Nature and the subconscious
FEVERED FORESTS: King’s “A Heavenly Invitation”The curatorial notes that accompany Holly King’s new exhibition of photographs Mangroves: Floating Between Two Worlds at Art Mûr (5826 St-Hubert) describe the images as evocations of the artist’s subconscious, rather than the mangrove forests they depict. It’s an interesting reading that is not immediately evident, but one that starts to make sense as you think about the work. In fact, there is something so intentional about King’s project—about the way she frames the natural environment, and the subtle manipulations of colour and light—that speaks volumes about the photographer’s vision.
This sense is also present in the work of Sherri Hay. Her sculptural pieces in The place where you live is lit by the sun also investigate the way the natural world is shaped by our reflections. Based around a genderless flower-strewn figure who emerges from the undergrowth, Hay’s view of nature is both tender and mysterious.
Rounding out the show, David Blatherwick’s Drifting takes this investigation of the natural world to another level: the microscopic. Densely layered, the paintings look like abstractions but hint at a bigger picture, as though, by stepping back from the microscope, we might discover the true identity of Blatherwick’s subjects.
by STACEY DEWOLFE
Handheld artsy Internet
Touted as “an Internet for your hands,” Palimpsest magazine comes in a box and is more of a goodie bag for art nerds than a magazine. The first issue is being launched tonight, Nov. 12, 7–10 p.m at Drawn & Quarterly (211 Bernard W.) and contains a curated cassette, a DVD with sound art and five short films, a hand-woven textile fragment, chapbooks and a poster.
 Co-curator Danielle St-Amour explains that Palimpsest actually borrows its unique format from decades past.
“We realized that the publishing industry is very precarious right now, and online magazines are too ubiquitous,” she says. “Ultimately we decided we had to create something more tactile and tangible than a bound magazine if we wanted to give it any sort of longevity. Then we came across Aspen, a multimedia magazine published in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Each issue came in a designed box full of books, records and film.”
Video and sound from the magazine will play at the launch, and a friend of the artists’ is bringing snacks to help create a homey atmosphere. “It will be like a TV party,” says St-Amour, “and hopefully everyone will have enough to eat and drink.”
by DAVID LEVITZ
Remembering a
vanishing world
“It’s like threading through a life,” says Ranee Lee of Swan Song of Maria, a show on Alzheimer’s and the fight to keep your world from vanishing.
Commissioned by the National Arts Centre in Toronto, Carol Cece Anderson’s  Swan Song, at the MAI (3680 Jeanne Mance) until Nov. 22, brings together language, music and dance in the story of Jillian and Joe. Tyrone Benskin directs the ambitious, multidisciplinary work featuring the great actor Joel Miller and a jazz singer and actor who does justice to the word “legendary,” Lee.
Though it could be the story of any life in upheaval, what happens, says Lee, is that Alzheimer’s becomes another actor in the piece. “She’s trying to return through the maze of that third character, to reach out to her husband and say, ‘I need you to step out of your world and help me through mine.’”
Classical ballerina Kiani del Valle and pianist Tom Mennier enhance a drama that jumps back and forward through 50 years of the couple’s relationship.
“I think what the play does,” Lee asserts, “is underline strongly that this is the human journey.”
by NEIL BOYCE
IS IT ART?
CALL ME: It’s easy to forget, or to not even know, how large and cumbersome original cell phones were. Those things were huge, so huge in fact that you could fit the entire evolution of the cell phone comfortably inside.
 Inspired by those cute little Russian dolls you pick up in souvenir shops all over Eastern Europe, British designer Kyle Bean has created a set of nested cell phones, from Martin Cooper’s first portable cellular right up to the iPhone.
Though Bean doesn’t use actual old phones for the project, he has created some pretty convincing replicas. Ones that are in all likelihood a lot lighter to carry around.
kylebean.co.uk
Arts hole
TALKING MAC: The SAT (1195 St-Laurent) plays host to the MACM en question, a public consultation this Friday, Nov. 13 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. about the recent changes at the museum. The discussion will cover the mandate, governance, social function of the museum and most importantly what these changes mean for the MAC and its future growth. Details at sat.qc.ca. • WATERY WORK: M. James Playford exhibits his latest series of photographs, Aquarium, at the Armatta Gallery (5283A Parc). The title not only deals with the watery nature of the work, but also the confined space of work on paper. It opens with a vernissage tonight, Thursday, Nov. 12 from 6–10 p.m.• YOU WASH UP NICE: Concordia’s VAV Gallery (1395 René-Levesque W.) plays host to Clean Hands, a joint exhibit by painter Laura Findlay and photographer Christie Vuong. It runs until Nov. 20.
Artistat
The hours on Sunday, Nov. 15 during which Bicycles for Humanity Montreal are asking you to drop off your old mountain, hybrid or road bike at My Bicyclette (2985 St-Patrick) for donation to Namibia, Africa: 1–5 p.m.
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