SOLITARY SPECTATOR: From “Stadium”

Video artist Lynne Marsh has a pretty sweet gig. Dividing her time between London and Berlin, the Concordia graduate draws major inspiration from her surroundings, setting her latest works in such iconic locations as London’s historic Rivoli Ballroom, and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

A small showing of Marsh’s videos is on view until Feb. 8 at the MACM (185 Ste-Catherine W.). Nestled into one of the upstairs galleries, the three installations—“Ballroom,” “Stadium” and “Camera Opera”—share a common thematic thread, seeking to investigate how the presence of a solitary female figure works to construct and animate the space that surrounds her.

Though not a huge fan of the show, I was intrigued at the ways in which Marsh uses sound to manipulate the viewer’s emotions—an agenda made explicit in the audio installation that opens the show. Entitled “Fanfare,” the piece sees visitors caught in the sudden appearance of swirling stage lights, the swelling drum roll both engendering and subverting expectations.

As the remainder of the museum is being prepped for an opening on Feb. 5, there is a reduced entry fee, and visitors will be given a 2-for-1 pass for a subsequent visit.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

Creature sculptures

SEX MACHINE: Bijoux #3

Those who know Rick Trembles’ work from his gutter-punk-meets-Robert Crumb film column “Motion Picture Purgatory,” which appears weekly in the Mirror, might be disturbed to find out that the creatures inhabiting his mind will soon be appearing in 3D.

Bijoux 1–5 is an exhibition of his sculpture, opening this Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. at Monastiraki (5478 St-Laurent), that features pieces that may be more abstract than his comics but nonetheless sport enough suggestive tentacles and orifices to make them feel at home in a Trembles show.

“I’ve always had a fondness for sculpture,” says Trembles, who also makes his own horror masks. “Ever since I was a kid, my dream was to make stop-motion animation monster movies, so I collected instructions on how to sculpt and make moulds for duplicating miniature creatures.”

Trembles plans to duplicate his sculptures as a parody of mass production fetishism. “Creating knock-offs of each of these grapefruit/pineapple-sized Fisher-Price toy-like sculptures is part of the concept. The original constructions will be accompanied by duplicates and logo-like paintings of themselves as if to advertise a mythical brand,” he says.

The final stage will see the sculptures filmed in motion. “Suggestions on how you’d like to see them gyrate are more than welcome.”

by MATT JONES

 

Body as percussion

by MARITES CARINO

Beyond vengeance

Is it possible to break the cycle of vengeance? This was a question that young South African playwright-director Yael Farber asked herself as she examined her country’s turbulent history.

Farber, who has lived in Montreal for the past three years, saw the end of apartheid in her homeland and the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her play Molora (“ashes” in the Sesotho language) recounts the anguish of post-apartheid healing in South Africa through a retelling of Greek tragedy, where the ancient myth of Aeschylus’ Oresteia is set in a modern courtroom, a re-examination of how a person—or a nation—can redress violence.

“I had long been interested in creating a work that explores the journey back from the dark heart of unspeakable trauma and pain,” says Farber, “toward the choice between revenge or redemptive forgiveness.”

Lining the back of the stage, a chorus of traditional Xhosa singers and musicians act as witnesses to tales of murder, retribution—and a possible way forward. It runs until Feb. 1 at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts (175 Ste-Catherine W.).

by NEIL BOYCE

Is it art?

TUNE-IN TOKYO: Recycling is on everybody’s minds these cash-strapped days and artist Bob Turek is no different. With the goal of “transforming the way we view the objects we make music with,” he’s taken a seemingly outdated female mannequin and turned it into an attractive, slightly offensive, possibly empowering stereo.

Making the most of the female form, Turek, who’s currently completing his masters in 3D design, replaced the breasts with speakers and adapted the mannequin’s yay-yay into the stereo’s power source, meaning you have to plug your iPod into the cooter before the party can even get started. Now, how’s that for symbolism?

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Arts hole

THE KISS: Choreographer Johanne Madore presents a remount of her show Le baiser, on until Jan. 31 at Agora de la danse (840 Cherrier), featuring quadraplegic dancer France Geoffroy. • LANGUAGE LOVERS: Renée Gagnon and Ross Leckie read at the Atwater Library (1200 Atwater), tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in the latest installment of the Atwater Poetry Project. • TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: The psychedelic, schizoid work of artist Luc Guérard is on view at the Maison de la culture Frontenac (2550 Ontario E.) in his latest show A deux c’est mieux, which opens this Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

Artistat

The number of dancers from the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève who will be performing works by Saburo Teshigawara, Adonis Foniadakis and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for the first time in Montreal from Feb. 5–7, at Place des Arts: 22