Tag: art

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Arts

The Post Image Cluster presents oral historian and writer Aanchal Malhotra

Reconnecting history through material memory

The Post Image Cluster, a research centre at Concordia, had the pleasure to present its first speaker in their artist talk series, writer and oral historian Aanchal Malhotra.

Based in New Delhi, Malhotra graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) with a BFA in Traditional Printmaking and Art History. Then, she graduated from Concordia University with an MFA in Studio Art.

She is the co-founder of the Museum of Material Memory, a digital repository of material culture of the Indian subcontinent, promoting the preservation of material memory through objects of antiquity.

Having enjoyed learning traditional print skills at OCAD, Malhotra decided to enroll at Concordia, as enrolling in grad school seemed like the most natural thing to do.

However, when she arrived at Concordia, she realized that the print program wasn’t as traditional as she had imagined. That was at a time when the program was moving away from the traditional methods of printmaking to digital printing, videos and print installations.

“I was lost for a long time and I didn’t know what to do. I was just drawing a little bit because there was all this talk about research and I didn’t know the meaning of research in art,” said Malhotra.

Malhotra was overwhelmed as she didn’t understand the way that research could be included in visual art.

“Maybe it was just me, but I was resisting the box that I was being put into in my program,” she said. “‘Indian artists should make Indian art’ is what I was being told.” 

Malhotra later realized she shouldn’t have felt that way as her work later revolved around India.

“I was resisting moving away from my traditional print media that I spent four years fortifying.”

Malhotra was able to find herself in her work as her art started to speak of her home. She started doing bookwork. More specifically, she made an installation of books she had made with traditional Japanese Washi paper. Her work started to include the skills she gained when she learned how to do paper and screen printing.

“I come from a family of booksellers, so books and readings were always in my blood, but writing was never included,” said Malhotra.

As part of the program requirements, she had to write a thesis. Malhotra didn’t know where to start. She decided to take a sabbatical year and returned to India. During this time, she worked at her family’s book shop, BahriSons Booksellers, which was set up in 1953 by her grandfather.

There, she encountered two objects that her great uncle showed her: These were the objects that his family migrated with during the Indian Partition of 1947.

This was the beginning of her research.

“I felt embarrassed since I was 22 at the time and didn’t know that much about the Partition of India and how it affected … my grandparents.” 

The Partition of India occurred in 1947, two years after WWII, when the British withdrew from India after 300 years of occupation, and the land was divided into two independent states. This forced Hindus and Sikhs to the eastside of India and Muslims to westward Pakistan. It is estimated that 14 million people were displaced and one million were killed during that time.

Malhotra went on an intensive journey. From India to Pakistan, and to England, she revisited the Partition through objects that refugees carried with them when they were displaced.

Her book Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory, published in 2017, tracks down history through various family stories that people shared with Malhotra. Through interviews, she traces human history.

Malhotra was able to trace human memory through photographs of family members, objects such as jewelry, passports, certificates, and many other materials that people were able to share with her.

A particular object that was odd, but very significant, was the lock to a man’s house that was carried by his family during the Partition.

“People would lock their houses in hopes of returning one day to their home,” said Malhotra.

Her research helped her understand a part of history that she was unaware of. It also allowed her to make connections between her family’s story and other people’s stories.

Malhotra’s work is of great importance as it serves as a remembrance of the past and honours the many unheard voices that lived in through the Partition.

At the moment, Malhotra is writing an oral history on the impact of the Partition.

 

Photo courtesy of the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology at Concordia.

 

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Arts

Decrypting crypto art: The new art movement on the block(chain)

How lucrative the rare pepe-making market is becoming

In November 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie’s, the biggest auction house in the world, for US$450.3 million. In October 2020, Satoshi Nakamoto’s Block 21 was sold at Christie’s for $131,250.

The former is the most expensive piece of art in the world. The second is the first piece of crypto art to ever be sold at a major auction house.

Cryptocurrencies have been having their moment for a while, with the 2018 Bitcoin mania (which, by the way, was created by the person under the alias of  Satoshi Nakamoto) and the recent rumours that it could replace paper money once central banks inevitably crash due to the pandemic. And because, of course, it wouldn’t be the internet without the idiosyncratic evolution of an underground subculture, there’s now also an increasing presence of crypto art in the crypto community.

I hear you asking: “What the hell is crypto art?”

Crypto art is a new movement that allows people to create digital art while guaranteeing official ownership of the piece with what crypto fiends call an NFT.

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which means something that is certified unique; it’s irreplaceable, which gives it a certain amount of intrinsic value. Since most online art can be replicated à volonté by just about anyone, making a piece of digital art an NFT, where the copyrights and ownership details would be stored on a cryptocurrency’s blockchain, would give it the same amount of rarity as a physical piece of art like da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.

The art can still be replicated, but only the person who has the token — the artist’s cyber signature on the piece, essentially — really owns it.

NFTs can have many forms. They can be specific pieces of artwork just like they can be collectible characters and games, like CryptoPunks — a bunch of punk characters that you can buy using Ether, a cryptocurrency— and CryptoKitties, which is kind of like Nintendogs, but with a digital cat that has a unique NFT genetic code and that you can breed with other cats to make another unique kitty.

Another use for crypto art is what is called cold storage: some crypto art pieces are available as physical prints that feature a QR code, which Bitcoin users can then use to store their Bitcoin outside their crypto wallet. Since they’re transferring funds onto a physical, two-dimensional object — which therefore can’t be hacked into — the art print then acts like a safety deposit box at a bank.

For the most part, crypto artworks can run anywhere from $50 to $500,000. But it’s difficult to follow the value of these pieces because the value of cryptocurrencies changes so much, and there are so many sources claiming different values for the most expensive pieces of crypto art.

So far, a crypto photo of a rose, sold for $1 million, is said to be the most expensive piece of crypto art out there. As a fast-paced business, it’s estimated the crypto art market is worth well over $128 million, and it expanded by $8.2 million in December 2020 alone.

Some are seeing this as a counterculture movement against the traditional art world, which has come to embody elitism and luxury. Where museums, art buyers, and the like are deciding which types of art and which artists will be put under the spotlight, the internet is able to democratize the industry and give small artists the support and recognition they deserve. The web is also home to a wealth of different styles and themes of art.

Now crypto art is all fun and games, but this is the internet we’re talking about, and on the internet people just have to make things weird. Enter the Rare Pepe Directory.

The Directory is a panel of “experts” who work to verify and approve user-submitted Rare Pepe artworks (which act and look similar to trading cards). They have a list of specific criteria to consider any submission, like dimension specifications and how many shares it must have had, to confirm the Pepe before their eyes is indeed rare. If approved, the new Pepe can then be bought and traded as an NFT.

As far as I know, there aren’t really any practical uses to crypto art. But the concept has been questioned by many as just another way for internet users to launder money more effectively. After all, the world of fine art is already used as a way to clean dirty money and tax evade through under-the-table payments and over appraisals; creating an art industry based on decentralized, anonymous payments seems like an obvious next step for the elite of the blockchain.

The rise in popularity and value of intangible art starts an important conversation about the reasons why we care about art in the first place. Salvator Mundi’s exorbitant price denotes the scarcity of original Leonardo da Vinci pieces, but what difference does it make when it’s possible to scrutinize the piece and enjoy it just as much as a JPEG file? Are we about to see higher and higher price records from digital pieces?

Most importantly, crypto art, as a prediction of what the future of art looks like, is an indicator that the barriers of entry to the art world have reached a tipping point. Just as we’re seeing in the rest of the digital world, the 99 per cent is taking art back from those who have capitalized on its captivity.

 

Photo collage by Kit Mergaert

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Arts

What has the CUJAH been up to?

A glimpse at what the Concordia Undergraduate Journal of Art History has been working on

There’s no doubt that Zoom university makes it harder to engage in student life and feel like you’re a part of something. In an effort to make students feel more involved and aware of what student clubs are up to, we’ll be conducting a series of interviews with various student-run organizations.

The Concordia Undergraduate Journal of Art History (CUJAH) is a student-run association that aims to showcase the talents of Concordia’s Art History and Fine Arts students via the publishing of an annual journal and an art history conference.

CUJAH aims to provide students with opportunities, both professional and academic, by offering a variety of workshops.

“We also hold a variety of events throughout the year geared towards supporting students in their academic and professional development,” explained Kari Valmestad, CUJAH’s Editor-in-Chief.

Fortunately for the CUJAH, lockdown and work-from-home orders have not disrupted their process too much, seeing that most of their work is done digitally.

“A significant adjustment, and a crucial one, is that CUJAH implemented a board of directors for the first time in the student group’s history,” said Valmestad. “This was a very necessary amendment, and we are lucky to have a wonderful group of students who comprise our 2020-2021 board.”

Moreover, for the first time since it’s inaugural launch, their tenth annual edition of the conference will be held entirely online and their journal launch will not occur in-person.

“Although meeting in person is incomparable, there actually have been many advantages to having the conference virtually,” said Valmestad. “For example, Juliette Muth [CUJAH’s conference coordinator] has invited many speakers from outside of Montreal, whereby normally, we wouldn’t have the funding to fly out speakers to the city.”

Many scholars and artists will be joining from elsewhere, such as Dr. Sabrina Strings, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, whose research focuses on how race, sexuality, and class are “inscribed” in the body.

“Another pro to having the conference virtually is that anyone anywhere can attend,” said Valmestad.

Aside from their annual conference, CUJAH has been hosting a series of speaker events in collaboration with Concordia’s 4TH SPACE, a centre for research and experiential learning, and Yiara Magazine, an undergraduate feminist art publication based out of Concordia.

“Our first [event], which was on Jan. 13, was with the newly-hired art history professor Dr. Michelle McGeough who spoke about her research on Indigenous knowledge in art history and pushing beyond queering the art historical canon.”

The publication’s second webinar featured a conversation between artist and activist Esther Calixte-Bea and interdisciplinary artist Mahlet Cuff.

Viewers can watch recordings of both the first and second events on 4TH SPACE’s YouTube channel.

Their third and final event was moderated by Manitoba-based artist and curator Genevieve Farrell. The webinar featured curators and programmers from artist-run centres VIE D’ANGE, Groupe Intervention Vidéo, and the Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA).

Despite most of their content being digital this year, the publication still plans on producing a print issue for their tenth annual edition.

“Having a printed version, I consider to be really important, as not only do the essays, artwork, and graphic design work look so amazing in print, but we also want to have physical copies circulating and available to file in our own archives and those of Concordia and the BAnQ,” said Valmestad. “We will also have a digital version so that it is accessible to anyone interested in reading this year’s volume.”

Those interested in an executive team position at the Concordia Undergraduate Journal of Art History can expect callouts within the coming months. Editorial positions will be opening in the fall semester.

For more information about CUJAH’s upcoming annual conference on Feb. 20-21, or to know more about them follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Photos courtesy of CUJAH.

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Ar(t)chives Arts

My Wife’s (unlikely) Lovers

The amusing history of an 1891 painting of 42 cats

If you have not yet seen Carl Kahler’s My Wife’s Lovers, I urge you to do so.

Commissioned in 1891 by millionaire and philanthropist Kate Birdsall Johnson, the work features her 42 Persian and Angora cats. A mix of kittens and cats stand poised on Rococo furniture while others are sprawled against a lavish velvet curtain.

Painted by Austrian artist Carl Kahler, the work took three years to complete. According to the Portland Art Museum, this is supposedly because he spent months studying them in preparatory sketches and paintings.

The oil painting, which is 6 by 8.5 feet in size, and weighs roughly 227 pounds, depicts the cats to be larger-than-life. And yes, each and every one of the 42 cats, meticulously painted, belonged to Birdssall Johnson. Despite the Portland Art Museum claiming it to be a falsity, many sources such as Architectural Digest and Sotheby’s declare that the work depicts only 42 of the woman’s 350 cats.

According to an article in the New York Post, the elegant and collected cat that stands at the centre of the painting was a US $3,000 cat named Sultan which she bought during a trip to Paris.

According to many sources, such as the New York Post, it is rumoured that the painting was a gift from her husband, Robert C. Johnson, and that he chose the title My Wife’s Lovers. However, Dawson Carr, curator at the Portland Art Museum states that her husband, in fact, died two years prior but adds that it is a possibility he had used the phrase to refer to her collection of cats in the past and that Birdsall Johsnon simply deemed it fitting as a title for the monumental painting.

Birdsall Johnson reportedly paid approximately US $5,000 in 1891 for the work, which is equivalent to around US $143,000 in 2021.

The work was estimated at a value of $200,000 to US $300,000  by Sotheby’s in 2015 and sold at auction for nearly three times its estimate, at US $826,000  by an anonymous buyer in California.

If you didn’t think it was crazy enough that a lady paid over $140,000 for a painting of her cats, just think that someone paid over half a million for cats that didn’t even belong to them. Another rumour even states that she left her cats over US $500,000 in her will.

My Wife’s Lovers has ignited many rumours. Whether false or not, Birdsall Johnson has proven to be the ultimate crazy cat lady.

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam.

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Arts

Your Name Engraved Herein: a never ending love story

The highest-grossing LGBTQ+ movie in Taiwan gives audiences an emotionally charged experience

Directed by Kuang-Hui Liu, Your Name Engraved Herein is a coming of age movie that tells the story of two classmates, A-han (Edward Chen) and Birdy (Tseng Jing-Hua), who fall in love precisely when the martial law is lifted in Taiwan in 1987. Despite this, society doesn’t change overnight, and homophobia, family pressure, and social stigmas remain present.

It’s intimate and sensual, but heartbreaking at the same time.

The martial law lasted in Taiwan for 38 years, from 1949 to 1987. This period of time is known as the White Terror, when the Republic of China took control of Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), decided to impose a martial law, a temporary imposition of military authority and control of civilian rule, on Taiwan to prevent the Communist Party, led by Mao Tse-tung, from winning the Civil War. Freedom of speech and human rights were declined. Civilians who opposed it would either be imprisoned, tortured or even executed.

In the film, Birdy is a new student at a strict all-boys Catholic high school that A-han attends. The two rapidly become friends and their bond grows stronger.

They take part in the school’s band, led by Father Olivier (Fabio Grangeon) from Montreal, who is also the school’s priest. Father Olivier always reminds his students, “Profiter du moment” (live in the moment). During one of their classes, he discusses the concept of youth and love with his students. While everyone is questioning the priest about his love life, A-han and Birdy glimpse at each other.

News of President Chiang Ching-kuo’s death surfaces at school. Students are encouraged to take a trip to Taipei to pay their respects to the deceased. In Taipei, A-han and Birdy take advantage of their stay in the capital to enjoy their time together. Still, they are resistant to their mutual affection.

The arrival of girls shifts the school’s dynamic. Birdy is noticed by Ban-Ban, who represents social acceptance, stability and heterosexual romance. A-han gets jealous as Birdy spends more time with Ban-Ban and A-han won’t let go of his affection towards Birdy. A series of confrontations and reconciliations follow as they part from each other. Finally, life brings them together a few years later, giving them an opportunity to reflect on their past.

Director Liu captures a period of time when many people suffered from discrimination due to social stigma, even after the removal of the martial law. Gradually, society was able to evolve as Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019.

The movie pays a tribute to known Taiwanese LGBTQ+ activist, Chi Chia-wei, who was imprisoned during the White Terror. The activist appears in one scene of the movie, where a protest is happening, holding a sign that says “Homosexuality is not a disease.”

At times, it is hard to watch since the story is beautiful, but also heartbreaking. In a particular scene, Birdy is injured in a scooter accident and A-han decides to help him shower. A-han and Birdy get intimate. When Birdy climaxes, he kisses A-han but rapidly apologizes. Then, both cry in each other’s arms, understanding each other’s pain, shame and love.

The title of the movie is in reference to the song “Your Name Engraved Herein” written by Hsu Yuan-Ting, Chia Wang and Chen Wen-Hua, and performed by Crowd Lu. In the film, A-han plays the song on the phone to confess his love to Birdy. By the end of this scene, both start sobbing as they listen carefully to the song, heartbroken.

In a Time interview, Liu mentioned that “The LGBT communities need a movie like this to tell them, ‘You are allowed to love, you are not guilty.’”

The movie sheds light on those who have lived in pain and frustration due to past trauma.

Although the film depicts a generation that was denied to celebrate their identities freely and are recognized in Taiwan today, it still demonstrates that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is not over.

Your Name Engraved Herein sends a clear universal message that, regardless of sexual orientation, love is love and everyone deserves it.

Your Name Engraved Herein is available to watch on Netflix.

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Arts

What books are on our shelves in 2021?

A glimpse at what The Concordian staff plans to read this year

 

Lorenza Mezzapelle, Arts Editor

Most of the books I plan on reading this year aren’t even new releases, but worth mentioning nonetheless. Danielle Ofri’s What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine is high up on my list, along with Stephen Brusatte’s The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World. I tend to gravitate towards non-fiction and I’m hoping these two will satisfy my curiosity and craving for a good, informative, niche read.

After reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, I look forward to getting my hands on A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines for more of his crude, yet eloquent, accounts of his gastronomic adventures. Reading Kitchen Confidential was like watching a really long episode of No Reservations; I often found myself chuckling at his (mostly) inappropriate jokes, all while being entirely enthralled by what he was saying.

I also recently bought How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan, as well as The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, both of which I’m super eager to read.

 

Chloë Lalonde, Creative Director

In all honesty, I’ve been on a reading-for-leisure hiatus for years. University and work has left me wanting to indulge in the immediacy of audio-visual media, rather than the whimsical written world. But recently, and by recent I mean summer/fall 2020, I finished Eva Holland’s Nerve and Marie-Hélène Larochelle’s Daniil & Vanya, for reviewing purposes. It was a great reintroduction to reading for fun, and I hope 2021 can be the year I relearn to love reading. My mom gave me her second copy of the Bridgerton Prequel, First Comes Scandal, and because of TikTok, I will be seeking House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I cannot guarantee I will actually read these, but I really, really hope I do.   

 

Michelle Lam, Social Media Manager

I’ve also been on a reading-for-leisure hiatus for longer than I care to admit, but I’ve started getting back into it during the winter break! I read 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest over the break, and recommend it to everyone. I am currently reading The Defining Decade by Meg Jay and am pretty upset that my twenties are being spent during a pandemic.

Up next on my reading list is Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb and The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Maybe I’ll finally finish Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, but don’t hold me to it.

I’m open to book recommendations if you have any!

 

Aviva Majerczyk, Commentary Editor

Since quarantine and my use of social media more broadly have zapped the attention-holding part of my brain, I find I often gravitate to books of essays over full-fledged novels. With that, as a female writer in her twenties, it seemed only right to start getting into Joan Didion, so I am currently reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Also on my bookshelf needing to be finished is the series of essays, Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby. Irby writes in a way that is hilariously self deprecating but not pitiful, I’d definitely recommend it.

Another book I plan on purchasing is Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life by Katherine E. Standefer. I had the privilege of seeing Standefer read an essay of hers at a conference I worked at in 2018, and her prose moved me to tears. I’m incredibly excited to read this memoir (and probably cry again).

Last on my list is Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin. The alt-right pipeline and online radicalization are major interests of mine and Lavin has been sounding the alarm on these issues for years now. So, I’m eager to read her take on the situation.

 

Katerina Barberio, Revenue Manager

I do not own a bookshelf nor do I ever plan on having one — who even has space for one anyway? Asking a person who does not own a bookshelf which books are on her 2021 book list is quite the tall task. So, I’ll admit: I asked my peers, friends, family and co-workers what they intend to read this year.

Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty, suggested by Amelia Barberio

Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey, suggested by myself

Institute, Stephen King, suggested by Anthony Lepore

Atomic Habits, James Clear, suggested by Sabrina Badin

What I Know For Sure, Oprah Winfrey, suggested by Joanne Erimos

The Investment Zoo, Stephen A. Jarislowsky, suggested by Giovanni Barberio

Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, suggested by Vicki De Paoli

The Answer is…, Alex Trebek, suggested by Andrew Trombino

Becoming, Michelle Obama, suggested by Louise Starnino

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, suggested by Jessica Trombino

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, suggested by Alyssa Barberio

A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry, suggested by Caroline Chagnon

Home Body, Rupi Kaur, suggested by Julia Rinaldi

Elon Musk, Ashlee Vance, suggested by Frank Trombino

Bonus: Marc Richardson writes for Grailed, an online marketplace where you can buy and sell menswear. His style of writing takes some time to get accustomed to, however, once you do, you wish everyone wrote like him. I definitely intend to read most of his articles in 2021.

I admittedly already read Greenlights from McConaughey which was graciously given to me by my boyfriend. It’s a biography and a story at the same time. This quote summarizes the book: “We cannot fully appreciate the light without the shadows. We have to be thrown off balance to find our footing. It’s better to jump than fall. And here I am.” I mean… alright, alright, alright.

 

Lillian Roy, Editor-in-Chief 

After one two many nights scrolling endlessly through Tik Tok until 4 a.m., I figured it was finally time to ban phone use before bed. Instead, I took to reading before I go to sleep, a habit that I lost somewhere during my teenage years. So far, I’ve read Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, a beautiful book that made me full-on weep, and Brit Bennet’s The Vanishing Half, another great book that I cannot recommend enough. Currently, I’m reading Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education, which I haven’t been enjoying as much, but the cheesy enemies-to-friends-to-lovers plot is keeping me going.

I just ordered a bunch of new reading material, so I should be set for awhile. Here it is, with some brief descriptions:

Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See: two children navigate the terrors of WWII

Madeline Miller’s Circe: an adaption of the story of Circe, an enchantress from Greek mythology

Adam Silvera’s They Both Die At The End: two characters find out they’re going to die by the end of the day and decide to go on one last adventure

Kate Elizabeth Russel’s My Dark Vanessa: a woman grapples with the inappropriate relationship she had with a teacher when she was a teenager

Ann Napolitano’s Dear Edward: the sole survivor of a plane crash tries to reconnect with himself after losing everything

If you can’t tell, I like to read books that make me cry. Here goes nothing!

 

Graphic by Lily Cowper.

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Arts

Underdog: a space for sharing and promoting the works of POC artists

Instagram account aims to showcase the people that surround us

While the new year has arrived and COVID-19 is still around, this hasn’t stopped people from being creative and showcasing for themselves through art.

More than ever, it has become important to shed light on multicultural artists that take part in our surroundings. This is precisely what the Instagram platform Underdog aims to do: to display the many people that represent Tiohtià:ke/Montreal.

The initiative was created by multimedia artist Haein Oh in 2018. The idea of founding her initiative came when she submitted some of her work to an exhibition at her university and they weren’t accepted. She later saw the artists that were selected for the art show, which clearly showed a lack of diversity.

An underdog is someone who is expected to lose. Hence, Haein Oh took the word as the name of her initiative as a way to uplift those who are less represented.

That’s when I realized that I could do my own thing,” said Oh. “To become a curator and show the works of people that aren’t presented enough.”

Oh had the opportunity to curate her first exhibition at her parents’ restaurant, Sushi QnQ, last February.

Underdog is also curated by Montreal-based interdisciplinary artist Joliz Dela Peña, who is originally from the Philippines. Dela Peña presented her art performance last September at the exhibition the “i” word that was curated by Oh and Olivier Stainvil in collaboration with Boiling Point, a collective of BIPOC artists.  Stainvil is a graphic designer and photographer who also curates Underdog.

So far, the initiative has been well received. People on social media have been contributing in sharing their projects which gives them the opportunity to be seen.

Oh has been sharing a variety of content: from TikToks and Instagram stories of different people showing dances, cooking, sharing family stories.

I’m not very hungry for people to like me,” said Oh. “I’m more hungry for people to understand that there is a need for change.”

Despite Montreal being known for its diverse population, there is still a lack of representation from the mainstream media.

Oh wants to bring positivity to people. With how COVID-19 has impacted people in a meaningful way, she wishes to bring a sense of comfort.

“I don’t want Underdog to only address negative issues that are happening in our society,” she said. “Of course, it’s important. But I want to demonstrate that the Montreal community is filled with amazing people.”

Underdog also shares various fundraisers, such as an initiative that brings winter care packages to the homeless, created by Tessia Balenzano.

Recently, Oh has developed a new project calling out for people to share one or many recipes. This idea allows followers to discover new dishes to try and see the variety of food that is eaten in the city.

“Foodies call out” asks for the ingredients needed, a video demonstrating all the instructions to cook, and a picture of the final product, as well as an optional brief biography of the author with a short story that describes what is being cooked.

For instance, the first recipe was shared by Le, a student in Design at Concordia who shared a recipe for butter shrimp.

Another dish that was shared with the public was a rice congee, a type of rice porridge, added with radish kimchi, which was prepared by Montreal-based artist Banhmi.

“We have a few ideas for upcoming projects that we would like to create. We still have to see if they will be doable with COVID-19,” said Oh. “Overall, people have been very happy with the platform.”

In these future projects is the creation of a channel on Youtube (udd Tv) that will show a variety of people cooking.

The first video that has been uploaded is from Montreal-based artist Maruco who demonstrates how to prepare ram-don, a Korean noodle dish, inspired by Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 movie Parasite.

For the moment, Oh is focused on presenting the diversity that lives in the city.

Underdog is open for recipe submissions until Jan. 31 and can be sent by email to underdogmtl@gmail.com.

 

Photos courtesy of underdogmtl

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Arts

Mank sets out to pay homage to Citizen Kane

David Fincher’s latest film falls flat in revealing Herman J. Mankiewicz’s inner life

Mank was hard to sit through. This is both surprising and disappointing to me, as an avid fan of director David Fincher’s work. But when it comes down to it, Mank simply doesn’t pack the punch it needed to keep me engaged.

The film follows Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he heals his broken leg in a far-away lodge, writing what would become Citizen Kane. Meanwhile, we jump sporadically into various moments of his past, exploring the people who’ve inspired the script and significant events that affected the writer. These flashbacks, which make up most of the film, attempt to reveal Mankiewicz’s inner life.

The problem is that the flashbacks are confusing and feel disconnected from each other. More generally, Mank has a big editing and writing problem — the entire structure is off. The introduction of flashbacks and the end of “present-day” scenes lack motivation; nothing in a previous scene clearly triggers the succeeding flashback. At points, it almost feels random.

And while you’re trying to figure out the connections between scenes, the excruciatingly long dialogue sequences only add insult to injury. Everything seems so convoluted as characters talk a whole lot about nothing, only making me wonder “Why is this here, and what am I supposed to be learning?” It seemed as though the real story of the film was hidden somewhere in these flashbacks, but the confusing back and forths only make it difficult to know what exactly that is.

I believe that Mank’s structure fails itself because it tried too hard to pay homage to Citizen Kane. The black and white cinematography and 1940s sound is done well and works as intended, but it should have been kept at that.

The reason Citizen Kane’s heavy use of flashbacks works is because the story supports that structure. It’s about a journalist interviewing people who knew the titular character after he died. Its structure is what helps make the story so dynamic. The film also makes explicitly clear the connection between the present scene and the flashback. Mank falls flat relying heavily on flashbacks because its story just doesn’t support it, or at least it didn’t need it. There is no doubt that Fincher can direct complex films, he’s made an admirable career out of it. He just lost something with Mank.

Fincher has had an ability to adapt real stories and novels and transform them into thematically rich pieces; The Social Network is about the development of Facebook on the surface, but really, it’s about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and the fine line between ambition and greed. Zodiac follows journalists’ and detectives’ search for the Zodiac Killer, but it’s really about the consequences of obsession.

Mank just doesn’t have the same spark. Obviously, it would be ridiculous to assume that every film needs to be deeply philosophical, political, or personal, but Mank seemed like it was setting up something more. When I compare Mank to Fincher’s previous work, I don’t see the same strength in his themes.

Ultimately, Mank is confusing and long, which makes it hard to care about. There is no attempt to connect to its characters, to make them likeable, or to make themes and plot clear.  It’s harsh to say this, especially as a fan of David Fincher, but at the end of the day the descriptors “confusing” and “boring” are accurate, and that is just a bad combination to have.

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Arts

Verses from Montréal offers something for everyone

B.R. Houtman discusses experience, writing, and his debut novel

B.R. Houtman’s Verses from Montréal is for the lovers, the wanderers and all those in between. Set to the backdrop of his first year in Montreal, Houtman explores the city and recounts his experiences through a fresh set of eyes. Houtman decided to spend some time away from his home in Victoria B.C., where he soon fell in love with Montreal and all it had to offer. Although he had been writing poetry prior to moving, his new surroundings inspired him to devote more time to honing his skill. The writer’s debut poetry compilation captures what it means to be part of something more and how those in the city celebrate life in all its most beautiful and complicated states. Split into four sections, the book has a chapter dedicated to each season, offering something for everyone.

“I will say that with the whole seasonal theme and the structure, the premise going into it was that every season is a stage from the human life,” explains Houtman. “At the beginning, it’s a lot of poems about falling in love and these new experiences when I was getting to Montreal.”

Through each section, readers are awarded a glimpse into the author’s ruminations as he falls in sync with the bustle of the city. Although many poems in the book are dedicated to the city’s eccentricities, Houtman sheds light on the intricate moments that make up each of our lives.

While numerous poems were scrawled down during rides on the metro and other outings, it took the author about four months to compile his work and another four to prepare it for publishing. Although the process was arduous at times, the most challenging part for Houtman came after the book had been released.

“Poetry has always been a release and something that is very personal, so I think something that I didn’t expect to be so challenging was making the decision to share it,” he says. “It’s very revealing and you’re making yourself very vulnerable, so that took me a while to get over.”

While every writer has a unique routine, Houtman maintains an allotted time every day to write. “I’m pretty regimented in the sense that I sit down, and I have my times, maybe a few hours in a day,” he says. “I think it has been very fruitful to me, but it may not be how others approach it.”

When his book was finally released back in June, Houtman was pleased to find that readers were connecting to his words on a personal level.

“I think the biggest thing for me is really trying to be true to yourself and recognizing that these things that feel very individual to you are more universal human experiences,” says Houtman. “I think what I’ve realized through this process is if you stay true to representing your own thoughts, you end up being able to connect with people who have those same thoughts in such an intimate way.”

Those looking to purchase a copy of Verses from Montréal can buy directly from Houtman’s website or can visit Librairie St-Henri, Drawn & Quarterly, État de Style, The Word and Librairie l’Échange. 

 

Photos courtesy of B.R. Houtman

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Ar(t)chives Arts

What is art?

Discussing aesthetics, Dadaism, and intention

Art has long been a disputed form of self-expression. The topic has garnered debate among philosophers, art historians, and artists, and even has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to its controversiality.

Many jokes and memes have been made around the notion of art’s subjectivity. Books, such as Leo Tolstoy’s What is art? have attempted to answer the question, while Instagram accounts such as freeze_magazine poke fun at and ridicule how absurd the art industry can often be. And you’ve definitely seen the prank where a group of friends placed eyeglasses on the floor of the museum to observe viewers’ reactions and point out how almost anything can be considered art.

This dispute has veered towards problematic for the reason that it ultimately validates an artist’s career. What one might deem to be worth thousands of dollars can be viewed as a piece of old junk to another. We’ve all heard of the stories of someone selling a famous painting for close to nothing in a garage sale, merely because they did not know its “worth.”

So, let’s look at this etymologically. “Art” is derived from the Latin “ars” meaning “acquired skill” or “craft.” In this sense, it is commonly understood that art requires a certain level of skill in order to achieve a desired aesthetic result. Herein lies the problem. “Aesthetic,” like the notion of “beauty,” is inherently subjective.

Dadaism is an ideal example because it, at its core, rejected standard notions of aestheticism and poked fun at art in society. Let’s take, for example, Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades. The acclaimed artist began using and presenting everyday objects as pieces of art. This absurd approach to art-making helped redefine what could be considered art and challenged the idea that art had to be something beautiful and visually appealing. Instead, demonstrating that art could be intellectually appealing.

Constantin Brâncuși’s infamous 1923 work Bird in Space (L’Oiseau dans l’espace) is another prime example of the challenges in defining an object as art. The sculpture faced a number of legal controversies when the artist tried to have it shipped to the United States. Customs officers did not believe that the work was art — art, at the time, was not subject to import taxes — and instead were charged with a 40 per cent tax for “manufactured metal objects.”

According to an article titled Is it Art? published by Harvard Law, after a number of years of legal debate, Brâncuși’s Bird in Space was part of the first court decision stating that “non-representational sculpture could be considered art.” In part, on the basis that the artist intended for the sculpture to resemble the movement of a bird.

Intention brings us back to the eyeglasses meme mentioned earlier. Had the glasses been placed on a coffee table in your home, you wouldn’t have thought much of them. Having been placed on the floor of the gallery, viewers automatically begin to search for a meaning and begin to decipher what they believe the artist’s intention was.

For this reason, art is and will remain subjective. While there may never be one true answer as to what constitutes art, one thing is certain: it is personal, self-informed, and different for everyone. So, what do you consider a work of art?

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

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Arts

We are wary, we are weary: reflecting on collective experiences during times of crisis

Responding to the pandemic and the current political climate through imagery and text

A part of the Prix Powerhouse 2020, We are wary, we are weary is a window exhibition presented by La Centrale on St-Laurent Boulevard.

We are wary, we are weary exhibits the works of Jenny Lin and Shanna Strauss, Prix Powerhouse 2020 winners.

La Centrale galerie Powerhouse is an artist-run centre dedicated to supporting multidisciplinary feminist practices. Their programming specializes in various dialogues with feminism, supporting social justice and intersectionality. Prix Powerhouse is a two-year award of $10,000 shared between two Montreal artists to celebrate their artistic career and practice.

The works of Lin and Strauss are a response to the pandemic, the current political climate, and the movement for racial justice and equity.

Each artist expresses their own perspective on these current social issues in their respective works, through a compilation of images and texts. This also speaks from the experiences of the artists as Black and Asian people.

Strauss is a Tanzanian-American mixed-media visual artist based in Montreal. She has exhibited in solo and group shows in Tanzania, Canada, the U.S. and Senegal. Her works are very personal and reflective.

By looking at Strauss’s artwork featured in the exhibit, one can see a right hand holding a heart while the left hand holds a needle and thread. The image is printed on a transparent film, leaving the back of the artwork visible. The background depicts newspaper headlines where one can read lines such as “Pandemic Within a Pandemic: Coronavirus and Police Brutality Roil Black Communities,” from The New York Times or “Legault supports protesters, but says there’s no systemic racism in Quebec,” from the Montreal Gazette. Strauss has made this work as a form of offering of healing to the Black community.

In her work’s description, Strauss explains the way she reflected on the collective despair and heartbreak that Black people experience. That despite the pain felt, they have to gather themselves every time they are oppressed and find the strength within themselves to keep fighting the oppression they experience.

“The piece became a meditation on repair,” said Strauss. “I thought about how the wounds that have been inflicted on us by white supremacy for centuries have to be continuously mended by our own hands, and how with every dehumanizing and oppressive act, with every life taken, new wounds are inflicted and old wounds are torn open once again.”

Lin is a visual artist who works with experimental narratives through print-based installations. Storytelling is an important aspect of her work.

Lin’s work Pencil teeth consists of a collection of various drawings made by the artist. The piece consists of hands pointing at drawings, one holding the corner of a sheet can be seen on the artwork. This accumulation of drawings demonstrates the many emotions felt by the artist during the pandemic.

The public can clearly see various hands, which point, react and interact with the drawings, while some hands are holding the corner of a sheet, as the person was observing the image.  This depicts an interaction with both artists when Strauss would show images to Lin. It reflects the way Strauss was processing what she was seeing and Lin was picking parts of the images as she describes, a kind of “interactivity.”

Lin’s statement mentions that her artwork reflects on her feelings and the weariness she has felt during the pandemic, including the way she has been worrying for loved ones and the protectiveness she feels towards the communities she is a part of.

“It is also a response to being for months in a state of overdrive and high-alert — over-functioning for my job to keep things ‘going’, being on edge due to higher incidents of racially-motivated violence, protecting against the virus, and observing the pandemic’s multi-faceted and detrimental effects on the most vulnerable in our communities,” stated Lin.

Strauss and Lin’s works are a representation of the many feelings, thoughts, and worries felt by the artists. Each one expresses the way they have been processing the current unstable political climate and the pandemic, which seems to have shed a light on the realities faced by many communities.

We are wary, we are weary is presented at La Centrale, at 4296  St-Laurent Blvd., until Dec. 12.

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Arts

What do Montrealers think about online exhibitions?

Reflecting on the future of museums, online showings, and art’s place in a COVID-19 world

Before COVID-19, visiting brick and mortar museums in Montreal was rather easy and enjoyable, with many free exhibits offered as well. Now, in a COVID-19 world, and with Montreal in the red zone, museums are not as easily accessible.

Despite this, the good news is that there are a multitude of virtual exhibitions that people can access, free of charge, to get at least some kind of museum experience. The Virtual Museum of Canada has a wide array of exhibitions that people can choose from, most of which are offered in both English and French.

But how much does this switch to online museums actually affect Montrealers? How often did Montrealers go to museums pre-pandemic? Eleven people responded to a survey posted in the Montrealers Helping Montrealers Facebook group. While this is a small number of people compared to the population of the city, this represents the opinions of a microcosm of Montreal.

45.5 per cent of respondents said they went to museums less than once a year, whereas 18.2 per cent of respondents said they visited monthly. 63.6 per cent of participants stated that they were aware of the availability of free museum exhibitions in Montreal, and 36.4 per cent were not.

When specifically asked if they were aware of the Virtual Museum of Canada, 81.8 per cent of respondents said they did not know about it, and only 18.2 per cent were aware of this website. The lack of awareness of the Virtual Museum of Canada website could lead to people missing out on the opportunity for arts access during this pandemic.

The Virtual Museum of Canada is a website that features various art exhibitions exploring different topics. For example, there is a section on History and Society, which features a virtual tour of the monastery of the Ursulines of Québec. Under the Nature section, there is an exhibition called Navigating the Saint Lawrence. This exhibition allows participants to see how the challenges associated with navigating the river have evolved over time.

In the same survey, participants were asked how they felt about the initial closure of museums during the first wave of COVID-19, and the responses were varied.

“It didn’t affect me as I don’t usually visit museums,” said Marta Josefina, 21. “Only for school purposes, I would visit museums.”

“Safety takes priority over museum visits until there is a vaccine,” said Toni Lavery, 65. “I let myself grieve and let it go for the good of all.”

“I felt it was a good choice since it’s not essential,” said Jessica Andrade, 20.

Participants were also asked about whether they think that having access to museums is important or not, and why.

“It’s history and art,” said Jade Jolicoeur, 25. “It helps us see the world through other people’s eyes. It’s very important.”

David Stern, 36, said that it “lifts the spirit and mind” for those who want to attend museums, and Jennifer Michelle stated that “art of all types is an important part of [people’s] [lives].”

Due to the pandemic, the state of brick and mortar institutions might be called into question, including museums. In the same survey, when participants were asked, “Do you think that virtual exhibits will take over brick and mortar museums given the context of the state of Quebec,” only one of the eleven participants said yes.

Taking part in the access to online exhibitions is a great idea. Five of the 11 survey participants said that, on a scale of one to five, their interest in using virtual exhibitions was at four.

For those who are interested in virtual exhibitions, there are many options available.

Morbus Delirium is an interactive exhibition that was put together by the Montreal Science Centre. It is offered in both English and French, and in a mode designed for those who are visually impaired. The exhibition is focused on trying to solve an epidemic that is in Quebec — quite a topical subject matter for an interactive exhibition. This might be controversial, but it can also make people interact with the idea of a virus in a different way. Also, because it is being put out by a Science Centre, it is less likely to take a fear-mongering approach.

The game allows the participant to make a character they will use throughout the story, on an easy or hard level. There are various tasks that must be completed, and there are conversations one follows to contribute to the story. The way the exhibition is set up allows for an immersive experience, even though no one is in the Science Centre physically. It’s a way to keep the culture alive and still have people participate in it.

If people like interactive, story-driven attractions, then checking out Morbus Delirium is a good option.

For those who are looking for a variety of exhibitions that don’t require leaving the house, the Virtual Museum of Canada is the place to explore.

 

Feature image: Screenshot from the the Montreal Science Centre’s Morbus Delirium

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