Breathing box

Shades of Star Trek’s Borg, a group of artists have been busy building a giant cube this week as the frame for an installation in the Fonderie Darling (745 Ottawa).

From noon to midnight, this Saturday, Aug. 24, “Le Cube” will come to life as a “breathing, organic entity” of sound and light. Inside the 100 square-metre box, nine artists and musicians, hailing from France, Montreal and Chicago, will confine themselves for a full 12 hours to form a “collective improvisational unity.” The public, permitted to experience the cube only from the outside, will be graced with the electroacoustic sound diffusion, images, projections and shadows that come from within.

Though the event isn’t a concert per se, the lifelike box is said to have a captivating presence. “Some people end up staying the full 12 hours,” said one of the artists, providing only the assimilated-sounding title of “un des gens du cube.” Admission is $7, and you can catch a sneak peak of the installation on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2–8 p.m., free. : -Matthew Woodley :

Flesh machine

Anatomia, a collective exhibition by Natalie Reis and Klara Porkrzywko explores the body as an instrument, looking at the human frame inside and out, as a whole and fragmented.

“Everyday when I wake up in this body, I hope that this flesh machine works, that no virus disturbed my system, and that no part will break. My body is beautiful, as long as it is normal, alive and in one piece,” reads the artists’ statement. Featured pieces are done with sculpture, painting and photography and focus on the body in its bracing, healthful state as well as in various stages of decay, disease and injury. Anatomia is at the VAV Gallery (1395 René-Lévesque) until Aug. 30. :
-Claire Philipson

Visual
victor

The ARTtraction event that ran through July, inviting the public to vote for their favourite among the 26 artists whose work was on display in stores, salons and other sites around the city, has announced this year’s winner. Richard Benoît, a 21-year-old painter will show his tried-and-true works at Art Central/Gallery Constant (460 Ste-Catherine W, #403) until Sept. 24. This Saturday, Aug. 24, the aforementioned gallery is holding a bash to “celebrate the winner and commemorate the art” with tunes from DJ Kani, 7 p.m., $6. :

Burlesquing
the ’burbs

The suburbs may not be so boring after all. Montreal artist Anthony Burnham has explored the world of white picket fences and 2.3 children through the lens of an old Super8 camera and spiced up his foray into normalcy by blending the ’burbs with some racier subject matter. In Burnham’s exhibit, Supurbia, burlesque sketches make their way into the works as do fetish toys and models. This mélange of yuppiedom and wacky sex toys culminates in offering a statement on the act of painting itself, “the painter imitating nature, wielding the phallic brush, indulging in matter-and hence avoiding political responsibility.”

The symbols and images that make up Supurbia “offer the compelling sight of a playground dedicated to the memory of learning experiences and their disorderly short-circuits, reincarnated in the very dynamics of artistic process.” The exhibit is at the Fonderie Darling (745 Ottawa) until Sept. 22. :
-Claire Philipson

Is it Art?

Palaces in the park: Montrealers are quick to compensate for their lack-of-beach syndrome. Take the crowds at Beaver Lake, or the volleyball courts of Parc Jeanne-Mance, where studs and studettes spike to the soothing sound and motion of the nearby interchange. This weekend, Parc Lafontaine brings lots more sand to the city with the 12th annual International Sand Castle Contest, running from Aug. 23–25. Friday, Aug. 23, is set aside for kids and families to play in the sand before the heated competition opens on Saturday and runs between 9 a.m.–5 p.m. A jury of seven, with help from the public, will pick a winner that evening, kicking off a music and light show. Sunday, Aug. 25, is set aside to admire the craft and beauty of the fleeting fortresses. :

ArtsHole

Variety in the key of F: Fantastic Fred’s Fantabulous Fun-time Show (aka Wednesday’s Child) hits the Insomniac Bookcafé (5322 Queen Mary) with over a dozen acts including poets, artists, musical guests, spoken word, “talented MadPeople,” comedy, and circus-like insanity, this Sunday, Aug. 25, 8:30 p.m., $2. * Body b&w: Louise Masson shows her work exploring the “abstract/geometric space of the human body” in the form of black and white paint on canvas at Galerie Trois Points (372 Ste-Catherine W. #520), Aug. 24–Sept. 21. Vernissage on Aug. 24, 4 p.m. * Celebrating surreal: Robert Blair, who built his career on surrealism and automatism, will be celebrated at the Galerie d’art d’Outremont (41 St-Just). Hommage à Robert Blair runs until Aug. 30, vernissage on Thursday, Aug. 22, 5:30 p.m. :

Artistat: Number of events at this year’s circus-themed contemporary art symposium, Émergence, running from Aug. 22–Sept. 1 under the big top on the Dufferin autoroute (corner of St-Vallier): 39 :