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Sad Mag is thrilled that Project Space will be presenting the second annual Vancouver Art/Book Fair! A two-day festival of artists’ publishing, the VA/BF features nearly one hundred local, national and international publishers of books, magazines, zines, printed ephemera and digital or other experimental forms of publication, as well as on-site programs, performances and installations!
Free and open to the public, VA/BF is the only international art book fair in Canada and one of only two on the West Coast.
Launching with a Reception at Project Space at 8pm on Friday, October 4, VA/BF will take place from 12pm to 5pm on October 5 and 6 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Heels can help you reach high shelves AND feel empowered.
What is happiness? Have you ever have an accidental orgasm in the shoe department? These questions are asked in the one-woman play, My High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos, by creator and performer Katharine McLeod. During this play, you’re taken on a journey into an optimistic woman’s mind. This comedy discusses the relationship between high-heels and life in a way you’ve never thought of before—suggesting shoes can create happiness, euphoric experiences, and best of all, can be a great cleaning tool.
The moment I walked into the auditorium, I noticed a sleek blonde woman sitting on a bar stool, doing her makeup, dressed in a tight, little black dress and a pair of black pumps. Every couple of moments, she glanced at the audience with a sly smile on her face. At that moment, I know it wasn’t going to be an ordinary play.
This beautiful young woman says exactly what’s on her mind, but out loud. She’s easy to relate to and honest, capturing every woman’s heart (and innermost thoughts). Throughout the piece, I realized her rationale between shoes and life actually makes sense. High-heeled shoes can be a physical manifestation of empowerment and sexiness, which can trickle down to a sense of happiness. She uses an example of walking in front of a construction site every morning, to feel desirable, gaining confidence after every strut.
She also mentions that high-heels are great for cleaning those hard to reach shelves.
My favorite part of the play was when the bubbly McLeod decides to take off her heels, and in doing so, loses all self-esteem and confidence. She goes into deep thoughts about life that women of all ages can relate to. She makes you think of the negative things in your life and however bad they are, things could always be worse. You could have urine spilt on you instead of water while trying to strut your stuff in front of construction men.
Displaying both vulnerability and confidence, McLeod shines in this solo play; her acting was flawless. The play was well written, and a great comedic confessional into a woman’s mind.
More information about this play and other works by McLeod can be found on her website.
$9 with all proceeds (before 10:30pm) going towards printing the FANTASY issue. Buy a subscription to Sad Mag before Oct 5th and get 2 free tix to the event!
**WANNA COMPETE? Email creative@sadmag.ca to reserve your song!!
Top Less: a sneak peek at our "Glamour" shoot // Photo credit Brandon Gaukel
Sad Mag loves Top Less. Getting to know the seven-piece Vancouver-based band for our “Glamour” issue (#11), for which they graced the cover in sparkle-tie dye glory, it’s been a joy watching them grow and evolve ever since. Herewith, a little insight and a little excitement from Mike Shindler, Top Less’s vocalist and guitarist. NEW ABLUM! NEW SHOWS!
Sad Mag: Who are you?
Mike Shindler: Mike from Top Less
SM: How did you get involved in the music scene in Vancouver?
MS: I started making hot beats with my friend Donne (Top Less). Also hanging out with some of the Vancouver music crowd through our friends Hey Ocean. They intro’d us to Shad and Dan and some other sweet folks.
SM: What was the first musical performance that you felt proud of?
MS: When we opened for Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head at Media Club. It was such a sweaty little party but it was incredibly fun. We ended up becoming really good friends with that NPSH after this gig and remain really close. They’re amazing people.
SM: What do you think the music scene in Vancouver is lacking?
MS: Venues!!! We had one perfect venue, Richards, and then it was torn down for condos. We need more venues. More small venues for small acts to play in, more of a focus on indie music, art music, and less liquor laws. Everything will be alright Vancouver if we relax some of these anti party laws.
SM: Favourite Vancouver musicians?
MS: Shad, Hannah Epperson, Dave Vertesi, We are the City, Hey Ocean, Humans
SM: Favourite musical genre?
MS: Dancey Pop right now.
SM: Best Vancouver venue/night for seeing said genre?
MS: I guess Biltmore always has pretty good music but it’s slim pickings out there for venues in this city. Celebrities is great.
SM: Where are you as you answer these questions?
MS: In my office—fully clothed.
SM: Last album you listened to?
MS: I’m super behind the times but the last album I listened to on my phone was Penguin Prison… the last album I listened to on vinyl was Black Star.
Angela Fama is all about sharing with sincerity. The Vancouver-based artist, who specializes in photography, is interested in breaking down the walls of ego between people. Drawing attention to the relationship between our “online image” and our honest image, Fama’s work explores vulnerability as a strength.
… she even wants you to read her preteen poetry. Her current in-the-works project, Wabisabi Butterfly, is a book of unedited journals from her youth. Stay tuned for her cross-America RV tour / DIY book launch next fall, where she will promote her bold new project. I met with the gutsy and multi-talented artist at Coco Et Olive on Main to talk photography, being in the moment, and feeling it in your toes.
Sad Mag: Who are you?
Angela Fama: I am Angela Fama. Artist. Photographer. Life Enthusiast.
SM: How are you?
AF: Good! I think the universal answer for how are you used to be used to be “really tired,” now its “really busy.” I’m really busy, but I’m satisfied.
SM: We have similar tattoos! What does yours mean?
AF: It means Wabisabi. Wabisabi is, for example, artwork that becomes more valuable when it becomes imperfect. Like clay pots, if one of them one cracks in the kiln, it takes a new form and becomes something entirely new. We always aim for perfection, but that’s not what life is all about. I like the imperfect circle on my arm as a reminder that. Wabisabi is also the name of the book I’m working on.
SM: Are you a writer?
AF: I never actually considered that I’m a writer. Wabisabi Butterfly is straight up, transcribed journals from age 15 to the present. Sharing is the intention of the book. I just want to puke out what’s truthful and whoever can relate, relates. It’s about sharing, not selfishness.
SM: Are you publishing it yourself?
AF: I’m not sure if I’m publishing it myself. It includes some pretty touchy subject matter, so I might go with an American publisher. I’ve had some interest [from publishers] but I want to complete the transcribing before I make any concrete decisions on the exact route—I only want for it to be the true transcribed journals, no changing or editing. My truth, straight up.
SM: Bad teenage poetry and everything?
AF: There’s a lot of really bad poetry. I had to stop at 18—I was like, I can’t read anymore of this. But I reached a point where I’m starting to say things like “maybe it’s better to speak clearly?” And it’s true—people get lost behind really complicated language. I started to be like, I don’t even understand this—how many different ways can you try to say one thing?
In Elizabeth Gilbert’s Ted Talk she references one female poet, Ruth Stone, who explains how a poem “passes through her.” Creativity doesn’t come from any one person. You’re collaborating with energy. It’s not about me gaining, it’s just about giving.
SM: Will there be a book tour?
AF:Next fall I’m going in an RV by myself across America. A few friends will join me. I have different spots to hit on the way for book talks in little places, so hopefully it’ll be a book launch. Maybe I’ll start a blog. I have 23 more journals to transcribe yet though.
SM: Will the book include your photos?
AF: I’m not sure yet, I’m pretty sure it will.
SM: Tell me about MIRRORFACE, your portrait series.
MIRRORFACEwas my portrait project. After MIRRORFACE is Profileface. MIRRORFACE was more about the internal ego. When people showed up [to my photobooth] I didn’t tell them what we’d be doing. They were alone in the room when they gave their expression to the camera. There are two pictures—one picture that looks like passport, I just said here’s a mirror, I’m going to play your music, get ready to go, just like a daily thing where you’re getting dressed. Everyone gave a similar look. It’s very different from the look people give when they know they’re being seen. And then I asked them to give the face that was pure ego—their online image. I asked them to create that image.
Fama with MIRRORFACE portraits
SM: Tell me about your project with The Acorn and Capture Photography Festival for Car Free Day.
I set up a pop-up studio in the vintage Boler on the street at Car Free Day and I photographed over 90 people that day. They all signed the release, left their shoes at the door, and they came into the bowler. It was so peaceful inside. We had a bit of a discussion, then I asked them “how are you?” and took their photo.
When people are walking down the street, their eyes are open but they may as well be closed. They don’t really see anything. Car Free Day was crazy because there was so much energy on the street. I wanted to try to break down the walls. I asked people to be with me in that space, and I just asked them “how are you?” Some of them probably had their answer prepared, but I wanted them to look inside themselves and give me the real answer. I got as many responses as there were people. Some people couldn’t break down that ego, but every person made it one step further than they set out to, that day. I could tell everyone was really present and wanting to shift. It was actually taxing for me because if I wasn’t present, it would have fallen apart. It was the first project in my life where I felt like I used every one of my skills.
[The project is] a direct conversation with Foncie Pulice, who did street photography in Vancouver in the 60s and 70s. He would photograph people walking down the street—70s cameras were crazy—he would draw everyone’s attention. Pulice photographed people doing pure ego face.
SM:You were in a car accident a few years ago.How did your car accident affect your outlook on life?
It was terrifying and enlightening. Now, I feel like I’ve been given this gift—I found something inside of me that was a lot happier than what I thought. I found this white light in me. After daily life started weighing on me again, I decided to find that place again; it is about being true to yourself at the heart.
The only way to be true to yourself is to put yourself first—it sounds so selfish, but there’s no need to try and force anything—life doesn’t need to be hard. Do what you want to do, because you’re going to die, really soon—this is it for this round! Death helped me learn that ego was keeping me from myself. The more ego I had, the less life I had. Humbleness and confidence is much more helpful without something you get—vulnerability is the greatest strength you can have.
SM: What kind of commercial work did you do before you started focusing on your art?
AF: Mostly for magazines. I work for magazines still, I like taking portraits, doing fashion when it’s fun. I worked for commercial ad agencies, where my job would have been clicking the shutter, and I just learned that’s not from me. I come from a punk rock background. I don’t shoot 14 year old girls, I get uncomfortable with that. I don’t shoot things that I want the world to have any more of—being part of my own demon isn’t something I wanted to do. I work for local designers. I don’t care about the lack of money. Art is my first and foremost. Drawing is my hidden talent. It makes me happy.
I grew up on welfare, I didn’t know you could make a living with art. Then I was like photography, cool, it’s easy! I can do that, I can talk to people! I thought I had to be a commercial photographer to succeed and I did pretty well. Then I had the car accident, and it sort of didn’t feel quite right anymore. It took a few years to fully understand that just because I can doesn’t mean I should.
SM: Any advice for aspiring photographers?
AF: If you can, spend a lot of time asking yourself why you’re doing it, and make sure the answer is for yourself. If there’s no one else doing what you’re doing, that means you’re probably doing the right thing. If it’s scary, go do it. The more scary it is, the more fucking right it is. Trust your instinct.
SM: What are your favourite strategies for getting present?
AF: I meditate. I focus on breathing. It’s more like paying attention to senses. For example, the way my feet feel right now, that voice beside us, feeling the air of that fan on my back right now. A friend of mine told me that if you think about two of your senses at the same time, you knock yourself back into the present when you’re too in your head.
SM: You’ve referenced feet a couple times. What’s with you and feet?
AF: So many people live in their heads—but you’ve got this crazy body! But how often do you touch your toes? Living in your head and getting caught in your thoughts has nothing to do with what you’re actually doing. Really, sweeping the floor is as awesome as having an awesome dinner or having sex. We label feelings shitty or good. Erase the “good” and the “bad.” It’s only our thoughts that make them that way.
I’m starting to sound cheesy, but this is what I think. When you clear out all our ideas, you feel really awesome. George Harrison says it’s like getting high. I think white light is inside all of us.
Check out Angela’s project, How are you? at the Capture Photography Festival, The Museum of Vancouver, (1100 Chestnut St.) opening Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Sara French received her Masters of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2011 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and Art History at the University of Windsor.
She is a multidisciplinary artist who works in drawing, performance art, sculpture and video. Since graduating, Sara has participated in a variety of group exhibitions throughout Vancouver including, 221a, Gam Gallery and the Lion’s Den. Most recently she exhibited Bills, a solo show in Winnipeg at gallery672 Sargent that displayed a collection of embroideries.
Currently Sara is working with the artist collective Department of Unusual Certainties, out of Toronto, on an upcoming exhibition for fall 2013.
In 2014 she will engage in a one-year artist in residence for Harcourt House artist run centre.
Across time and space (i.e. the last two weeks), I spoke with the event organizer, local poet and writing professor, Jen Currin, about the literary community shared between Seattle and Vancouver. A woman of threes, Jen teaches at three institutions—Vancouver Community College, SFU and Kwantlen—and has authored three books of poetry: The Sleep of Four Cities, Hagiography, and The Inquisition Yours.
We confabulated with the lovely Renée Saklikar, another resident poet of Vancouver, whose upcoming publication fromNightwood Editions, children of air india, is a series of elegies taking up the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The book is part of Renée’s larger work, the life-long poem-chronicle thecanadaproject.
I asked Jen and Renée to ponder the links between people, language, cities, and countries by way of the ephemeral “thing” separating and bridging all of them: borders.
Sad Mag: Where are you originally from?
Jen Currin: Portland, Oregon.
Renée Saklikar: Well, that depends. New-West-Min-Is-Ter (pronunciation, circa 1977) is my British Columbia home-town. I arrived here via Saskatchewan and before that, from Quebec, Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia, New foundland and Labrador, and before that Poona / Pune, India where I was born.
SM: What do you experience when crossing the border?
JC: Annoyance. Depression at the “security” era in which we live. It’s gotten worse and worse since 9/11. Iris scans and fingerprinting for “non-citizens” of the U.S. and Canada. Depressing and ridiculous.
SM: When I say “border” what is the first image that comes to your mind? RS:Day into night. Grief into joy. Inclusion/Exclusion. Every movie ever made about the immigrant/exile experience, including, El Norte, Casablanca, Children of Men. Also, the Sound of Music.
SM: What’s your relationship to Seattle?
JC: It’s a city I know as a not-quite tourist; I visit my good friends there usually once or twice a year, and go down also to do poetry readings sometimes. Once a year I usually go to get a hug from the holy woman Amma when she does her U.S. tour. I love the coffee, the bookstores, and the green green green.
RS: Seattle is get-away and return. It is permission, for some strange reason required, to go micro-local. It is the Queen Ann district and almost every restaurant and shop in those two city blocks surrounding the faded glory of the Seattle Centre. Favourites include: Toulouse Petit for breakfast, and afternoons spent in the small second hand book store on Mercer. Home away from home in Seattle is the Inn at Queen Ann. [..] In this way, place is a comfy-known, all the edges of the city smoothed over.
SM: How does your particular space inflect your work?
RS:Particularity occurs as dimension: what is seen, not seen; what is at the margins, not the centre; what is un/spoken. What is slant, not straight on. What is un/authorized, un/official. Bargain room. Off-off Broadway. On the bus. Standing in a long queue, waiting.
SM: What has been a significant crossroad for you as a poet?
JC: It was important for me to cross borders—to move up here from the States. Soon after moving here in 2002, three poets and I started a women’s poetry collective; it grew to a collective of seven poets called vertigo west. We worked together for many years, workshopping, giving readings, publishing chapbooks. Two of us were from the U.S., one of us was from Turkey, three were from Ontario, one was from Quebec. I can’t imagine a better “poetic landing” than the one I received. Thank you Brook, Kim, Meliz, Colette, Emilie, and Helen.
SM: What kinds of borders do you cross within your own work?
RS:To cross might be to transgress: memorial undercut by counter / memorial. Official confronted with un/authorized. Subtext underscoring surface, context framing transition, from one kind of narrative to another, the journey as if to a different country. From present to the far past, which is entry into another dimension. From community remembrance as collective: staid, settled— to witness as transaction, ever-changing, present.
SM: For you, what do these cross border encounters do for the literary community?
JC: These borders were made up by colonizers and it’s hard to think of them as anything but arbitrary. That said, they are also very real and these nation-states determine so much of our lives. I am more interested in the Poetry Nation than the nation-state. Cross-border encounters strengthen the Poetry Nation. Poets need each other. We understand that what we do is important, even as late capitalism could give a fuck about us. Good. Let’s remain underground and quietly build our global network. Vancouver [poet] Rachel Rose runs an occasional cross-border reading series called “Cross Pollination,” and I love the idea of poets as bees pollinating the flowers of another region. Sharings of aesthetics, politics, forms…
SM: What happens when poets cross borders?
RS:Present time irradiated by border time. Mix n Match. Cross-stitch. Do-over. Hop-skip. Re-discover.
Sad Mag’s Fantasy Fiction Deadline has been extended!! You now have until August 30th at midnight to send in your fantastical fiction submissions. The winner will receive a $250 cash prize (that’s a lot of Magic cards) and their piece will appear in the upcoming issue of Sad Mag, FANTASY, out this fall.
Sara French received her Masters of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2011 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and Art History at the University of Windsor.
She is a multidisciplinary artist who works in drawing, performance art, sculpture and video. Since graduating, Sara has participated in a variety of group exhibitions throughout Vancouver including, 221a, Gam Gallery and the Lion’s Den. Most recently she exhibited Bills, a solo show in Winnipeg at gallery672 Sargent that displayed a collection of embroideries.
Currently Sara is working with the artist collective Department of Unusual Certainties, out of Toronto, on an upcoming exhibition for fall 2013.
In 2014 she will engage in a one-year artist in residence for Harcourt House artist run centre.
Last year’s Pick of the Fringe and this year’s Ovation Award for Outstanding Production, Small Theatre, is back! Sad Mag contributor Melanie Shim gets the inside scoop on what this year’s production is all about.
The cast, from L to R: Stephanie Davis, Lucas Blaney, Ranae Miller, Erik Gow, Cameron Dunster, Alex Gullason, Michelle Bardach and Caleb Di Pomponio
My first Archie-related memories involve visits to the dentist. My dentist is still low-tech and instead of a television, her office has an array of magazines and Archie comic books that you can peruse as you wait. But, I promise you that Riverview High: The Musical, which is based on those very same comic books, is like a palate cleanser to any uncomfortable memories of your dentist picking and prodding your teeth.
Riverview High employs the premise of a common Archie scenario – boy meets two girls, boy asks both girls out to prom, girls find out and demand that boy chooses between the two. Throw in a few song-and-dance numbers and you basically have a perfect Archie-inspired musical.
Returning to the Firehall Arts Centre for a two-and-a-half-week run in August, Riverview High is high-energy, nostalgia-driven and fun, fun, fun. Set in 1996, the familiar story centres around our protagonist, Alex, played by Erik Gow, who is stuck in a love triangle and must choose between girl-next-door Cathy (Alex Gullason) and sophisticated Erica (Ranae Miller). Seeking help with his high school dilemma, Alex enlists his girl-hating, hot-dog-loving best friend Parker (Cameron Dunster), who is wrapped up in his own girl problems since Esther (Michelle Bardach) just can’t take no for an answer. Alex needs to make a decision fast because the girls’ other suitors, Randy (Lucas Blaney) and Dexter (Caleb Di Pomponio) are vying for their affections too.
“When Angela [Wong, author of the musical’s book] and I first starting talking about writing a musical, we knew that we wanted to write something fun,” says Stewart Yu, composer, lyricist and music director. “The idea of taking familiar characters and putting a fresh twist on it really appealed to us, so we took inspiration from things we grew up with, like the Archie Comics, Saved By The Bell and California Dreams. In some sense, our show is in the vein of Avenue Q and Wicked—both of which play on familiar stories and surprise you with what they have done with the characters.”
Boasting the Pick of the Fringe in 2012 and six Ovation Awards in 2013 (including Outstanding Production, Small Theatre), Riverview Highpromises an hour and a half of smiles and laughter, choreographed dance sequences and original songs. While theRiverviewHigh gang will be putting on the same show, there are exciting changes to this production from its run last year during the Fringe Festival.
Yu explains, “Yes, there are definitely some new things happening this year. The Fringe run was an incredible learning experience for us. Riverview High was the first musical we had ever written, so we learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t during the Fringe run. Thankfully, the majority of the show was very strong—we knew we were on the right track with the extremely positive feedback about the show. There were just a couple of story arcs that needed fleshing out and some tweaking that we wanted to do. After working on the show again, we have a couple of script changes and new songs to share with you!”
Ranae Miller, Erik Gow and Alex Gullason
While Archie and the gang are sometimes considered flat and unchanging characters, the creators of Riverview High crafts real people in real situations and offers a new perspective on the Archie universe. This is why Yu thought Archie would be great source material for a musical. He says, “It’s a story about a clueless teenager who is forced to grow up, whether he’s ready for it or not. It’s a story about love, and whether or not you have the guts to follow your heart…I think the reason why Riverview High has held people’s attention is because we start off with these fairly one-dimensional archetypes and turn them into real characters that you can relate to.”
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Riverview High: The Musical is social! Check them out all over the interwebs at their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube
Sad Mag is thrilled that Project Space will be presenting the second annual Vancouver Art/Book Fair! A two-day festival of artists’ publishing, the VA/BF features nearly one hundred local, national and international publishers of books, magazines, zines, printed ephemera and digital or other experimental forms of publication, as well as on-site programs, performances and installations!
