This isn’t your grandmother’s art exhibit.
With edible displays and a technologically adventurous exhibits; Art POP! will display off-the-wall Montreal art that is completely unparallelled.
“We are independent art show, so we have no restraints,” said festival coordinator Julien Ceccaldi. “We are not forced to work with established professional artists so we can choose people we like . . . it is a free-spirited art festival.”
Running from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, the theme of the fourth annual Art POP! festival is interactive art. Organizers decided to go interactive after a mishap at the previous year’s festival. During a live drawing event at a punk showcase, someone accidentally hit the projector which displayed the live computer drawings. With the projector aimed partially at the audience, artists began digitally drawing the audience’s clothing, uniting both the concert and the art. “The artists were outlining [the crowd] and drawing horns on their clothing,” Ceccaldi said. “The crowd got a kick out of it and the artists too”
One of the more ambitious interactive projects at Art POP! is a giant theremin room created by engineer and artist twosome, David Beaulieu and Christian Pelletier. Making eerie noises usually reserved for vintage horror films, a theremin is an electronic musical instrument that works based on oscillations of the players hands near, but never touching, the antennas. Viewers will be able to make noises just by moving their bodies in the theremin room, which consists of a runway with two rows of eight antennas.
The edible portion of Art POP! comes in two separate displays, the piñata room (see Piñata Paridise next page) and the untitled Lalie Douglas display. The latter displays small chocolate cakes in the shape of houses and birds. Viewers are encouraged to eat Douglas’ art, as long as they don’t mind being filmed. “[The art] goes in people’s tummies but the recordings will be shown at the Place Reunion during the exhibition,” said Ceccaldi. Douglas’ edible art will be available in a kiosk that moves around the festival.
This year’s festival is organized by two Concordia film animation alumni, who in turn are exhibiting the works of six alumni, two current students and one Concordia teacher. “We have a crazy amount of Concordia students and alumni,” said Ceccaldi. The aforementioned teacher, Adrian Norvid, returns to the festival with hilarious play on words drawings; like his bread loaf sketch entitled “Half Baked.”
Art POP! houses it’s main art in two locations this year during its five day run: the Notman House ( 51 Sherbrooke West) and La Place Ubisoft: Espace Réunion (6600 Rue Hutchison), the latter being a flour factory cum art exhibit. Art POP! also comprises of ten special projects and co-productions that will exhibit art throughout October.
Besides for the theremin, another tech-friendly Art POP! exhibition is Dominique Sirois’ “atelier cum-nightclub.” Located just above the piñata room in the Notman House, Sirois’ room is covered in mirrors and neon motion sensors. “Once you enter you trigger stroboscopes and buzzing noses,” said Ceccaldi, creating “a sort of a noisy nightclub [that] wont be melodic at all.”
The Art POP! festival is entirely free, despite not receiving any government funding. “We didn’t get funded . . . but we fundraised our asses off,” said Ceccaldi. The question that lingers, however, is will people show up?
“I’m assuming it will be [successful],” chuckled Ceccaldi. “The artists are exciting and the venues will be full of people [because POP Montreal] artists hang out at the Notman house and people have to register for POP Montreal there, so [it will always be full].”
Art POP! is sure to be the hippest art show in town. Even you grandmother would agree.
Calendar
Day Event Time
Sept. 30 Opening Party @ Espace 8:30 pm
Reunion(6600 Hutchison)
Sep. 30- Theremin room: make noise 11 am-
Oct. 4 by just walking through it 7 pm
@ Espace Reunion
Sep. 30- Piñata room can be destroyed 11 am-
Oct. 4 by visitors, get candy @ 7 pm
Notman House
Sep. 30- The Happiness Project: 2 pm-
Oct. 4 apartment exhibition based 8 pm
on Charles Spearin’s songs,
each room has its own song
@ 5202 Hutchison
Oct. 2 Free BBQ @ Notman house 1 pm
(51 Sherbrooke W.)
Oct. 4 En Mass Vernissage, 5 pm
black-and-white murals
created by 6 pro – artists
and 12 students they mentored
@ Red Bird gallery(135 Van Horne)