EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL: A Cohen spa photo

Ahere is something very disquieting about the photographs by Lynne Cohen now on view at the Parisian Laundry (3550 St-Antoine W). They carry titles like “Spa” and “Men’s Club,” but they don’t conjure up feelings of pleasure or relaxation. Instead, they present uninhabited architectural spaces that seem almost anathema to living things, except perhaps bacteria.

Yet, somehow, they’re seductive, drawing in the viewer and making them stare like someone driving by a car crash. Curator Jean-François Bélisle has put together this engaging exhibition, Access Points, by combining Cohen’s photographs with photographic triptychs by Denis Farley. The two work well together, though I found Farley’s images combining nature and architecture more predictable than Cohen’s sterile world.

Downstairs in the Parisian bunker, Philomène Longpré presents the interactive installation Formica. If you go, make sure to run around the space and get close to the figure—the greater the movement, the more connections the video generates. Access Points and Formica run until Feb. 25, info: 989-1056 —Christine Redfern

Kill the lights

Strawberries and saws

A silent projection of a rotting strawberry moves forward and backwards in a hypnotic loop in Andrée Préfontaine’s Ô Divine, while sound reigns supreme in Éric Desmarais’ installation Soigner son langage at B-312 (372 Ste-Catherine W, #403).

Soigner son langage starts with footage of language classes playing on three television sets, but don’t expect this exhibition to improve your communication skills. Desmarais, through an incredibly elaborate selection of cables and speakers, turns data collected from the TVs into an incomprehensible bunch of signals, noises and letters. Some of the vibrations even end up running small saws that cut through the drywall at the back of the gallery. The overall aural buzz reminded me of standing in a foreign country where I don’t understand the language.

Go tonight, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m., for the added bonus of seeing Nancy Tobin and Lesbians on Ecstasy’s Jackie Gallant perform as part of B-312’s ongoing musical series. The exhibition runs until Feb. 17, info: (514) 874-9423. —Christine Redfern

Rumbles from ol’ Yellow

Hardworking Montreal poet Ilona Martonfi is entering her ninth year as organizer of the Yellow Door Prose and Poetry Reading series (3625 Aylmer). “I was a highly self-conscious person,” Martonfi admits. “The first time I read to an audience, I lost my voice. But now I like to be onstage.” Helming the monthly series lets Martonfi share the buzz of live reading with a wide range of Montreal’s poets, writers and spoken word artists. “I’ve become a good listener,” she says. “Very often, I get home with a nice high, I enjoy my evening.”

The upcoming reading features poets Maxianne Berger, Éric Roger and Alison Newall, and playwrights/novelists Kent Stetson and Marianne Ackerman. That’s Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., $5. Meanwhile, tonight, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m., for free, the Atwater Poetry Project at the Atwater Library Auditorium (1200 Atwater) features Bryan Sentes with guitarist Juan Perales and George Slobodzian. —Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

CHECK YOUR NOSE: Chat Bleu Boxing Club coach Phil “Felipo” Dickinson is a man to trust when it comes to protecting your face from left jabs and right hooks, and is now on a mission to add cold to the list. It all started with a flawed scientific study from the ’60s he came across. “You know how people say you catch a cold when you go outside with wet hair?” he asks. “Well that’s not the reason—that just makes people more susceptible... Apparently the first line of defence is through the sinus area, so I put the theory to a test.”

Dickinson’s experiment pitted a homemade wool-acrylic nose cover fastened to his face with an elastic band against one Montreal winter—a battle from which he emerged victorious. “I didn’t get sick all winter,” he boasts. “Most winters I get sick.

Naturally, a discovery as groundbreaking—and, let’s face it, good-looking—as this one, should be shared. This winter, handmade Dickinson Nosewarmers are available at Local 23 (23 Bernard W.), $10.

ArtsHole

CHECK YOUR TEETH: How teeth grow, what they do and their evolutionary contribution to who we are is on display at the U of M’s upcoming exhibition, Smile: The Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth. The show opens Wednesday, Jan. 24, with a 5:30 p.m. vernissage, and keeps smilin’ till March 29 (2940 Côte-Ste-Catherine, #0056), www.expo.umontreal.ca. • BEFORE AND AFTERWARDS: Local photographer Jenna Wakani unleashes a batch of photos, heavy on the cool blues, in her solo exhibition Afterwards at Galerie Mile-End (5345 Parc) this Friday, Jan. 19, from 7–9 p.m.

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