Make it snappy
TIME TO TAKE RISKS: Sasha Kleinplatz and Andrew Tay
The makers of summer dance event Piss in the Pool have a new winter brainchild called Short and Sweet that challenges the choreographic process, which is usually anything but.
Sasha Kleinplatz and Andrew Tay gave more than 20 choreographers a mere two weeks to create an entirely new piece that clocks in under five minutes. “It’s dance for people with short attention spans,” says Tay with a laugh. “If you don’t like it, in three to five minutes, there’s going to be something different.”
The duo came up with the concept because they wanted to give choreographers the opportunity to perform in between bigger works, and to “stop them from over thinking and over editing.”
Like Piss in the Pool, Short and Sweet takes place in a non-conventional contemporary dance spot. “The theatre is stuffy and sometimes it creates expectations for the audience and the choreographer. We wanted to eliminate that feeling,” explains Tay. “We’re hoping people will take risks because it’s in a bar.”
Have a drink and take in some dance at Club Lambi (4465 St-Laurent), next week, Thursday, March 6, at 8 p.m., $7 at the door.
by MARITES CARINO
Video redux
KITCHEN-COUNTER REALISM:
Still from Tribe’s Here & ElsewhereGive yourself enough time to watch the films if you head down to Old Montreal to see the new exhibition at the DHC/ART Foundation (451 and 458 St-Jean).
Titled Re-Enactments, the show consists entirely of videos by six international artists: Nancy Davenport, Stan Douglas, Harun Farocki, Ann Lislegaard, Paul Pfeiffer and Kerry Tribe. All the work reinterprets past film and television moments for us to reconsider from our current perspective.
You’ll encounter a headless Michael Jackson in a piece by Pfeiffer, Cuba’s 1980 Mariel boat exodus in the film by Douglas, a 12-screen dissection of the 2006 World Cup Soccer Final by Farocki and a nod to filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard in pieces by both Davenport and Tribe.
In “Workers (leaving the factory),” Davenport also pays homage to two of the earliest films ever projected—George Méliès’ Le voyage dans la lune (1902) and the Lumière brothers’ Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1894). Here, Davenport even elicits a laugh, which is a pretty impressive quality in an artwork about industry in our era of globalization.
Until May 25, info: (514) 866-6767.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Art rising
In the eight years since it was founded, Art Matters has grown to an impressive size.
“This year, we’ve got 35 exhibitions, 42 curators and 200 artists,” says co-producer and artistic director Joshua Barndt, who’s running things alongside Harley Smart and Stephanie Hope. “We’ve doubled the amount of artists from last year.”
The selection of art on view runs the gamut from drawing and painting—don’t  miss the group show at Art Mûr (5826 St-Hubert), curated by Kyla Chevrier—to a sound exhibition at Galerie B-312 and an interdisciplinary exhibit at Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark) showcasing the work of students from the three-year-old Intermedia Cyberarts program.
“For Nuit Blanche, we’re doing five different exhibitions, there’s a vernissage at the Darling Foundry (745 Ottawa) and then we’re basically taking over the Belgo building (372 St-Catherine W.),” Barndt explains with a laugh.
“There’s a collaboration with SKOL (#314), a show at Studio 413 (#413), a group installation at Room and Board (#427) and a multimedia show at Studio 303 (#303). In one of the galleries, there’ll be an ongoing performance with three artists making an installation piece over 24 hours.”
The festival kicks off tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 29 at Studio Just for Laughs (2109 St-Laurent) with free live performances and DJ sets from Hatchmatik, Blingmod, Woodhands and Ghislain Poirier.
by SACHA JACKSON
Open book city
Tomorrow night, Friday, Feb. 29, local Nelson Henricks unveils his latest work Map of the City at Articule (262 Fairmount W).
This labour-intensive two-screen video is built from 5,000–6,000 of his photographs. Many were taken during a six-month residency in Rome, others you may recognize from right here in Montreal.
 The subject matter is varied and includes Roman inscriptions in marble and stone, neon signs, interior shots, graffiti and images of objects collected by Henricks since he was a child.
There is a rhythmic quality to the work that is brought out through the soundtrack, which includes electronic sounds like beeping, bank machines, alarm clocks, roulette wheels and white noise.
The video is 21 minutes long and divided into short episodes of one to two minutes each. Most of the text woven throughout the work was written by Henricks, with bits culled from Ecclesiastes and the Gospel of Thomas.
He describes his approach in this video as, “seeing the city as a book.” Opens Feb. 29 at 7 p.m., artist talk March 16 at 4 p.m. Exhibition runs until March 30, info: (514) 842-9686.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Is it art?
CAT’S EYE VIEW:Ever wondered what it’s like to be a cat? How different your world would look? What it’s like to piss in a litter box?
 The wait is over thanks to Fritz the cat (honest) and his artist mistress who outfitted him with his very own cat cam.
From his work, it appears Fritz lives in a spacious house in the German countryside; there are a few different maps on the site for viewers to orient themselves and to give you a sense of Fritz’s world. It also appears he spends a good deal of time running through shrubbery, looking up and hanging out with his best feline bud, Boris.
The camera itself attaches to the cat’s collar and can be programmed to take a picture at preset intervals. For something so erratic, Fritz captures some surprisingly nice shots.
Terry Richardson better watch his back. View the artist’s work at www.katz23.de
Arts
hole
MEOW MIX: Moving into the home of Usine 106U and Espace Global is brand new, artist-run space, Cat’s Meow (111 Roy E.). The newly anointed gallery will be celebrating its opening tomorrow night, Friday, Feb. 29, starting at 5 p.m. The inaugural exhibition includes work from Daniel Erban, Jang and Danielle Hébert.•ARCHITECTS KNOW HOW TO PARTY: In honour of Nuit Blanche and the opening of Utopia’s Ghost the CCA (1920 Baile) is hosting a post-vernissage with free admission, a guided tour of current exhibit 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas, a book launch, a screening and live music by DJ Fred Everything, Call Me Poupée and les Psycho Riders. See www.cca.qc.ca for times.
Artistat
The number of organists who’ll be playing the most memorable organ pieces from horror movies, including The Exorcist, Nosferatu and Candyman as part of Fright Night presented by Orgue et couleurs at St-James United Church (463 Ste-Catherine W.) on March 1 as part of Nuit Blanche: 5 |
