Postcards from Québéc City

A shark rearing to chomp up a Fleur de Lys on a fishing line

Whenever I go somewhere new, I'm always lookout for street art and graffiti.  I think that you can learn a lot about political and social situations, as well as get a sense for a places humor through street art that you stumble across.  It is a way to visually connect with people from a place that is foreign to you through signs and symbols. In a way, these messages can help you make sense of an environment that is strange to you.  On my trip to Québéc City, I was quite impressed at the amount and the quality of street art on the old fortress walls of Old Québéc.  Québéc street artists create large, colourful pieces that appear to be stenciled or free handed onto walls.  I noticed that the use of text and words is abundant, and often acknowledges social situations in the area.

On The Weekend: 21 Balançoires

This weekend, I went to see the public art exhibition  21 Balançoires in Montréal.  The public is invited to swing on colourful swing sets.  The swinging action makes music, and with some cooperation with some other swinging friends, you can create some beautiful sounds.

Need

The artist Wax Has a great song about our limitations regarding consumerism.

View in fullscreen for full effect.

Kumi Yamashita

Kumi Yamashita uses household items such as paper and blocks to create sculptures that cast shadows. His work mainly consists of silhouette portraits of people in a gallery setting.  Some works are outdoors, giving a street art vibe.

Visit his website here.

Yamantaka/ Sonic Titan

I realize it had been ages since I last posted, but no time for excuses, let's get back into it!

I was at an artist talk done by the lead singer of Yamantaka/ Sonic Titan today about her film work for their music videos.  Yamantaka/ Sonic Titan is a band that is also a collaborative art project based out of Montreal.  They create new instruments for their music, and their own story lines and installations for their band sets.  The lead singer, Ruby Kato Attwood, creates the bands music videos.  She utilizes many different film techniques to create the videos, from stop animation, live action film, and slow motion film, to drawing, painting, and installation-making.  In her presentation, she described that many of the costumes and sets used in their shows are made from found objects or very cheaply sourced materials.  However I think that their work has an almost high brow or rendered look to it, and this information from her presentation makes their work even more interesting to me.

Bandcamp:

Music Video for Hoshi Neko:


I found their work to be refreshing, fun and psychedelic.  Let me know what you think!

Coca-Cola Stage 2012

The line up for this years Coca-Cola stage at the Calgary Stampede looks great!  I am most excited about seeing Our Lady Peace, Awolnation, Seether, and Dragonette. It will also be nice to see The Trews and Mother Mother for the third and fifth time.  What parts of this line up look the best to you?

Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf's new photography series about people using the Tokyo transit system evokes the  claustrophobia in me.  I wonder how he managed to get all these close up shots without people noticing in such a crowded place.

All Photos are from Michael Wolf's website.

Life in a Day

This documentary gives a glimpse into the lives of everyday people all over the world.

If you were to document a day in your life, what would it look like?

Icelandic Street Art

Icelandic street artist Theresa Himmer uses giant reflective sequins adhered to the sides of buildings to create vacillating surfaces.  Her work reflects light and seems to mimic water or scales.  I'm almost buying a plane ticket to Iceland.
To see more of Himmers work, visit this website.