Category Archives: Rant

Montreal Art Chat, Episode 3, Le Mois de la Photo

Montreal Art Chat, Episode 3

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Le Mois de la Photo a Montreal
Le Mois de la Photo a Montreal

In this episode Erica Blume and Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand discuss the work shown by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Dominique Blain (with Zoe Keating), Hans Eijkelboom, Roberto Pellegrinuzzi, Christopher Baker, MissPixels and Andreas Rutkauskas during Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal.

Le Soir des Monstres by Etienne Saglio at Théâtre Outremont

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Le Soir des Monstres Photo by Elsa Revol
Le Soir des Monstres Photo by Elsa Revol

Le Soir des Monstres by Etienne Saglio at Théâtre Outremont

Episode 610 (4:38)

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The 2014 Vizio BCS National Championship on TSN

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TSN Logo
TSN Logo

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Montreal Design Flaws

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The multimedia zone in Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme
The multimedia zone in Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme

Recently they finally finished the renovations at Place des Arts. I will refrain from commenting on them, as there are only 49 synonyms in my thesaurus for the word bad, and none of them sufficiently evoke my feelings about what was done. However, one thing that did strike me, was how there is one glaring design flaw that was encountered in the renovations.

Namely, whomever decided it was an awesome idea to install floor to ceiling video screens in a dark corridor where very frequently there are massive hordes of people, forgot that it was likely that some of those people would in fact bush up against and or decide to try and touch those (probably) extremely expensive screens.

So, an after-the-fact-cheap-o-no-thought solution was instituted. As you can see, above, they installed some rope at ankle height. Kind of like what you would see in a museum with not enough security staff. Or in plainer language: bush league.

Pity.

Not Live Trees on Rachel

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(I wrote an update about the trees on Rachel on June 26, click here)

Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana

Last year with some fanfare the city ripped up Rachel street and made a larger divider for the bike path (without really widening the bike path itself). They started in July and finished in October. One of the last things they did was to plant trees. Now I don’t know much (if anything about trees) but I can’t see how planting them just before it frosts over is a good idea.

Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana

So I figured I’d check them out yesterday. So far five of six seem to be alive. I started at the east end of the bike path and walked to Saint Urbain.

A closer look at the not quite blooming tree on Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
A closer look at the not quite blooming tree on Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Approaching Saint Hubert
Approaching Saint Hubert

Eight out of nine, alive. Does anyone know how much a tree costs? And what are the costs associated with transplanting one? If I remember correctly there were crews of three or four and some heavy machinery involved…

Looking back towards Saint Hubert
Looking back towards Saint Hubert

11/12 or almost 92%. Maybe the city actually knew what they were doing and I’m just complaining to hear myself and prove my existence.

Just before Berri
Just before Berri

10/12. 83%. Ooops.

Close up of not quite alive tree on Rachel just before Berri
Close up of not quite alive tree on Rachel just before Berri
Looking back along Rachel
Looking back along Rachel

11/13. 85%. Getting better (I think).

Looking back at two not so alive trees on Rachel after Berri
Looking back at two not so alive trees on Rachel after Berri

11/15. 73%. I’ll let you come up with your own comments…

Just before Rivard
Just before Rivard

11/17. 65%. Things aren’t looking good. The Google Street view was done in September and while you can clearly see the concrete and dirt, there ain’t no trees to be seen.

Artsy close up of a not alive tree on Rachel in between Berri and Rivard
Artsy close up of a not alive tree on Rachel in between Berri and Rivard
Rachel looking back toward Saint Denis
Rachel looking back toward Saint Denis

11/19. 58%. Hmmm…

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

11/20. 55%. You would have thought that after the fiasco that was the Place des Festivals, the city would have learned. But it doesn’t appear so.

Then if you notice there is no underbrush, grass, ground cover or anything green on the ground. Back in September when they redid the Google street view there was a lot of vegetation on the median. Now there is none. I wonder what exactly happened…

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

11/21. 52%. I wonder who is responsible for planting trees in the city of Montreal. My guess would be that the bureaucracy is dense enough that five different people can point multiple fingers at each other in order to deflect blame.

Yet another not live tree on Rachel
Yet another not live tree on Rachel

11/22. 50%. Your choice of the music from Jaws or the music from Psycho.

A not dead tree on Rachel corner Drolet
A not dead tree on Rachel corner Drolet

12/23. 52%

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

12/24. 50%. Your choice of the music from Jaws or the music from Psycho. Just louder.

Another not live tree on Rachel in between  Laval and Hotel de Ville
Another not live tree on Rachel in between Laval and Hotel de Ville

12/25. 48%. Words fail me.

Five not dead trees on Rachel
Five not dead trees on Rachel

17/30. 57%

Four not dead trees on Rachel
Four not dead trees on Rachel

21/34. 62%. I guess you could say that things are looking up.

Another not live tree on Rachel just before Saint Dominique
Another not live tree on Rachel just before Saint Dominique

21/35. 60%

Five not alive trees on Rachel in between Saint Laurent at Clark
Five not alive trees on Rachel in between Saint Laurent at Clark

21/40. 53%. This is where it gets kind of personal. As this is right in front of where I sit more mornings than not. The next time the city decides to plant trees in October, it probably would be better to do it in a place where there wasn’t free wifi or other people just hanging out.

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Artsy close up shots of not alive trees on Rachel.

A not dead tree at the corner of Clark and Rachel
A not dead tree at the corner of Clark and Rachel

22/41. 54%

Four non-dead trees on Rachel just before Saint Urbain
Four non-dead trees on Rachel just before Saint Urbain

26/45. 58%. The final tally. Not good, no matter how you look at it. Even if trees could be purchased and planted for $500/each, that’s almost $10,000 wasted by a borough that decided to save money by not clearing the snow on weekends. My guess is that we’d be talking more like $2,000 or more per tree, which means either they wasted almost $40,000 plus. Or the street is going to look like someplace in North Vietnam after the United States dumped a bunch of Agent Orange all over the place.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast: Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer

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In season two, episode 6 of the EZ Montreal Art Podcast, Eloi Desjardins and Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand discuss the recent exhibits at the Darling Foundry by Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer.

The EZ Montreal Podcast: Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer

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Milutin Gubash, In Union, 2013 © Guy L’Heureux
Milutin Gubash, In Union, 2013 © Guy L’Heureux
Damla Tamer,
Damla Tamer, “Due to its nature, it only moves forward.” © Guy L’Heureux

A clarification after recording; Annie Gauthier is not Vicky Chainey Gagnon. And if you have the answer to the trivia question email us at ezmontrealart@gmail.com and you can win a fabulous prize!

And if you would like to hear (or download) the interviews that Eloi did with Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer, click on the appropriate links:
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The EZ Montreal Art Podcast. Episode 13: Pierre Dorion; Barry Allikas; Sayeh Sarfaraz, Eve K. Tremblay, Mathieu Levesque, Guy Boutin

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In today’s episode Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand and Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts discuss the Pierre Dorion, Barry Allikas and Sayeh Sarfaraz exhibits in Griffintown at Galerie Rene Blouin, Galerie Division and Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran. Along with exhibitions by Eve K. Tremblay at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Mathieu Levesque at Galerie Trois Points and Guy Boutin at Espace Robert Poulin, all in the Belgo Building.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 13

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Specifically (and beyond the artists and galleries) The Arsenal, the impending Galerie Rene Blouin move, Shirin Neshat, the War in the Middle East, Bourgeois exhibits vs. Political exhibits, Attendance Figures, Ray Bradbury (who is not Canadian), Saul Bellow, Frank Gehry, Thinking too much, Talking with Hugues Charbonneau, the Agac Awards, The next EZ Montreal Art Podcast, Gordon Matta Clark, Roger Bellemare, Pierre Trahan, the Collection Majudia, Designing a meal, the fact that Eloi doesn’t like cartooning, then Zeke tries to inquire as to the root of why Eloi doesn’t like Guy Boutin’s work, the Comix and Bande Dessine scene, Fabric art, the Sympathy for the Devil exhibit at MACM, Free tickets and the Trivia Question (remember if you email ezmontrealart@gmail.com the answer, you can win an amazing prize!)

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 12, Episode 11, Episode 10, Episode 9, Episode 8, Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast. Episode 12: The Canadian Biennale 2012; The Builders/Les bâtisseurs

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In today’s episode Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand and Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts discuss The Canadian Biennale 2012; The Builders/Les bâtisseurs.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 12

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Specifically Marc Mayer, Edward Burtynsky, Michael Snow, broken art exhibited in museums, Qavavau Manumie, Headbutting, how the Canadian Bienniale 2012 is a colaboration between three museums, the annoying title, Dil Hildebrand, the layout and set up of the exhibit, the price of admission, Lynne Cohen, Max Dean, David Altmejd, the prices for Canadian art, Terence Gower, Chairs, Video Art, Headphones, HG Wells, Buckminster Fuller, Scripts, Parliament/Funkadelic, Aznan France, Zeke’s adolescence, Lynne Marsh, the waitress makes an interruption and Zeke goes to pay the bill, Marcel Dzama, David Hoffos, Wayne Baerwaldt (and it was Scott Burnham who walked out on the Montreal Bienniale), Young & Giroux, Jim Breukelman, Jon Pylypchuk, Brian Jungen, Michel De Broin, the surprising amount of artists in the show who have not exhibited in Montreal, Mark Soo, Benoît Aquin, 1972 Baseball Cards, Sarah Anne Johnson, Michael Merrill, Zeke’s nephew’s drawings, Winnie the Pooh, Marcel Duchamp, Bruce Nauman, Fluxus, Dada, The Clock, the Montreal Biennale, Manif d’art, Mois de la photo, Via Rail ticket sale, a suggestion for Marc Mayer, and the trivia question.

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 11, Episode 10, Episode 9, Episode 8, Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast. Episode 11

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In today’s episode Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand and Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts discuss the various exhibits that are not part of Brooklyn/Montreal or Montreal/Brooklyn.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 11

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Specifically Mathieu Beausejour‘s Le soleil invincible at Antoine Ertaskiran (where Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand points out that M. Beausejour pretty much copied Jürgen Mayer-Hermann). The multiple Serge Lemoyne exhibits at Lacerte, Yves Laroche and Loto Quebec. In passing, Zeke laments the prices of contemporary Quebecois art in comparison to other contemporary art.

Zeke and Eloi then talk about the Marcel Barbeau exhibit at Galerie Lounge TD in the Maison Rio Tinto Alcan above L’Astral, Winnie Truong and Max Wyse at Galerie Trois Points, Karen Trask and Andréanne Godin at Circa, then mention how they had a similar talk in French on the radio show Un Show de Mot’Arts. Then finally Zeke asks the trivia question of the week (email your answer to ezmontrealart@gmail.com, and you can win an amazing prize)!

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 10, Episode 9, Episode 8, Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast. Episode 10

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In today’s episode Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand and Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts discuss the various exhibits that are part of the Montreal/Brooklyn artistic encounter.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 10

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Specifically Julie Favreau, Patrick Martinez, Steven Brower, and Mathieu Beausejour at Galerie Clark. Videozones at the Galerie de l’UQAM – where Rosemarie Padovano’s Paloma, Michel de Broin’s Cut into the Dark, Sophie Bélair-Clement‘s Interlude 1974 are talked about and Elisa Kreisinger’s & Marc Faletti’s video

is compared to that of Kutiman‘s (which is not part of the exhibit).

The discussion continues about the exhibit at Articule re-marquer le territoire with Jérôme Havre, Michelle Lacombe, Emilie Roz, Patricia Smith and the show at Optica with Sylvie Cotton, Sebastein Cliche, Chelsea Knight and Mark Tribe.

We then wrap up the show with our first ever Monteal Art Trivia Question. Email us the response, and have a chance to win an amazing prize!

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 9, Episode 8, Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.