Let’s face it: shooting stuff is fun – in video, that is; but it can also be ethically complicated. Gallery 101’s current exhibition Blown Up: Gaming and War, brings to the conventions of video gaming the complexities of art, activism and critical commentary. I am not exactly a typical gamer
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Art Threat: London Triptych traces queer desire across the centuries
Owing in large part to Hollywood’s discovery of its infinite star vehicle potential, the “intersecting lives” narrative has become, in recent years, something of a cop out. When the A-story isn’t strong enough, simply prop it up with parallel stories B through F and have them all fatefully (and conveniently)
Continue readingArt Threat: Athena Film Festival passes the Bechdel test
Occasionally films come out in the mainstream that give a glimpse of hope that perhaps the world of film is changing and becoming more adept at telling stories that don’t rely on sexist stereotypes – last summer the Hunger Games gave a promise of a heroine who could fend for
Continue readingArt Threat: Art at War surveys creativity under Nazi occupation, from Picasso to Dubuffet
“History isn’t the lies of the victors … I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.” – The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes On the last Sunday in the year, the Parisian bourgeoisie were out in force.
Continue readingArt Threat: A visit to Josh Keyes’ dystopian zoo
If Josh Keyes’ paintings don’t take a bit of your breath away, I suggest you visit an optometrist. Each one sits as a stand-alone diorama, a moment caught in a fictional time, with beautiful realistic paintings of animals in a world so strange that it is most likely caused by
Continue readingArt Threat: On efficacy and ideology: Zero Dark Thirty and the ethical justification of torture
“The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.” -Walter Benjamin Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark Thirty was met with both large audiences and waves of criticism for how the film depicted, and seemingly endorsed, the
Continue readingArt Threat: This art is all about anger
The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book is the second graphic novel from activist Gord Hill. It is a chronicle of several anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements over the last two decades, from the WTO protests in Seattle to the recent Occupy movements. Hill also places a great deal of emphasis on the
Continue readingArt Threat: The imagination, art, and activism of Herman’s House
Last week I attended the Toronto theatrical premiere of Herman’s House, a thought-provoking documentary written and directed by Angad Singh Bhalla. This Canadian film tells the story of an artistic collaboration between Jackie Sumell and Herman Wallace. Sumell is a multidisciplinary artist from New York. Wallace is a Black Panther from Louisiana who has been […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Femininity, fantasy, and fever dreams – Book review: The Lava in My Bones by Barry Webster
In a delirious, hallucinogenic voice, author Barry Webster turns directly toward the place and experience of femininity in a queer life dominated by masculine desires.
Continue readingArt Threat: Root sculptures celebrate local activists – Pierre Leichner’s Grassroots Project
Pierre Leichner uses grass to make sculptures — for The Grassroots Project, in the shape of faces of community workers and activists from Vancouver’s East Side. The living sculptures, pictured above, are beautiful and haunting. “The Grassroots Project” was featured at Britannia Community Centre (Vancouver). I recently caught up to
Continue readingArt Threat: One Month Later – How the 2012 Federal Budget Impacts the Arts
With the release of the 2012 federal budget one month behind us you’ve likely captured the gist of the budget – cuts to the CBC and none to the Canada Council for the Arts. Here’s a full breakdown of how the cuts (and non cuts) affect arts and culture in
Continue readingArt Threat: Art for social justice: 12 remarkable women – Roots to Resistance project shares stories of courage
Natalia Estemirova Twelve women. Twelve stories of political courage. Twelve portraits. The Roots to Resistance project is spreading word about the groundbreaking work of twelve women who have dedicated their lives to fighting for social justice. Artist Denise Beaudet is creating portraits of 12 remarkable activists. Postcards of these images
Continue readingArt Threat: Hot Docs 2012 – The good, the bad, the incomprehensible
The 19th edition of North America’s largest documentary showcase and one of the world’s largest film festivals begins this week, running from April 26 to May 6 in Toronto. With Charlotte Cook replacing Sean Farnel as head programmer, new directions (less films, more focus is the official line), new initiatives
Continue readingArt Threat: Thomas Waugh flirts with fantasy while fucking reality – An analysis of Out/Lines and Lust Unearthed
[Forward: When I saw that Arsenal Pulp Press had these two books on hand I immediately thought of Tyler. A thoughtful writer, Tyler had the pleasure of meeting Thomas Waugh last summer, and I knew he’d have an interesting perspective on both Out/Lines and Lust Unearthed. He certainly delivered. The
Continue readingArt Threat: What’s the value of an art school? – Contextualizing the crisis at NSCAD
NSCAD's modern new Port campus overlooks Halifax harbour. Photo by Rory Hyde. Celebrating its 125th anniversary next year, The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design is the oldest of Canada’s four dedicated art universities. With slightly over 1000 full time students and spread across three campuses in downtown Halifax,
Continue readingArt Threat: Networked Shock Art: Voina in the News – Analysis of political interventions of Russian art collective
For the last year Vorotnikov and Nikolaev have been waging a legal battle with Russian authorities for their freedom. While these challenges facing Voina have been well documented on Art Threat, Free Voina, and other alternative media sources, another battle is being fought: against state, art world, and dominant media
Continue readingArt Threat: New Nordic Documentary Cinema – Identity and belonging made visible
To describe the topic of Nordic documentary cinema as unexplored would be an understatement.
Continue readingArt Threat: Politics play prominently at the 54th Venice Biennale
Water is the political motif for a significant number of works and death stalks the corridors of the Venice Biennale.
Continue readingArt Threat: Viva Riva! revives Congolese filmmaking – A review of the crime thriller by director Djo Tunda Wa Munga
“In making “Viva Riva!,” I wanted to find a new way to talk about life in Kinshasa today to describe how my hometown works and how it doesn’t work.”
Continue readingArt Threat: Myth-busting the Internet: The truth about throttling, congestion and usage-based billing – New report offers scathing critique of Canadian telecoms industry
A new report challenges claims made by Canada’s largest telecommunication companies in recent disputes over Internet billing and governance. Casting An Open Net: A Leading-Edge Approach to Canada’s Digital Future, offers an at times scathing critique of telecom positions on Internet congestion, BiTorrent use, billing strategies and throttling and backs its criticisms with topnotch research […]
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