I’ll be moderating an important panel discussion tomorrow evening on art and activism featuring artist/activists Coco Riot, Freda Guttman, Malcolm Guy, and Vincent Tinguely. After the panel presentations, we’ll open up the event to a general discussion amongst all participants, to hopefully start generating some ideas for action.

As the conservative agenda increases pressures upon artists and activists economically, politically, and ideologically, I feel it is becoming imperative that we organise together in resistance to it. I’d like to think of this event as a small first step in this direction (and as a continuation of the opening up of critical cultural space that we, as Howl! Arts, are trying to facilitate). The positive response we’ve received since announcing the event is very encouraging, and we’re sure this is just the beginning, the first event of many to come.

More info and RSVP on the Facebook event page.

Poster designed by Nazik of Howl! Arts

The above photograph, taken just prior to Eric Drooker’s performance at the mighty Sala Rossa, does a pretty good job of summarising my feelings on the year that’s been, and my outlook for the one to come. The anticipation of an empty stage, the co-mingling of art, music and politics, and that damn nagging fear that people won’t show up, no matter how much work you put into something. In the end, that night was a beautiful night, but also a striking reminder of how much work still needs to be done.

2011 was an eventful, tumultuous year, personally, professionally, and obviously in the world all around us, filled with equal parts inspiration and tragedy. It was a year of transition for me, from full-time work to self-employment, from the world of corporate advertising and design to a renewed commitment to art and activism, from a long, grey heartbreak to finally feeling good about myself again, from Montréal to Europe (Berlin, how I miss you…) and back again.

Over the course of the year, I completed many design projects of which I am genuinely proud (e.g. see Cinema Politica, Comme des machines, Vox Versus, Bloom, and Cosmodome). With the Howl! Arts Collective, I helped to bring challenging new music to the community, putting on a series of concerts that I hope will become an integral part of the fabric of the independent arts scene here in Montreal for years to come.

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Hey Montréal, HUGE week coming up in the indy culture scene here, and I’m really happy to be a part of several events. First up, Howl IV is on Thursday night featuring the beautiful sounds of cellist Julia Kent. The Howl Arts Collective has been working hard over the last year to bring cutting-edge, politically-rooted music to your ears, and this night will close off our concert series for 2011 with an all-woman cast of performers, and a short presentation from the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy.

Expozine madness 2009! Photo by Camille McCouat

The main event this weekend is Expozine, of course. Celebrating 10 years running, this year’s event will lead us into the next exciting decade of indy publishing here in Montreal. It kicks off with a launch event at Drawn & Quarterly on Friday, featuring a discussion with the co-founders of Expozine, moderated by yours truly. In parallel, we’ll be launching the 12th issue of Four Minutes to Midnight, a special issue focusing on 10 years of Expozine and independent culture in Montreal.

Expozine itself is shaping up to be really great this year, with almost 300 exhibitors signed up, a reading series by the Greasy Goose Salon, a presentation on women silkscreeners organised by Galerie La Centrale, and an anniversary party at Casa del Popolo on Saturday night. Finally, an official event so we can all get drunk together with fellow zinesters!

And an important reminder to past Expozine participants, the latest issue of FMTM might very well feature some of your work! We’ve tried to contact you all, but you know how it goes sometimes… We’ll have more info about the issue on this website soon, but please swing by our table this weekend and browse through a copy of the issue, if you see your work, the copy is yours to keep! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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Rattle e.11

I’m very happy to announce that Capitalism Kills Love has been featured in the latest e-issue of Rattle Magazine (issue e.11). Since 1996, Rattle has established itself as a key site in print and online for the promotion of contemporary poetry and the development of an active community of poets. Read more about the magazine here.

The project is featured in Dan Waber‘s Eye Contact section where he gives a very insightful review of the series and its context as a piece of visual poetry. I’m honoured to have the work read in this light, and given the timing, as the “occupy” movement(s) spread across North America, I hope more and more people take up the challenge that inspired me to create the work. Capitalism Kills Love and love kills capitalism…

Download Rattle e.11 here

And a loud shout-out to Aram Tanis who provided the original photography for the project!

We’re finally able to announce the upcoming issue of Four Minutes to Midnight (issue 12). In collaboration with Archive Montreal, we’ve decided to dedicate the issue to Expozine, Montreal’s annual small press, comics, and zine fair. This year Expozine celebrates it’s tenth anniversary! The festival has played such a crucial role in the development of Four Minutes; we’ve made many friends and allies and have been inspired and encouraged by so many of the participants over the years, and we wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge this.

The issue will consist of several articles/interviews and an extended composition of images and texts selected from zines submitted to the Expozine archive over the years. We’ll have a list up soon of our final selections, and if you happen to be on it (you should have received a permissions email), you’ll receive a free copy of the issue at Expozine. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to put this issue together, and look forward to sharing it with everyone in less than 2 months time!

The cold-blooded execution of Troy Davis last night in Georgia greatly upset me, as I’m sure it did hundreds of thousands of people around the world. It’s a saddening and enraging reminder of the injustices perpetrated in order to maintain a system of privileged power and the inherent racism of the criminal justice system in the US.

In collaboration with the Howl Arts Collective, I quickly designed this poster in solidarity with his struggle, also drawing the link between Davis’ execution and Stephen Harper’s position on capital punishment, a clear warning sign of the growing violence of the policies of this Conservative majority.

Download the poster in English and French, and please spread widely. A great miscarriage of justice was done yesterday in Georgia. Let us redouble our efforts for a more just world, where the death penalty no longer exists and these decisions might be based on at least a shred of humanity instead of blind faith in a corrupt system.

No justice. No peace.

Read more on the Howl Arts website.

As part of the global initiative 100 Thousand Poets for Change, I’ll be doing a short reading for the Montreal event at Hurley’s pub this Saturday afternoon. From the 100TPC website:

The first order of change is for poets, writers, artists, anybody, to actually get together to create and perform, educate and demonstrate, simultaneously, with other communities around the world. This will change how we see our local community and the global community. We have all become incredibly alienated in recent years. We hardly know our neighbors down the street let alone our creative allies who live and share our concerns in other countries. We need to feel this kind of global solidarity.

I’m very excited to be participating in this important event, where I’ll be reading an excerpt from the latest fugue, which in itself brought together the words of many disparate writers from across the world. Hope to see you there.

From the epigraph ‘stolen’ from John Berger:

Every form of contestation against this tyranny is comprehensible. Dialogue with it is impossible. For us to live and die properly, things have to be named properly. Let us reclaim our words.

This is written in the night. In war the dark is on nobody’s side; in love the dark confirms that we are together.

Facebook event here >>

Link preview article here >>

Hyperreality by Kim Tsui

It’s been exactly a year since I left the “comforts” of my job at Cossette to give this freelance thing a try, and I’m very happy to announce that LOKi design now consists of a team of two. The talented Kim Tsui joins the studio as our first ever design intern!

Kim graduated with honours from the York/Sheridan design program in Toronto, and has cut her teeth here in Montreal working with Drawn and Quarterly, Palimpsest Magazine and Pop Montreal. I feel very lucky to have her on board to help out with our current and future projects and believe that she’ll contribute greatly to the quality of the studio’s output.

Welcome Kim!