Artwork of illustrator Zina Saunders
by Amanda McCuaig on April 17, 2012
When I found Zina Saunders’ [pronounced Zai-nah] animations on Mothers Jones a couple weeks ago I knew I’d have to ask her for a chat. We got on the phone last week and by the time I was off I was texting my friends that she was one of the best interviews I’d had. Firey, bold, and straight-forward, Zina’s personality emboldens not just her animations, but her gorgeous portraits as well. Her work is straight-to-the-point, no-bullshit humour dripping with sarcasm.
To her, humour isn’t just a tool for spreading a message, it’s also the best way to pull the rug out from someone and reduce their credibility. She’s a fantastic testament to artists who have created a way to speak out while still being known for great, technically sound work.
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Interview with Our Hen House executive director, Jasmin Singer
by Amanda McCuaig on March 13, 2012
Back in January I posted an article highlighting a video about Sue Coe’s art that was produced by Our Hen House, a “Multimedia hub for people who want to change the world for animals.” Jasmin Singer, one of the founders of Our Hen House, immediately stood out as someone who was not only passionate about animals, but who was passionate and knowledgable about the artists whose work creates discourse on diet, lifestyle, and, for you yogis out there, the practice of ahimsa (non harming, or the avoidance of violence).
Her work in curating these artworks inspired me to ask her more about her experience, why she does what she does, and how Our Hen House is affecting its audience.
Art Threat: To start, can you tell me a bit about Our Hen House, and what you do?
Jasmin Singer: Our Hen House is a multimedia hub of opportunities for people who want to change the world for animals. Every day, we highlight a story or idea for getting involved with this kind of change, focusing on how everyone can use their own talents and skills to mainstream the movement to end animal exploitation.
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MC Emrical puts police and politicians on blast following the three-year anniversary of Fredy Villanueva’s death
by Brendan K. Edwards on August 19, 2011
When I told Vox Sambou of the Montreal hip-hop collective Nomadic Massive I had an interview lined up with Emrical his face lit up. “He’s very….” The Haitian emcee paused and silently did his best Tommie Smith impression lifting a black power fist like the African American sprinter atop the podium at the 1968 Olympics.
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Kenk is a dark graphic novel about Toronto's notorious bike thief
by Ezra Winton on August 18, 2011
Creatively, the graphic novel Kenk is an astounding success in its unique form: it is a thick book of dark pages containing photocopied images from previously recorded video with smudgy typewriter text that captures audio and carries a loose narrative. As a devourer of political comics and graphic novels I’ve never seen anything comparable, and while the heavily processed industrial and gloomy aesthetic was jarring at first, it grows on you and begins to make sense throughout the 260 pages.
The story follows Toronto’s notorious bike thief Igor Kenk as he talks about his past in Slovenia, waxes philosophic on the suicidal and absurd Western lifestyle and runs his infamous bike shop in the Trinity Bellwoods Park neighbourhood of Toronto.
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Teesri Duniya Theatre challenges the status quo
by Ezra Winton on July 21, 2011
Teesri Duniya Theatre was founded in 1981 as an alternative theatre in Montreal that set out to change the world, as Artistic Director Rahul Varma tells me, “one play at a time.” I ask Varma to describe the theatre in a few words and, pausing for a moment, he offers: “Powerful, personal and provocative.” Having experienced one of the non-profit’s plays, about the 1986 Filipino Revolution (People Power, written by the CBT Collective and directed by Nina Lee Aquino), I would have to agree entirely with Varma’s assessment.
Varma tells me that for 30 years the group of dedicated, inspired and politically-motivated artists have been telling untold histories and supporting multiculturalism and interculturalism that is committed to multiethnic casting and narratives. Decidedly socio-political and cultural, Teesri Duniya’s lineup over the years is a list of provocative titles: Miss Orient(ed), The Adventures of Ali and Ali and the Axis of Evil, Bhopal, My Name is Rachel Corrie and Truth and Treason.
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A conversation with God's Lake Narrows artist Kevin Lee Burton
by Ezra Winton on July 15, 2011
God’s Lake Narrows is a new interactive narrative on the National Film Board of Canada’s increasingly interactive website. Exploring themes of longing and belonging, Winnipeg artist and former resident of the God’s Lake Narrows (GLN) reserve Kevin Lee Burton deploys photographs, text, and a layered soundscape to introduce audiences to his community and all the beauty and agony that it entails.
The text begins by situating reserves in a framework of proximity and (in)visibility – “For those of us who aren’t from one, or don’t know someone who is, our experience is limited to what we see and hear on the news: an endless loop of stories about poverty, illness, abuse and death.” Burton’s project—originally conceived as an art gallery instillation—sets out to challenge and complicate the way many (Canadians) view, think about, and form opinions of, reserves – all 3,063 of them (and by extension, native studies issues relating to the aboriginal peoples of Canada).
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Michael Caines' depictions of US leaders are sincere yet ridiculous
by Julia Pyper on June 7, 2011
Karl Rove is a baby. Or, at least the Karl Rove of Michael Caines’ art collection Perfect Happiness is. In one painting Rove’s bulbous forehead peeks out from under a bonnet, while a smiling Ronald Reagan, depicted in a blue frock and enormous hat, holds on to Rove’s tiny body like a proud mother.
“I think black comedy is my territory,” said Caines, a Toronto native now based in Brooklyn. “These are serious and intense paintings, but hopefully funny to look at. I’m definitely playing, and doing something a bit naughty.”
Rove, the Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush, is also depicted as a version of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in another of Caines’ paintings. He wears the signature blue dress and red shoes, but walks with a deer in the scene from Jean-Honord Fragonard’s 17th century painting, “The Swing.” The head is distinctly Rove’s, only the corners of his mouth are droopy and his facial features cinched close together in the center of his face as though he’s about to cry. His political power has been stripped — he’s in Caines’ world now.
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Interview with Public Radio Remix founder Roman Mars
by Michael Lithgow on May 30, 2011
“If it makes a sound, it’s radio to me.” — Roman Mars
One of the targets for serious re-imagining at the Radio Without Boundaries conference (which finished up yesterday in Toronto) was traditional radio. Long considered a cultural wasteland, the befouled soundscapes of industrial radio have inspired a new generation of artists who are actively refashioning and expanding the boundaries of radio’s possibilities. At the forefront of this creative movement is Roman Mars, founder of Public Radio Remix.
Public Radio Remixis an experimental sound stream hosted by PRX (the Public Radio Exchange) to showcase pieces from the PRX archive and to develop new approaches to radio. “It’s an effort to break apart format” said Mars in his artist talk on Saturday.
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The Place and Memory Project (interview with Shea Shackelford)
by Michael Lithgow on May 29, 2011
The world of sound art encompasses a diversity of textures. At this weekend’s Radio Without Boundaries conference in Toronto, the workshops and performances range from the beautifully abstract to more traditional uses of voice and narrative. Big Shed Square Dance is all about stories.
The ‘square dance’ workshop was put on by Big Shed, the folks responsible for The Place and Memory Project which uses people’s memories and stories to recreate places that no longer exist. The fun thing is that story-gathering takes place on the telephone. Big Shed has a memory hot-line waiting to take your call.
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Sound is such a pervasive part of our cultural experience that we hardly notice it. For instance, who says of the digital revolution that it is a revolution in sound? And yet, that is exactly what is taking place in cultural outposts around the world. Pioneering creators are bringing traditions of experimental discovery, aesthetics and — in the words of Public Radio Remix founder Roman Mars — “joy”, to growing communities of listeners and practitioners who want to experience the genre bending soundscapes, songs, documentaries, essays, riffs and portraits that make up the world of sound art culture. There is a new golden age of radio and it sounds nothing like anything you’ve heard before.
I am in Toronto at the Radio Without Boundaries conference hosted by New Adventures in Sound Art. The three-day conference is a gathering of artists for workshops, artist talks and performances by practitioners from across North America. (For those who want to listen in live check out the NAISA webcast.)
For those who missed today’s proceedings, I am busily digesting the day’s events into (hopefully) pithy summaries and descriptions of the various workshops and presentations. I also I snagged a few short interviews with some of the key presenters including Jonathan Goldstein (from CBC’s Wiretap), Roman Mars (from Public Radio Remix) and Shea Shackelford (from The Big Shed). First up, Jonathan Goldstein….
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