art – Page 6 – Greg Blee

Action/reaction to a-a-art

I’m getting some interesting feedback to my January article in Tofino Time magazine, titled Art of the Soapbox (read it here). It’s a tongue-in-cheek but pointed critique of the Tofino art scene — a circle that, like many insular groups everywhere, tends to thrive on self-congratulation, mutual support, and denial. That’s my rough take, anyway; others differ.

People took it more seriously that i’d expected, and i had more email responses than i’ve ever had to a Tofino Time article. Only half a dozen or so, but for Tofino that’s a lot.

Artists in most places, but particularly here, often work in isolation, and a good discussion about the worth and quality of local art will hopefully provide a little tonic stimulation.

The following were posted with permission. Comments are also welcome on this post.

Date: Jan. 4
From: A—
Hi Greg.
Last night I was at The Common Loaf and as I sat down by myself to eat I grabbed a Tofino Time mag. Put the mag down, and looked up as I pulled off my coat and noticed an oil painting above a window. A purple-ish sunset over a beach. And I thought to myself Geez, is that all there ever fucking is around here for paintings? Tired of it.
Then I read your piece and had a good chuckle. Thanks. Hope no one throws anything larger than a brussel sprout however….
A —

Subject: B—’s challenge!
Date: Jan. 18
From: B—
B—‘s message is personal and not to be reproduced here. However, s/he brings up a very salient point about the West Coast art scene. To paraphrase:
There is room for growth here, but there is no structured outlet for it. My fellow artists are courageous people who, I feel, need an outlet for their ‘descriptions.’ I think a lot of us provide to the established venues — galleries, cafés, etc. — and the venues all want what sells. And they think Frank Island sells, so Frank Island gets painted and photographed … over and over.

Subject: A-a-art??????????
Date: Jan. 18
From: C—
Hello Greg,
My name is C— and I’m responding to your “art of the soapbox” in the Tofino Time. We don’t know each other which is probably a good thing, even though you seem to have everyone in town pegged. I actually don’t know anything about you besides what you look like, that you are an apparent writer and also quite the critic.
I had no idea we had such an authority on art and music living amongst us in this misty little town of ours. I don’t completely disagree with you about the art scene in Tofino and I like your idea of “challenging” the art community here, but your pompous delivery was disgusting. The fact that you singled out and tried to humiliate individuals by using there first name is as shameless as it gets, it’s actually fucked up. I’m guessing you might of been drunk while writing the article and that Adam and Baku just don’t give a shit anymore.
Either way, you were trying to single out and make examples of people who are honestly trying to make a living from there art instead of following the mainstream. You may not like X–‘s art, fair enough, some people might not like Abe Lincoln beards. What I see is a bitter older man living in a town full of younger people trying to incorporate art into there lives one way or another, the older, “wiser” man obviously doesn’t approve and needs some attention, whether positive or negative.
I think personal taste is what keeps art and everything else in this world interesting. Well I would love to see what you bring to the table “sweetheart” besides shitting all over it. I might add that you will find your genius theory on too many guitars is unfortunately common throughout North America. Nice work on stirring the pot but I think you missed the mark completely.
Sincerely,
C—

PARTIAL RESPONSE: Far from “not giving a shit,” Adam and Baku are very cognisant of what they publish in Tofino Time, and of how much the magazine both mirrors Tofino to itself and presents the town to the larger world. My piece would never have made it into a high-season issue, i feel certain, and i would not have submitted it. In the depths of winter, though, Tofino Time becomes “our” magazine. My kudos to the two of them for having the nerve to publish something controversial in a town that usually shies away from such.

Subject: artist rant
Date: Jan. 18
From: D—
Um, who the hell is X—, and since when did you care what people think? And since when did this person speak for “Tofino artists” en masse? NO, I haven’t heard anything. If I had, wouldn’t that mean you are doing something right?

Subject: To Greg: Love E—
Date: Jan. 20
From: E—
E—’s email was long and personal and heartfelt. It was good to hear from a passionate young Tofino artist, one who loves what s/he does and pursues it boldly. E— took my “attack” personally, for which i am sorry — it was not intended as such against anybody. And for the record: i am not even close to giving up on him/her.

Subject: tofino time
Date: Jan. 20
From: F—
Great piece of writing Greg! Shake it up.

My new anthem

Here’s a fine song by Vancouver singer/songwriter Jeremy Fisher, a banjo-and-voice ditty called Built to Last. It comes to you courtesy of worklessparty.org, website of the Work Less Party, which sounds like a bunch of slackers but actually makes a good case for reducing unemployment and environmental damage by lowering the number of hours we are expected to work, here in North America. The case is laid out (in scattershot fashion) in books by the party’s founder, Conrad Schmidt. I’ve read the first, with the lovely title Workers of the World, Relax.

Places like Denmark, i’m told, have all but eliminated unemployment by going to a four-day work week. At first they had all the predictable worries about higher business costs and falling GDP, but reportedly the people love it. I know a lot of friends who would gladly take the cut in pay for a higher quality of life.

I liked Built to Last enough that i checked out Jeremy’ MySpace page. It has several more songs, plus some artful animation videos featuring the likes of Mel Gibson (co-starring with Jeremy in the unreleased film Passion of the Easter Bunny) and an inside scoop on the infamous Billy Bob Thorton meltdown with Jian Gomeshi on Q. Multi-talented guy!

Road’s End–Tales of Tofino

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while: my review of my friend Shirley’s new book. This is the dry, newspaper review; the Tofino Time one is more fun, but it ain’t on-line yet.

Road’s End, Tales of Tofino
— a review

by greg blanchette, Tofino

It has been her labour of both love and obsession for years, and now it’s finally out. Locals will recognize Tofino man-about-town Turtle smiling from the cover, as well as appearing in a couple of the stories within.

Many other locals, past and present, may see themselves in the pages of Road’s End—Tales of Tofino, a new book by Tofino’s own Shirley Langer.

It’s a fun read. Shirley’s got a knack for digging up good stories and telling them. It’s like a lazy walk around town, bumping into people on the sidewalk or eavesdropping on them in a coffee shop.

There are twenty tales in all, on a wide variety of subjects. Some are profiles, some are little adventures. There’s one about a dog and one about a chicken; also beachcombing, latkes, driveways and tsunamis. One is almost an investigative report on the problem of plastic trash in the ocean. Others smack of a sociology text on the town, in which the writer makes note of details that everyone knows but nobody notices. Continue reading “Road’s End–Tales of Tofino”

Maggie says

Here are a few nuggets from the celebrated Margaret Atwood, who read in Tofino last Saturday from her new dystopic book, Year of the Flood. Still a lively and witty lady, and it was a good West Coast crowd that gathered to see her.

What most impressed me, though, was the co-reading given by her partner Graeme Gibson from his book, The Bedside Book of Beasts. What sounds from the title like a whimsical tour of the animal kingdom (real or imaginary) — and looks, at first blush, like a picture book of animals through the ages — is actually a meaty read, full of surprising thoughts and connections. There’s some deep thinking in it about the human characterizations of animals, and what that says about us. I came away wanting to buy a copy.

From my random, chicken-scratch notes of the evening:

Graeme:

Tree-hugger? Why not a tree-lover?!

Quoting someone: “The whole of Nature is a conjugation of the verb ‘to eat,’ in the active and the passive.”

“Forest bathing” (a.k.a. walking in the woods) … Nature Deficit Disorder…. Some interesting revelations about how time spent in wilderness eases behavioural disorders. People heal faster when they have a scenic view — even just a painting — as opposed to a relentless cityscape.

If you don’t have predators, you don’t have a forest. The predator-prey relationship informs everything about the forest.

Humans domesticate any number of other species, but we ourselves are the only evolved domesticate.

Some of Graeme’s recommended books: Thinking Like a Mountain (Otto Leopold); Last Child in the Woods (author?); Rogue Primate (John Livingston)

Maggs:

This is a book, and these are its covers. The advantage of a book is that you can close the covers and what’s in the book stays in the book. The job of everyone here today is to make sure what’s in the book doesn’t get out of the book.

Ecology as potential religion…? It’s here. Check out The Green Bible.

Once everything is owned by governments and corporations, there will be no neutral third party left to say “No, you aren’t allowed to do that.”

Do I have hope? Hope is built-in. Back in the paleolithic, if you were too bummed out to get out of bed in the morning to find something to eat, you weren’t around for long. We are evolved to hope.

Writing a book is a hopeful thing to do, in and of itself. You hope that you’ll finish it. You hope someone will publish it. You hope it will find readers, and you hope they’ll like it.

I want everyone here to make a pledge today. Coffee is the second most traded commodity worldwide, after oil. It has a huge impact. If you’re only going to do one thing, I want you to pledge that you’ll only drink shade-grown, organic, fair trade coffee from now on.

I’m about a third of the way through Year of the Flood. Tain’t timeless lit’ra’chure, but it’s interesting.

http://www.yearoftheflood.com/

Road’s End, Tales of Tofino — a review

This Olympic relay cost taxpayers $0!

Road’s End, Tales of Tofino
— a review