It’s design week in Toronto. Tonight, I just got back from the Gladstone Hotel’s ‘alternative design event,’ Come up to my Room, or CUTMR. Founded by the fabulous Pamila Matharu and the Gladstone’s Christina Zeidler, CUTMR works because the rooms are small, and the artist/designers can literally take their idea and run with it. It’s refreshing to see such unfettered
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In honour of Marshall McLuhan’s 100th birthday year, a new website, Marshall McLuhan Speaks, launched today, which allows viewers to literally hear the communications guru speak, through video clips. McLuhan’s Understanding Media. Image: canadiandesignresource.ca In the clips, you can hear McLuhan himself on his best-known sayings, “the medium is the message”, “global village” and others. And there’s an intro by
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This morning, I met with Jeffrey Melanson, Mayor Rob Ford’s special advisor on the arts. We were introduced through the wonderful Will Huffman, at the Toronto Art Council. Jeff Melanson. Image: 123nonstop.com Though we had originally planned an interview, he asked to wait to answer my questions and instead suggested that we meet for coffee. The first thing you notice
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The third biennial national portrait competition, the Kingston Prize, is accepting submissions until April 29, and this year, the prize is being doubled to $20,000. Marina Dieul, Le défi, oil on panel. Image: kingstonprize.ca The prize is a wonderful project of the Kingston Art Council (and by the way, it’s supported by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.) Andrew Valko of
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The landscape of museum buildings across Canada is about to be given new life, as more institutions secure government and private funding to allow them to expand with sexy architecturally designed spaces. The Art Gallery of Alberta, in Edmonton. Image: arnewde.com Last year, the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton unveiled a fractured new building by Gehry alumnus Randall Stout.
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Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of the late American artist Paul Thek. Recently, we stopped off in New York over the holidays to see the exhibition of work by the late, great American artist at the Whitney (on the last day of the show.) Paul Thek – shown in Andy Warhol’s Screen Test. Image: accessibleartny.com I’ve long
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If you haven’t heard about the AA Bronson brou-ha-ha by now…. Canadian artist AA Bronson. Image: flickr.com Well, let’s just say that the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, which is showing the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, exploring art by and about homosexuals, has caved to pressure by Christian activists and removed video piece, A Fire in
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Andrea Carson writes on contemporary art, architecture and design...