March 15, 2009 at 2:38 pm · Filed under mutterings
It’s not as sunny as it was yesterday but my dashboard tells me it’s 5 degrees outdoors. I suppose it’s even warmer in Toronto. Ah well you can’t have it all.
Super exhausted. It’s been only a week since I’ve left Toronto but it feels like — weeks ago? Months ago? A great deal has happened since. The CCA cultural strategy meeting went well. I had a great time blogging live. We even got some comments! If the blog looks a bit skimpy to you - I apologize - I can take excellent detailed minutes but to summarize for an audience without any context (and might not be familiar with the key players) is a very different sort of challenge. check out the links I posted; they should help round things out.
The day after I met up with Tracey, the cybercartographer. VERY EXCITING NEWS but I can’t say anything just yet. Just an idea, just exploring the possibility right now. But I am VERY EXCITED. It’s thrilling. If we pull this off it’ll be an awesome installation. For now, I’ll just give an example of a cybercartography project. I might not have the details of this exactly right but it gives you a sense of what cybercartography is: Tracey showed me a video clip of a glob. This ambiguously-shaped white object represented the Arctic circle. Squiggly, scrawling blue and red lines appeared around the white mass, representing different explorers moving through the area. The lines appear and disappear as the timeline moves forward. Over time, the white mass gains definition; the conventional markings of a “real” or “normal” map appear here and there in various corners of the white blob - representing the land being discovered, explored, mapped. Cool, isn’t it? That’s just the start. When you consider all the data out there that can be related to geography and time, and when you consider all the different types of graphical representation that we already see in other types of design, it’s evident how great the possibilities are with cybercartography.
Did you know that cybercartography is a Canadian invention? Indeed. A Scottish professor came up with the concept at Carleton University. Tracey also told me the distinction that archivists make between “interactive” and “dynamic”. Interactive works allow users to manipulate elements without changing the nature of the object (or experience). Whereas dynamic works actually allow users to change the nature of the object through their manipulations.
Speaking of which, I went to see Kondition Pluriel’s show, Passage last night with Andrea Naan. It was a dance installation-performance in which audience members could move around, sit / stand / walk anywhere they liked. The white room was cut up with curvy, wavy projection screens and three sculptural objects. (Sculptural is a generous description; they were three-dimensional and two out of the three can’t be summed up as a box or some other recognizable shape.) The solo dancer was dressed in various shades of (off-)white fabrics and leather. It was a great costume - all kinds of zippers, knobs, S&M lacing, and strips of metal all integrated. That was probably the best part of the show. The boredom was good too; I like being bored - it gives me a chance to think.
The show was boring. Which was sorely disappointing, ultimately, even if boredom is good for me, because one of the choreographers was Benoît Lachambre. I saw Louise Lecavalier interpret one of his works last summer at Canada Dance Festival and it was magic and brilliant and indescribably great. (Meaning, it inspired wonder, was acutely intelligent, and was even emotionally SATISFYING.) This show however was none of those things. It was all neither here nor there. Everything was formless and indeterminate which would have been FINE if that was what they had advertised. Actually, no, I don’t need to know that something will be abstract, but then for heavens’ sake don’t advertise that it’s an INTERACTIVE show. Yes, they marketed it as an installation-performance piece in which audience members would interact with the dancer and the room. In reality, when you walked into the room it was clear there were boundaries everywhere - your interaction was extremely limited. There was very very little sense of impact. You could twist and turn knobs all you liked but it wouldn’t necessarily do anything because there were little men sitting at big tables with shiny macbooks controlling the aesthetic of everything and blurring the crap out of any form or dynamism you might’ve tried to give the piece.
I am not an extrovert nor without inhibitions otherwise I would have stripped to my knickers and ran around the room screaming at the top of my lungs.
It was exasperating. Everyone was so decorous. God bless the man who periodically whispered audibly at his partner, “il faut toucher la nana? … oui oui, il faut! Les gens, ils touchent la nana.” (You have to touch the chick? … yes, yes, you’re supposed to! People are touching the chick.”) When the dancer came up to talk in my ear I tried to talk to her but she was non-responsive. When she came to hold my hand and move it around I also tried to move with her but again she didn’t reciprocate. Maybe I wasn’t being bold enough but in theatre if you want audience interaction you know you have to reward any sign of life in the audience in order to encourage them and signal that this is the way you want to go.
Maybe I just want it to be too plain and obvious. Maybe it was all very subtle and mysterious and beautiful. Didn’t register that way with me but who knows, maybe everyone else loved it. Anyone else out there saw it?
Sent four or five drafts of a one-pager on the Atypical Art Guide project to my co-conspirator. Haven’t heard back yet but I hope Su-Ying likes it. I’m psyched about that too. Much fun to be had. Many interesting questions to consider.
Today I have two mini proposals to write and send off. Plus a letter of support for TK. Hope to finish at least half of this in the next two hours so I can start cooking at 5pm. Tarragon-flavoured butter is on the menu. Will let you guess the rest.
This Thursday, March 12, 2009 from ~1:00 - 5:00pm, leadership from the arts and culture community will convene at a national workshop in Ottawa to address short- and long-term challenges for the sector. Will you be there? If you won’t be there in person, do make the time to tune in to the CCA’s live blog:
The CCA has arranged for me to blog live throughout the workshop to give you an opportunity to get a sense of the discussion and an opportunity to talk back. In fact, visit the site now and leave a comment saying you’ll be tuning in! (Kinda lets everyone know that there are folks who want to be heard around the table, even if you can’t make it in person.)
Who knows how fast, slow, complicated, engrossing, or banal, even frustrating the in-person meeting might be. Here is our chance to show them up!. Get in on the conversation online. Let’s make it spicy, let’s pipe up with some compelling points, potent discussion, telling debate. This is a real chance for the otherwise-less-audible to be heard!
When I say “let’s” I mean you. Meet me halfway: I’ll be at the meeting and reporting on what’s going on. Meanwhile you’ve got to put out peeps! I’m relying on you to come up with the sparkling commentary!
Please bookmark the link and put the afternoon event in your calendar. If technical difficulties occur, check for an alternate link on my site: www.helenyung.com
Sorry, but I will only be able to blog in English. Feel free to comment en français. Si vous connaissez quelqu’un qui peut participer à Ottawa comme blogger francophone, dites-moi vite!
Against the backdrop of RECENT CUTS to arts and cultural programs, an ELECTION CAMPAIGN where the arts and culture featured as a KEY [I would say defining - hell, the Conservatives lost their chance at a majority because of certain views expressed about arts and artists!] national issue, and an INTERNATIONAL CRISIS with the Canadian economy in jeopardy, this workshop will present an opportunity to address some of the short-term and long-term challenges now facing the sector.
Following an extensive nation-wide consultation with the arts and cultural sector, the CCA’s National Director, Alain Pineau, will present a Report on the CCA Regional Forums. The report will inform this National Cultural Strategy Workshop so that our sector may begin mapping out the path to achieving our goals.
Anne L’Ecuyer, of Americans for the Arts (AFTA), will share the experiences of the American arts community as it moved from DISARRAY to a STRONG, COHERENT, and EFFECTIVE national POLITICAL voice. She will then conduct a workshop systematizing a five-stage approach to gaining consensus and strategies to help move the sector into a coordinated future direction.
A friend of Janet’s, a writer whom I will refer to as Printfiltrator - the title on her business card; she says she doesn’t like the term journalist - invited me to go see a film last night at Concordia’s Cinema Politica series. The film was called Slingshot Hip Hop, and it was a remarkable documentary about young Palestinian rap artists living in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Extremely well-told stories - personal portraits and political history - compelling, no drag, no lag, seemingly effortless storytelling with almost no obvious prompting or leading by the filmmaker.
There were so many great great moments in the film. We start with a look at a group from within Israel, moving to others in the West Bank, and then we meet a group from Gaza. By this time we’ve met some female rap artists - two who perform, one who has to back out of a performance because her extended family is against the idea of a young woman performing on stage. This latter woman is the cousin of one of the rappers that we meet from the outset. His introduction of her went more or less like “Arabs [as a race] have it the worst in the world right now. Who in the world has it worse than the Arabs? The Arab women.” Yes, go see the film.
So after the female rappers, we meet a group from Gaza. They perform live for the first time in what looks like a community theatre (or certainly in a theatre full of community members ranging from aunts and uncles to young rap fans – it’s clear this event is about solidarity). Heading to the performance, one of the rappers says to the camera “I feel… I can’t even remember my name right now.” They’re nervous as hell, but when the rappers in other cities see the footage from the concert, they respond with comments like “this is their first performance? They’re fearless! Look at them!” Afterwards, and this is a good set up by the filmmakers, the kids call each other. This is the first time they’ve met and maybe they’re older than I think but it’s moving to hear them say to one another “I would be honoured to share a stage with you” (seemingly unprompted). The cutting between phone conversations was also cleverly conceived – giving a sense that all three conversations were happening in real-time and simultaneously.
Great film. Can’t detail all the positive things I have to say about it. Just make sure you see it. Thanks Printfiltrator for the heads up.
(Just found a YouTube trailer; haven’t watched it yet - might cover some of the parts I mentioned above, if so I probably misquoted. Apologies.)
I arrived in Montreal last night around 5pm, landed at my friend Janet’s place just before 6pm, and was whisked away to a Wiki-party soon after. This was a gathering of activists studying a one-year diploma in community economic development (CED) - wonderful crowd, everyone with very different backgrounds, but all social innovators in their own way.
I was one of two or three extra guests who weren’t in the CED program. I had a good chat with one of the other ‘extras’ about cybercartography. She works at what sounds like a very cool cross-disciplinary centre for research and lab work. It would be great, I think, if Pixel did an exhibit at some point of some high-end cybercartography. Hoping to connect with Tracy the cybercartographer later this week in Ottawa.
As promised, here’s the link for the CCA’s live blog that I’ll be using to cover the arts and culture sector meeting on March 12. Been a rather busy, topsy turvy few days. Still got packing, cleaning, tax reporting, and invoicing to do… So, I will refer you to my last post for more info… or stay tuned - I’ll post a pre-workshop teaser with some personal notes on the reports that will be informing the visioning workshop on March 12.
business partner at Sarolta Technologies; development strategist for Pixel; steering committee member of Cultural Pluralism in the Performing Arts Movement Ontario; advisor to the inaugural 2010 Winter Olympics edition of PaCuBox;
. know-how etc .
Written French at Alliance Française (2007); Branding: Five Good Ideas with Lynn Gran (2007); Legal Limberness 101, Financial Fitness 101 and Accounting Athletics 101 with Vancity Credit Union and Imagine Canada (2007); Cultural Values in Transition with Charles C. Smith (2006); The 'ASK': Principles of Persuasion and the Art of Confident Fundraising with Donna Goodhand and Jacline Nyman (2006); Finances for the Arts with Heather C. Young (2005); Arts Action Research Roundtable with George Thorn and Nello McDaniel (2005). bachelor of arts in literary studies and drama from the University of Toronto
