click to enlarge

• Marla Hlady's Recording Machines will make your ears think

Centre For Art Tapes and Craig Gallery’s double exhibit gets you coming and going. At the Craig Gallery is new work by Katie Vautour, Mixed Media Drawings, and in the elevator at Alderney Landing is the CFAT audio art program, Broadcasting for Reels: Sounds (Extra)Ordinary.

Exhibition host Chris Myhr curated Broadcasting for Reels, choosing an international group of artists: John Abram; Marla Hlady; Francisco Lopez; Rachel Woolmore-Goodwin and John Wynne; as well as collaborative works from Matt Rogalsky and Laura Cameron and the Audio Lodge collective.

Myhr focused on the act of field recording and his artist statement comments on how ordinary sounds that fade into the background take on a new, enlightening meaning when they are isolated and studied: “For the first time, that which would previously have been fleeting and ephemeral, the stuff of memory, could be rendered not only as an object for study, but malleable material for artistic and creative endeavour.”

Also, need we mention again that the exhibit is IN THE ELEVATOR? COME ON! That is almost unbearably rad.

click to enlarge

• Shaun Simpson
• Ass-k yourself this, do you really want to be behind on getting tickets for this fest? #terriblepuns #nicebuns

The Plutonium Playhouse’s second annual Sex Festival (click for full listings and ticket info) steams up February. Get to the shows early, as year had sold out crowds. Why? Because people love sex. The festival is “a series of plays, readings, photos, music and videos that explore sex, sexuality, relationships, gender and the human body,” says artistic director Thom Fitzgerald. “You won’t find the XXX stuff you can watch on the internet. You’ll find work by artists that is by turns erotic, comedic, sadistic, horny, ecstatic, anguished, playful and orgasmic.” How will the festival differ from this year to the last? "Last year we raised Halifax hemlines from the ankle to the knee. This year it's a tear-away skirt," sats Fitzgerald. "It's sexier this year. Still high mindedly artistic—we're working with some great music and great texts like Bryden MacDonald's Whale Riding Weather but really delving into its sex and sensuality."

The fest runs to February 27, beginning with A Night of Filthy Emails on Monday, February 6 (8pm, $10, tickets filthyemails.eventbrite.com).

The public’s hot, hot email submissions will be taken from locally produced site filthyemails.org and read aloud. "Reading some of the filthy submissions out loud to an audience is one more level of the extremely private going public," says Fitzgerald. "Last year it was a laugh riot. So awkward, funny and hot. People loved it." Let the extrovert in you out, make a submission, listen to your fantasies and try not to blush.

Tuesday, February 7 (to Feb 12) treat yourself to Whale Riding Weather, by Bryden MacDonald, directed by Fitzgerald. Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, the play is a love story where “a faded queen finds his mind slipping away from him along with his young lover.”

The Plutonium Playhouse Society moves out of their Hunter Street location at the end of April, and what better way to send them off than on a wave of horniness.

"I'd like to say there is some sort of agenda, like ensuring every Haligonian gets laid this February," says Fitzgerald. "But really we just want everyone to have a good time."

click to enlarge

• Argyle Fine Art
• Panoramic view of the wee works

Argyle Fine Art celebrates one year in their Barrington Street location with 312 works of art in a variety of mediums by over 50 artists from all over Canada with one thing in common: their diminutive size. Pre-Shrunk's 4"x5" widdle canvases are open for viewing tonight (January 27) at 7pm. Each piece is $175 and would be a major purchase for a dollhouse.

After tonight's opening, the exhibit will be online at www.argylefineart.com for pajamas and coffee viewing on Saturday morning, and check out the sneak peeks right now at www.argylefineart.blogspot.com. The show is continuing until February 16.

If you can't make the opening tonight, be sure to make the trek on Wednesday, February 8, 7-8:30pm for an evening with the artists. From Argyle Fine Art: "We’ve asked three different artists to talk about their experience in participating in this miniature show and some of the challenges they faced in painting... small."

click to enlarge

• Riordan-Butterworth and Tetrault at the podium

Although nothing quite matches the feeling of sitting in someone’s backyard, under a tarp, listening to your neighbours tell stories about their lives, the Fuller Lecture Series folks are using their time during the first ever 2012 Centre For Art Tapes Local Curatorial Residency is to bring a little of that magic to your computer screen. 

Bethany Riordan-Butterworth and Ella Tetrault are “still in planning stages” of their residency, but their goal is “to have a greater online presence, which will mean a broader, more international audience. Ella is in Germany doing her MFA at the Bauhaus University, which is a neat challenge because a lot of this residency will happen online,” says Riordan-Butterworth. “A big part of the residency will be research and development on how to take what we consider special about the live lectures and transfer that onto the internet.”

The CFAT residents are planning a public launch for their online component of the popular lecture series in the fall, but they haven’t abandoned the idea of the great outdoors in the slightest. “We are also hoping very much to continue the Fuller Terrace Lecture Series this summer,” says Riordan-Butterworth, “and are looking at different ways of developing the project.”

click to enlarge

There’s still time to catch Chris Foster’s (www.chrisfoster.ca) New Civilizations exhibit in the Corridor Gallery (1113 Marginal Road) before it is shuffled away from prying eyes and bound in a self-published book.

Foster’s works are like picture postcards of impossible dreamscapes, collages made from found images. “I produced New Civilizations over the period of two years, collecting and fitting together images until the works revealed themselves through creative process. The finished product does embody the aesthetics of National Geographics from the 1950s in their print quality and subject matter but they are printed on a much heavier stock paper.”

In early March, Foster’s collages will be released in book form as part of Eyelevel Gallery’s Reshelving Initiative Five, but until then, take a peek until January 30 at the Corridor and step into a spooky world. “They transcend time and space. Some of them are more like nightmare-scapes,” says Foster. “The collages are visual allegories discussing perceived changes in human society. They reference the past but are set in another time—not necessarily the future—maybe somewhere closer to a dream state.

click to enlarge

• The Mark Little in question

Check it out, before you get shot in the body.

click to enlarge

• Kate Beaton, doye
• You don't even need to know the context for this to laugh.

The cartoonist we all love to love, Hark, A Vagrant's Kate Beaton, was on the January 13 episode of my favourite podcast, How Was Your Week? with Julie Klausner. It is very funny and they make fun of the Maritimes a bit. I am on this a bit late, I know. But it doesn't change the fact that this podcast + a glass of wine and a bowl of noodles = a great Monday night. Give it a try and thank me later.

While we are on the subject of humorous podcasts that poke fun at the Maritimes, here's another.

click to enlarge

• Buddy's like, "man, Diane Ward's da best!"

I can't be the only one who would be stoked to be locked in the library after close and have to spend a night wandering, reading and napping. Friday, January 20 from 8-10pm will provide you with all of that mystery and romance (except maybe the napping... and the locked in part) at the Spring Garden Road Library with an innovative way to rage on a Friday: Stanzas in the Stacks

Curated by the 2011-2012 Mayor's Poet Laureate, Tanya Davis (have a read of some of her poetic genius right here), Stanzas in the Stacks promises readings by local poets, spontaneous poetry readings from books off the shelf by people like you, hot cider, cozy reading areas with chairs and blankets, magnetic poetry and more, all by lamplight.

If there is anything cuter to do tomorrow night, I defy you to find it.

click to enlarge

• Steve Farmer
• The pantograph drawing tool creates a delicate mural

Art and science—previously locked in Hatfield and McCoy-style perpetual conflict—joined peacefully at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia with Synaptic Connections: Art and the Brain. Featuring work from Alan Syliboy, Colleen Wolstenholme, Sarah Maloney, Mitchell Wiebe and Rose Adams, the exhibition, open until January 29, focuses on creativity and how the brain can inspire and produce it.

Throughout the duration of the exhibit, two artists-in-residence, Melissa Marr and Heather Wilkinson, have constructed a a large, kinetic felted waterfall relating to the unconscious mind, a collaborative mural exploring how the brain processes information and and an installation in foil tape relating to pathways in the brain. Marr and Wilkinson had brains on the brain for this residency, and this Sunday, January 22 at 2:30pm, they will give a presentation of their residency installation project, Minding, also discussing their collaborative experience.

“We have worked together on and off for the past three years, and in the residency had the opportunity to include daily interactions with visitors in the development of the work,” says Marr. Discussing their mural made with a pantograph tool, Wilkinson says: “We began a collaborative drawing that would connect gallery visitors passing through the installation at different times, and would mirror the way that our brains process information by prioritizing some details over others.”

Marr and Wilkinson took inspiration from museum patrons during their residency. “Working alongside people (felting, drawing, making transfer prints) we were able to connect with others and share excitement about processes and stories,” says Marr.

Using the brain as a subject also proved inspirational for the pair. “When artists work they grapple with ideas, materials and processes, but don’t often talk directly about creativity,” says Wilkinson. “One of our favourite brain researchers, Dr. Eric Kandel, described the brain as a creativity machine.”

“We were really inspired by an early pioneer from the late 1800-early 1900s, Santaigo Ramon y Cajal who came into research from the perspective of an artist; and his careful observations, drawn with great delicacy, are still the basis for essential understandings about communication between neurons,” says Marr.

At their Sunday afternoon talk, have a peek at their brain-centric art and learn not only about synapses, but how revitalizing artistic collaboration can be. “I think we know each other better as artists, and we know what we need individually. We’ll walk into the next project open to what can happen, but also with this foundation of having worked together daily over four months.” says Marr. “It's also reinforced our interest in temporary site specific work. And working with tape—my god, we love tape.”

click to enlarge

Gem of the north end—hub of such culturally rich projects as the Shed Residency, Anchor Archive Zine Library, the Ink Storm Screen Printing Studio, the People's Photocopier and the Crow's Nest meeting space—The Roberts Street Social Centre (5684 Roberts Street, only residential home on the street, the cute little red one) is relocating as of May 1, 2012. From a press release issued last night:

"After seven years of activity, the Roberts Street Social Centre is entering a time of change. Just before New Year's we received notice that our lease at 5684 Roberts Street will end as of May 1, 2012. Members of the Roberts Street Collective met on January 9, 2012 to begin discussing how to deal with this news.

In the next four months we will be looking at options for a new space and figuring out how the social centre can continue its programs in the future. We will continue to be in touch as we make decisions and determine our course. In the coming months we will be looking for suggestions, support, and ideas from the community. We will need you more than ever.

Change is difficult, but we hope that through this process we will learn, become stronger, and make Roberts Street (or whatever we are to become) even better. If you are interested in helping, watch our weekly email newsletter, website or Facebook page in the coming weeks for ways in which you can help support us, and public meetings where you can give your input.

Stay tuned.

-RSSC"

click to enlarge

• Krista Comeau
• Ursula Johnson performing Elmiet

With Ursula Johnson’s MSVU Gallery artist residency this month (running until Feb 18, first open studio Saturday, January 14 10am-6pm, full studio dates below), you will get a chance to not only see into Johnston’s artistic process as she references traditional Mi’kmaq methods of Ash splint basket weaving while creating an entirely new visual impact, but you may also get a chance to see a design of your own creation be interpreted in this traditional aboriginal art form.

Says Johnson of her upcoming residency: “The work that will be produced is very interactive. I am creating forms that have never been created before, I will have a sketch book, where I will welcome people to sketch out an idea for a form they have in their mind. Then I will attempt to translate their sketch into a woven structure.” You may recognize Johnson from these pages, as she was featured on the cover of our 2010 Nocturne guide for her performance, Elmiet, which drew attention to the continued existence of the 1756 Scalping Proclamation in NS legislation. A NSCAD grad from the Eskasoni First Nation who focuses her practice on the idea cultural preservation, Johnson believes in “the importance of learning about traditional aboriginal art forms and practices that are quickly in the process of becoming forgotten.”

During Johnston’s residency, she will host a two part basketry workshop, “where the participants and myself will collaborate to create a form for the MSVU collection,” says Johnson. There will be an upcoming exhibition of this work in 2013. “The studio visits will be at least once per week. Also visitors are welcome to drop into the studio informally to come see my process whenever the gallery is open.” Johnson also aims to “educate visitors about the need to protect, preserve and re-learn these traditional methods of art production, and to learn about the economic and ecological responsibilities that we have as artists working with natural materials.”

The end of the residency in February will continue the interactive theme, “the visitors will participate in naming the forms that have been created during the residency,” says Johnson. “We will also serve some refreshments and have some entertainment from some traditional drummers.”

OPEN STUDIO DAYS Ursula Johnson welcomes visitors to her studio during these times:
Saturday, 14 January, from 10am to 5pm
Tuesday, 17 January, from 10am to 5pm
Thursday, 9 February, from 10am to 5pm

BASKETRY WORKSHOPS Free to attend. Please register by contacting 902-457-6160 art.gallery@msvu.ca
PART 1: Saturday, 28 January, from 10am to 5pm
PART 2: Saturday, 4 February, from 10am to 5pm

PUBLIC LECTURES
Thursday, 2 February, from 5:30-7:30pm: Ursula Johnson in conversation with artist/writer, Shirley Bear, C.M.
Saturday, 11 February, 1pm: Artist’s Talk

CATALOGUING PARTY Enjoy a drumming performance and refreshments at Johnson’s end-of-residency celebration. All are welcome to view the pieces created during Johnson’s residency and to assist in naming them. The pieces will be catalogued and tagged for a future exhibition. Saturday, 18 February, from 12 to 3pm

click to enlarge

• Brendan Anckaert

It's likely that if most of us took pics of our Christmases we'd have a lot of shots of turkeys, ribbons, maybe that ruling ornament you made at age 10. Maybe a Bailey's/coffee mix from the more hedonistic among us.

Local artist Brendan Anckaert puts your lame holidays to shame with some enviable photos of his New York trip.

Focusing on the little details that make a trip to a big city memorable, urban landscapes and the chilly blue sky, the latest entry on Anckaert's site is a mini-vacation. Even though you just got back to work, like, a second ago.

click to enlarge

• John McCarthy
• John McCarthy's Covered Bridge won't spook you or your horse.

So you peeked at your presents and found that Santa is giving you a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR for Christmas and you don’t want to let him down—ViewPoint Gallery’s (1271 Barrington) new exhibit, NewPoints: First Impressions could be your entry point. Running from January 4-29 (opening January 5, 6-9pm with an artist talk on January 15, 2pm) the exhibition aims to demystify Halifax’s only photography gallery’s membership process. New members will show their work and explain their artist submissions for membership consideration. Even if you don’t have a mind to join the gallery’s hallowed ranks, you can still give your eyes the gift of great photography. Josh Boyter’s photos display his love of travel and craftsmanship; Phillip Joy’s work shines a light on the secret moments of daily life in bustling cities; John McCarthy’s photos display his love of Nova Scotia and its landscape; Jan Napier’s photography is chock-full of bold colour and straight-shooting portraits; Paul Vienneau—former vice president and board member of ViewPoint—work tells his inspiring story of travel to Egypt while in a wheelchair; Jarrell Whisken focuses on powerful landscapes and those that choose to live off the land. Go and be inspired in 2012.

click to enlarge

• Zzzz

The Coast office is closed from December 23 to January 3, and Art Attack will be right snoozy during that time, as I will be kickin' it holiday-style.

I'm back after that though. With a VENGEANCE!