What the?!

In its third year, the interdisciplinary, neither-here-nor-there festival Vasistas (phonetically, “What is it?” in German), specializes in art that falls through the categorical cracks, that combines disparate media to come up with something fresh and engaging. This opening weekend kicks off with Rachel Dubuc and Berri Bergeron’s Machin-E, an installation/performance with Pascale Landry that uses sounds and images to mimic a giant metronome “motion machine” (Feb. 14–17).
Then there’s a What’s Beauty? workshop by artists Marc Fournel, Jean-François Laporte and Richard Simas, exploring cultural concepts of attractiveness through video and music (Feb. 18, 1 & 7 p.m.). Also, Claudie Gagnon will be doing more Tableaux vivants (living paintings) in the form of a workshop involving found objects and performance (Feb. 18–24). The fest runs until March 3 at the Théâtre La Chapelle (3700 Ste-Dominique). Info: 843-7738. :

—Genevieve Paiement