Author: Véronique Morin

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Ar(t)chives Arts

Melvin Charney’s history of Sherbrooke St.

1976 saw Sherbrooke St. becoming an arts venue, but only until the city’s mayor decided otherwise

The city of Montreal welcomed the Olympic Games in 1976. Along with the sporting events, art pieces were showcased and organized throughout the city. Corridart was one of them: an urban exhibition displayed on a long portion of Sherbrooke St. going from Atwater Ave. to Pie-IX Blvd. Curator Melvin Charney led the organization of the event, which presented various installations, exhibitions, and performances. He was interested in the history of the street, and the historical value of its buildings.

The event saw a variety of artistic creations. Pierre Ayot presented the sculpture La croix du mont Royal, a large illuminated replica of the mythical Mount Royal cross. Another piece entitled Mémoires de la rue was composed of scaffolding structures on which images and art pieces would be placed. Large red plastic hands pointing at different elements of the urban landscape, such as buildings or streets, were also a notable element of the exhibit.

Politics quickly took a large place in the evolution of the event as the exhibition was dismantled less than a week after it was launched, ordered by Mayor Jean Drapeau. This occurred during the night of July 13, four days before the start of the Olympics. Drapeau believed the artworks did not fit the aesthetic standards that would properly represent the city for this international event.

Charney had not aimed at presenting a clean and perfect Montreal. On the contrary, according to art history professor and researcher Johanne Sloan’s analysis of the event in the book The Other Architect: Another Way of Building Architecture, the curator’s approach was to “insist on the cultural value of domestic and vernacular architecture, and of streets themselves.”

Charney had done extensive preliminary research for this project. He analyzed the history of the buildings, the sidewalks, and their placement in the public space. Therefore, the location where the artworks would be placed was meticulously chosen so that the architectural heritage of the city would be integrated in the exhibit. The goal was to make art accessible to pedestrians and encourage them to engage with it.

For Charney, the street was itself a representation of the city’s cultural background. “The physical traces of the streets define a bond between people and the city as a collective, public artifact that subsumes individual buildings,” he wrote in 1977 as published in the book On Architecture: Melvin Charney, A Critical Anthology.

The presented artworks tackled themes related to the history of Montreal, its urban development, and activism in the community. Artist Françoise Sullivan presented a creation titled Legend of Artists. This piece featured archives of meaningful art movements in Montreal. They were displayed in large boxes placed on top of steel legs, and each contained objects, texts, and photos recalling a specific artistic practice. Those mini-exhibitions were placed in arts venues as well as in front of the homes of artists who inspired Sullivan, such as Paul-Émile Borduas and Émile Nelligan.

Legend of Artists reached passersby and accompanied their walk on Sherbrooke St. while providing a historical background on cultural events related to the site. Charney’s creation for the exhibition also touched on historical features, but through one monumental work. Entitled Les maisons de la rue Sherbrooke, the piece was a life-size imitation of an apartment building’s facade. The empty lot where it was presented was previously occupied by Victorian style buildings that had been destroyed by the city.

Charney’s installation replicated the aesthetic of the new modern buildings that were built in the neighbourhood. The piece engaged with reflections on the treatment of the city’s architectural heritage.

Despite its short existence, Corridart is still recognized today for its ideas regarding the reappropriation of everyday urban spaces by pedestrians. According to Sloan, Charney was “proposing a theory of the street itself as the site of urban knowledge.”

Following the destruction of the exhibition, a group of artists who had participated in it sued the city of Montreal for $350,000. The controversy around this project became famous and the plaintiffs eventually received a total of $85,000 12 years later through a settlement agreement with the city.

 

Visuals by Taylor Reddam

 

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Arts

Stopping time in the Frédéric-Back Park

Taking a look at a new project that encourages Montrealers to put headphones on in one of the city’s largest parks

The Pause MTL app features 10 ambient music pieces each related to a specific spot in the Frédéric-Back Park. Users are invited to listen to the compositions on the location that inspired their creation. This platform allows people to discover a variety of sounds and atmospheres since 10 different music composers worked on the project. Artists Olivier Girouard and Antoine Bédard initiated the project with the goal to create music that enhances peace of mind in times when unpredictability and stress are present in everyone’s lives.

Once users have downloaded the free Pause MTL app on their phone, their listening journey begins by pressing on a button with the slogan “Press Play to take a Pause”. The next page takes them to an interactive map featuring the locations that inspired the creation of the music pieces. While the compositions are ideally discovered on-site, it is also possible to listen to them from home or anywhere the users feel like immersing themselves in this relaxing experience. They are free to discover the application at their own pace.

Bédard and Girouard chose the 10 locations. They were then assigned to the creators randomly. Bédard worked on the Parvis Papineau, a modern plaza on Papineau St. For Girouard, a specific part of the park where people came together to fly kites in the summer of 2021 was his inspiration. The other composers created music based on locations including the soccer stadium of the park, a group of pine trees at the north end of the green space, and a skatepark.

The Frédéric-Back Park is named after an important artist whose work touched on environmental issues.

Each of the soundscapes is accompanied by a description of the preferred way for the audience to be sitting, where to look, and what to think about in order for users to enjoy the experience to the fullest. Composer Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux worked on a piece inspired by two large bronze sculptures located close to 2e Ave. Titled Zénith, the 18-minute composition proposes a soothing atmosphere that feels like being in a spaceship. In his description, the artist encourages the listener to lie down in one of the structures while reflecting on a more sustainable future for humanity.

The Frédéric-Back Park was the perfect location for Girouard and Bédard. Located in the Saint-Michel area, the green space opened in 2017. A quarry and a landfill previously occupied the lot. While the quarry is still visible in the middle of the park, the landfill site has been covered by grass, trees, and paths. Large white bubbles also dot the space. They are meant to capture the methane that still emanates from the waste under the land so that it does not get into the atmosphere.

Pause MTL encourages its users to walk around these white spheres through the work of Nick Schofield. The composer was assigned with sphere 23-27. He created an energetic music piece to accompany the listeners’ steps. These otherworldly bubbles are closely related to one of the themes of the park: sustainability.

The Frédéric-Back Park is named after an important artist whose work touched on environmental issues. Born in Germany in 1924, Frédéric Back moved to France at a young age. He then came to Montreal in 1948. Throughout his career, Back created films related to sustainability and nature preservation. His 1987 film, L’homme qui plantait des arbres, is particularly related to the park. In the animated movie, the protagonist lives on a deserted land that he revitalizes by planting trees.

Bédard explained that he was inspired by Back’s story as well as the visual aspect of the urban space. “You can see some of the most intriguing landscapes in Montreal. It even looks a bit post-apocalyptic sometimes,” he said.

The park is still evolving, with new developments coming in 2022. For Bédard, it adds to its charm. “I guess if this park had to be a person it would be a teenager, and we’re just getting to know each other, but eventually it will be more mature. […] It looks a bit weird to be frank, so does the music, it sounds a bit weird too. So, I think it’s a great match,” he said.

Pause MTL also aims to put forward the work of ambient music composers. Girouard described this type of music as “soft, without punches, not particularly catchy.” He explained that its strength was the sensations it creates, noting that “it is something that touches the emotions, the feelings.”

For Bédard, the project started as a personal quest. He was looking for an escape from his anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic. “When the pandemic hit, I felt helpless as a composer, especially because stages were closed, theatres were closed, and I was wondering how to stay creative in these uncertain times,” he said.

Bédard noticed the healing effect his creations had on him. This sparked the idea of an ambient music project that could be shared with the audience. Girouard’s motivations were also related to music’s benefits. For him, the project is about getting listeners out of their homes, far from their computers. “I wanted to bring something that feels good in a physical space,” he said.

Girouard is used to composing music for the stage. For the creator, projects related to urban environments give him access to an audience he would not usually reach. “I’m interested in talking to these people who haven’t paid for a ticket, but who discover an artist and a space at the same time,” he said.

Girouard and Bédard hope to get Montrealers to discover their city in a different way through this project. In the future, they aim to expand the concept in more green spaces.

The Pause MTL app is available to download on all Android and Apple devices.

 

Visuals by Jonathan Lapalme & Véronique Morin

 

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Arts

Antioch: on having necessary conversations

Talisman Theatre’s new creation raises questions on representation of non-Western identities

Antioch is a digital theatre performance presented by Talisman Theatre. The show is a translated adaptation of the French text Antioche by author Sarah Berthiaume. The English version, directed by Sophie El Assaad, is driven by a desire to provide a more accurate representation of the Middle Eastern characters in the play through a story that details the communication struggles between an immigrant mother and her daughter. Presented on YouTube, the work is also an exploration of new digital possibilities for live art creations. The result is a powerful immersive theatre reading that invites viewers to engage with the performance while being comfortably seated and wearing a pair of headphones.

Antioch tells the story of Inas, her daughter Lily, and the archetypal figure of Antigone. Nora Guerch plays Inas, an immigrant and single parent troubled by her past. Interviewed by phone, Guerch explained that she was profoundly touched to play this multi-layered character. The actor described Inas as “a complex women who is profoundly full of a memory that she doesn’t want to face.”

Lily, played by Mona Maarabani, constantly rethinks the society and the world she lives in. Full of frustration, the teenager shares her thoughts with her friend Antigone, who died 2,500 years ago in her own Greek tragedy. They criticize the world together. Cara Rebecca plays a version of Antigone, who wears her toga despite the modern era she exists in, while also eating gummies. The character narrates the interactions between Lily and Inas . Lily also develops another relationship, this one through the internet. She chats with H, played by Ismail Zourhlal, a guy who lives on the other side of the world and shares her anger towards the system.

Lily and Inas live in the same reality, but it is shaped by their own experiences: Inas immigrated to North America to find a better life, and sees it as a place of opportunity while Lily suffocates in the Western lifestyle. Antioch examines their contradictory visions and how they can finally come together.

The line between fiction and reality is blurred, letting the viewers decide for themselves what is real or not. The abstraction present in the work is complemented by the visual identity created by Emily Soussana and Andrew Scriver’s multimedia company potatoCakes_digital. For Antioch, they created different settings where the action takes place. Throughout the work, digital effects are implemented and add layers of meaning to the text.

Jesse Ash is the sound designer for the piece. He also worked in collaboration with music consultant Skander Cherif to develop sound propositions that are truthful to the Middle Eastern characters of Antioch. When listening to the piece, viewers are encouraged to wear headphones to fully experience the sonic ambiance. The soundscape was created in a way that allows the  listener to feel as though they were in the room with the actors.

For Guerch, this experimental reading is a rich experience. She believes that digital theatre propositions like Antioch birth new possibilities for live art . “Arts evolve with time and that is an outgrowth of theatre that was born. It is not theatre. It is a child of theatre. […] It comes from theatre, but it unfolds through listening to the moment’s necessities,” she said.

The mission of the Talisman Theatre company is to translate Quebecois theatre pieces in order to make them accessible to an anglophone audience. For this project, they went beyond simple linguistic translation. They also worked with director Sophie El Assaad to adapt the text to make it closer to the Middle Eastern realities it depicts.

El Assaad has worked in the theatre field since 2015 and focused mostly on costume and set design. Antioch is one of her first directing experiences. Prior to working as the director of the piece, she did a lot of research related to the themes tackled in Antioch. For El Assaad, who is Lebanese and grew up in Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf, this work also relates to her personal artistic research.

“It is rare that I get to work on shows that pertain to my culture, and as an artist, in my personal practice, I am actively researching ways in which I can bring in aesthetics and ways of working that aren’t necessarily Western. I want to learn more about my identity, and I want to bring that in through my art, so doing the research for this project allowed me to do the research for my own practice,” she said.

For El Assaad, the project is also about having conversations that do not happen often enough. “We are all learning how to exist as a multicultural, diverse community, and so I saw this project as a way […] of having these very important discussions that don’t happen enough,” she said.

The showing is followed by a roundtable discussion featuring five artists. El Assaad is accompanied by Fuad Ahmed, Ghassan Zakarya, Hoda Adra, and Aquil Virani to discuss the issue with representation of non-Western realities by Western playwrights based on their reading of the original version of Antioche, as well as their personal experiences.

This conversation adds to the multiple layers of meaning present in Antioch. The profoundly touching theatre reading is described by El Assaad as a story on the power of vulnerability.  This openness gives Lily and Inas the opportunity to come together while trying to understand each other.

“For me, this piece isn’t about strength in the typical way, but it is about seeing how being vulnerable is actually being strong, and actually being able to compromise, and being able to let your guard down, and being able to let your weaknesses show. That’s so strong and that’s what power is,” El Assaad said.

 

Photo courtesy Surah Field-Green

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Arts

Exploring the role of arts journalists as cultural mediators

Arts journalism should make cultural productions more accessible to the public

Commonly included at the end of a newscast or in the last pages of a newspaper, readers will often find arts journalism, a hybrid creature whose significance is, at times, forgotten. However, the capability of arts journalists to present new perspectives on societal issues makes them important mediators of culture and ideas.

Arts journalists stand between two different fields: the realm of arts and entertainment productions and the media. They can be described as intermediaries who relay information about art productions from the artist to the public. From this perspective, one could consider them to be producers of cultural meaning. Their responsibility could be defined as a mediator role, as described by scholars Thomas Hanitzsch and Tim P. Vos in their study of the different roles taken on by journalists. According to the authors, the mediators use their journalistic interventions to share ideas that are useful in creating social unity.

In the arts field, cultural mediators take on a role that can complement the idea of the mediating journalist. A cultural mediator builds bridges between pieces of art and the audience through different strategies such as guided tours or creative workshops. They also explore the social themes evoked by the artwork. Cultural mediation offers an all-inclusive approach to art, one that invites all members of the cultural field to participate in discussions and ideas related to artwork.

Arts journalists embracing this aspect of their practice is one step towards a better democratization of art. Enhanced accessibility is a good way to fight elitism within the arts field and to encourage more audience members to engage with a diversity of artistic practices.

However, not all arts journalism practices correspond to this model. Art critique writing, which has been central to arts journalism since its creation, can cultivate an inaccessibility of art. In fact, critics have often been considered as “gatekeepers,” especially when it comes to differentiating high art from low art, as defined by Finnish scholar Maarit Jaakkola.

While it is productive for those in the field to critique art productions amongst themselves in order to improve and evolve, it might not be the best approach when it comes to reaching a large audience. In fact, this approach enhances elitism and excludes certain visions and opinions.

Therefore, in order for arts journalism to play an important part in a democratization of arts and to become more accessible to the public, descriptive and analytic texts should take up more space than art critique. Since art productions are often open to interpretation, the vision of one single critique on a piece restricts the variety of meanings available to the public.

In a study by Andreas Widholm, Kristina Riegert and Anna Roosvall, the authors described an increased tendency amongst arts journalists to move towards more descriptive articles, ones that resemble typical news pieces. While an article with a deeper analysis offers broader information on the artist’s inspiration for a work of art, a shorter descriptive piece is more accessible for individuals who may be not as well versed in the arts.

Raymond Bertin, editor-in-chief for the JEU live arts magazine, explained that his publication produces long format articles for their printed publication that provide background information and analysis on complex debates. They also propose critiques that are available on their website two days after the premier of a show.

Analyses, like those proposed in JEU’s printed publications, can arguably provide new perspectives on societal issues. Scholar Chantal Mouffe argues that all artistic productions are political in the context of an agonistic democracy. This term refers to productive conflicts in the political sphere that question the current power structures in place. Arts journalists are embedded in this process as they bring forth these artistic ideas through mass media with the prospect of inciting productive discussions.

Riegert, Roosvall, and Widholm conducted a study in Sweden amongst veteran arts journalism editors from different media platforms. They interviewed them on their impressions regarding the political value of arts journalism. Their research compiled various visions which all explored arts journalism as a necessary complement to daily news. The editors that were interviewed believed this type of journalism was necessary to analyze social and political issues more deeply. Thus, most of them embraced both the objective and subjective aspects of arts journalism as it would question assumed paradigms. These visions confirmed the important role that arts journalists play as educators and mediators.

Some observers consider there to be a crisis in the current state of arts journalism. Jaakkola analyzed the published literature on this subject and discovered five main problematic poles in the current practice of cultural journalism. One of them, commercialization, is defined by Jaakkola as the simple promotion of cultural products to support the entertainment industry. The author explains that scholars are concerned that, from this perspective, journalists would be used by publicists to promote blockbuster productions.

A cultural journalist acting as a mediator would instead intend to deconstruct a work of art to delineate its political and social implications, therefore surpassing its promotion, and  highlighting thoughts and debates related to the work.

Articles produced for outlets like JEU or in the literature magazine Lettres Québécoises, aim to develop a deeper understanding of art. Annabelle Moreau is the former editor-in-chief for Lettres Québécoises and the director of the Société de développement des périodiques culturels québécois, the organization that brings together arts magazines in Quebec.

According to Moreau, one of the most prominent issues these outlets face is distribution. The association developed a distribution network for these productions to promote them among bookstores and other retailers. Nevertheless, their reach remains limited, especially in a digital era which constantly sees new individuals entering the media sphere.

Therefore, cultural magazines can be considered as a media production parallel to arts journalism produced in mainstream media. They have the freedom to offer insight on specific artistic ideas and issues, which is not always the case in larger newsrooms. While the separation of cultural magazines from mainstream media protects their independence and freedom, it also perpetuates the elitist aura surrounding the arts sphere. A more inclusive approach to longer forms of arts journalism would be pertinent to reach a broader audience and fulfill the mediator role of arts journalists.

Collaboration between mainstream media and smaller magazines could serve as a solution towards a democratization of arts through media productions which would give greater visibility to arts journalism while also making room for political and social analyses.

There is a conversation to be had between arts journalists and scholars, one that needs to foster reflection and offer different strategies in order to allow arts journalism to reach its full potential.

 

Graphic courtesy James Fay

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Arts

What Will Come: a chaos inspired by boxes

Sébastien Provencher and Julia B. Laperrière’s new dance duo explores categorization and chaos

Sébastien Provencher and Julia B. Laperrière met over 10 years ago when they studied dance together at UQAM. While the artists both have their own projects, they have created together sporadically since their university days. They have been working on What Will Come since 2016. At the beginning of the creation process, one of the first objects that inspired them was a cardboard box that they found in a studio where they were rehearsing. The duo developed movement propositions related to explorations they did with the box which led to the start of the dance piece. The project evolved until it became its 2021 version, a dance duo examining the themes of categorization and chaos.

The performance begins with Provencher and Laperrière moving on a stage full of black and white objects. Boxes of different shapes and sizes are meticulously placed  around them. The floor and the back wall are white. The identity of the performers is unclear. They seem to be searching around the space, discovering the objects and each other with active gazes.

Laperrière explained that her inspiration for What Will Come came as she was reading a biology philosophy book that explained the development of categorization in the human brain. Her research evolved into reflections with Provencher on modern society’s obsession with categorizing everything. While the artists’ take on this theme is related to gender identity, they believe it can be linked to many different spheres.

“It is probably a survival mechanism to understand the world around us. So, we were interested in questioning the overcategorization of the things that surround us and how sometimes it can prevent us from being open-minded. But we are not judging it either, those categories can also be necessary to our personal emancipation,” said Provencher.

The choreographers explained that they often draw inspiration from the objects that they discover in spaces where they create. “Sébastien and I, we often work with materials, with objects, it is something that stimulates us a lot,” explained Laperrière. For this piece, the boxes that they use influenced the way they move during the performance. “My physicality became the physicality of the box,” explained Laperrière, who added that they looked at how “these objects contaminated [them].”

As the performance goes on, the organization of the setup on stage dissolves gradually. Touches of pink start appearing amongst the boxes and the lighting becomes more colourful. Laperrière explained that a second concept they worked with was entropy. This is a thermodynamic term that examines the notion of disorder and measures the disorganization of a system.

For the duo, this concept created an opposition with the overcategorization they were exploring. They saw the idea of chaos and loss of control in these principles. Provencher explained that they asked themselves “What happens when chaos emerges from this order that was created? Is there a second order that can be created? Is there something that can emerge afterwards?”

This chaos emerges on-stage as the movement changes, becoming more energetic, with the objects being thrown around, displaced, rearranged. For Laperrière and Provencher, this chaos came to life through accidents that occurred on stage. “In What Will Come, the notions of chaos, of disorder, and of accident are important. Therefore, it is important that if an accident happens it is a real accident. We react [to] the moment on stage and that brings the energetic increase, the accumulation,” said Laperrière.

Since these accidents are not planned, unpredictability is an important part of the dance piece. The performers operate with what they call “open compositional structures.” They know the tasks they must accomplish, but the way that they will complete them remains open to improvisation. “We are always looking for strategies to keep the work alive for us and for the audience,” said Laperrière.

The collaborators are also actively involved in the show with the interpreters. Composer Bráulio Bandeira is on stage with them. Bandeira reacts in real time to their movements, so the music is coordinated with the action and participates in its evolution. A similar principle is used for light design. Nicola Dubois adapts the duration of the different light ambiances to the action happening on stage.

This energetic piece is left open to interpretation for the audience to derive their own meaning from it. The choreographers developed occasionally absurd propositions to cultivate an ambiguity around their actions and the place where they happen. The work invites the audience into an unknown universe full of colours and geometric shapes. The dancers progress in this visually striking space towards a new organization of the objects and bodies on stage. For Provencher and Laperrière, the dance piece examines the idea of control. “We try to control our environment, but in fact we never know when our environment will take over,” said Laperrière.

What Will Come is presented at Tangente until Dec. 5. Tickets are available on their website.

Photo courtesy Denis Martin

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Arts

Trajectories analyzes diversity through archetypes

Élian Mata’s new show will be available to experience until Nov. 27

Élian Mata presents his new show Trajectories at the Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI) theatre from Nov. 24 to 27. Mata’s piece involves eight interpreters, each performing choreography inspired by an archetype that represents human defaults.

Trajectories explores diversity through the lens of mythologies and archetypes. Six characters are interpreted by eight performers. They each stand on their own small stage while the audience is spread out in the theatre space, a technique Mata used to recreate the feeling of an exhibition. For him, this organization of space is a comment on the place given to marginalized groups in modern society. “The initial idea was a proposition inspired by museums, inviting the audience to come and watch living art works that are still relegated to the idea of the museum. We accept them when they are at a distance and in the context of an exhibition since it secures us, but we are not ready to integrate them in society,” he said.

Mata’s creative process for Trajectories started with the conception of dresses and garments related to each of the themes he wanted to examine. The piece was then created with those costumes in mind. Mata recalled being passionate about clothing ever since he was young. He explained that as a teenager, he would draw dresses, and later dreamed of entering fashion school.

The artist started creating his own dance pieces in 2015, with his first show titled Forêt. This work reflected on nudity and diversity. For Mata, Trajectories is the continuity of this piece. In fact, Forêt  ended with the performers putting on clothes after they had been naked for the whole performance. With Trajectories, Mata continues his reflections on human nature, but this time performers are dressed, with each piece of clothing having a specific meaning.

Each of the six personas has a specific composition combining movement patterns and sometimes sounds or words developed in collaboration between Mata and the performers. Therefore, all the choreographies are unique and independent from each other. Mata explained that the process of creating this piece started with visual inspirations he had in mind. “I start with images and these images come alive,” he said.

The piece includes two duets respectively symbolizing the archetypes of Anima and Animus, each adapted in a dance duet. Anima, performed by Anne-Flore de Rochambeau and Gabrielle Surprenant-Lacasse, examines the idea of a masculine side that can be found in women. Jontae McCrory and Jérémie Brassard interpret Animus, the feminine part found in men. The terms Anima and Animus were developed by Psychiatrist Carl Jung. For Mata, the idea of categorizing male and female character traits is absurd, and these duets confront this. “They are two and they symbolize one person. They confront each other, they fight, but they also accept each other and live together,” he explained. For Anima, the two interpreters perform together in a dress made for two.

Narcissus is another character, performed by Stevens Simeon. Mata believes narcissism is very much present in our current culture, inspiring him to reference the tale of Narcissus in this solo piece. The large gold reflexive cube placed on Simeon’s stage symbolizes the Greek figure’s drowning as he stared transfixed at his reflection in the water.

The choreographer also included the figure of Androgyny, who he describes as a ghostly presence, one that is ignored by all. Interpreted by Thomas Wilkinson Fullerton, this character occupies the performance space without having his own stage to stand on for most of the presentation. With this dance piece, Mata comments on the marginalization of people like Androgyny in our society.

In the centre of a black box stands Mohawk performer Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo. The artist performs solo dance based on the greeting Skennen’kó:wa, which translates to “do you carry the great peace?” in Mohawk. In English, it translates to “how are you,” though this doesn’t carry its spiritual or historical significance. “For me, it was evident that, through all the themes I touched on, I had to talk about the problematic relationship humans have with nature and the current ecological problems. So, I had to work with an Indigenous artist, because I have always been fascinated by the link they maintain with nature,” said Mata. This dance performance comments on the current relationship humans share with nature. “If we considered the Earth at the same level as us, we would nurture a different relationship to it,” he said.

The sixth choreography is inspired by Magna Mater, or the Great Mother, an archetype that relates to fertility in Greek mythology. Jacqueline van de Geer embodies this persona. Mata wanted to question the roles related to pregnancy and motherhood that have historically and continue to be imposed on women, and the burden it generates for them. “The dress she wears is a reference to the weight of this historic iconography. She suffocates because of all these roles,” explained Mata.

Each of the performances have their own soundscape and lighting. Through a variety of visual organizations and movement propositions, Mata encourages visitors to reflect on diversity. “I invite the audience to take a path to meet with the other. This ‘other’ is a manifestation of the human psyche, and some character traits or personalities that still today are perceived in the wrong way.” In the MAI’s entrance, audience members can read a preamble to the show written by Mata in which he explains the richness he observes in human differences. “Pluralism generates a healthy evolution of cultures because a society is not petrified in time, it evolves by feeding itself with exchanges and the creativity of people who have known how to think differently,” wrote Mata.

Trajectories is presented at the MAI at 3680 Jeanne-Mance St. Tickets are available through their website. 

 

Photo courtesy of Vanessa Fortin and David Wong

 

 

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Arts

Construction sites serve as inspiration for artist Philippe Battikha

Artist Philippe Battikha, stands next to a smaller section of his exhibit piece at the Fonderie Darling in Montreal, Quebec on November 12 2021. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ THE CONCORDIAN

Until Dec. 19, Fonderie Darling will be showcasing the sound artist’s first major solo exhibition

Trumpet player and sound artist Philippe Battikha presented his first major solo exhibition on Oct. 28 at Fonderie Darling. Someone’s Always Listening, a kinetic installation, creates a new perception of construction materials for its viewers. Battikha has his studio on the second-floor of the art gallery. In this space filled with collected objects and on-going projects, the Concordia graduate discussed his relationship to the materials used in the work with The Concordian.

The piece is composed of blasting mats that are made up of old tires that have been woven together. They were produced by the company Dynamat, and are used on construction sites to absorb explosions that occur during building projects. Battikha first saw these mats during his time at his old studio in the Rosemont area. “I was on the second floor, so I had a vantage point on the construction site where normally you wouldn’t see that kind of explosion,” recalled the artist. “It would become all quiet because all the construction around stopped and then you would feel it […] the whole Earth would shake, and I was in the building adjacent to this particular site and you would feel it in the building. Then slowly, the construction noise would come back.”

The mats were fascinating to Battikha. “Right away I got infatuated by the aesthetics of the mats themselves. They were beautiful, beyond human size […] and to see them kind of bubble up like that from the dynamite explosion, that image stuck in my head,” he said.

Battikha placed the blasting mats in a large mass standing in the centre of the small hall of  Fonderie Darling. Sounds from construction sites permeate this dark scene, and hydraulic pumps placed under the structure move part of it up and down, as if a creature were breathing beneath it.

The movement of the pump recreates the moment of explosion under the mats. With this installation, the artist reflects on the constant shifts in the architecture found in cities and the sounds related to it. Reflections on the place and effects of sounds in everyday life are central to Battikha’s artistic practice. He is particularly interested in the idea of sounds as contaminants. “As a sound artist, I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between in and out. And sound has this ability to traverse those boundaries of what is presented in the inside of things and what is on the outside,” he said.

Artist Philippe Battikha’s exhibit Someone’s Always Listening at the Fonderie Darling in Montreal, Quebec on November 12 2021. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ THE CONCORDIAN

Objects are also central to Battikha’s artistic practice. He described being particularly attracted to specific ones. In recent years, he converted an old bingo machine, a hairdresser’s chair, and an old player piano, amongst others. “I had been collecting objects my whole life, and living with them and lugging them around, and so the other avenue of my work is to recontextualize these objects to give them a new life.”

Someone’s Always Listening is the continuity of the artist’s ongoing reflections. He sees the material aspect of his installation as an anchoring point for the audience to situate themselves in an enveloping and destabilizing sonic environment. The dark lighting in the room adds to this otherworldly feeling that he aims to generate.

The exhibition acts as an invitation to reflect on the relationship we share with the urban sounds and materials that surround us every day. Instead of critiquing, the artist creates an opportunity for each visitor to derive their own meaning from the installation. “I think we need to redefine our relationship with the things and environments around us in order to move forward […] in a way that is less destructive and more sustainable for the future and that is central to a lot of the work that I am doing specifically with objects and sounds,” he said.

Someone’s Always Listening is being presented at Fonderie Darling until Dec. 19. For more information, visit the gallery’s website.

 

Photos courtesy of Kaitlynn Rodney

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Arts

Cinema Politica returns with the powerful film BEANS

On Nov. 1, The Cinema Politica team wanted to generate conversations on the themes of land and reconciliation with this screening about the Oka crisis

Cinema Politica kicked off its fall programming on Nov.1 with a screening of the award-winning movie BEANS. The film by director Tracey Deer premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020. BEANS recounts the story of the Oka Crisis through the eyes of 12-year-old Tekehentahkhwa, nicknamed Beans, played by Kiawenti:io. The screening was followed by a discussion with actress Brittany LeBorgne who plays Karahwen’hawi, a member of the Mohawk community, in the film.

“The occupation of an ancient pine forest on the Mohawk reserve of Kanesatake is in its fourth month. The people here are protecting a burial ground from being levelled for a golf course expansion by the neighbouring town of Oka,” explained a voice in the movie’s trailer. The Oka Crisis occured in 1990 in response to a golf course expansion project, which immediately faced resistance from the Mohawk community. The official start date of the crisis was July 11, 1990, when Quebec’s police force intervened in the conflict. The Mohawks had been blocking the road leading to the piece of land since March, and the city of Oka had tried pressuring them to bring their barricade down, without any success.

The Mohawks of Kahnawake were also involved in the conflict, as they blocked the Honoré Mercier bridge in support of the Kanesatake community. In August, the Canadian army came in to provide back-up to the local police force. The events created tension between the residents of the surrounding cities and the Mohawk communities. The violent crisis concluded on Sept. 26, 1990, when the Mohawk resistance came to an agreement with the army.

The film presents these historical events through the coming-of-age story of Beans who lives in the Mohawk community of Kanesatake. The young girl is building her identity as she hopes to enter a private high school, and tries to fit in with a group of older teenagers. She is faced with the reality of the Oka crisis, with the film showing the anger and fear growing within her as she experiences the violence taking place during the summer of 1990. The lives of Beans and her family, including her mother Lily and little sister Ruby played by Rainbow Dickerson and Violah Beauvais respectively, as well as the greater community are complemented by archival videos of the actual events.

In BEANS, Deer highlights the violence and racism experienced by the Mohawks. The film is an eye-opening and touching depiction of the reality of the conflict. The director was inspired by her personal experience of the Oka crisis. “I was Beans. I was twelve-years-old when I lived through an armed stand-off between my people and the Quebec and Canadian governments known as The Oka Crisis. The Mohawk Nation of Kanesatake and Kahnawà:ke stood up to a formidable bully — and won. That summer I knew I wanted to become a filmmaker and vowed to one day tell this story,” wrote Deer in her notes on the film.

Deer received the TIFF Emerging Talent Award 2020 after releasing BEANS. The film was part of the festival’s Top Ten for Canada list and won The Best Motion Picture Award at the Canadian Screen Awards, among other accolades.

For Rania Salawdeh, assistant coordinator for Cinema Politica, BEANS touched on important current issues. “We really wanted to have this kind of conversation around the lands that we currently live in, so everyone relates to it to a certain extent because it’s a locationality that they know, it’s a place that they’re aware of, it’s a history that they do not know but that they are positioned in. And I think that was a feeling that we wanted to provoke in the audiences,” she said.

Since 2003, Cinema Politica’s mission has been to present political films from independent creators that touch on current themes and issues. For Salawdeh, the conversation following the screening of a film is an important part of the experience. “We also need not only to consume films but also contextualize films and see how we as audiences can interact with the film materials as well. […] There’s that relation I think, between seeing a political film and having a political conversation,” she said.

Cinema Politica will be presenting its next screening on Nov. 15 at La Sala Rossa. Titled Queer for Palestine, the program will feature several short films created by artists from Palestine and Lebanon. The presentation is part of the 10-day Queer Cinema for Palestine Festival.

 

Visual courtesy of Maia Iotzova

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Arts

Artists take the street in protest of poor working conditions

Quebec’s act regarding the status of artists would guarantee better working conditions and less contract uncertainty for the province’s artists

On Oct. 22 a group of artists took over Bleury St. to protest poor working conditions for artists. The 50 individuals advocated for a revision of Quebec’s act regarding the status of artists, which would guarantee more stable working conditions for creators from all disciplines.

The event was organized by the Mouvement A. R. T, Rassemblement Diomède and Québec Solidaire’s Front culturel. The three organizations are working together to pressure the Culture and Communications Minister Nathalie Roy to change the province’s act regarding the status of artists. They hope this revision will provide more stability in artists’ working conditions. Artists are not provided with insurance for injuries, health issues, or lost contracts. Therefore, the groups are advocating for safer working situations. They’re also asking for the value of art to be acknowledged  through an increase in salaries.

Artists were affected considerably by the pandemic due to the cancellation of working opportunities, but now that theatres are reopening, their revenues and contracts remain unstable. For Ariane DesLions, an artist who creates clown performances for young audiences and is a spokesperson for Mouvement A.R.T, the lack of a social safety net weakens the whole artistic field. “The work contracts are not protected, they are thrown in the garbage for reasons such as bad temperature, the pandemic, strikes. […] That is why we ask for more recognition of the social and economic value of all Québec artists,” she said.

As pointed out by DesLions, the government has only two parliamentary sessions left before the next elections. Therefore, she sees the revision of Quebec’s act regarding the status of artists as a pressing issue that should be addressed as soon as possible.

Statistics Canada published a report about the effect of the pandemic on the revenue of the artistic industry in 2020. Not-for-profit performing arts companies lost 61 per cent in operating revenue and 22 per cent in salaries, while for-profit performing arts companies lost  64 per cent in operating revenues and 57 per cent in salaries. The report also states that most businesses of the arts, entertainment and recreation sectors produced less than half of their revenue in 2020 compared to before the pandemic.

For DesLions, these numbers will affect the future of the art world since fewer people will want to become artists and live in this precarious state. “In 10 years, we will understand the gravity of what is happening right now. Who will want to be an artist tomorrow? You have to be convinced and carefree to start an arts career because the reality of artists is a rough road,” she said.

In February, Roy organized consultations aimed at  improving the existing legislation. Mouvement A.R.T submitted a statement during these consultations to explain their point of view on the question. Titled Être un artiste, tout un contrat!, the document summarizes the challenges faced by artists and provides recommendations to improve their working conditions. One of their suggestions is to create financial insurance to protect artists when they lose contracts. Mouvement A.R.T’s proposal has so far been ignored by the ministry.

Rassemblement Diomède has been organizing events around this issue since last summer. Since then, they have protested multiple times to advocate for the reopening of artistic venues. Their group is composed of artists from different disciplines and uses street performances  to reach the public. Last Friday, they presented a theatre text accompanied by improvised dancing.

Laura Borello-Bellemare has been participating in Rassemblement Dimoède’s protests since their first one. “It was a way to show that we were still there, that we wanted to perform, that we were essential even though we were considered non-essential,” she said. Borello-Bellemare believes that the march on Oct. 22 was necessary since, “even though theatres are open again… there are still a lot of issues to advocate for.”

Rassemblement Diomède founder and theatre artist Hugo Fréjabise also expressed his concerns. He explained that for his organization, the value given to artists by society has to be revisited. “I think there is a double paradox for artists, we put them forward as the emblems of a country, a society, and at the same time, we leave them in precariousness,” he said.

Early in October, Roy promised that Quebec’s act regarding the status of artists would be revised. At the time, the minister could not provide a clear timeline for when any changes may be made to the act.

 

Photo courtesy of Oona Barrett

 

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Arts

LACUNA-LACUNE exhibition showcases raw materials and natural shapes

On Oct. 1, Andréanne Abbondanza-Bergeron’s LACUNA-LACUNE opened at Concordia’s FOFA gallery. The solo exhibition features a series of photographs displayed in the gallery’s vitrines, and two other installations in its main space. In her work, the artist contrasts the use of industrial materials like rope, steel, and glass, with references to nature and organic patterns front and centre.

The exhibition concludes a long creative process for Abbondanza-Bergeron, one that started before the pandemic. LACUNA-LACUNE was supposed to be presented last year, but the delay impacted the artist’s creative process. The photographs that are now part of the exhibition were taken during the pandemic, when the artist began to take walks in the forest. These photographs present human waste in natural spaces. One of them shows pieces of blue glass invading a natural environment that is composed of moss, grass, and rocks.

Abbondanza-Bergeron’s creative process is usually inspired by architecture, but it evolved in a different way this time. Nature became a central element of the show, influencing the final exhibition and the main installation. “This piece has something that has shifted a lot more towards the organic, towards […] something that for me is more influenced by the natural form,” she said. The artist explained that nature has always inspired her, but never in a way that was expressed in her art pieces.

The main space of the FOFA gallery is filled with a steel installation. This massive piece is composed of multiple steel ribbons, which are usually used to tie pallets together. The bands of steel are attached to the walls of the gallery and come down to the floor in an undulating fashion. Visitors are allowed to walk under the installation to appreciate it from another perspective.

Abbondanza-Bergeron explained that prior to creating this piece, she envisioned the tension that the large creation could put on visitors who looked at it from the front. When it was completed, she discovered that looking at the work from underneath managed to conjure the opposite feeling. “The interior became something quite different, more enveloping, more of a relief from all that tension,” she said, adding that it results in the viewer “actually just feeling protected and embraced.”

Lighting is also an important part of the main installation. The soft lights being used add texture to the steel. Under the installation, the ribbons’ shadows are interlaced, creating straight and curved lines on the floor. For Abbondanza-Bergeron, light is always an important part of her work, using it here to create a sense of weightlessness. She found a way to use light to reveal “the volume and the different stratas, the different cascading waves and […] to make that mass become more three-dimensional.”

The FOFA gallery’s black box, a closed room painted in black where artworks requiring dark lighting are presented, showcases another installation by Abbondanza-Bergeron. The art piece is composed of window screens hanging from the ceiling. Two panels of the thin screen-like material are put together and sway as the air in the room pushes them from side to side. Here, lighting also plays a crucial role, since the screen fabric under light produces wave-like patterns as it shines through the material. For Abbondanza-Bergeron, this work of art is a bridge between the photographs showcased in the gallery’s vitrines, and the larger installation piece, since it is made of industrial screen material while being “related more directly to natural shapes and the natural world.”

The catalogue of the exhibition will be launched on Nov. 4. “For me, having a catalogue is really nice to keep a piece alive a little longer,” she said. This exhibition and its catalogue are the conclusion of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art research fellowship that was granted to Abbondanza-Bergeron in 2017. The LACUNA-LACUNE exhibition will be open to the public until Nov. 5.

 

Photograph by Véronique Morin

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Ar(t)chives Arts

Gordon Matta-Clark’s unique vision of urban space

American artist Gordon Matta-Clark is well known for his technique which involved cutting shapes into buildings

Gordon Matta-Clark was an American artist who specialized in architectural interventions and photography during the seventies. He is best recognized for his transformation of abandoned buildings through holes and shapes he cut in their walls and floors.

Matta-Clark’s conceptual art was based on his concerns and critique pertaining to the urban reality of New York. One of his first outdoor interventions, created in 1972, was titled Dumpster Duplex. The artwork was composed of an opened garbage dumpster with home furniture, walls and doors placed in it. This piece of art was featured in the neighborhood of SoHo in downtown Manhattan. Through this work, Matta-Clark critiqued housing challenges that the poorest communities of New York were facing at the time.

Matta-Clark also opened the restaurant Food in SoHo with artists Carol Goodden and Tina Girouard. This restaurant was a place where artists could gather to eat and work. Despite only being open from 1971 to 1973, Food is considered to be one of the first restaurants of the area. In terms of Matta-Clark’s work, this restaurant added to his process of investing in and rethinking urban space.

His vision was also transmitted through his Reality Properties: Fake Estates project. He bought 15 plots of land for prices ranging from 25 to 75 dollars between the years of 1973 and 1974. They were small and often unusable due to their location. The artist took pictures of the micro plots. He created collages combining the photographs, maps of the area and his property deeds. The project aimed to critique the unaffordability of real estate in New York.  While he visited most, Jane Crawford, Matta-Clark’s widow, explained that the artist never got the opportunity to see one of the plots he owned since it was surrounded by private buildings.

One of Matta-Clark’s best known projects, Splitting, highlights his iconic building cuts. These art interventions consisted of pieces of a built structure being taken off through strategic cuts with a chainsaw, which transformed buildings into a deconstructed space. The artist described his work as “anarchitecture,” a play on the words anarchy and architecture.  Created in 1974, Splitting consists of restructuring large cuts that were taken out of a house that was supposed to be demolished. Matta-Clark and his team created separations and holes in the dwelling’s structure. The walls were deconstructed to create new spaces between the different rooms. They also performed a cut that went through the house, beginning from the roof and ending in the basement. The artist documented his work through photos, which he gathered in a book titled Splitting. These photographs echo his work on the house. He made collages with the photos, cut them and combined them together to imagine even more modifications to be done on the house.

Matta-Clark continued to perform his building cuts, making them more spectacular. A notable one is titled Conical Intersect. This work of art was created in Paris in 1975. Matta-Clark made cuts in two buildings that were going to be demolished by the city. The round holes he created granted pedestrians access to a look inside the 17th century buildings. The circular cuts left by this art intervention started a pattern for the artist. He created similar round holes in other structures during the following years.

Matta-Clark called his creations on abandoned buildings “non-uments.” The artist’s on-site interventions did not remain, but his photographs and notes were conserved after he died in 1978. His work presents an awareness of architecture, which is still pertinent today as more humans live in cities and are surrounded by dynamic, ever-changing urban environments.

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

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Ar(t)chives

M. Gros: investigation games and the art world

Artistic duo Geneviève and Matthieu derive inspiration for their latest performance from investigative TV shows and movies

Artistic duo Geneviève et Matthieu will present their new creation titled M. Gros at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines theater from Oct. 12 to 15. The performers bring the audience into their universe in a non-narrative multidisciplinary creation built around the themes of investigation, identity, and the art world.

Some of the props Geneviève et Matthieu use in their new creation include  fake skin placed on stools, masks with long dark hair attached to clothes hangers, a large piece of fabric piled at the back of the stage, a cotton candy machine, a guitar that plays by itself, a large rope, and a collection of knives.

Their piece is based around the idea of the Mr. Big police investigation technique. This technique aims to solve unsolved crimes through the work of undercover police officers who use infiltration techniques to get to know the suspect. The artists were inspired by investigative TV shows and movies they love. They also thought the name Mr. Big was poetic and could correlate to many ideas, such as the chocolate bar, the body, and the rock band of the same name.

Geneviève et Matthieu have been working on M. Gros for two years now, with it constantly evolving. Improvisation is a crucial part of the performance: the artists have a script that lists the main events of the show, but the way in which they transition from one to the other changes every time.

The artists view the improvisational aspect of their work as a challenge; one that allows them to constantly try new things. “We want the freedom we are giving ourselves to show through because that is all part of playing games, when you start a game of Clue you don’t know how it’s going to end, so it’s the same for us, it’s the idea of how it will end and what shape it will take,” said Geneviève.

The duo is also accompanied on stage by a mad curator who hates contemporary art, and a visual artist who hides behind the different objects on the stage. “It is a roleplay and there are many declensions, but always under the same theme of our identity, who we are, what we hide and what we reveal,” explained Geneviève.

M. Gros is an investigation game Geneviève et Matthieu set for themselves. They are using movement, music and text throughout the performance. As the investigators, their target is specific: they are taking over the art world. The idea came to them after pondering what would be the worst thing that artists could lose. The answer to this question was their ideas. Therefore, the performance also reflects on the contemporary art world.

Geneviève et Matthieu have been working as artists since the 1990s. They also founded an artist centre in their hometown of Rouyn-Noranda called l’Écart.  The Biennale d’Art Performatif de Rouyn-Noranda performance art festival which presented its 9 edition in 2018, is another project they initiated. All the art pieces they’ve encountered influence their practice. Their knowledge enriches the show as they touch on the history of performance art.

Geneviève et Matthieu are both trained in visual arts. They are also musicians who wrote and produced five albums. The performative aspect of their work appeared later in their career, with their pieces La Jamésie and L’opéra d’or. 

Geneviève explained that the creation of their performances was always driven by the props they use. Also, the multidisciplinary aspect of their work is an important part of their creative process. “We always present in different contexts whether it is a theatre, an art gallery, it is really something we are looking for because it gives us the opportunity to work differently and to be influenced by the context,” said Matthieu.

After its run at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines, M. Gros will be presented in another form at the Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain gallery from Nov. 13 to Dec. 18. For them, the exhibition space gives the audience a way of interacting with the props that is different than in a performance space. “When we are in an exhibition space, we have another relationship with the artwork which includes more proximity… in the way we will install it, the work of art will have another life and the objects will interact with each other in a different way,” said Geneviève.

M. Gros is presented in partnership with the Phenomena Festival. Tickets for the M. Gros show are available on the La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines website. 

 

Photograph courtesy of Geneviève et Matthieu

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