Wizards of ID

Most of us have many photos of ourselves that we use as touchstones when we look back at our life—we think of them as capturing who we really are at a specific moment in time. An interesting roster of five international artists challenges this concept of the photographic portrait in the exhibition Unlimited ID, currently at Dazibao (4001 Berri).

Artist Miriam Bäckström conducts a video interview with Swedish actress Rebecka Hemse that highlights the malleable and multiple nature of personality. Toronto’s Max Dean presents the viewer with his or her own image on a clock face that immediately starts to be erased by the second hand. Titled So, this is it, the piece makes one feel very mortal and ephemeral, bringing to mind a doomsday clock that strikes midnight as we watch. Bettina von Zwehl puts her subjects through strenuous activity and then photographs them, resulting in eerily similar individual portraits. Jun Yang explores the portrait using only words and sounds, while Jonathan Gitelson provides some laughs with his take on stereotypes in his Web project Dream Job (online at www.dazibao-photo.org). Runs until April 8, info: 845-0063. —Christine Redfern

Bad press

“I hate press conferences!” declares Italian choreographer Caterina Sagna. “It’s not my métier to talk about dance. I talk through dance.” Rather than avoiding her phobia in her newest work, though, Sagna decided to confront it with a twist of wit. Relation Publique uses the dreaded media event as the backbone for a satirical work in which she plays herself as a choreographer showcasing excerpts of a fictional work for five dancers.

Sagna enlisted her sister Carlotta and dramaturge Roberto Fratini Serafide to create this theatrical dance piece, which speaks about dance and addresses the challenges of promoting and selling a work despite its faults. Sagna thinks there’s a lack of humour in the contemporary dance milieu and hopes to infuse some funny with this piece that explores her ironic side. Catch it nightly at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts until March 25 at 8 p.m., $22-$26, 790-1245. —Marites Carino

Dirty debutantes

Art, like life, is ever evolving. And so James Irwin and Ruby Attwood’s interdisciplinary zine Yalla is now Birdrib Canoe; and so their curatorial plan for a simple vernissage has morphed into the four-day Debutante’s Ball Art Festival. “We want to present people working hard for the sake of it, not for cash,” Irwin explains. “A festival that’s honest, modest, organic and badass.” The zine launch is next Thursday, March 30, 7 p.m.; The Debutante Ball vernissage is March 31, 7 p.m.; on April 1 at 8 p.m. there’s dance, performance, audio and video, and finally, a Swap Meet Slam on April 2 at 8 p.m. All events at Bellamuse (3676 St-Laurent), $5 suggested donation. Details: www.myspace.com/elliotmaude. —Vincent Tinguely

Heavy reading

Montreal, if you haven’t heard, holds the honour of being designated by UNESCO as the World Book Capital for 2005–2006. Celebrate this distinction tonight at the opening of 125 Kilos of Books at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (1920 Baile). Curator Gerald Beasley, director of Columbia University’s architecture and fine arts library, selected the books on display from the CCA’s collection of more than 200,000. He based his decision not on content, but solely on each publication’s ability to stimulate a discussion about a book’s size. These architectural books date from the 15th century to the present day and range in scale from the size of a small pocketbook to a massive tome that is over a metre high and weighs more than 21 kilos. Hear about them all during Beasley’s free talk tonight at 7 p.m. Exhibition runs until April 30, info: 939-7000. —Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

AMAZIN’ APPAREL: Putting the word “ultimate” in front of something is a sure-fire way to convince people of its awesomness (a linguistic trick best exploited in 1995 by the World Wrestling Federation with their “The Ultimate Ultimate” event). And not only is Scottevest’s The Ultimate Hoodie “ultimate,” it also has “total functionality.” The American company is the world’s sole producer of Technology Enabled Clothing, ie. threads with inside pockets designed to hold your gadgets. SeV’s hoodie uses their patented Personal Area Network (PAN) technology, which means you can keep your cell phone, iPod and Blackberry inside, and not look like you just got tarred and Future Shopped. Their ingenious inner pockets are also tailored to secretly hold pens, keys, eyeglasses and two water bottles. To explore the full SeV collection, visit www.scottevest.com.

ArtsHole

POSTER REPUBLIC: The Cinémathèque québécoise recently unveiled an exhibition of 100 Czech film posters, signed by designers, painters, sculptors and directors from the republic and spanning the entire 20th century. It’s in the salle Norman-McLaren until Sept. 10, more details at www.cinematheque.qc.ca. • COMIC BELIEF: As part of the Action Week Against Racism, 30 comic artists come together for Comic Strips Against Racism, headlined by artist Jimmy Beaulieu. Runs until Sunday, March 26. Call 842-7127 for the location.

ARTISTAT: Number of heartbeats the average audience member will experience during a performance of Le Théâtre Incliné’s L’Histoire d’un coeur, running March 28–April 8 at Monument-National: 4,235

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