As world attention is focused on New York City as street protesters occupy Wall Street, the recently published graphic treatise Understanding the Crash is a critical read.
As thousands of news reports and opinion columns reflecting on the ongoing financial crisis continue to fill major newsprint pages across the world, rare in the media-driven noise are carefully crafted written works that breakdown contemporary economic turmoil at the roots in anti-capitalist terms that stand as bedrock to current protests in New York City.
Understanding the Crash is a standout book collectively drafted by iconic street-driven graphic artist Seth Tobocman, author/activist Eric Laursen and writer Jessica Wehrle, all based in New York City.
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A new book released in Germany today offers readers a three dimensional look at Adolf Hilter. The Face of the Dictatorship: the Third Reich in 3D contains roughly 100 images of the dictator, originally used as Nazi propaganda.
German historian Ralf Georg Reuth selected the photos from a collection of 7000 3D images held at the National Library in Munich. They were shot by Hitler’s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffman, who released the first of twenty volumes of 3D Nazi images at the 1936 Olympics in Munich.
The book is available from Amazon’s German website.
The only problem with Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown’s new memoir about his lengthy history of paying for sex with women can be found on page 235. In his meaty “Appendices” section, where Brown attempts to move away from the personal narrative toward a more logic-and-facts type of argumentation (deployed mainly with text), the Toronto artist and author inadequately tackles the issue of “power,” represented pictorially with an illustration of a call girl having sex on his lap. The female character says: “Chester, my legs are getting tired. Could we change positions?” Brown’s response, presumably symbolizing the equality/harmony between the two, is “Of course.” Along with the discussion on a prostitute’s ‘power’ to attract Johns and their ‘power’ to refuse certain acts, positions and requests/demands, this is unfortunately the only time the topic comes up in the book’s 280 pages.
But don’t get me wrong – Paying for It: A Comic-strip Memoir about Being a John is a fantastic intervention in the ongoing and presumably endless debate around paying for sex. Honest, self-reflexive and candid, the panels between the hard covers (published by Drawn & Quarterly) of this follow up to the riveting historical graphic novel Louis Riel display the most personal and intimate moments of an often abstractly represented exchange. Where other media looking at the topic of prostitution range from moral panic to saviour/victim liberalism, Brown’s contribution provides a personal narrative that refuses to conspicuously pander to any political position (at least until the Appendices section) while surreptitiously taking us right into the centre of the culture wars storm.
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New book looks at reconciliation by way of cultural diversity
by Ezra Winton on June 9, 2011 · 0 comments
The seasonal practice of burying heads deep into the folds of books is upon us. OK, some of us are burying ourselves in digital devices too, but the point is it’s that time of year when benches, yards, parks and every shady outdoor perch are full of people engaged in the ancient ritual of reading. While dividing my own summer reading unevenly between academic tomes, graphic novels, and narrative prose, I recently happened upon a marvellous book that defies categorization and dare I say, could prove to be the most exhilarating, difficult and enjoyable summer read out of all the others waiting to be loved from among the teetering stacks.
The book is the 453-page collection of creative writing, essays, photography and art called Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the lens of Cultural Diversity and there are three things you should know about this door-stopper before proceeding. Number one: It is a diverse creative explosion barely contained between two covers that bracket an intensely inspired and productive conversation about the many intersecting lines of oppression, reconciliation, history, memory and hope. Number two: It is a compendium to the physical, political, cultural and imaginary entity known as Canada, but should be of interest to anyone with an interest in culture, history and communication. Number three: It is a gift from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) to you. That’s right the best read you may come across this summer is free.
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Explore the West Bank perimeter through Mark Thomas' gonzo rambling and Francis Alÿs' action painting
by Terry Fairman on May 20, 2011 · 0 comments
Extreme Rambling with Mark Thomas, Tricycle Theatre, London, UK, May 16th – 28th, 2011
Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel’s Barrier for Fun, Mark Thomas, Ebury Press
A Story of Deception, Francis Alÿs, MOMA, New York, May – August, 2011
Orientalists from the North Atlantic community (those of us in Western Europe and North America who have an interest in the East that is filtered through the prism of Judeo-Christian culture), are likely to view events in North Africa and the Middle East with mixed feelings, exacerbated, it has to be said (not-with-standing current “Hooray-USA” euphoria), by the extra-judicial execution of Osama Bin Laden.
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Over five years since the catastrophe of hurricane Katrina, communities in New Orleans are still struggling to rebuild and return. Shocking images of Katrina broadcast globally continue to communicate the growing economic, social and racial fault lines in America. Beyond the headlines, community organizing and resistance to post-Katrina economic shock treatment of key public institutions, including the school systems and public housing, have drawn battle-lines illustrating broader contemporary struggles against hyper-capitalism.
On culture, artists in New Orleans are playing a critically important role in building a culture of community resistance for key political struggles, while creative, dynamic sounds and boundary challenging artistic practices — which have made New Orleans famous for the arts — continue to shape the front lines of contemporary culture in North America.
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To celebrate National Poetry Month, Art Threat TV presents a profile of Kaie Kellough, one of Montreal’s finest literary performers. Kaie’s range and dynamism as a performer and poet have garnered him attention and admirers across the country and internationally.
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This week’s Friday Film Pick is a zesty little short about surviving without a car, whilst surrounded by cars. To Costco and Ikea Without a Car (Peter Tombrowski, Canada, 2007) was chosen from the Hot Docs online library in anticipation of the upcoming 2011 edition which kicks off in Toronto on April 28th (look for coverage of that festival here on Art Threat). The film’s synopsis:
Peter Tombrowski sets off-on foot-pushing his children’s double jogger and carrying a large backpack from his downtown apartment to shop at suburban big box stores. Set to Antonin Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance in C, this short documentary is both an epic journey and a humorous comment on our car-dependent society.
This short was also chosen to commemorate the launch of a new book on car culture by Bianca Mugyenyi and Yves Engler, Stop Signs: Cars and Capitalism, On the Road to Economic, Social and Ecological Decay (published by Fernwood). To watch the film, follow the link, press play and enjoy!
This is you receiving an invitation. An invitation to participate in a project just recently born in Vancouver called Speak in Images / Parler en Images. An invitation to speak up in a tiny but effective way about what issues matter to you in the Canadian federal election in a time when we are being bombarded with promises and propaganda about our finances, our families, and our future.
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For thirty years David Chapman has collected images of muscular women – cartoons, old travelling vaudeville troupe and circus ads, photographs of body builders. In contrast to the image of a typical woman (be it from years in which curves dominate the popular aesthetic or years in which long and lithe is the way to look) the rare images contained within David Chapman and Patricia Vertinsky’s book Venus With Biceps: A Pictorial History of Muscular Women may make you second guess your impressions of the strong woman.
“There is something profoundly upsetting about a proud, confident, unrepentantly muscular woman,” writes Chapman in the book’s introduction. “She risks being seen by her viewers as dangerous, alluring, odd, beautiful or, at worst, a sort of raree show. She is, in fact, a smorgasbord of mixed messages.”
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As world attention is focused on New York City as street protesters occupy Wall Street, the recently published graphic treatise Understanding the Crash is a critical read.
