Vintage video

by Mark Slutsky

Strange to think that video, now such a common and all-pervasive technology, was very recently a new and mysterious innovation. Right on the scene here in Montreal since the very beginning has been Vidéographe, celebrating its 30th year of existence this week. From its origins as a completely open space where anyone interested could step in and learn the ins and outs of this new medium, Vidéographe has evolved into a veritable Quebec cultural institution. With a nod to its community-oriented beginnings, festivities this week--under the dual title 2001 l'Odyssée/Révolte 640X480--are manifold, and all completely gratis. The NFB (1564 St-Denis) plays host to the event, with archival videos from New York's Electronic Arts Intermix collection, two programs from France's Vidéochroniques, and an astounding 2,001 works from Vidéographe's own archives. And as if that weren't enough, also on display will be Soundpool: The Manufacturing of Silence, a sound installation by Vidéographe artist-in-residence Steve Heimbecker. The fun continues through Dec. 1. Info: 866-4720

Box-in day

by Christine Redfern

Rushing into the new exhibition In the Shelter of the Trees by the Quebec City collective BGL (Jasmin Bilodeau, Sébastien Giguère and Nicolas Laverdière), I stopped short as I found myself in a crappy-looking little deserted office in the Musée d'art contemporain. Slightly confused, I glanced at the text on the wall to confirm that I was indeed in the right place. There wasn't much to look at and no one else was around, so I went over and peeked into the closet in the corner of the room. Feeling like the protagonist in a fanciful children's story, I headed into the tunnel of boxes to explore the hidden passage that lay before me.

Using recycled materials, BGL has turned the regular gallery box into a subterranean art installation that needs to be experienced, not just watched. My advice: go explore this wacky grotto--it makes you forget you're in a museum. At the MAC (185 Ste-Catherine W.) until Feb. 10. Info: 847-6226.

Space oddity

by Sholem Krishtalka

Andrew Dutkewych's new exhibit at the Christiane Chassay gallery, A Question of Space, revels in its oddness. Due to the limited space of the gallery, the show comes off as a kind of installation. It consists of a number of small-scale sculptures of abstracted human forms and one very large geometric piece with heads thrusting out of it.

There is a definite awkward, indecisive quality to Dutkewych's little people. They are roughly textured lumpen masses, yet they're instantly recognizable, which makes for a palpable tension. One feels like one has intruded on something private, perhaps perverse; the heads that jut out of the monolithic geometric mass are explicitly, almost violently phallic. One wonders what the answer to Dutkewych's Question might be... At 358 Sherbrooke E., until Dec. 22. Info: 284-0003.

Masses of Mozart

by Amy Barratt

As anyone who saw Amadeus knows, Mozart wrote his "Requiem Mass" while he himself was dying. It's a liturgical work incorporating all the drama of the composer's operas. Friday, Nov. 30, Les Voix Libres presents the Mozart Requiem as a fundraiser for La Maison du Parc, a local AIDS hospice which cares for people in the last stages of the illness. It's the company's fourth annual concert on or around World AIDS Day (Dec. 1).

A choir of 70, many of them drawn from the Saint Lawrence choir, will perform along with the I Medici di McGill Orchestra, all under the direction of Iwan Edwards. Soloists are Natalie Choquette, Claudine Ledoux, Frédéric Antoun and Marc Belleau. Also on the programme is a modern work, "Funeral Ikos" by John Tavener. Nov. 30, 8 p.m. at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul (3415 Redpath). Suggested donation $20.

Check your head

Artists have been accused of madness since time immemorial, so, to some, a psychiatric hospital might seem an obvious site for an art exhibit--at least to multidisciplinary collective Farine Orpheline it does. The Orphelines have made a habit out of setting up shop in abandonned, forgotten or unused places and their latest spot, psychiatric hospital Louis-H. Lafontaine, fits right in. Their project H.L.H.L symptômes et prélèvements digs into this stigmatized environment, providing a "physical, sonic and video" look inside. At 7401 Hochelaga (principal entrance, Bourget pavillion), Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m., free. Info: 522-1230 or www.farineorpheline.qc.ca.