I just bought a new URL for www.godsavethepress.com. unbelievably it wasn't taken already so I bought it while I could. I'll continue to blog here for now, but as soon as the website is up and running I'm going to redirect my blog onto the website.
Both my blogs will be moved when the site launches.
More information closer to the web site's launch.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
El Mocambo music show: Art needs more focus
Doppleganger, held last Saturday, is the second part of a series of events created by Ali Malik, a Toronto music and art promoter. The series is known as elZOO, named after the venue, the El Mocambo, a nightclub in Toronto, north of Chinatown.
“I called it Zoo because it’s a zoo of a bunch of different art forms,” said Malik.
Doppleganger featured three bands a DJ and six artists last Saturday. The show was a non-profit event collecting food donations for the homeless and those in need in Toronto. At its p
eak the El Mocambo housed approximately 150 guests and collected more than 200 cans of food, according to Malik. Money raised during the event went to the bands that performed.The six artists featured in the gallery were freelance illustrator Ty Dunitz, who had four digital paintings on display; illustrator Tyrel McNicol, who used a method of ink transfer onto wood, called acrylic polymer emulsion transfer; concert photographer Pete Nema, who had large prints including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nicole Atkins and Brant Bjork; Krista MacFarlane, who had two multimedia pieces on display; graphic designer, Anfrei Fortier and Eric Ealer, guitarists of the Isosceles Project severed a dual role by providing paintings for the gallery and performing with the rest of his band during the music portion.
The doors opened at 9:00 p.m. admission was $10 or $5 with a can of food to be donated. DJ Illicit provided music when the doors opened and between bands sets. Originally the narrow lobby was going to be empty and the gallery was going to be in the back room on the higher level of the El Mocambo. The art was moved to the front lobby so now guests would be exposed to it as soon as they came in. However the lobby may not have been the ideal place for artwork to be displayed, even if it was better than the back room.
“We lost one
sub-par venue and gained another,” said Dunitz, who added the front room was “not fit for hanging art.”Most of the walls were brick and Dunitz said there were only half a dozen nails already in the wall. Adding more nails was difficult since the walls were brick. The lighting was not ideal for showcasing paintings and prints, but did not hurt the show.
“(ElZOO is) a wonderful event,” said Dunitz, “but it’s a concert, not a music/art show.”
Over the front desk hung paintings by Eric Ealer, inside the lobby area Dunitz and McNicol`s art was on display together to the right with Nema, MacFarlane and Fortier on the left. Artist’s names and websites were posted with their work. Individual prints were labelled with the names of the piece, or in some cases, the sale price, including some mock prices like “$...”
The night started out slow with DJ Illicit playing music while the bands set up for the later shows. A number of the artists were in the lobby, talking with guests. The artwork was all fantastic and fit in the mood of the music show with edgy subject matter and photos that fit in with the garage band feel of the music. However one with an interest in the artwork can’t help but wish there was more too see.
Music started at 10:30 and as the night went on the event picked up with a full concert space. The nig
ht opened with the Harold Wartooth, a local garage band with a heavy rock sound. The band featured Omri Horwitz on vocals, Mike Mikocic on guitar, Brent Fagan on both guitar and vocals, “Emon” on Bass and Spencer Linton on drums. The band sounded great and with a sound system that could be heard all the way into the street and bass that you could feel in your chest.The Isosceles Project followed, featuring Euler, the dual artist (whose work was on display in the gallery) and served as the band’s guitarist, Scott Tessier on bass and Justin Falzon on drums.
The night ended with Zuku featuring Brandon Kennedy on guitar and vocals, Matt Felske also on both guitar and vocals, Chris Chartrand on drums and Jordan Beard on bass.
The three bands all had a very hard rock sounding garage band style. Malik chose them to complement each other and it worked well.
Doppleganger was a great show, featuring great artwork and music, but in future elZOO shows they need to mesh better. The gallery felt like an after-thought with the music taking priority. It was a great event to showcase local talents in both music and visual arts. The event left attendees wanting more, which may work in Malik's favour, since he plans on holding more elZOO events, monthly.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Art Jam Part 1: Success
I wanted to post some of my work now with my comments. Anything written in bold (like this paragraph) are my added comments. The first few pieces I am going to post will be a series that spans November 2007 to March 2008.
"Sheridan's creativity in spotlight at Art Jam" published in Sheridan Sun on November 29, 2007
For the first time the artistic community at Sheridan College came together for one of the biggest and most successful events in the school's history.
I learned about the event because, as it happened, one of the organizers was actually my roommate, Amanda Sheehan. While I am sure she was expecting the project to be as much work as it turned out to be, I don't think anyone really foresaw how big an event it would turn out to be.
The ConneXion was lit brighter than it had ever been when the event started at 8 p.m. last friday. Easels, mounted walls of plywood, canvases and other surfaces were on display. Other tables had objects ready to be custom-painted like vinyl records, wooden clocks, lamp shades and even the side-panel of a Ninja Motorcycle.
To add some context, the ConneXion was the new campus pub. The old pub was known as the Cage. I covered a story about the renovation. 1.2 million dollars went into the renovation and the school ended up with a very night club-style pub. Many people perfered the Cage.
The Liquid Lounge upstairs had paper sheets for dry media like pencils and graphite.
Farther context; the Liquid Lounge was, as the name emplys, a lounge area on a balcony level of the pub, which featured a bar and seating area.
The TV monitors located around ConneXion were used to play stop-motion art films. Hand-picked DJ, Tyson Dunitz, played music from the stage's corner as the Table of Elements (break dancing team) entertained onstage.
One of the reasons the renovations cost so much was a number of large LCT screens around the pub.
Tyson Dunitz provided the music, although really he is an illustrator. His work can be viewed at his website, here.
"I think the turn-out was a lot better than Tyrel (McNicol) and I could have ever hoped," said Amanda Sheehan, co-organizer with McNicol, "And I think, seeing the numbers like this will enable us to have another one next semester confidently."
A respectable number of people started making their way into the free show when it began, but by the end of the night more than 300 people had arrived making the event more successful than anyone had expected.
Ty Dunitz was part of the Art Jam team, but was, infact, not a Sheridan student, he was from OCAD (Ontario Colege of Art and Design) and he was not alone. Quite a few of the atendees, both contrigutors and guests, were actually OCAD students. The event was completely open to anyone who wanted to atend.
"I think it's fantastic. It's a great collaboration and a wonderful chance to meet tonnes of other artists," said Lauren Rowlands, a second-year illustation student.
Lauren Rowlands is another friend of mine in the illustration field. her art blog can be viewed here.
Students were not the only attendees at the event as several professors and guests in the illustrartion field came to collaborate with the young artists.
"I think Art Jam is absolutly amazing. It is an incredible experiance and beyond expectations," said Joe Mores, the illustration program coodinator, "They bring the community together. they show how relevant the arts are to our daily life."
Aside from being a respected professor of illustartion, Joe Mores is also a respected professional illustrator.
The artwork produced at the Art Jam was auctioned off on the following monday to fund the fourth-year illustartion graduation party. No word yet on the exact amount raised by the auction.
"I think this is the beginning of a new thing and it is certainly a tribute to the organizers that this is such a success," said Morse.
Although a success, the Art Jam seemed plauged by drama. Many of the pieces created at the event went missing when the artists took them home, and so much of the possible profits that could have been made from auctioning it off were lost.
Also Art Jam was the last pub event Sheridan held because of a secuity issue. The Art Jam was supposed to have a secuity staff for 200 guests, but they recieved none. A confrontation occured outside the pub that resulted in all pub events being canceled for several months, and a new bar manager being hired.
"Sheridan's creativity in spotlight at Art Jam" published in Sheridan Sun on November 29, 2007
For the first time the artistic community at Sheridan College came together for one of the biggest and most successful events in the school's history.
I learned about the event because, as it happened, one of the organizers was actually my roommate, Amanda Sheehan. While I am sure she was expecting the project to be as much work as it turned out to be, I don't think anyone really foresaw how big an event it would turn out to be.
The ConneXion was lit brighter than it had ever been when the event started at 8 p.m. last friday. Easels, mounted walls of plywood, canvases and other surfaces were on display. Other tables had objects ready to be custom-painted like vinyl records, wooden clocks, lamp shades and even the side-panel of a Ninja Motorcycle.
To add some context, the ConneXion was the new campus pub. The old pub was known as the Cage. I covered a story about the renovation. 1.2 million dollars went into the renovation and the school ended up with a very night club-style pub. Many people perfered the Cage.
The Liquid Lounge upstairs had paper sheets for dry media like pencils and graphite.
Farther context; the Liquid Lounge was, as the name emplys, a lounge area on a balcony level of the pub, which featured a bar and seating area.
The TV monitors located around ConneXion were used to play stop-motion art films. Hand-picked DJ, Tyson Dunitz, played music from the stage's corner as the Table of Elements (break dancing team) entertained onstage.
One of the reasons the renovations cost so much was a number of large LCT screens around the pub.
Tyson Dunitz provided the music, although really he is an illustrator. His work can be viewed at his website, here.
"I think the turn-out was a lot better than Tyrel (McNicol) and I could have ever hoped," said Amanda Sheehan, co-organizer with McNicol, "And I think, seeing the numbers like this will enable us to have another one next semester confidently."
A respectable number of people started making their way into the free show when it began, but by the end of the night more than 300 people had arrived making the event more successful than anyone had expected.
Ty Dunitz was part of the Art Jam team, but was, infact, not a Sheridan student, he was from OCAD (Ontario Colege of Art and Design) and he was not alone. Quite a few of the atendees, both contrigutors and guests, were actually OCAD students. The event was completely open to anyone who wanted to atend.
"I think it's fantastic. It's a great collaboration and a wonderful chance to meet tonnes of other artists," said Lauren Rowlands, a second-year illustation student.
Lauren Rowlands is another friend of mine in the illustration field. her art blog can be viewed here.
Students were not the only attendees at the event as several professors and guests in the illustrartion field came to collaborate with the young artists.
"I think Art Jam is absolutly amazing. It is an incredible experiance and beyond expectations," said Joe Mores, the illustration program coodinator, "They bring the community together. they show how relevant the arts are to our daily life."
Aside from being a respected professor of illustartion, Joe Mores is also a respected professional illustrator.
The artwork produced at the Art Jam was auctioned off on the following monday to fund the fourth-year illustartion graduation party. No word yet on the exact amount raised by the auction.
"I think this is the beginning of a new thing and it is certainly a tribute to the organizers that this is such a success," said Morse.
Although a success, the Art Jam seemed plauged by drama. Many of the pieces created at the event went missing when the artists took them home, and so much of the possible profits that could have been made from auctioning it off were lost.
Also Art Jam was the last pub event Sheridan held because of a secuity issue. The Art Jam was supposed to have a secuity staff for 200 guests, but they recieved none. A confrontation occured outside the pub that resulted in all pub events being canceled for several months, and a new bar manager being hired.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Revelation
Some time has passed and it has given me time to think as I go about my daily routine.
I am working more now, although it's still just a retail job, and certainly nothing I wish to build a career around. However I do now have a better idea of how to go about my true business.
I am finding that I have all the resources I need around me every day. And that something that I find important is right in front of me.
Your friends are your best sources, since they are already established sources to work with. Art is one of the most important foundations of our society. I've come to see that now only is this something that has been staring me in the face for some time, but it may be the perfect starting point for my freelance career.
Freelance Art and culture. This may be the perfect thing to target right now. I already have a line of galleries I'll be attending this Summer. And along with them will be the opportunity to make valuable contacts.
Another major revelation I have made is that I've been going about this whole freelance thing the wrong way. Going to papers and magazines and looking to take on existing freelance jobs is not the way to get published. If I want to get my work out there I have to go out there and find my own stories and sell them to editors, even if in the start I need to volunteer my work for free.
I am still green, i don't know if this is going to work, but I will be damned if I am not going to try!
I am working more now, although it's still just a retail job, and certainly nothing I wish to build a career around. However I do now have a better idea of how to go about my true business.
I am finding that I have all the resources I need around me every day. And that something that I find important is right in front of me.
Your friends are your best sources, since they are already established sources to work with. Art is one of the most important foundations of our society. I've come to see that now only is this something that has been staring me in the face for some time, but it may be the perfect starting point for my freelance career.
Freelance Art and culture. This may be the perfect thing to target right now. I already have a line of galleries I'll be attending this Summer. And along with them will be the opportunity to make valuable contacts.
Another major revelation I have made is that I've been going about this whole freelance thing the wrong way. Going to papers and magazines and looking to take on existing freelance jobs is not the way to get published. If I want to get my work out there I have to go out there and find my own stories and sell them to editors, even if in the start I need to volunteer my work for free.
I am still green, i don't know if this is going to work, but I will be damned if I am not going to try!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Uninvited guest
June has been a mostly uneventful month for me, still little work to be found for freelance, but three incidents occurred during the past few weeks, around midnight each time, a visitation, of sorts.
It started on a date I'm unsure of when I was in the kitchen with a roommate, Luke. My friend, Ty was in the living room at the time. While we, Luke and I, were talking we heard a call from the living room, just down the landing.
"There's a bird in the room."
A bird? Luke and I went down the landing in time to hear our friend call again.
"No, it's a bat."
A bat. In the living room. No idea how it got in, but there it was, circling the living room. And there we were, three grown men, staying low enough that the frantic bat didn't collide with any of us.
While we tried to figure a way to get the bat out of the house, Luke decided to turn off the lights, open the front door and whistle. And sure enough, the bat made for the front door, following the sound.
And that was it, the bat flew away and that was the end of it.
For one night.
I couldn't figure out where it came from. As far as I knew all the windows were sealed, and the chimney was closed so it could not have come in from there.
A week or two pass and again around 2:00 a.m., same time as last, the bat appeared again. This time it clearly came from up stairs. So we knew for sure that it wasn't coming in from the chimney. This time, in Luke's absence Ty took up the same tactic of turning off the lights and whistling at the front door. However we weren't entirely sure it passed though the threshold of the door, since it was to dark to be completely sure.
Either way there was no longer a bat flapping about the living room, so we called it a night.
The third visitation happened a few days later in much the same way. It has started to become something of a routine, apparently for the bat as well. All we had to do was turn off the lights in the living room and open the front door and it made for the front hall.
Although it would fly around the front door, it seemed reluctant to, or unable to pass though the front door my itself. Ty again whistled outside and eventually it flew away. this time we were sure to close the door after seeing it leave.
Hard to say if that was the last we will see of the bat, my other roommate, Amanda, has affectionately named Hershall. In a way I miss it, it was an exciting change of pace, although I guess it's also nice to not have to worry about colliding with a bat when walking up to bed after 2:00a.m.
It started on a date I'm unsure of when I was in the kitchen with a roommate, Luke. My friend, Ty was in the living room at the time. While we, Luke and I, were talking we heard a call from the living room, just down the landing.
"There's a bird in the room."
A bird? Luke and I went down the landing in time to hear our friend call again.
"No, it's a bat."
A bat. In the living room. No idea how it got in, but there it was, circling the living room. And there we were, three grown men, staying low enough that the frantic bat didn't collide with any of us.
While we tried to figure a way to get the bat out of the house, Luke decided to turn off the lights, open the front door and whistle. And sure enough, the bat made for the front door, following the sound.
And that was it, the bat flew away and that was the end of it.
For one night.
I couldn't figure out where it came from. As far as I knew all the windows were sealed, and the chimney was closed so it could not have come in from there.
A week or two pass and again around 2:00 a.m., same time as last, the bat appeared again. This time it clearly came from up stairs. So we knew for sure that it wasn't coming in from the chimney. This time, in Luke's absence Ty took up the same tactic of turning off the lights and whistling at the front door. However we weren't entirely sure it passed though the threshold of the door, since it was to dark to be completely sure.
Either way there was no longer a bat flapping about the living room, so we called it a night.
The third visitation happened a few days later in much the same way. It has started to become something of a routine, apparently for the bat as well. All we had to do was turn off the lights in the living room and open the front door and it made for the front hall.
Although it would fly around the front door, it seemed reluctant to, or unable to pass though the front door my itself. Ty again whistled outside and eventually it flew away. this time we were sure to close the door after seeing it leave.
Hard to say if that was the last we will see of the bat, my other roommate, Amanda, has affectionately named Hershall. In a way I miss it, it was an exciting change of pace, although I guess it's also nice to not have to worry about colliding with a bat when walking up to bed after 2:00a.m.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Journalist
Two years is an amazingly short period of time, especially for career training.
That's exactly how long they gave us to learn the basics on how to be effective reporters, editors and, to an extent, photojournalists.
For the past two years people would often refer to me as "the journalist". Ironically (well not really ironic now that I think of it) I never once called myself a journalist in the past two years. I called myself a journalism student, an intern reporter or a journalist-in-training. Now that I think of it, I really was a reporter, for a school paper. I found out after working for the Mississauga News that real newsrooms work just about exactly how the school paper did. Maybe my college just had an especially well organized and high quality paper. I haven't seen any other college newsrooms nor have I been to any professional newsrooms aside from the Mississauga News so I really have very little to compare.
Regardless, now that my program is just about over (I have one missing credit to make up for a general elective before I'm a real graduate) I'm starting to realize how tough the whole freelance game really is.
No car means no staff reporter job. Also no diploma makes things even more complicated. I have a sort of "job" writing "articles" (see "glorified blog") for an "online magazine" I don't care to name. granted, they won't accept anything and they do pay for articles (although I have yet to see a dime due to a very long uploading process since we don't get to work face-to-face with the editors) however it's really more a side-thing I do for fun, like any other blog.
But a real freelance job, that would be a nice change of pace. However none of the local papers seem to care to return my calls as an official freelance reporter for the paper. And finding stories worth selling are hard to come by on your own.
So here I am, a freelance journalist without work. Still not quite feeling like a journalist. When i pointed that out once, a friend told me;
"Isn't that what a freelancer is?"
And I got to thinking, yes, I guess that is true. A freelance journalist out of work is a freelancer. I guess you're not really a journalist until you have a job. Or maybe I'm just completely green still and have no idea what I'm talking about.
However, I'm working at what I can, given my limitations. I'm making contacts where I can and slowly, I getting stories together that may never be published, but the important thing is I'm getting practice and, most importantly, making contacts for the future.
I don't know if anyone will ever read this blog, but I will continue to record my freelance career here. Maybe it will help others in the future. Who knows.
That's exactly how long they gave us to learn the basics on how to be effective reporters, editors and, to an extent, photojournalists.
For the past two years people would often refer to me as "the journalist". Ironically (well not really ironic now that I think of it) I never once called myself a journalist in the past two years. I called myself a journalism student, an intern reporter or a journalist-in-training. Now that I think of it, I really was a reporter, for a school paper. I found out after working for the Mississauga News that real newsrooms work just about exactly how the school paper did. Maybe my college just had an especially well organized and high quality paper. I haven't seen any other college newsrooms nor have I been to any professional newsrooms aside from the Mississauga News so I really have very little to compare.
Regardless, now that my program is just about over (I have one missing credit to make up for a general elective before I'm a real graduate) I'm starting to realize how tough the whole freelance game really is.
No car means no staff reporter job. Also no diploma makes things even more complicated. I have a sort of "job" writing "articles" (see "glorified blog") for an "online magazine" I don't care to name. granted, they won't accept anything and they do pay for articles (although I have yet to see a dime due to a very long uploading process since we don't get to work face-to-face with the editors) however it's really more a side-thing I do for fun, like any other blog.
But a real freelance job, that would be a nice change of pace. However none of the local papers seem to care to return my calls as an official freelance reporter for the paper. And finding stories worth selling are hard to come by on your own.
So here I am, a freelance journalist without work. Still not quite feeling like a journalist. When i pointed that out once, a friend told me;
"Isn't that what a freelancer is?"
And I got to thinking, yes, I guess that is true. A freelance journalist out of work is a freelancer. I guess you're not really a journalist until you have a job. Or maybe I'm just completely green still and have no idea what I'm talking about.
However, I'm working at what I can, given my limitations. I'm making contacts where I can and slowly, I getting stories together that may never be published, but the important thing is I'm getting practice and, most importantly, making contacts for the future.
I don't know if anyone will ever read this blog, but I will continue to record my freelance career here. Maybe it will help others in the future. Who knows.
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