by CHRISTINE REDFERN

Yeah, yeah, it's been cold. And in perfect timing with the topic on everyone's tongue, the succinctly named exhibition The Weather opens on Jan. 22 at the Liane and Danny Taran Gallery (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine). Vancouver curator Cate Rimmer has a lot of hubris coming to Montreal to talk about the climate, but you can expect more than rain from the group of Canadian and international artists she's amassed. The exhibition shows work by nine artists, including Trisha Donnelly (Los Angeles), Antonia Hirsch (Vancouver) and Edith Dekyndt (Belgium). On Jan. 25, Montrealer Ana Rewakowicz performs Icicle Bubble from 3–5 p.m., accompanied by hot drinks.

Another curatorial project by an out-of-towner worth seeing is Recollect by Torontonian Corinna Ghaznavi at La Centrale (460 Ste-Catherine W., #506), Jan. 9–Feb. 7. This exhibition combines carefully catalogued objects collected by Lethbridge artist Mary Kavanagh with photographs and texts about a fictitious character named Natalie Brettschneider by Vancouver artist Carol Sawyer. The presentation aims to highlight the subjective vs. objective nature of collecting and archiving. The questioning of what is real is even more prominent in the exhibition Stationary Voyage, just next door at Dare-Dare (460 Ste-Catherine W., #505), Jan. 10–Feb. 14. This exhibition reveals a hoax perpetrated by Ève Dorais and Edouard Pretty: the pair sent postcards to 70 Montrealers over six months documenting a fictitious journey through Europe, Latin America and North Africa.

Capital venture

If you want to go on a winter road trip, Quebec City is the place to see Mois Multi from Jan. 31–Feb. 28. The multidisciplinary and media art event brings together artists from the Netherlands, France, Mexico, Canada, United States, Italy, Russia, Finland and England. For more info visit www.meduse.org/recto-verso. Closer to home is the interdisciplinary event VASISTAS 2004. It proposes a broad range of activities including workshops, installations, performances, video presentations and shows from Feb. 11–28 at Théâtre LaChapelle (3700 St-Dominique). The event kicks off with the highly anticipated Jeux, an interactive installation for audience and dancer by Natacha Roussel and ends with the "must-see" new work Les Écoutilles by Nathalie Derome. View the complete schedule at www.lachapelle.org.

Christiane Patenaude is currently presenting Le Cirque at B-312 (372 Ste-Catherine W., #403). These sculptures incorporate modified ready-mades and use low-tech equipment to create an atmosphere filled with tension, danger and amusements. And until Jan. 24, two amazingly lifelike 3D animations by local René Morel can be seen in the window of the SAT (1195 St-Laurent). He's one of the guys behind www.amazonsoul.com, an upcoming electronic erotic sci-fi comic strip that begs the question, "Where are the men in the skintight outfits?"

Lastly, but worth celebrating, one million years ago on Jan. 17, art was born. Or at least that's what artist Robert Filliou declared in 1963 and in so doing inadvertently started a tradition of making art and eating cake that continues to this day. This "holiday" persists in part because of its playful, Fluxus roots, where art is not bought, sold or traded as a commodity, but given freely as a gift. Initially art was exchanged through telecommunications networks such as the telephone, fax, slo-scan video, and now as streamed data. Art's Birthday Party is being held this year at Montreal's Internet centre Studio XX (338 Terrasse St-Denis). Eat free cake made by Sylvie Gilbert, fed to you by Victoria Stanton, while listening to the sounds of the room filtered through microphones sunk deep into Jell-O. The party starts at 4 p.m. with contributions by 20 prominent women from the Montreal arts scene. For all the details of this happening event go to www.studioxx.org. Have your cake and data too!

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