Images Festival Day 9 & 10

Images Festival – Day 9

It’s Friday night. We have options. Should we go to El árbol de las fresas (The Strawberry Tree) or Sidewalk Stories. As it turns out, it’s the start of Barb’s birthday week (although Tracey is also sneaking a birthday in soon), so we end up at the Marcy Bar having a few cocktails…

Images Festival – Day 10, Closing Gala Yo La Tengo presents: Sounds of Science

Tracey POV: 2nd row seats. Started a little late. Tried to get some water – the line up went from the concession stand into the theatre. Sadly, the whole theme was water. I was going to get very thirsty.

Sherry POV: The three of us meet just before 7pm. We pick up our tickets at the will call and stand in line to get into the theatre. Tons of people here, and many in the RUSH line looking anxious about whether they will get in or not. No doubt, die hard Yo La Tengo fans are all about and the energy is ripe with anticipation.

Barb POV: LOTS of very serious musos out tonight to take in Yo La Tengo. Regretting not wearing my serious spectacles (Tracey fits right in). Could drink an ocean’s worth of water due to the previous night’s festivities. Read more

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Tracey in Art, Images Festival 2012 Leave a comment

Images Festival Day 8

Another beautiful day in TDot and another Images Festival event to look forward to. This time, I made my way over to the Al Green Theatre for a performance that was part of the festival’s Live Images program called I Eat Pickles At Your Funeral by Karen Cytter. (Disclaimer: Yes, I love pickles but I promise I won’t let this dietary bias cloud my review of this piece.)

This stage production is a first for the artist who is more well known for films, installations, performances, drawings and fiction. A cool primer on Karen Cytter can be found on the Goethe Institut’s blog, who are co-presenting this piece with Images. The production has been in the works for some time and was commissioned specifically for the 25th Images Festival, one of two major new international projects supported by Partners in Art. Read more

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Barb Roth in Art, Images Festival 2012 Leave a comment

Images Festival Day 6 & 7

Images Festival – Day 6

The Fortune Teller – Young Gallery (Opening reception)

Tracey POV – The restoration of a found arcade fortune teller’s hand and the process of how it was done. This is to go with the film of the restoration, but it was on headphones and I only heard a snippet. The hand looked lovely.

Sherry POV - Eerily beautiful. The hand is tiny and delicate. The photo was my favourite. I liked what I heard on the audio for the film, but only heard a bit.

A Letter To The Living - Jackman Hall

S.T.T.L - Elisabeth Smolarz

Tracey POV – A woman in a Laundromat talking about exactly what happens when someone dies from cancer. The dryer stops at the end of the story.

Sherry POV - I felt awkward and a bit pissed off, then I liked it. Doing laundry..what is the point…we all die, good thing mine is piled up in my room. I am glad I saw this film and I think it was a great way to start the programming. Read more

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Sherry in Art, Images Festival 2012 Leave a comment

Images Festival – Day 3

The Observers Jaqueline Goss 2011 Day 3 of the the Images Festival took me to Jackman Hall at the Art Gallery Of Ontario for a screening of The Observers by Jackie Goss. (Quick aside before I get into the film … Jackman Hall is a great screening venue, so spacious compared to a commercial movie theatre.)

The screening started out with a couple of trailers/intros, one of which was a welcome to the festival blurb by Jayson Musson assuming his persona of Hennessy Youngman. Youngman is known for his series of Art Thoughtz videos, in which he takes on the role of art/cultural critic offering advice for aspiring artists to succeed in the art world. I thought this was a good choice and shows the playful side of the festival’s programmers. And now on to the main event …

The Observers is a beautifully shot, introspective and meditative piece. The film is set on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire at a weather station that has been in existence since the 1930s. Read more

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Barb Roth in Art, Images Festival 2012 Leave a comment

Images Festival – Day 2

For Day 2 of the festival, I headed down to the galleries on Ossington which were part of the Off Screen Launch of the 25th Images Festival. This was my first time attending the festival so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I needn’t have worried though, all the galleries were easily accessible and respectful of how you chose to appreciate the exhibits. It was kind of like a “Hey, we’re here and we’re open, if you’d like to come in and hang out for a while cool … if you’d like to enjoy the space all night, that’s cool too.”

Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre (9 Ossington Avenue)

I started off my tour here with the exhibit Microtonal Array by musicians and visual artists Tristan Perich and Sarah Rara. The first thing I noticed when I entered the space was the hum of the first installation, Read more

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Barb Roth in Art, Images Festival 2012 Leave a comment

Images Festival – Day 1

It’s the 25^th anniversary of Images Festival which ‘is the largest North American festival for experimental and independent movie image culture’. For the next ten days there are three ways you can experience the festival: ON SCREEN – film and video screenings, LIVE IMAGES – live performances or OFF SCREEN – media art installations. Although some of the art shows have opened and there have been a few pre-festival screenings, this evening (Thursday, April 12/12) is the official launch of the festival.

The opening Gala film The Nine Muses by John Akomfrah is playing at the Royal Cinema. Due to prior commitments I am unable to make the screening as I am writing an exam, darn school, who thought it was a wise idea to take some night courses? The stills of the film look stunning and I am sorry I wasn’t able to attend, plus they had a Q&A with the filmmaker.

I am, however, able to attend the opening party. So here I walk along Spadina Avenue to find the ‘POP up’ gallery lounge set up for the festival. Ta da…found it. Art by Julieta Maria in the window, a bouncer at the door, down some stairs and I have arrived. It’s about 10pm and the room is more than half full. It’s going to be busy as people are still making their way over from the screening. I like this place; it’s got an edge, nothing fancy just a room set up with a front gallery showing Alexandra Navratil’s Sample Frames piece, a wall with a screen that will show Duncan Campbell’s film Arbeit, a place to buy some drink tickets, a bar to redeem the drinks from and MAGIC an ‘official grill cheese’ sponsor set up for snacks. It’s not shiny and glitzy, it’s got the feel of artists making things happen, as I said, I like it. Read more