(Image courtesy of Bird and Bear)

VI
Against the black
I have more fervour
than you in all the splendour of that place,
against the blackness
and the stark grey
I have more light;

and the flowers
if I should tell you,
you would turn from your own fit paths
toward hell,
turn again and glance back
and I would sink into a place
even more terrible than this.

VII
At least I have the flowers of myself,
and my thoughts, no god
can take that;
I have the fervour of myself for a presence
and my own spirit for light;

and my spirit with its loss
knows this;
though small against the black,
small against the formless rocks,
hell must break before I am lost;

before I am lost,
hell must open like a red rose
for the dead to pass.

(excerpt from Eurydice by H.D.)

News

In the space of a week I got a job, an internship, changed some little things in my blog (do you like?) and met one of my roommates, a film maker who is moving to Hawaii. (can you say FUCKING AWESOME...)

I saw a great exhibition yesterday: Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary at Canadian Centre for Architecture. I would recommend reading it and trying to track down some of his tracks to listen to. He composes his pieces using mathematical equations, first charting them out in different variations on graph paper and then translating them into readable music.
My favourite piece is Terretektorh, where the musicians are dispersed amongst the audience in a circular formation around the conductor creating an immersion for the audience in the music and an almost 3D experience.


(Study for Terretektorh (distribution of musicians). Image courtesy of CCA)

I've been walking, riding my trusty stead, drinking A LOT of tea (I know what you were thinking), looking and listening, and revisiting my photographic experiences from two french lands: Corsica and Drummondville. (see photo posts in this blog!)

Check out this great article about Montreal by the NYTimes - They'll get you by the first sentence, if not, by the time they've stated that Montreal is the other Paris. I guess that's why I love it so much. Is there another place in the world that is the "Other Paris"? That's a pretty big thing.

Also check out my new place(s) of empoloyment/internshipment.
École de langue de l'UQÀM
La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse. On passant, La Centrale is the oldest artist run centre in all of Quebec and emerged after the feminist movement of the 60s and 70s to give a platform for women and other underrepresented artists. They bring art to the streets, that means they want to take art out of the suffocating white cube! At the end of what I thought was going to be the interview but was more like a meeting I said that I was really excited and happy to have the opportunity to intern there and be involved in an artist centre in Montreal. And they said 'you found the right address because it's fun here' (but in French, of course).

Rainy Sundays

1) submission to make/shift = done.
2) submission to Front = done.
3) made Golden Tomato sauce with tomatoes I bought at the marché Jean-Talon earlier this week.
4) going to make (another) Peach upside down cake, or maybe the Ginger Peach Upside down cake that was featured on Thimble two days ago. mmmmm. baking on Rainy sundays.
Yesterday was the first time I ever made a Peach upsdie down cake, and it was very delicious. Moist and fluffy cake with perfectly carmelized peaches in a big concentric circle, garnished with almonds. I didn't even have trouble getting it out of the pan! Success.

Rainy day music = the following.


(Bicycle by Gary Louis and Mark Olsen)

I've been having such a great few days. I don't know many people here in Montréal but those that I do are wonderful souls and we have been having many adventures. Cookie making, bike rides in the night/in the rain, beer and cider on tap at L'escalier - a great little bohemian bar, great music, hikes up Mont-Royal in the sunshine with fabulous views of the city, nights out on the town, markets (jean-talon and atwater), bike repair lessons (when my inner tubes on both tires exploded and me and David had to go and get some more in St-Henri, and then I learned how to replace inner tubes!), and other great adventures.

the good, the bad and the anarchy

1) the good was my decision that I would look really classy in White linen pants, black knit top and funky punk girl shoes from Top Shop in NYC for my job interview. I probably did.

2) the bad was my not so great decision of wearing the white linen pants strapped around my shins with MEC straps that kept falling down on my bicycle.. which of course incured... BICYCLE GREASE MARKS. ... Maëva, my God, get a brain!

3) the good was the invite to have pizza with boy who rides Magenta Miele tomorrow chez lui, and i suggested beer to celebrate summer's of unemployment, among other things.

4) the bad was OSAP headaches incured by the unreasonable amount of democratic paperwork that is required for someone who wants to study outside of the province.

5) the good was the nap I just took after tea, reading some of the paper and eating ginger snaps on the couch.

and last but not least:

6) the anarchy was riding my bike the wrong way on one-way streets. yessssssssss!

fucking FANTASTIC day!!!!

re: family

Family: a group of people related to each other by blood or marriage; a person or people related to one and so to be treated with a special loyalty or intimacy. (oxford American dictionary definitions)





or, Family: a group of people who love and support you unconditionally; adoption for life into a group of people who care for you. (maëva definitions).

re: happiness

After posting about happiness (below) I started to whittle away at the 157 e-flux emails in my inbox, that I've been neglecting for, oh, two months. Yikes. Well I got it down to 41 and stumbled across this exhibition: Glück... happens , featuring some pretty amazing artists such as Mona Hatoum and Runa Islam. The gallery, Kunstpalais in Erlagen, Germany, has just undergone two years of renovations and is open for the first time again.


(Alejandro Vidal, One second burns for a billion years (still), 2007, video projection
Image courtesy of e-flux.)

And the premise of this exhibition you ask? Happiness. How coincidental. According to the press release, happiness is not the kind of subject matter that generally turns up in art oeuvres. The 15 artists in the show, 10 of which made new pieces expressly for this exhibition, exhibited work that regarded the perception of happiness. We so desperately seek happiness that often we just lead ourselves to unhappiness. The works in this exhibition state hard questions as well as easy answers.

Check out the Kunstpalais and also the interesing work of Runa Islam, one of my tutors from my time in Leeds! She also has a show currently at the Musée d'art Contemporaine de Montréal (see side bar for website).

Day 2 in Montreal is opening on a good note.
Tea and cereal for breakfast with Simon and Garfunkle, and then some truly revelatory ideas and words from my lovely friend Juju played to Aretha's gold.

We all experience lonliness, confusion, sadness sometimes. as well as euphoria and happiness too. It's hard to know how to balance the two and when you are in a place of darkness, how to come back to the light.
Being in a new place with few connections around me, this is something I'm more afraid of then I've as of yet experienced.

But Julie sent me some great articles full of wisdom we could all use when we are feeling afraid or sad, ideas to come back to in those moments.

First, Maeve Haran (! ironic?!), in her article Revealed: the secret to true happiness states, among other things, that connections are a great way to unlock happiness. Connections with strangers, with old friends and new, with family and loved ones. I think it's true. And this reminds me of a beautiful performance piece by Toronto based artist Diane Borsato , where she touched a 1000 people, in response to a study she read that suggested when people are subtly touched it affects their well being. I feel that this number of connections, subtly, and secretly, must have also affected the happiness of Borsato as well. How many times have you spoken to a total stranger and felt your spirit lift? this happened to me just last Saturday when I finally arrived home after 11 hours of traveling. I was standing outside the Giant Tiger (family favourite...) and a lady walked out turned to me and said 'Have a lovely day now'. I wasn't sure what to think, and maybe our society is pre-programmed to think anyone who steps outside the bubble is a bit off their rocker, but I don't believe so myself.

Second, this great video by filmmaker Andrea Dorfman, illustrates the greatest way to enjoy being alone, and in other words, enjoy your own company, probably the best company you'll ever have.


This is my kind of project. right here.
knitting, script, birds, falling hearts, bunting. and dancing. enjoy it.

Third, an article from "Seth's blog" entitled The Places we go describes how are emotions are like rooms. Sadness is a room we may frequent, but why do we, if it makes us feel the way it does. Why don't we frequent the happiness room more often?

Thanks to Julie for all the great articles and videos!