Our project Imaging Apartheid is featured in this week’s Arts and Culture show on CUTV. Also in this episode a great feature on Concordia’s Co-op Bookstore and some amazing and inspiring footage from the revolution happening in Egypt.

Thanks CUTV! I really need to learn to speak slower on camera!

featured on Art Threat.

These beautiful snails remind me of Colin White’s Gigafauna series, although as he mentions, his are BIGGER!

Happy New Year!!! Memefest is an amazing organisation/event/friendly competition that I’ve been partnered with for many years. Based in Slovenia, with nodes spread out internationally (remarkably and importantly, outside of traditional centres of “power”), Memefest explores the boundaries of communication practice, pushing for radical approaches that operate outside of the conventional/commercial/advertising model.

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an apt and important sentiment to be shared…

via Kerry Freek.

pile of work by Leia Fahe Villeneuve, Justine Dupont-Lavigueur, Caroline Grainger, Sophia Burke, Farnaz Waheed, Claudine Lamothe and Natalie Pan

Over the fall I had the opportunity to teach two classes in Concordia’s Department of Design and Computation Arts; DART 441: The Culture of Images and CART 444: Portfolio Studio. These were very challenging classes to teach, despite being the first time I’ve taught without having to go back to work at an agency the next day.

The classes addressed divergent subject matter (looking outside vs. looking inside) that I care deeply about, yet had not taught before, and they both required a lot of self-initiative from individual students. 441 aimed to teach students to critically examine the visual environment around them, and determine how to construct messages within that context, whereas 444 forced students to deeply examine their own work and practice, bringing forth a cohesive presentation of their identity from it.

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The CEASE Art Collective‘s Holiday Flea Market this past weekend was a great success and a whole lot of fun. I survived on a steady diet of cupcakes, coffee, beer and art, met many great people and was inspired by all the crafty goodness.

Of particular note, I was blown away by the aerosol work of my table mate Regimental Oneton, the photos of Lisa Howarth and the beautiful new drawings from Nicole Aline Legault. I also got a great new scarf from Genevieve Dumas! Oh yeah, and the cupcakes of course!

Big, big thanks to all the organisers and volunteers, fellow artists and everyone that came by. Great to meet you all!

>> More photos of the event on facebook

The early view from our table

Another great Expozine weekend is in the books, and as tiring, stressful and hectic as it was, I’m pretty sad it’s over and we’re going to have to wait a whole year for the next opportunity to see so many amazing independent creators and creations.

As a member of the illustrious board, headed by the indefatiguable Louis Rastelli (with big shoutouts to Billy Mavreas, Genevieve Boyer, Pascal-Angelo Fioramore, Michelle Lacombe and Graham Hall) I spent Friday setting up hundreds of tables and chairs while hoping that issue XI of Four Minutes to Midnight would be printed and bound in time by my printers Kata Soho (kids, remember, don’t leave printing to the last minute!). Everything worked out in the end, and I was able to enjoy the opening event at Sala with some good friends and great performances by Sherwin Tija (reading from his collection of Pseudo-Haikus and new zine, “The Little Cancer that could”) and Super Fossil Power. There was a nice turnout, but unfortunately, as was to be expected, a lot of zinesters I was hoping to meet were MIA as they frantically finished their wares.

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Poster by Billy Mavreas

It’s my favourite time of the year! Expozine 2010 is right around the corner (THIS weekend!) and I’m beyond excited to get to see so many of my friends again and all the work they’ve been up to in a sweaty church basement jam-packed with geeky zinesters. And equally excited to discover new art for my walls, new zines for my mind, and new people to collaborate with. I’ve met some of my best friends through this event, and it’s one of the main reasons I’m still in Montreal, with its amazing community of independent artists. It’s going to be a fabulous weekend!

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