EARLY ROMAN GLASS AT THE V&A

I've visited the glass collection at the V&A before.  Last year, clear lurid shapes attracted me to this material.  Last week I was in London for one day and took a second look.  As my tastes change, I find myself attracted to textures, forms and techniques that have previously gone unnoticed.  I imagine I will return to this collection many times to discover something new to draw me in.

This beautiful collection of bowls, beakers, dishes, unguent bottles, oil flasks and cinerary urns are 1st-4th century Roman glass, with a few exceptions from the 8th-10th century and 1250-1400.  These pieces, some with applied thread decorations, some rolled in coloured glass chips, and some gilded or enamelled, originate from Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, Italy, Palestine, Phoencia, Rhondes, Macedonia and Eastern Mediterranean.  

It is easy to hastily pass them by as they are such petite objects.  Once spotted, I got in close to capture  the surface texture that I find so compelling.  Initially the colour and metallics are spectacular.  With further observation they are particularly captivating for their early dates of fabrication.  The craftspeople's technology and understanding of the material, at this time, is remarkable: magical, otherwordly, unreal. 

 

 

 

 

CAMEO APPEARANCE

The Good Friday parade through Toronto's Little Italy is a sombre affair.  Multiple volunteers play Jesus, re-enacting the stations of the cross.  There is a certain fear evoked by the Roman soldiers, despite their improvised sandals.  I am especially drawn to the decadently feathered hats sported by the float attendants.  This year, a special appearance was made by a white bearded gentleman...look whose Dad showed up.

SHOVEL

I broke my snow shovel during the last bit of serious weather we had here in Toronto and was disappointed to find under close examination how badly it had been designed.  It was clear that ease of production had over-ruled longevity and had, in fact, produced a tool that did not logically fulfill in any way the expectations of where the state of technology and design should be in 2013.    It should be unacceptable to design and market something that is clearly inferior to what has come before it.   The pictured shovel represents state of the art 1920's technology.   It is neither difficult to produce, nor unsustainable.  It is a proven design with obvious longevity and total utility.   So why, nearly a century later, is the blade of my snow shovel shattering when faced with a little light powder?    

JT Hall

 

 

JENN E NORTON

Jenn E Norton is a magician of sorts.  A conjurer,  illusionist, enchantress, Norton spins the familiar into phenomena by breaching the boundaries of real, imagined, and intuitive states with her visual arts practice. 

A technological wonder, she utilizes the digital realm as an emotive translator; her body of work offers a rich landscape of woven narratives inviting us to transition with ease between player and voyeur.   Through the languages of video, audio, installation, kinetic sculpture, and performance she communicates a dialogue that oscillates between comfort, discomfort, utopian and dystopian with a clairvoyance and critical engagement that has become her signature style. 

The days grow longer and approaching spring is a whirlwind tour of Norton’s talent; March 8th marked the formal release of five original compositions written and performed by Norton under the name The While on Cassettestival,  a tape label and event series based in Guelph.   The While is a musical ‘art-band’ collective combining video, performance, installation and melody initiated by Jenn last year and is quickly gaining momentum in the music circuit.  The concept band creates an ethereal experience of visual and audio landscapes that cross, stretch and distort the template fabrics of concert-based performance; siren saws, violin, glockenspiel, accordion and percussion combine with layers of textured pre-recorded tracks, live vocal harmony and digital projections constructing a sight and sound experience that hauntingly hover in that special place that is simultaneously uplifting and melancholic.  Catch Norton perform with The While on April 5th at the Green Party Office (34 Gordon St.) in Guelph; the performance is presented with Kazoo! Fest 2013.  A few weeks later she takes the stage solo as part of a music residency hosted by the River Run Centre, Guelph, April 19th.    

In light of new audio pursuits in conjunction to her established new media arts career, it seemed a natural fit for Norton to receive a commissioned project of the highest caliber.   Over the past winter months as the snow settled in,  she has been toiling away by the glow of a Mac in lieu of a fire creating a time based illustration of media artist, composer and sound artist Gordan Monahan.   The founder of the Electric Eclectics sound art festival was announced as the recent recipient of the 2013 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts; Norton was chosen to create a video portrait of Monahan offering a glimpse into his career, achievements and creative pursuits leading up to this prestigious award.   

As spring continues on, and if you find yourself in the UK, don’t miss the chance to view Norton’s piece Wee Requiem currently touring England as part of ISIS project the Big M, an inflatable mobile gallery currently hosting On the Precipice, an exhibition curated by Kelly Richardson.    The single channel video offers a grand alternate ending to an inconsequential existence;  grave faces don their best and gather round a tiny departed nuisance, solemn mourners and mouse reciprocate dignity in death.  Wee Requiem finds us witness to a fallen vexation achieving new celebrity with it’s quiet exit. 

Ever prolific, Norton approaches life with the same curious gusto she funnels into her practice. To know this woman is to know a restless dream where snowy arctic mountains melt to southern deserts,  stilts make way for country air balloons and ginger haired munchkins play tambourines in the rising sun.

True story. 

-Guest contributor Christy Langer
Photo by Langer, Norton and Yasui with help from A. Mucha

PARC DU BOTANIQUE

An oasis in the heart of Brussels, Parc Du Botanique, is utterly charming even on a blustery, overcast  March day.  I was captivated by the topiary.  Anyone who knows me, will be surprised by this statement, as I am quite offended, even a bit frightened, by the topiary in Toronto's front yards.  But, I've come to the realization that context is imperative.  The sculpted shrubbery perfectly compliments the structure of the gardens and the architecture of this city.  I now better understand the impulse to manicure that single bush, protected by fence, and arising from the blanket of paving stones.  Perhaps I've even developed a new appreciation for these personal gardens in our Toronto neighbourhoods.

The sprouting spring flora may have contributed to my falling-so-easily-in-love with this park.  I've been on the move from city to city over the past 3 weeks, without much time to seek out green space or countryside.  I relished the park experience, I frolicked and gasped in delight.  I am fully ready for the change of season.

Originally founded in 1826, the main orangery, Le Botanique, is now a dedicated arts and cultural centre.  In 1870 the Belgian state purchased the garden and commissioned various sculptures, fountains and electrical lighting to beautify the park and encourage the country's support of public art and their artists.  Unfortunately for me, in 1938, most of the botanical resources were relocated to a new home at the National Botanic Garden of Belgium on the outskirts of the city.  Fortunately, however, its remarkable collection of large tree species and historical statues still remains.  The National Botanic Garden of Belgium is now added to my list of destinations abroad.

The garden is open from 10am until 5:30pm in winter and 9pm in summer.  I didn't observe the parks hours previous to my first visiting and was forbidden access by a tall wall of bars.