A Word of Art in Cape Town


intense sunset over arizona

I’ve just arrived in Cape Town, South Africa for a month-long arts residency at A Word of Art in the Woodstock region.  After a nearly two day journey through six airports, walking out of the airport to 34 Celsius sunny weather was a shock to the system.  I had packed my suitcase with a fresh assortment of summer clothes, but unfortunately it was lost along the way – fingers crossed that it arrives within a couple of days.  The one bonus to being in such a climate is that you don’t need to wear much.  Emphasis on clothing that is cool and doesn’t show sweat.  You wake up in sweat.  You shower and two minutes later you’re sweaty again.  Get used to it.


straight outta the airport, on top of lion’s head

After a nice long sleep (thank you, melatonin), we started our first day having avoided serious jet-lag and set about canvassing the area around the residency checking out walls to paint, previous artists’ work, and walking along main street browsing cheap clothes and footwear.


look yonder to table mountain

Last night we had the house meet with all the residents (there are currently six of us here), everyone introduced themselves with where they’re from and what they are and hope to be working on while in Cape Town.  Warnings that things happen a lot slower here, due to both the head and the laid-back lifestyle – the only rushing I’ve seen since my arrival has been on behalf of vehicles flying past.


artists’ show and tell

So far the trip has been amazing and there’s no shortage of inspiration.  I have a few ideas of some of the work I’d like to produce while here but over the following week I will be scouting materials to weave with, taking in the landscape (and, ahem…beaches), meeting folks about town and allowing the nature of this place to dictate what direction I take.  Thumbs way up for a beautiful first day.

Vancouver Biennale: So, No Ado About Spelling?

Either in spite of or due to my wholehearted pursuit and support of artistic initiatives, I found this installation by Toni Latour at the Brighouse Skytrain Station in Richmond personally insulting to my integrity as an artist and a writer, as well as a member of the community taking it in on an introspective level:

Did you spot it?

You reap what you sew.

Maybe she means, you rip what you sew, as in, you did a bad job lining up the pattern markers and had to start over.  Drat, take better care next time.  Quite literally, you can’t argue with this sentence in that if you are skilled in making clothes, you enjoy the benefits of your deft hand with fashionable new clothes every weekend.

But I’m pretty sure the idiom here should be “You reap what you sow,” as in, you will harvest the benefits of the seeds which you plant.

I thought of potential justifications: perhaps this was an angle, artist subbing homophonous words within the cliches, thereby putting a new spin on these age-old adages.  But this was the sole error in the piece, so that theory was out.  I consider how many stages and eyes this work must have passed through, and yet no one caught the mistake.  How is this possible?

Toni Latour is a long-time artist who developed this piece, Homage to Parenthood, which reflects 100 popular cultural sayings parents often use to teach their children, as part of the Vancouver Biennale, whose mandate is to install and celebrate public art of many forms within community spaces and encourage discussion and education around those works.

…the artist edited and ordered the sayings in a poetic fashion, considering literary flow and sometimes considering narrative connection between each line.  Once her list was complete, Latour entered the 100 lines of text into Photoshop and hand selected each colour to replicate the colour spectrum of a rainbow.

-Vancouver Biennale

I once worked as a production and development assistant in film; part of my job was to read script submissions, write coverage (basically ‘grade’ them in a one page summary), and pass them on to my superiors.  Nothing less than an impeccable review from me would reach their eyes.  And any time I received a script with grammar, spelling, or other lazy errors it went immediately in my trash can.  This is your livelihood, your dream, your passion.  Take the time for a g-damn edit, people.  Anything less than that is an absolute insult to the people who do.

The 2009-2011 Biennale comes to a close this week, after which wealthy art enthusiasts and investors can bid on any of the pieces within the catalogue.  Monies collected from this auction will go towards funding the next Biennale – which is unarguably an integral part of our culture and community.  I just hope more attentive eyes examine the work they are showcasing next time around.

Tame Impala: 14 Going on 40

horrible mobile photo by: me

It’s really hard to diss a band that’s got the psychedelic vibe of Pink Floyd, the riff skills of Led Zep, and the respectful reference to more modern bands that have flourished from the same seeds of reference over the decades.  Yet Tame Impala, much adored psych rockers from Australia who received a lot of hype for their first album, Innerspeaker, left me with a case of the yawns tonight at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver.

Don’t get me wrong, they did everything right.  Too right.  Sounded great, close enough to the album but with an edge of in-the-moment, garage-inspired jamming.  Didn’t detract too far from the record, but enough live improv to earn respect from the headbangers.  Songs perfectly streamlined and without boundary effectively prevented them from speaking outside of lyric for the first hour of the show.  Looking so much like 14 year old garage band stoners that had been around the block enough times to pass for their 30’s or so that I had to blink my eyes a number of times to assure myself that I was seeing them correctly.  Time warped teenagers. Either they’re young enough to be shy, or old enough to not give a fuck about audience rapport; that I still couldn’t answer you.

Right as I realized an actual word hadn’t been spoken this entire time and steam was about to come pouring out of my ears, Kevin Parker uttered a “thank you.”  I almost keeled over in shock.  Words, conveyed – what a concept.  Went further to say that they don’t do encores, so when they play their last song, that’ll be it.  That I can’t argue with…I would certainly do the same if I ever got a gig as, say, a percussionist or something in a band (not that I’m capable, or interested in that at all or anything), and had the austere authority of a lead vocalist slash guitarist to make such calls.

But at the end of a day, this is live music.  It’s a performance.  Played out by members of a band who are entitled, nay, obligated, to play out their part of the melodrama, drive the point of their lyrics home through action and raw emotion played out night after night without hesitation.  Flail about, be drunk and disorderly if that’s what it takes.  Remember, you’re artists.

Anything less is an utter bore, barely worth comparison to my speakers at home when they’re turned up to 11.  At least here I can supply the emotion.

Guilt & Co. presents: Gene Doe at Brick and Mortar

Guilt & Co. began hosting a weekly fashion event called Brick + Mortar towards the end of 2010, and this week is one show you will not want to miss.  Gene Doe is an amazing little band of folks who produce fashion-related media – including photography, video and whatever creative installations lie between. Have a look at their tumblr blog to get a sense of what inspires them.

gene doe: the new space

This weekly celebration of local designers has proven to be a popular night over the past months.  I previously did a larry. show with ION Magazine just before Christmas which benefited the Covenant House in Vancouver; last Sunday was Kim Cathers and her kdon line (coverage of this to follow), and there have been plenty of talented designers in between.

As far as I know this is the first event in which a media collective, rather than a designer or specific label, is staging an event in the space.  The invite for the show explains: “We’ve titled this event, “The New Space” in honor of what we see as a new creative development in Vancouver’s fashion community,” and the organizers are hoping this event will both celebrate and propel “Vancouver on the global map.”

No specific words on what exactly Gene Doe will be doing for the event, but I’m certain it will be worth attending so don’t miss out.  Starts at 7pm beneath Chill Winston in Gastown.

Vancouver is Awesome Book Club: The Beggar’s Garden

I love my friends dearly, but we can’t keep our book club going to save our lives. Even when we do finally settle on one book, which of course we argue about relentlessly before finally drawing straws or resorting to RPS…once we get together for our meeting it’s all life and laughs and copious amounts of food and wine, and not a whole lot of nitty gritty on the actual book.

Enter Vancouver is Awesome and their awesome book club, which profiles publications from local writers with a meeting every few weeks or so, often with the author present to participate in the discussion. My inaugural VIA book club session will be tomorrow night, where we’ll delve into Michael Christie’s The Beggar’s Garden, a compilation of 9 short stories relating in some small or significant way to the Downtown Eastside. I live in the DTES, I run my business and my life out of this neck of the woods, so this book certainly had appeal on that level.  Plus I love the cover, and the author is cute, and his success makes me think if I just sat down and committed to write a book one day this kind of genius will just spill right out of me.


absorb all the juicy details: click to enlarge

Even if you haven’t yet picked up this book, I’d advise that you attend tomorrow night and join the VIA book club for the next round of reading.

See you there!

Monday February 28, 7-9pm, Waldorf Hotel

larry. lobird road gallery reception

The larry. show on Saturday was absolutely amazing – great crowd came out, the music and video and photographs were stellar thanks to everyone involved who worked so hard to put it together.  Lindsaysdiet.com came by and took some beautiful photos:

larry. by terri potratz: lobird road collection 2010/2011

terri potratz, arranging

shallom johnson, trevor ellestad, and victoria potter of demicouture.ca

larry. designs

terri potratz and kim cathers of kdon designs

grace-gallery assistant jennifer lauren campbell, urszula petrykowska of ZULA, vanessa bourget modeling the ‘larry. meets ZULA’ lillooet bodypiece

cailyn murray and hot hot heat’s steve bays – beautiful couple soon to be married

grace-gallery director and larry. rep rachel zottenberg with terri potratz

I had an absolutely FABULOUS time, special thanks again to Nuba Lebanese Cuisine, Steamwhistle beer, Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, and of course Lindsay who took all these photos.  See them all here at lindsaysdiet.com.

Looking forward to the next show..




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