by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

"It's fine and dandy that there's so much government money earmarked for art and culture, but it really has a gentrifying effect," says Chloe Lum, dulcet-toned chantoozie of AIDS Wolf and half of the noted rock-art operation Seripop. "Most of the work you see in artist-run centres is fucking boring. It's boring and it's alienating, and if it alienates me, an artist with an art-school background, imagine how much it alienates others. These places aren't fun to go to, they don't draw people in."

That can't be said for 100-Sided Die, the exciting new multipurpose DIY art space that Lum, her Seripop co-conspirator Yannick Desranleau and a handful of other artists have established on the 12th floor of a commercial edifice in Mile-End. "We want to do something that's a bit more engaging for regular people. We're not saying that we want to show stuff that everyone's going to like, but stuff that people can relate to and that people can buy, because it's actually affordable."

As you can guess, there's an art-gallery aspect to 100-Sided Die, albeit one that's suited to the sensibilities of the silkscreeners, illustrators and mass-production pop artists who (in a couple of cases, literally) inhabit the space. "We're not interested in paintings or sculptures. The mandate of the gallery is to show prints, comics and illustration, stuff that galleries in Canada won't show - the kind of stuff we make and are interested in. Our main aim is to bring in artists who are not from Montreal, from the States and Europe, because we want to encourage a cross-pollination."

The first show at the gallery (which, aside from vernissages, is an appointment-only affair) will be curated by Tom Devlin of Highwater Books, so count on a comix angle. There's chatter of shows by the likes of Savage Pencil, Mike Diana and Gary Panter as well. But the gallery is just part of 100-Sided Die, which also houses studios for illustrators, silkscreening facilities, a concert room, an expanding library of zines, mini-comics and small-press publications, and practice space and an eventual recording studio for AIDS Wolf and Wolf Parade (Guitar Wolf and Steppenwolf, get in touch).

Thing is, 100-Sided Die isn't as big as all that. "Most of our workspaces become public spaces. We having everything set up to be modular, so we can tear stuff down. We have a big room that's built, because there are three people who live in the space and have their studios there - Matt Moroz, Shane Kozak and Keith Jones. They built barn doors on their room, and everybody else's stuff is on wheels and the walls are moveable, so we just tear it all down and stick it in their room when we have events."

Now, art shows, rock gigs and such hipster hootenannery is all very good, but will the space deliver on the promise of its name? "There will be D&D," confirms Lum, but that ain't all. "There will be semi-regular drawing parties and semi-regular drum circles - but punk rock drum circles. We're advertising them as ‘drum circles for disaffected scenesters.' They're not allowed to go longer than an hour, so there's no wankery like at the tam-tams. It's like, bang on shit for an hour and then get the fuck out. Get a little catharsis, a little community stuff going on."