relevant example is in the establishing of CARFAC- founded here in this city of London by Jack Chambers and other artists in 1968. Speaking out for the rights of artists and recognizing the value of our work was at the centre of this initiative that is today a national organization whose advocacy for the rights of artists has had an enormous influence. London’s early establishment of artist-run centres as well, is also part of this community’s cultural history, such as former artist initiatives, Region Gallery and 20-20 Gallery in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and Embassy Cultural House in 1980’s. The Forest City Gallery, founded in 1973, will be celebrating 40 years in 2013 which is an accomplishment for an alternative artist-run centre in Canada. All these efforts are part of what artists have done in the past to support each other.
To your knowledge, is London the first city outside of Vancouver which has offered support in this way?
Other communities across Canada have given support, besides Vancouver, both Toronto & Montreal have done support projects. BUT this is the first time though that the billboard format has been presented. The text for the billboard is based on a placard Rebecca used in her performance at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
How did you come to decide on a billboard project?
Ron Benner and I met up with Rebecca Belmore at the recent Aboriginal Curatorial Collective Conference held at OCAD in Toronto. It was Ron who suggested to Rebecca that we could do a billboard of the placard. On our return to London from Toronto we followed up & I sent out an email basically informing a few people we knew of the need to do something to give support to Rebecca at this crucial time. The response was very good.
Paul Walde and Andrew Francis saw this as an opportunity for LOLA to get involved. Andrew proposed the project be a LOLA independent project for 2012. Ron & I are the coordinators as you know & took on the responsibilities that entails.
Rebecca Belmore's performance outside the Vancouver Art Gallery 2010
Please come and support Rebecca Belmore! For more information visit http://rebeccabelmorelegalfund.com/
The event taking place at Museum London can be found here: http://londonfuse.ca/event/lola-2011-we-thank-you-we-party
This interview was Conducted by the FCG Intern: Jennifer Lorraine Fraser
Read more on the FCG intern's blog at: http://fcgintern.blogspot.com/
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An open letter to Jian Ghomeshi
An open letter to Jian Ghomeshi
On any day of the week, Museum London is abuzz with an array of artistic and historically-focused programs – which is why we always tune into Q to hear what is happening elsewhere in the worlds of art, culture and entertainment. When word spread that Q could come to our city, we thought we should tell you why London’s art and culture should be celebrated through your program.
When it comes to art and culture, Londoners have plenty to be proud of. In many ways, London is the cultural crèche of some of Canada’s most influential visual artists, and counts the likes of Paul Peel, Jack Chambers, Patterson Ewen, WalterRedinger, Bob Bozak, Robert Fones, Jamelie Hassan, Ron Benner, Kim Moodie, and of course, Greg Curnoe, among its citizens.
Our collection of artworks is admired by galleries and museums across the country and we regularly export our art and exhibitions so that audiences at the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Dalhousie Art Gallery, Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England and many others experience what we have in our community. As a unique partnership of both an art gallery and historical museum, Museum London is also the steward of London and region's material history. Look through our material culture collection and you see the captivating story of how London transformed from a hardworking town at the Forks of the Thames River to a vibrant city with a global point of view.
As much as we celebrate the past, Museum London also plays host to London's new generation of creators and patrons of art and culture. Through innovative programs such as Museum Underground and our concerts and events, we're providing new audiences unique ways to appreciate and celebrate the arts. London's vibrant community of working and emerging artists, including David Merritt, Jason Maclean, Kelly Jazvac and James Kirkpatrick, are able to find inspiration, connections, and a launching pad to the art world through our doors. Recent exhibitions such as Pulp Fiction, A(l)lure of the Local, Animal, and Barroco Nova, show the high calibre of works by these and other artists and the community.
We hope you choose to come to this impressive city and experience our rich and unique culture. If you bring Q to London, then you and your team are invited to come to our vaults for a private tour, to get up close and personal with 5,000 regional and Canadian works and 25,000 artifacts and see for yourself the treasures of this city. We would like nothing more than for you to talk about what is happening in London and help us in our mission of “Inspiring human experience through art and culture.”
Sincerely,
Museum London
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Review: "The Skin I Live In" at the Hyland Cinema
The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) is undoubtedly Pedro Almodóvar’s most dramatic and disturbing film to date. Based on Thierry Jonquet’s novel Mygale and fitting well within the tradition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark and other tales in which a mad scientist is physically, emotionally or symbolically destroyed by his own creation, Almodóvar’s latest film tells the frightening story of a talented surgeon and medical researcher who is on the quest to cultivate strong, practically undestroyable skin, skin that is resistant to malaria or burns.
Dr. Robert Ledgard (played by Antonio Banderas), whose wife killed herself after being severely burned in a car accident, eventually succeeds at his task by injecting human skin cells with the genetic material of a pig to create what he considers “the best skin in the world.” Of course, in order to test and develop this sort of illegal transgenetic technology, Dr. Ledgard requires a patient, Vera (played by Elena Anaya). For the greater part of the film, Vera’s identity remains a mystery. Trapped in a comfortable room in Dr. Ledgard’s castle, she reads, does yoga, makes sculptures and appears to grow more and more beautiful each day. The viewer, who cannot help but be seduced by the beautiful captive, is sickeningly and disturbingly surprised when the truth of Vera’s identity and the key to Almodóvar’s twisted story is finally revealed.
The Skin I Live In Trailer 2011
Unlike what the film’s title may evoke, The Skin I Live In is in no way about female vanity or plastic surgery. Like many of Almodóvar’s films, it deals with false appearances, sex, and the transitory or performed nature of gender. There are echoes of Talk To Her (Hable con ella): the villain/caretaker falls in love with his patient and uses his position of power to take advantage of her. Almodóvar returns as well to his exploration of complicated familial relationships, as in All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) and Volver: Dr. Ledgard’s maid is also his mother, and a few minutes into the film he murders the brother he never knew he had. This time, however, Almodóvar really reaches the limits of morality in portraying medical treatment and beautification as a kind of torture, selfishly enacted by Dr. Ledgard on Vera. It’s a gross and hugely unethical revenge.
The Skin I Live In, with its sickening lab experiments and soap opera dramatics, is a beautifully shot sci-fi dystopia (the film is set in the very close future of 2012) that borders on horror. Almodóvar’s characteristically quirky comic relief is absent from the film and as a result, the atmosphere is constantly tense, uneasy, and even overwhelmingly nervous. Although I can’t say that I liked this film—I think that’s beside the point—I do recommend it to those who are willing to brave the obsessions of a surgeon unafraid to transgress all the basic principals of bioethics.
Defending his research to a colleague who suspects he falsely claimed to be only experimenting on mice, Dr. Ledgard casually says something to the effect of “If we already [genetically modify] food, animals and plants, why not also humans?” In Almodóvar’s imagination, the consequences of this kind of thinking are terrifying.
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Val Kill = Eros Myth/Flora Split EP available on Hands December 2, 2011
After a break Hands is back in black with Val Kill.
Out on December 2, 2011 Val Kill is a split EP consisting of two tracks from Eros Myth and two from Flora.
Check it out tomorrow.
