We’re finally able to announce the upcoming issue of Four Minutes to Midnight (issue 12). In collaboration with Archive Montreal, we’ve decided to dedicate the issue to Expozine, Montreal’s annual small press, comics, and zine fair. This year Expozine celebrates it’s tenth anniversary! The festival has played such a crucial role in the development of Four Minutes; we’ve made many friends and allies and have been inspired and encouraged by so many of the participants over the years, and we wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge this.

The issue will consist of several articles/interviews and an extended composition of images and texts selected from zines submitted to the Expozine archive over the years. We’ll have a list up soon of our final selections, and if you happen to be on it (you should have received a permissions email), you’ll receive a free copy of the issue at Expozine. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to put this issue together, and look forward to sharing it with everyone in less than 2 months time!

The cold-blooded execution of Troy Davis last night in Georgia greatly upset me, as I’m sure it did hundreds of thousands of people around the world. It’s a saddening and enraging reminder of the injustices perpetrated in order to maintain a system of privileged power and the inherent racism of the criminal justice system in the US.

In collaboration with the Howl Arts Collective, I quickly designed this poster in solidarity with his struggle, also drawing the link between Davis’ execution and Stephen Harper’s position on capital punishment, a clear warning sign of the growing violence of the policies of this Conservative majority.

Download the poster in English and French, and please spread widely. A great miscarriage of justice was done yesterday in Georgia. Let us redouble our efforts for a more just world, where the death penalty no longer exists and these decisions might be based on at least a shred of humanity instead of blind faith in a corrupt system.

No justice. No peace.

Read more on the Howl Arts website.

As part of the global initiative 100 Thousand Poets for Change, I’ll be doing a short reading for the Montreal event at Hurley’s pub this Saturday afternoon. From the 100TPC website:

The first order of change is for poets, writers, artists, anybody, to actually get together to create and perform, educate and demonstrate, simultaneously, with other communities around the world. This will change how we see our local community and the global community. We have all become incredibly alienated in recent years. We hardly know our neighbors down the street let alone our creative allies who live and share our concerns in other countries. We need to feel this kind of global solidarity.

I’m very excited to be participating in this important event, where I’ll be reading an excerpt from the latest fugue, which in itself brought together the words of many disparate writers from across the world. Hope to see you there.

From the epigraph ‘stolen’ from John Berger:

Every form of contestation against this tyranny is comprehensible. Dialogue with it is impossible. For us to live and die properly, things have to be named properly. Let us reclaim our words.

This is written in the night. In war the dark is on nobody’s side; in love the dark confirms that we are together.

Facebook event here >>

Link preview article here >>

Hyperreality by Kim Tsui

It’s been exactly a year since I left the “comforts” of my job at Cossette to give this freelance thing a try, and I’m very happy to announce that LOKi design now consists of a team of two. The talented Kim Tsui joins the studio as our first ever design intern!

Kim graduated with honours from the York/Sheridan design program in Toronto, and has cut her teeth here in Montreal working with Drawn and Quarterly, Palimpsest Magazine and Pop Montreal. I feel very lucky to have her on board to help out with our current and future projects and believe that she’ll contribute greatly to the quality of the studio’s output.

Welcome Kim!

Poster design by Stuart Thursby

Though it’s been a while since I’ve been a fervent NDPer, I was deeply saddened by the news today. I tend to think of politics with a small “p”, grassroots activism, on the ground and in the day to day direct actions we take. But as my friend Yan mentioned, Mr. Layton was “our” closest ally in this government, the official opposition to Canada’s Conservatives and their increasingly scary policies. It’s a tragic day for all Canadians, as an important voice for change, for dialogue, has been silenced. His last letter to Canadians is a touching and inspiring note to leave on, emblematic of his strength of character, will and hope.

Rest in peace Mr. Layton, you were an inspiring and stand-up figure in a world often bereft of them.

Let’s also remember that a movement is not a man, not a leader, but consists of everyone who works their ass off fighting for social justice every day. It’s a sentiment I think Mr. Layton would support. Mourn the man, build the movement. So, thank you for everything you’ve done Jack, thank you for providing so much hope and speaking bravely of love in politics, we’ll keep up the fight for you…

[edit] a great article on The Mass Ornament reflecting on the cooption of Layton’s public image.

PS. If you are in Montréal, John, Louis and a few others are organising a candlelight vigil tonight at 20h at Mont Royal parc. Details on facebook here.

I was interviewed earlier today by Stefan Christoff on Radio is Dead over at CKUT FM. We spoke at length about the role of art and cultural resistance in the face of the conservative politics of Canada.

I feel like I rambled on a bit, but hopefully there’s some interesting/inspiring stuff in there. The interview starts about 19 minutes in.

Radio Is Dead, July 25, on CKUT FM

Below, you’ll find a quick overview of some recent identity and web projects completed by the studio prior to my adventure in Europe. Quality clients and collaborators led to some great projects, and there’s many more coming down the pipeline.

Cinema Politica

Cinema Politica is an amazing international organisation run by Svetla Turnin and Ezra Winton out of Montreal that screens independent political documentaries. Over the years they’ve built the largest archive in the world of these films and created an expansive alternative distribution and exhibition network. In updating the site and visual identity, we’ve facilitated access to this archive and created a platform for participants in the network to have a strong, unified voice.

Drupal development by Shane Bill.

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de Vasim, the site for Oddstream

I’ve been in the beautiful city of Nijmegen for four days now, and the Oddstream festival is getting underway. It’s been an exciting and busy time as I’ve been jumping between mentoring an amazing group of international media students and activists while also participating in Memefest‘s Mapping Socially Responsive Communication workshop. The evenings have been spent reaquainting myself (ie. drinking and drinking some more) with some old friends and collaborators (from declarations days!) and meeting many new ones. My head is swimming, and though genuine insight has yet to set in, I wanted to get some words and images out nonetheless.

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At the end of the week, I’ll be taking off on a European tour courtesy of my good friends at Memefest for the Oddstream communication and multimedia festival in Nijmegen, NL. I’ll be presenting at/mentoring a workshop on youth critical media literacy training and also participating in Memefest’s socially responsive communication workshop, alongside a host of international media activists and artists. I’m very excited to be a part of this event and to have the opportunity to share my experience from Montreal with an international audience.

After the festival, I’ll be heading to Slovenia with the Memefest crew to celebrate Oliver and Vida’s wedding!!! (and stalk Slavoj Žižek) I’ll then be heading to Berlin for a few days before rounding off my trip in London to see dear old friends from LCP. If you’re around these parts, and want to see me, hit me up!