Category: Arts

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Arts

La La Land will make you dance in the clouds

LA LA LAND, from left, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, 2016, photo by Dale Robinette, ©Summit Releasing

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s chemistry will make you believe in the old magic of cinema again

Somewhere along the way, the film industry forgot how to inspire hope, or decided it was no longer necessary. It used to be that, as the world grew gloomier, the movies grew happier. This was a natural counterbalance to the uncertainty and unquietness of real life.

Today, as the world approaches pre-WW2 levels of tension and confusion, the big screen is not being a source of comfort—gritty is still the new cool, and some like to speculate that cinema is altogether dead, with Netflix offering the hip alternative. This present context is what makes Damien Chazelle’s La La Land all the more significant, meaningful and timeless. The film will not be released until December of this year, but it already has the feel of an established classic.

The mood is set with a virtuoso opening dance sequence that takes place on a Los Angeles highway. You watch as dozens of people are kept waiting in a traffic jam, when suddenly magic happens, and irresistible joy is breathed into the most ordinary of proceedings. It is during this opening dance sequence that a chance encounter occurs between Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a struggling musician, and Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress.

They are two dreamers in a city that couldn’t care less about them, and yet it inspires in them visions of love and enchantment, of star-bathed backgrounds and lushly coloured skies. Life circumstances ensure that they continuously cross paths—they meet again and again. First they dislike each other, then like each other, and finally they fall in love. All that jazz. The duo have a chemistry so pure that you know it is fate that brings them together, and not a team of screenwriters.

Sebastian (Gosling) and Mia (Stone) are two happy-go-lucky dreamers in a world that forgot how to dream.

What a strange concept it is to make an old-school musical in our day and age—but it works, both as an ode to dreams and to the power of cinema. Gosling and Stone are not professional dancers or singers, but the film doesn’t require them to be. The music by Justin Hurwitz—a key collaborator of Chazelle’s—is out of this world, written to emphasize tenderness and melancholy over vocal prowess.

The film is made with such nostalgia, and Chazelle—known for the 2014 sensation Whiplash—has such love for the history of music and cinema, that you almost expect the characters to make a wrong turn and be transported a century back, like in Midnight in Paris (2011).

The way La La Land confronts cinema’s dying past in a largely indifferent present recalls Sylvain Chomet’s animated L’illusioniste (2010)—although the latter mourned the retirement of magic, while Chazelle’s film all but screams that magic is still possible, even though it may not always offer a path to happiness. La La Land packs in all the pleasures of a musical, while offering a depth of emotion and a richness of form. It is a triumphant, generous masterpiece that feels bound for serious Oscar glory. You are right to be excited for it. Until the next time I see it, my heart will beat to the tune of Hurwitz’ songs.

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Blair Witch: A return to the Black Hills Forest

While not fully living up to the original, Blair Witch still has frights and fights

Hidden under the title of The Woods during production, Blair Witch is the latest sequel to The Blair Witch Project (1999), a film that is considered one of the pioneers of found-footage horror. While this new instalment is a significant upgrade from the catastrophe that was Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), viewers should still not be expecting a classic this time around.

Fans of the original should be advised to leave their expectations for another Blair Witch at home, as this instalment feels like a fan fiction that somehow managed to become a feature film. The filmmakers did make the effort to continue the found-footage tradition and even staged the film in its original location. However, the shaky camera style quickly becomes distracting and the woods somehow feel smaller than in the original film.

The story is painfully straightforward. James, the brother of Heather (who disappeared in the original), finds newly discovered footage on YouTube that he thinks features his sister. This opens up the possibility that she could still be alive. He decides to round up his three closest friends to go investigate, reluctantly bringing along the two people who found the footage for guidance. What follows is the typical, predictable filler of character conflict that leads to the group splitting up for no good reason, a flurry of jump scares and some mediocre deaths, which all lead up to the abandoned, decrepit house from the original.

Blair Witch manages nothing new, despite having an acre of potential. photo: Chris Helcermanas-Benge/© Lionsgate

There are many fatal flaws that plague the film, the biggest being that there is never a sense that these characters have any kind of chance of making it out alive. It resembles a one-sided fight between a wolf and six blind lambs. Moreover, rather building up any kind of substantial suspense, Blair Witch is just a basic monster movie shot exactly like Cloverfield (2008). The monster in this movie being an amalgamation of Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Slender Man, and a self-aware forest. Worst of all, there really is not much of a point to the film. It fails to build on the original, all the while being predictable just like every other horror movie made in the last 10 years.

However, for all of Blair Witch’s faults, it must be said that the third act inside the house is well worth the price of admission. This is where the film finally jumps into top gear. It is the kind of scary that will keep most viewers frozen in their seats. There really isn’t a logical reason for the characters to go into the house, but the movie needs to go inside more than its characters do. While the ending is not something that will stick with many people, the sequence is a genuinely fun time. If I were to compare the film to anything, it would be to a rollercoaster ride. There is a lot of time spent waiting for something to happen, then a few bumps to get your attention, and finally a sudden rush that slows down right before you’re let off.

Those who are looking for something new should stay away, but anyone who enjoys a fright should check it out.

Stars: 2.5

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Feminist comedians take over Reggie’s

Funny women took to the stage Friday night  to talk life, love and get some laughs

Concordia students crowded into Reggie’s as the second annual Feminist Stand-Up Comedy Night kicked off on Sept. 16. Put on by the Centre for Gender Advocacy, the evening’s lineup of comedians featured some newbies as well as a few veterans. The event began with an open mic session and was followed by sets from two renowned feminist comedians, Kalyani Pandya and Ify Chiwetelu.

The packed event kicked off with local comedian Nicole, who is relatively new to the comedy circuit. Last year’s Feminist Stand-Up Comedy Night was one of her first forays into the stand-up world. Originally from Saskatchewan, she started off by welcoming everyone to group therapy, and followed up with some poignant jokes about the cost of therapy and women’s haircuts. “When I do my finances every month, I’m like okay, do I want to be a functioning member of society or do I want to look good,” she said amidst applause. “We can all tell by my hair which one I chose this month.”

Right before the headlining act, Pandya took the stage and treated everyone to her hilarious stand-up, which focused on the fact she is queer and South Asian. She kept the room laughing during her entire set with jokes about her parents and their trip back to India. However, while she impersonated her parents for the skit, she also made it clear that cultural appropriation would not be tolerated.  “Now when I say these stories, I am going to use [my parents] accents, because it is their voices and I couldn’t hear it any other way,” she said. “But it is not okay for you to go and make those accents unless you are related to them or know them.” Branded “Ottawa’s funniest dyke” by Ottawa Xtra!, Pandya was part of the CBC’s Human Library series. She has performed at various venues across Canada, including Yuk Yuk’s, the Palais des congrés, and the Vancouver Queer International Film Festival.

Following Pandya was the night’s headliner, Toronto-based comedian Ify Chiwetelu. Winner of the 2015 Bad Dog Theatre Breakout Performer award, she joked about growing up black in Calgary and modern-day dating and using Tinder. Walking back and forth across the stage, she described what it was like to use the popular hook-up app after a weird or uncomfortable interaction: “You delete the app for like an hour, then look beside you like, oh my bed’s still empty, time to re-download that shit.” Featuring jokes about boobs, boys and life with parents who had escaped a civil war in Nigeria, Chiwetelu provided a set that was also relevant to all kids who grew up in Canadian cities and loved rap music way too much.

This event was part of the Centre for Gender Advocacy’s annual fall event series, Another Word for Gender: An Intro to Feminist Organizing and Action. The fall series runs until Oct. 4. The next event, an ask-and-answer with multi-disciplinary artists Vivek Shraya and Chase Joynt, will take place on Sept. 22.

For a full schedule of the events check out the fall events series page on Facebook.

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Fame & controversy: Mapplethorpe in Montreal

This retrospective exhibition shows Mapplethorpe’s work from his time as a budding artist until his untimely death

In a Canadian first, the works of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe will be displayed at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA).  Focus: Perfection – Robert Mapplethorpe is a retrospective exhibit containing works from his earliest projects, leading up all the way to his death in 1989. The exhibition contains a collection of photographs, collages, books and other works spanning the totality of the American photographer’s career, including his early experiments with Polaroids.

Mapplethorpe, who produced highly-stylized black-and-white prints in the 70s, was a controversial figure in the New York art scene, his photographs have acted as both a statement for and against their own artistic value. His highly contentious X series, depicting homoerotic and BDSM scenes, are the focal point of the controversy surrounding his work.

In a 1989 Republican Convention, Senator Jesse Helms, infuriated by the apparently moral obscenity of Mapplethorpe’s photographs, called for their censorship. He famously said: “look at the pictures!” Helms believed their “immoral” and “grotesque” nature would be obvious at a glance. This sort of controversy is something that Mapplethorpe enjoyed, and even strove to achieve.

“When there was controversy, it seemed to be something he promoted. He liked the idea of shocking people, depicting things that had never been seen before, that were unsettling,” said Mikhel Proulx, an instructor at Concordia University’s art history department. “He would probably call it his style, but his brand was linked to some sense of these images being controversial.”

Now, a few decades later, the controversy and shocking nature of Mapplethorpe’s photos has abated, leaving space for discussion, appreciation and critique—and that’s exactly what the MMFA wants to promote said Proulx. The works and their history raise interesting questions about power, race and censorship in art.

Proulx is interested not only in the artist’s work, but also the story and prejudices told through the photographer’s lens.

“I think it easy to see, when you look at the work—you are looking through the eyes of a gay white man,” said Proulx. “And so that privilege carries through in how the photograph is constructed.”

Mapplethorpe’s work has spurred interesting conversations about race, gender and sexuality. The photographer has been criticized by others for taking advantage of his subjects, and placing them in very vulnerable and compromising positions to advance his own career and fulfill his ambitions of being a rich and famous artist, according to Proulx.

Mapplethorpe’s photos were not taken with an objective, neutral eye. The photographs displayed in the exhibition reflect how he saw the world.

“Part of thinking deeply about an artist like Mapplethorpe means getting past the laudatory text on the museum walls,” said Proulx. “When we look at his photographs, we certainly see masterful images, but we don’t quite see traces of a deeply problematic person, with some rather hateful views of the world.”

Mapplethorpe said he looked for perfection in form, regardless of what that form took. Indeed, once you get passed the graphic nature of the subject, the photo in itself is beautiful, with expertly crafted play of light and shadow, proportion and form.

The exhibition at the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion of the MMFA is divided into several rooms, each showcasing a different aspect of Mapplethorpe’s career. The first room examines Mapplethorpe’s early works, including his attempts at jewelry-making.

Next are his famous portraits. Andy Warhol, Paloma Picasso, Richard Gere and Yoko Ono are but a few of New York’s upper crust immortalized by Mapplethorpe’s lens. These portraits, striking in their stylized nature, are a window into Mapplethorpe’s social ascent. Mapplethorpe wanted to be rich and famous, and he knew that to get there, he needed to be calculating in who he rubbed shoulders with. He was a masterful photographer—but his social climbing is what gained his photos notoriety.

The third section of the gallery is where his controversial X, Y and Z portfolios are displayed in their entirety. Mapplethorpe was known mainly for photographing flowers, the black male nude and homoerotic BDSM scenes. This section of the exhibition is structured in such a way that, if someone wished to skip his more graphic work, they could go through to the next room, which contains his flower stills and his examination of the body as sculpture.

In the fifth and final room, the exhibition touches on the controversy surrounding Mapplethorpe’s work, as well as the ideological conflicts that were happening in America at the time on subjects such as homosexuality, censorship of art and abortion. At the beginning of the 90s these issues polarized American society and, as shown on a museum label in the exhibit, Mapplethorpe’s work was part of the overall discussion.

“Part of teasing open his legacy is looking at how his celebrity [image] has been constructed in certain ways,” said Proulx. “There’s a lot of effort that goes into creating this spectacle of Mapplethorpe. Obviously, there’s a lot of money too and a lot of private interest, when you think of the museums, the donors, the collectors.”

For anyone with an interest in contemporary art history, this exhibition will be of interest. Putting his artistic genius aside,  Mapplethorpe has been logged into art history books because that’s exactly what he wanted—and by drawing on a specific network, that’s exactly what happened. In order to actually understand his work and the impact he has had, you’ll have to take a look at the photographs for yourself.

The exhibition can be viewed at the MMFA until Jan. 22. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 for visitors under the age of 30 and $20 for everyone over the age of 31.

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Some things change, summer things remain the same

Photo by Joshua De Costa.

The McCord Museum’s Summer Days! public exhibition takes a look at the simple joys of summers past

Along a short stretch of McGill College Avenue, 13 silver frames house 24 black-and-white photos. These photos, although plain and rustic, catch the eye of passers-by. What their eyes are drawn to are candid snapshots showing how Quebecers in the 1900s spent their summers.

The snapshots are all part of the McCord Museum’s Summer Days! exhibition, which the museum put together by picking these historic gems out of thousands of photos from that era, acquired through family donations.

The photos are a serene sight on a busy street, but they also hold a deeper meaning for Montrealers.

“It’s not just art for art,” said Hélène Samson, McCord Museum’s curator of the Notman Photographic Archives. “The McCord is not a fine arts museum—it is in fact the museum of Montreal’s social history.”

For the past 11 years, the museum has showcased Montreal’s social history by displaying its collection in exhibitions like Summer Days! along McGill College Avenue. The exhibitions are also an opportunity to “uncover the richness and diversity of the museum’s collection,” Samson said.

Not too long ago, one Quebecer saw the photos and discovered her family’s ties to the city’s past. Samson said the girl called the museum, said she recognized her grandmother, Yvette, in one of the photos. “[The whole] family plans to go to Montreal and see the photo where Yvette is camping with a friend,” Samson said.

The photos provide a peek into the past, and they also keep a record of the real moments in Quebecers’ lives. “Unlike studio photos, these spontaneous snapshots capture the joie de vivre of Quebecers on vacation,” said Suzanne Sauvage, McCord Museum’s president and CEO, in a June 2016 press release.

In one photo from 1938, two men, Bob and Albert, both wearing ruffled shirts and suspenders, stand side-by-side in a river in Brockville, Ont. They smile and smoke cigarettes as the water swirls around their ankles. It’s possible that the two men may have been suffering through the Great Depression, but their smiles tell a different story.

In another photo, three young girls, wearing straw sunhats and tartan dresses that extend well past their knees, play barefoot on a beach. The caption reads: “Three young ladies from the Braithwaite family.” If it weren’t for the attire, you wouldn’t be able tell that this photo is over a century old.

Technology may have changed the way Montrealers spend their summers, but what these photos of summers’ past show is that some simple joys remain the same: driving through the countryside, picnicking in a park or snoozing on a beach. 

Steps away, on the corner of Sherbrooke and Victoria Street, the McCord Museum holds the complete collection of photographs, along with more than 1.45 million artefacts which include costumes, textual archives, textiles and artworks.

You can find the Summer Days! photos along McGill College Avenue between Président-Kennedy Street and De Maisonneuve Street until Oct. 16.

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Big films make their big debut at TIFF

Graphic by Tom Bell

The Toronto International Film Festival screen is alive with foreign films this fall

As the mid-way point of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) draws near, the streets of the city get evermore crowded with journalists and visiting stars. For both obsessive and casual film lovers, here is a short report from the scene.

Korean master of film Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden is, in my opinion, one of the best films of the festival and of the year. It is a tense and visually exquisite erotic thriller that starts as a gothic melodrama, and gradually descends into the hell of perversion and violence that you would expect from the man who directed Oldboy. It’s sure to be a special experience if you’ve never heard of Sarah Waters’ novel, Fingersmith, which the film is based on, but I won’t tell you why.  What I can tell you is that it will leave you with some added understanding of the long-standing Japanese tradition of tentacle porn.

Maintaining the same level of perversion, Paul Verhoeven’s Elle is a shocking and darkly funny French thriller starring the excellent Isabelle Huppert. The film starts with a rape—careful, it has trigger warning written all over it. It is being promoted as a revenge story, but that’s not what it is, and even the ‘whodunit’ is not always central to the plot. Instead, it’s a surreal look at sexual passion and family dynamics, which are shown in an unconventional light. Although it sometimes feels a bit too cynical and calculated, the film is nonetheless a treat. A particularly memorable Christmas Eve dinner is one of its highlights.

No movie generated as much talk at this year’s Cannes festival as Toni Erdmann, but for all its strong qualities, it’s hard to understand what made it such a sensation. Its key concept is so exceedingly simple, perhaps it would have worked just as well as a short film, which is odd considering it clocks in at two hours and 42 minutes. What makes it worthwhile, is its touching depiction of a waning father-daughter relationship, the dullness of adult life, and the  magic of childhood—something that can never be truly reclaimed.

Finally, Kim Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows is a thrilling action drama set, like The Handmaiden, in Japan-occupied Korea—which might give you some insight into current Japanese-Korean relations. Entertaining, brazenly patriotic and ultimately moving, the film was made with a great sense of scope on a remarkably small budget (IMDB estimates it at under $9 million). It’s not as bold as Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird, but features wonderful set pieces and a solid cast, led by Song Kang-ho who plays a man caught between resistance fighters and imperial police.

TIFF, sometimes referred to as “the Cannes of North America,” runs until Sept. 18.

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Neon lights and wonder: art in the city

Photo by Paige McNeely.

Montreal artist Five Eight’s mural makes us wonder what the character is wondering

The Montreal 2016 Mural Festival brought lots of new colours, textures and an artistic flair to the city’s streets this past summer. One of those pieces was a large, brightly-coloured painting of a woman gazing upwards. Her features are illuminated by the painted neon light. Found on the corner of St. Cuthbert and Clark Street, this larger-than-life mural is my new personal favourite.

Created by Montreal artist Five Eight, this mural contains all the things I love about Montreal: lots of colour, a brick background and bright neon lights. The asymmetrical architecture of the building gives the mural depth and breaks up what would have otherwise been a plain, rectangular painting. The ensuing negative space, somewhat filled by the neon elements, makes for interesting contrast to the subject’s features and hair, which take up a large portion of the mural.

Five Eight is a Montreal-based artist and mural painter who, according to his Facebook page, is currently experimenting with neon signage. Five Eight’s Instagram is full of his mysterious and elusive graffiti art found all over Montreal. He is known for his work with murals, as well as on canvas.

The detailing on the girl’s face is captivating to look at. The artist uses shadows and expertly-crafted shading to give the character life-like facial contours and a thoughtful expression. The mysterious blue light shining onto her face makes me wonder where she is and where she is going. Is she leaving the club that is beside her? Is she waiting to meet her friends before going out on St. Laurent? Or maybe she’s just admiring our city. Either way, this mural has a story to tell.

Like so many people this past week, maybe she just arrived in Montreal and is exploring the surrounding nightlife. By having her look up at the sky, the artist makes me wonder what is going through her mind, what she might be thinking, and what inspired the artist to give her such a thoughtful expression.

Five Eight is a member of the En Masse Collective, a Montreal-based, multi-artist collaborative project. His En Masse portfolio shows the work he has done work at the Under Pressure Graffiti Festival here in Montreal, as well as at Manifesto Toronto—one of the largest hip-hop festivals in the world.

To check out more of his work, you can find Five Eight on Facebook or Instagram @five8art.

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Old and used packaging inspires new art exhibit

That pretty packaging you can’t seem to throw away: time to make into an art piece

Sometimes the packaging is just as important as the product. In the case of The Perfume and the Bottle, the packaging has captivated artists in a peculiar way and inspired an entire exhibition, which opened at the Parisian Laundry art gallery on Sept. 7. The exhibition was inspired by those treasured glass bottles, which still hold sentimental value even after the perfume has been used to the last drop, something that a lot of other packaging doesn’t have.

Ever walked through the perfume aisle at your local pharmacy, seen a beautiful crystal perfume bottle— its elegant silhouette illuminated by the fluorescent lights, spritzed yourself with the tester and realized you’d found your match made in heaven? The perfume becomes your signature scent—the bottle is proudly displayed on your desk or vanity. Then, the dreadful day comes when all the precious aroma is gone. You buy another and fall in love with that scent, but unlike your old deodorant or lipstick tube, that old perfume bottle still sits on your vanity, because it’s just too pretty to throw away.

That beautiful perfume bottle you were seduced by is what inspired The Perfume and the Bottle. The exhibition features work by five different artists: Gabriele Beveridge, Andy Coolquitt, Owen Kydd, Kate Steciw and Anne Hall. Each artist’s unique style comes together, allowing the viewer to become nostalgic through the use of recognizable visuals.

When you first enter the exhibition, you are greeted by a small screen mounted on the wall. The image of a turning ring appears on the screen, and draws you in as you stand watching it rotate. Shadows bounce off the silver edges of the ring, as it spins away from the light. This screen, called Split Ring 2015, is the work of Los Angeles-based artist Owen Kydd along with another piece called, Mirror Still Life which is found on the opposite wall. According to Kydd’s bio, he  works with durational photographs— where objects on display are featured in an endless loop— through which he aims to create a feeling of fascination and unease.

As you continue along, you pass several other topsy-turvy pieces. One, called Pacific Dream, features four blue frames—the pictures inside them alternate between two images. The first looks like a makeup advertisement, featuring a woman with blonde hair and red lipstick. The other is a picture of a feather. Each image is cropped or angled slightly differently. Sitting on the edge of the frames are two glass crystal balls. This piece is the work of Gabriele Beveridge of London, England. She collects old hair salon and beauty shop posters, and looks for duplicates of the ads in order to skew or crop them differently in her art pieces. Most of her artwork consists of artist-made frames, hand-blown glass elements, and crystal balls. Her work is meant to explore tropes of eternity, beauty, and mystique.

My personal favourite piece was titled Neo Deo: Open Market, Open Vitrine, & Deo Liberal Potentialities, 2013, by Andy Coolquitt.  It is a long, plastic case filled with various old deodorant containers—they almost look like they’ve turned to stone. According to its description, it is a vitrine of washed-up deodorant sticks naturally roughened by the passage of time. These previously-unwanted and unused materials are now reinterpreted as art.

You can find The Perfume and the Bottle exhibition at Parisian Laundry until Oct. 10. 

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The Long Shadow of a small thing

Graphic by Florence Yee.

A poem describing the start of a new academic year, and the beauty to be found in it

A new school year often inspires students to be better, do better and become better. But personal growth doesn’t need a calendar event in order to happen, as it can always take place if we let it. Ally Turner’s poem reminds us of the revelations that can be found in even the most mundane of moments. Turner is in her third year of creative writing at Concordia.

The Long Shadow of a Small Thing

Ally Turner

Chewing bubblegum like there is some kind of answer at the core of it. Standing on the side of the big road and feeling the energy of each driver as they go by you. There is no point in asking, we are just suspended in it. The blue, the stretching pink, the colour that comes through you in a way that is non-physical.

You walk into your apartment and say to your roommate that you transcended gravity tonight – that the sky lived inside of you. You go into your room and cry because every time you try to tell what is happening to you it sounds empty.

In September there is a heat wave that lasts two weeks. It is hotter than the dead of August; the pool is busy, the bodies like crystal embroidery. There is only one way to feel safe in this world and it happens when you can forget what you are. At the belly of the pool, you sit for as long as you can until there are fizzy dots behind your eyes. You fall asleep poolside while your friends talk about some drummer.

  You eat the dinner that you made together in the kitchen and don’t look at each other. You eat three noodles with each bite. You pace your fork back and forth over the plate as if action will trigger result. It doesn’t matter what is happening around you because it is all in your head. One minute you are real, the next you are just staring at the wall with shiny eyes. I don’t know why it happens like this but it does and that is the important part.

When will it settle? I search the treetops for an overwhelming sense of beauty. I close my eyes and try to focus on the breeze on my face. Every moment feels like the build up to something terrible. I am awaiting the pinnacle that never arrives. My hair is falling out in chunks.

In my dream I am trapped in a cell that is shaped like my body except the skin is rubbery and pallid. I open my eyes and I am in the park and there is a great emptiness. I swallow nothing into the pit of nothing. I look up at the blue through the leaves and it is brimming.

This creative writing piece was brought to you with the help of Annah-Lauren Bloom. 

Graphic by Florence Yee

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Timelessness never looked so good

Photo by Marilyn Aitken

Eleganza exhibit makes fashion history a page in everyone’s book

Displaying beautifully crafted clothing and accessories is easy—the real challenge is telling a story that resonates with everyone, regardless of their interest in fashion.

Eleganza: Italian Fashion from 1945 to Today, presented by the McCord Museum, is an inspiring journey that transports viewers from the post-World War II birth of Italian fashion to the nation’s contemporary haute couture. Organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Eleganza demonstrates every component of Italy’s multi-faceted fashion history. Milanese silk, Florentine leather, Biella wool and diverse sewing techniques passed down from dressmaker to apprentice come together in fantastically constructed garments, shoes and accessories.

The exhibit also documents the pivotal moments in which the work of Italian dressmakers, textile workers and designers made waves around the world. Dresses displayed at the country’s first international fashion atelier, held in Florence’s Salla Bianca (White Hall) at Palazzo Pitti in July of 1952, are nothing short of a vintage fashion dream. Their hand-constructed full skirts and expertly cinched waists embody the 1950s, but they are still wearable—even in today’s age of crop tops and boyfriend jeans.

Eleganza pays tribute to the Hollywood films shot on location in Rome’s Cinecittà studios during the 1960s, featuring garments from movies like War and Peace. Other pieces from the fashion industry’s major events, including the 1967 New York Black and White Ball, are exactly as elegant as you would imagine: flowy, floor-length ensembles covered in stylish beading and precious diamanté.

The Italy-meets-America space also exhibits a noticeable shift from costume to casual, or better yet, from couture to ready-to-wear. Minimalist, sporty pieces like a 1969 black and white jumpsuit as well as a bold-patterned legging and tunic combo capture modern elements of Italian fashion that are still seen on today’s runways.

Ambling from room to room, admiring the variety of clothing from the feminine silhouettes of the 1950s to the wild, shoulder-padded 1980s and the familiar haute couture of the 2000s, it’s easy to picture yourself wearing the garments out of the exhibit to your next party. That’s the ultimate allure of Eleganza and its story of Italian fashion— nothing is truly ‘out of style,’ especially when it’s been handcrafted. The timelessness of each article, along with the sheer time and effort put into constructing the garment, entices everyone from fashionistas who adore making a statement, to minimalists who prefer a simple, clean-cut look. 

The final room features a runway packed with couture ensembles. A fantastically embroidered floral gown by Giambattista Valli is poised beside a luminous Sicilian mosaic-like midi dress by Dolce & Gabbana. Viewers are surrounded by opulence, but can appreciate the various ways in which the craftsmanship of the earliest Italian dressmakers has continued to influence the country’s contemporary brands.  

 There is a looming issue that the exhibition rightly addresses. As the globalized world continues to outsource work, the fashion industry finds itself doing the same. Soon, ‘Made in Italy’ labels will be a rarity. Amidst the rooms of gorgeous gown, shoes and accessories, viewers are forced to consider the future of Italian fashion as its roots in handmade craftsmanship slowly disappear.  

Eleganza: Italian Fashion from 1945 to Today is open to the public until Sept. 25, 2016. For more information visit the McCord Museum website.

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Operas, film festivals, exhibitions, oh my!

Graphic by Thom Bell

A quick guide to what’s coming up in Montreal this fall

It should come as no surprise that Montreal is a lively and eclectic city with a host of different activities one can take part in. Igloofest, Poutinefest, Osheaga… in Montreal, every season is festival season. From performance art to film festivals,  photography exhibitions to musicals, it’s impossible to be bored in a city so full of entertainment and cultural activities. The hardest part about living in Montreal is staying in the loop on what’s coming up. Here are some things to keep an eye out for this season. This is by no means an extensive or all-encompassing list—it is merely the tip of the cultural iceberg that is available for Montrealers to explore.

The Montreal Opera

The 2016-17 Montreal opera season will soon be underway, opening with Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida on Sept. 17. Set in ancient Egypt, Aida tells the story of a young slave torn between her love for an enemy and the love for her country, at a time when Ethiopia and Egypt were poised for war.

If this love story doesn’t catch your eye, maybe Mozart’s Don Giovanni will. A story of love, seduction and revenge, this opera, which takes place in 18th century Seville, is sure to entertain both the opera enthusiast and the casual observer. Opening night is Nov. 12.

Focus: Perfection

Robert Mapplethorpe’s black and white photographs are renowned for their controversial, erotic nature. In a Canadian premiere, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will display works spanning the entirety of the notorious photographer’s career: from the early 1970s until his death in 1989. The exhibition will run from September 10 until Jan. 22, 2017.

Gardens of light

As of Sept. 2, step into an enchanted world of lanterns and lights at the Montreal Botanical Garden. Recounting the life of the Son of Heaven, the Chinese Emperor, lanterns in the Chinese garden serve as a testament to some of the key events of the sovereign’s life, such as his enthronement and wedding. In the Japanese garden, luminous bamboo lights the path in a soft glow.

Film festivals

Interested in film? Keep an eye out for several film festivals that will be starting shortly. The Montreal International Documentary Festival, which runs from November 10 to 20, will present over 100 documentary films from Canada and abroad.

Categories
Arts

New age children’s theatre comes home

The puppet show was filmed on small box sized sets. Photo by Jessica Kinnari

Not just for kids: Nufonia Must Fall will teach you all about how films are made

Nufonia Must Fall provides an interactive look at how children’s films are made—a great example of new age children’s theatre. Complete with cameras, a DJ, a live four string quartet and lots of little puppets, the show kept the children’s interest and mine for the entire 90 minutes.

Created by turntablist Kid Koala, the story revolves around a robot and his love interest, Malorie. The show was directed by Oscar nominee K.K. Barrett (Her, 2016), and is based on the graphic novel by Kid Koala of the same name.

Kid Koala, who has toured alongside Arcade Fire and the Beastie Boys, hails from Montreal, along with most of the show’s production team, including the director of photography and Concordia alumnus AJ Korkidakis.  Due to their Montreal ties, a lot of the scenes take place in the city’s well-known locations such as Mount Royal, where the robot and Malorie go on their first date, or Moog Audio, a music store on St-Laurent, where the robot gets a job. These small references make it exciting, and create a nice sense of familiarity for local viewers.

While this was marketed as a children’s show, the production and underlying themes are definitely of interest to an adult audience. In the auditorium, there were four cameras in place, along with various miniature sets built on top of tables and laid out along the floor. Each scene had a different miniature set, and the varied sizes of puppets were controlled from underneath the tables by strings or magnets. The puppets were made out of white pieces of fiberglass, and other bits of material. I think the creators were going for more of a modern look—the puppets faces seemed robotic and unmoving.  It was fascinating to see where the cameras were set up during different scenes—it peaked my curiosity. Throughout the show, I tried to figure out how long the delay was between the camera and the screen.

The unique use of lighting really brought the story to life. For example, a car’s headlights were mimicked by the waving beam of a flashlight. The angles of the puppets combined with the backgrounds created various scenarios—a puppet that was angled backwards with a moving background gave the illusion that it was running very fast. Watching the story that the cameras were filming on the sets unfold from the sets to the big screen gave me an insight into how stop motion movies such the Wallace and Gromit series are created.

The story’s underlying themes of fear and love are relatable to viewers of all ages.  Twice during the show, the robot gets fired from his job and begins to feel like a failure, but his love for Malorie later makes him realize that those jobs are not everything. While children cannot relate to losing a job, they do learn that work isn’t everything. With both the quintessential love story and a relatable plot, Nufonia Must Fall is a great show to see if you are studying intermedia, film production or you just enjoy seeing what goes on behind the scenes of stop motion films.

The show ran from September 2 to 5 at Place des Arts, but you can find the trailer on Kid Koala’s website.

The graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall, as well Kid Koala’s other works can also be found on his website.

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