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Art out of
dust and jam
CHILD’S PLAY: “Solider”
There is something very pleasing about seeing the Mona Lisa recreated out of peanut butter and jam. Actually there is something very pleasing about all the work in Vik Muniz’s exhibition, Reflex, at the Musée d’art contemporain.
Following in Warhol’s pop art footsteps, the exhibition includes well known iconic images: Elizabeth Taylor, Van Gogh’s Irises, the lone man stopping the tanks at Tiananmen Square. The twist with Muniz is that you also recognize the material. Instead of a traditional medium, Muniz uses thread, chocolate, garbage, diamonds, pasta, toy soldiers, caviar, etc. to make the image. He then films them in such high definition that you are left feeling as if you are looking at the actual material and not a photograph.
My favourite works are the haunting sugar portraits of the children of the sugar-cane workers on the island of St. Kitts. The second series that stands out for me is the recreations of minimalist installations from the Whitney’s archives, made from dust collected from the museum’s vacuum bags. Who would have thought dust could be so beautiful and otherworldly? Muniz runs until Jan. 6, info: (514) 847-6226.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN |
Street dreamscapes
BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS: A Karen Spencer photo
Tomorrow night, head out into the fresh fall air to enjoy live painting with the St-James Centre artists and roast weenies and marshmallows over a barrel fire in the park with no name (west side of St-Laurent, under the Rosemont overpass).
This festive occasion in honour of La Nuit Sans-Abri is also the launch of Karen Spencer’s CD dream listener: An audiobook in three movements. The CD, a collaboration with the Centre de recherche urbaine de Montréal, Homeless Nation and the St-James Drop-In Centre, is the culmination of a year-long public art project which has involved Spencer writing down dreams on cardboard and holding them up for others to read in public spaces.
Because of her use of found cardboard and the street as her medium, Spencer has developed a rapport with many people who are homeless. The audiobook recounts her experiences and the stories and dreams of others she has met along the way.
All proceeds from the sale of dream listener (suggested donation $10) go to the St-James Drop-In Centre. Oct. 19, 6–11 p.m., info: www.dare-dare.org or call (514) 878-1088.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Dance the picture imperfect
The provocative, theatrical self-portraits of photographer Cindy Sherman were the impetus behind Pouliche, the newest work by local choreographer Manon Oligny.
Oligny was drawn to Sherman’s commentary on the representation of women and the glimpses of intimate, vulnerable and sometimes-ugly moments captured by the American photographer. “I tried to translate the horror and pain into movement,” says Oligny. “Internal conflict is what really interests me, and that’s why I choreograph.”
Known for her driving group pieces, Pouliche is a departure for Oligny. In France this spring, she created the 40-minute intimate solo for dancer Anne-Marie Boisvert, who embodies characters inspired by Sherman’s work—sans wigs and make-up.
Boisvert also performs in the evening’s opener, a self-choreographed solo entitled Identité dénudée: regard sous le maquillage de Sherman. The performances run at Tangente (840 Cherrier) Oct. 18–20 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. Info: (514) 525-1500.
by MARITES CARINO
Spoken with music
Ian Ferrier’s second CD, the newly minted What Is This Place, features an eclectic array of the poet’s sotto voce musings. “They’re inquiries into what it is to exist,” Ferrier says. “It’s what I always wonder: ‘What are we doing here?’ I haven’t found any answers.”
 The tracks feature a stellar cast of musical collaborators, including Kathy Kennedy, trance improv ensemble Pharmakon, Gordon Krieger, Norman Guilbeault, Jean Derome and Pierre Tanguay.
“The knockout thing is to listen to the variety of musicians who’ve all been involved in the spoken word scene,” says Ferrier. “To have musicians of that calibre who are happy to collaborate with poets is a rare thing.”
Ferrier performs with Pharmakon at Words and Music at the Casa this Sunday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. at Casa Del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent).
He’s joined by Montreal musician extraordinaire Sam Shalabi, and the organizer of the Spoken Word Arts Network, Calgary’s Sheri-D Wilson. $5.
by VINCENT TINGUELYIs it art?
HIPPIE HIPPIE SCENT: “Remember the sound of Janis Joplin in the air, Jimi Hendrix getting down on the stage and the peace and love surrounding the Woodstock Festival?” Probably not. But now you can smell as if you did.
There’s not a drop of patchouli in Rich Hippie’s Woodstock fragrance but it does have a “deep, earthy romantic sent” and promises to bring back “fond memories for all flower children” and probably a few acid flashbacks.
The scent might allow you to revel in the spirit of the ’60s while remaining socially acceptable. But to get the real smell of the “peace and love,” you could also try not washing for three days, pissing in a port-o-potty (if you could find one), rolling naked in mud, fucking a couple of unknowns, smoking your weight in weed, taking bad LSD, knocking back a pint of Jack Daniels and asphyxiating on your own vomit. www.rich-hippie.com
Arts
hole 
DIY NO MORE: Louis Rastelli, the man who brought you Expozine, Distroboto and Fish Piss magazine, is releasing his first novel, A Fine Ending, with Insomniac Press. Set at the end of the century, it’s about the MTL music scene and the Plateau/Mile-End. The launch is this Tuesday, Oct. 23 at Casa del Popolo (4876 St-Laurent) at 6 p.m. with guest DJs, drink specials and a video presentation about the late ’90s Montreal music scene.
• GET USED: Worn Journal celebrates its fifth issue Oct. 20 at 9 p.m. at the Main Hall (5390 St-Laurent) with the screening of 20 short films about clothes. The entrance fee is $5 and includes the latest issue.
Artistat
Number of events taking place as part of the Quebec Intercultural Storytelling Festival running from Oct. 19–28, where storytellers from all over the world will be telling tales celebrating our diversity: 140 |
