“>Screening Truth to Power: A Reader on Documentary Activism is a collection of essays and interviews related to the films and filmmakers of Cinema Politica (CP), and as such provides an excellent source of Canadian documentary work that pursues effecting positive social change. This non-profit doc-screening organization, which started in
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Art Threat: Joe Sacco depicts one dreadful day of The Great War
The latest book by comic artist Joe Sacco isn’t really a book at all. The Great War is a single 24-foot-long panoramic image that illustrates the first day of the battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. And while the style is certainly Sacco, The Great War differs from
Continue readingArt Threat: Fearless photography explores the Egyption women of the revolution
The woman in a red dress being blasted by pepper spray in Gezi Park, Istanbul, is not an anomaly. Women are on the front lines of Turkey’s protest movement and were also well represented in the series of upheavals that was dubbed the Arab Spring. But to gain a full
Continue readingArt Threat: Butch Dykes: A Herstory told in zines
At the recent Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, where another (better) world of incredibly inspiring, provocative and boundary-pushing art and media is on display each year, I stumbled upon Eloisa Aquino and her wares – a series of zines on awesome butch dykes, appropriately called The Life and Times of Butch Dykes.
Continue readingArt Threat: Weiwei-isms: the Coles Notes of an infamous Chinese dissident
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake shook through Wenchuan County in Sichuan province of the People’s Republic of China on May 12, 2008. Official figures listed 69,197 dead, including 5,335 children, mostly killed as a result of shoddy school construction — a horrible tragedy, particularly due to China’s one-child policy, that caught
Continue readingArt 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: The Human Library lends people and renews understanding
Are you curious what goes on in the mind of a queer Islamaphobe? Or perhaps you’d rather pick the brain of a polyamorous lover? No, I’m not suggesting you call up your cable provider and subscribe to TLC. Rather, you should step away from the screen and hit up 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: 1984 is blacked out in a graphic tribute to George Orwell
Penguin Books is releasing new editions of George Orwell’s best known books on January 21 to commemorate the inaugural “Orwell Day” — an annual event to celebrate the author and his influence on media and modern discourse. Designed by David Pearson, each book has a unique, typography-focused layout. It is
Continue readingArt Threat: Qatari poet jailed for life for poem celebrating Arab Spring
Qatar is home to the international news network Al Jazeera, including Al Jazeera English whose coverage of the middle-east and international news in general has garnered increasing respect from Western audiences. It is a cruel irony indeed that the government that funds such journalistic integrity also restricts freedom of speech in such a violent and reactionary manner.
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: Growing up in the muck-stream of America – The poetics of defiance in Rodney DeCroo’s "Allegheny, BC"
“Factories By the River” by Aaron Henry Gorson, Pittsburgh, PA “Allegheny, BC” is Rodney DeCroo’s first published book of poetry. It follows a body of musical work that has received international acclaim. His albums—there have been six so far—have earned considerable respect from reviewers on several continents for the power
Continue readingArt Threat: Everyone Needs Their Heart – Vancouver’s Fugitives sing against Bill C-31
Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod aren’t known for writing music with a political slant. When he’s not writing gorgeous western-tinged melodic songs, Adrian joins Brendan in the Vancouver band, The Fugitives, a four-piece composed of musicians who double as slam poets, writers, actors and hilarious accordion players (ok, there’s only
Continue readingThings Are Good: Google to Catalog Languages
The Endangered Languages Project is a new initiative run by Google to catalog languages that are threatened because of globalization. As nice as it is that the people on the planet are finding more languages in common, we still need to encourage people to embrace languages that aren’t as popular.
Continue readingArt Threat: 7th Berlin Binennale highlights political art – Curator Artus Zmijewski creates exhibition of activist art
When you go to the website for Berlin’s 7th Binennale, you encounter a stream of changing photographs from occupy and protest movements from around the world — Venezia, Toronto, Florence, Malacky, Athens and on and on. It is emblematic of curator Artur Zmijewski’s approach the largest art exhibition in Germany,
Continue readingArt Threat: Storytelling in post-Mubarak Egypt – Al Jazeera short-doc on performance artist Abeer Soliman
Al Jazeera’s Artscape presents a wonderful short documentary on Abeer Soliman, an Egyptian storyteller and performance artist whose work changed after the uprising.
Continue readingArt Threat: News Remix: Mar 23 – April1, 2012 – A bricolage of (some of) last weeks news stories
Nairobi graffiti by artists Uhuru B, Swift, Smokilah and Bankslave Kenyan graffiti artists are painting the walls of Nairobi with reminders of government corruption. Executions are up in the Middle East – in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Yemen – as governments there continue their efforts to quell political turmoil.
Continue readingArt Threat: News Remix: March 15-22, 2012 – Bricolage of (some of) last week’s headlines
This is the first in a new (ir)regular installment summing up last week’s news headlines using a ‘remix’ style — a quirky restless glance into the wreckless feckless immediate past. (Inspired by Harpers Magazine’s ‘Scientific Summary’.) Aerial photo of tsunami debris from Japan US peacekeeping forces joined with Congolese army troops
Continue readingArt Threat: Advocating for a diversity of tactics – Journal of Aesthetics and Protest #8 now available in print
This chart shows how the editors ‘understand how each writer's article functionalizes distrust/trust of institutionality in relationship to how much mediation they understand is useful in reflecting on the complexity of culture.’ The eighth issue of the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest has just been released in print. While the
Continue readingArt Threat: Artists invited to join Occupy Arts Committee – 3rd gathering in Montreal set for March 17
Bryant Park, Manhattan. Photo by Eric Walton Montreal artists are invited to join the growing collaboration of the Occupy Arts Committee, a gathering of artists from all disciplines who want to support Occupy Montreal with creative practice. According to organizers, this meeting will be a creation workshop to start imagining,
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