Black and white matters

Last week I stumbled into the world of London, England's Isaac Julien and it blew my mind. Three of his videos are currently on view at the Musée d'art contemporain; each one is a triptych, each has a different feel and aesthetic touch and in each, time is flexible.

True North is a visual study of black and white, following a black woman as she walks across the Arctic. The narrative stems from the polar expedition of Matthew Henson, the first black person to reach the North Pole. The second film, Baltimore, looks like it was shot in the '70s and is a choreography of images blending together rough, smooth, high culture and street culture. A tribute to the Badasssss movies of that period, it brings together "The Great Blacks in Wax Museum," Renaissance artworks and Blaxploitation film pioneer Melvin Van Peebles. The third piece, Paradise Omeros, is a work of saturated colours set in the Caribbean and London. Inspired by Derek Walcott's epic poem "Omeros," it explores Creole identity.

The longer you watch Julien's videos, the more you'll see. If you go (free on Wednesday nights) give yourself a few hours, that way you can also watch his documentary feature, Franz Fanon: Black Skin/White Mask, winner of Montreal's International Festival of Films on Art in 1998. It runs until Jan. 9. » Christine Redfern

Positive peelings

More often than not, strip-club culture gets a bad rap as a pervert-ridden, drug-addled seat of the city's seedy underbelly. Not so, says Sasha Van Bon Bon: "It was fun. I basically got to sit around naked drinking all the time."

As the story goes, before becoming the wittiest sex columnist in the biz, Sasha worked the clubs in Montreal, standing out for her dramatic '80s-music-video-inspired flair, shaking her ta tas to less conventional strip tunes than most. "I was on a vanguard of weird strippers," she says. "It intimidated some people, but I still think dancing to the Ramones and L7 is sexy. And I really thought it came off as cool then - though I probably looked like a fucking idiot."

This Friday, Oct. 22, Sasha brings her tale, tail and neo-burlesque troupe The Scandelles to the Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) to give us Neon Nightz, a "lewd, nude rock 'n' roll musical" that relives her experience through monologues and tease numbers. "I was given a book deal, you know, but most writing about stripping is so flaccid," she says. "So I thought, ‘How am I going to put this across in a way to most accurately express how I felt in that world?' and it had to involve a stage and a pole." Two shows: 7:30 and 11 p.m., $12, afterparty with DJ Dr Octoboobies. » Matthew Woodley

Coach class

Matrix magazine hosts the Montreal launch of the latest from Coach House Press at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) this Sunday, Oct. 24. "They've been very ‘on the message' in promoting the most experimental and unique books of all Canadian literary presses," says launch host and Coach House author Jon Paul Fiorentino. Readings will include Safety of War, the debut novel by former Thrush Hermit and brief Dears member Rob Benvie, and "The Sink House", a poem by Julia Williams about love between a suburban house and riverbank. Show starts at 7:30 p.m., free.

And this Friday at 7:30 p.m., there's Nunt, the ultra-politically incorrect poetry collection by Mingus Tourette, launching (along with the second Yalla zine) at Cafe Esperenza (12 St-Viateur W.), free. » Vincent Tinguely

Apricots and
existentialism

After two decades of dance, choreographer Roger Sinha is making a move into different territories with his pieces. In the early part of his choreographic career his works were more autobiographical in nature - take Burning Skin, a solo that addressed racism and his personal conflict with his cultural heritage (part Armenian and South Asian) - Sinha has shifted his focus to subjects more theoretical. His new creation, Apricot Trees Exist, is named after the first line of alfabet, an experimental/philosophical poem written over two decades ago by Danish poet Inger Christensen. Sinha borrows from the poem's mathematical structure and translates the sequence into movement for six at L'Agora de la Danse (840 Cherrier) this week.

Apart from video projection, you won't see the kind of extras that accompanied Sinha's earlier work, such as on-stage musicians or props. Still, Sinha continues to draw from classical Indian dance, martial arts and contemporary dance for a satisfying result. It runs until Oct. 23, 8 p.m. nightly, 525-1500. » Marites Carino

Is it Art?

LE BIG SMOKEY: Ooo là là, qu'est-ce que c'est? The French Side of Toronto: The essential 2004 guide to French food and culture in Toronto. Mais non! Imbécile! Ze culture is not ze existing in Toronto. Non, non, c'est une ville pleine d'esclaves corporatifs qui se promènent avec leurs chiens chauds diaboliques, garnis avec de la moutarde américaine. Et ça: "St-Urbain Bagel Bakery, various locations"?! Les bagels, mais ils sont quand même moins français que les patates frites! Sacre bleu, une catastrophe culturelle! Où est mon foulard? (Franco Toronto, 142pp, $19.95).

ArtsHole

YUK STOP: Comedian Jeremy Hotz, whose CV includes a starring role on CBC's The Newsroom, appearances on Leno and Letterman, writing credits on The Daily Show and a part in My Favourite Martian, brings his total hilarity to Montreal tonight, Oct. 21, as part of the Just For Laughs Comedy Tour 2004. He's joined by Russell Peters, the Doo Wops, Adam Bloom and more at 7 p.m. at the Metropolis, $29.50, 908-9090. • CELEBRATING THE SELF: The third annual Jessica Festica, hosted by Web site Kill Him… Hide the Body's (www.killhimhidethebody.com) self-described narcissistic driving force Jessica Whitbread brings together fellow artists, including Kristi Ropeleski, François Escalmel, Mat Brown, Shanna Cling and Derek Carlson to create live tonight, Oct. 21, at the Barfly (4062 St-Laurent). Karaoke follows. • HELSINKI HELD OVER: Infinitheatre's ongoing production of Yann Martel's The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, starring Joe Cobden has stretched its run until Oct. 31 at the Bain St-Michel (5300 St-Dominique), 987-1774, ext. 3.

ARTISTAT: Number of extreme, over-the-top, on-the-edge, nail-biting adventure films from around the globe showing at the Festival international du film d'aventure de Montreal (FIFAM), Oct. 22–24 at UQÀM's Marie-Gérin-Lajoie Hall (405 Ste-Catherine E.): 39

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