Catching up
with
avant garde
SIXTIES ART ANTICS: 9 Evenings Reconsidered
In the early ’60s, engineer Billy Klüver had been working with various artists to solve their various technical problems. At one point, he decided to bring a group of artists and engineers together at the beginning of the creative process in order to integrate the tech side of things more fully into their works. The outcome was nine evenings of performances by artists, composers and choreographers: John Cage, Lucinda Childs, Öyvind Fahlström, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor and Robert Whitman at New York’s 69 Regiment Armory, which ran from October 13–23, 1966. Fascinating idea, not so fascinating results for the audiences and press who, at the time, found the experimental work just too far out.
Forty years later, the exhibition 9 Evenings Reconsidered at Concordia’s Ellen Gallery (1400 de Maisonneuve W.), brings together drawings, films, photographs, interviews, sound recordings and objects from this avant-garde moment. Don’t miss curator Catharine Moss’s tour of the exhibition at the opening tonight, March 8. 9 Evenings Reconsidered continues until April 21.
by Christine Redfern
Enter chat room
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN: kondition pluriel
In need of some intimate time this week? Head over to entre-deux, an interactive performance designed for one spectator at a time. Marie-Claude Poulin and Martin Kusch of kondition pluriel are behind the new-media project, which began in 2002. “The goal is to explore new phenomena in our society where communication is changing,” says Poulin, referring to chat rooms, e-mail and Web cams.
The work uses a guide, who leads the spectator through the installation’s set-up of shadows, projections and cameras. The total experience, in which the visitor explores the space and interacts with two dancers in one section, could last anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. “We’re not making a show about reality shows,” says Poulin, “but just creating an atmosphere that refers to this.”
To date, the site-specific piece has been performed in galleries, portable storage spaces and trailer homes. Its next stop is at Usine C (1345 Lalonde), running daily between 5:30–10:30 p.m. until March 10. Space is limited, so reserve quickly at (514) 521-4493.
by MARITES CARINO
Guitar licks and trampolines
ACROBAT ACTS: Line 1
Over the years, Debra Brown has accumulated a list of choreography credits with hot acts such as Cirque du Soleil, Madonna and Aerosmith, to name a few. Now she’s concentrating more on making a name for herself and her company Line 1, which mixes music, dance and the circus arts.
Brown was a competitive gymnast and dancer in her youth before she joined the Cirque as a choreographer in her 30s. “I grew up self-taught, and I never put myself in any category,” says the transplanted Vancouverite between rehearsal runs. “I like to blend all borders.”
The 22 performers in Line 1 cross artistic borders too. “There isn’t anybody that has one discipline in the show.” Take Dom, a “physical musician” whose bouncy guitar-trampoline act evolved from a spontaneous photo shoot.
The hour-and-a-half performance features aerial acrobatics, tap dancing, breakdancing and a 10-piece band driving the show along. It’s at Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame W.), 8 p.m. until March 17, (514) 931-2088.
by MARITES CARINO
Is it art?
 YARNING FOR A BREW: Whether or not this is specifically a Montreal thing is hard to say, but a new mini-trend has seeped its way into bars in this town, and, most peculiarly, indie rock shows: knitting. While a wholesome and productive pastime in other milieus, sitting in a corner with needles and a spool during a rock ’n’ roll concert is right up there with standing in the front row text-messaging emoticons to your pals down the street. Unless you’re knitting a beer, that is. Okay that doesn’t fit either, but the point is, you can knit beer bottles—out of yarn, of course. The pattern can be found at http://
cidermoon.com/cm0115_KYOB.html.
Arts
hole
SOUNDS OF SIGHTS:
Musical growth in the past century—from avant garde to electroacoustic—has created the need for different types of notation than the conventional staff-style. Inspired by these “graphic scores,” Galerie Clark (5455 de Gaspé, #114) invited a group of artists to come up with their own scores to be interpreted by musicians—a reversal of sorts. The pieces have been recorded and are now a part of the exhibition The Hearing Eye, which runs until April 7. • ALL TIED UP: Cords and pullies help eight dancers do their work in O Vertigo choreographer Ginette Laurin’s latest oeuvre, étude #3 pour cordes et poulies. It’s at the Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts March 8–10, at 8 p.m.
Artistat
Number of student artists with works of all mediums, shapes and sizes around Montreal in Concordia University’s Art Matters Festival (artmatters.concordia.ca): 120+
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