LA BIENNALE DE MONTRÈAL 2016 On se Prépare /Getting Ready

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Philippe Pirotte commissaire de la prochaine Biennale de Montréal en 2016/
Curator of the next Montreal Biennale in 2016
Photo © Büro Schramm für Gestaltung 2015

SYLVIE FORTIN annonce aujourd'hui la nomination de PHILIPPE PIROTTE  directeur de la Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule et de Portikus à Francfort, à titre de commissaire de LA BIENNALE DE MONTRÉAL 2016

« Je suis stimulé par l’occasion qui m’est offerte de développer un ambitieux projet international qui prend en compte la complexité de Montréal, affirme Philippe Pirotte. Pour le moment, je m’imagine cette exposition comme un espace qui nous renseigne sur nous-mêmes – sans ambages. À la fois ludique et fataliste, c’est un espace où les choses peuvent aller de travers. En ce sens, l’exposition n’apporte pas d’allégement puisque ses objets ne se présentent pas nécessairement sous forme des vérités. »

Le thème ou l’approche de BNLMTL 2016 sera annoncé plus tard cette année, de même que l’équipe de conseillers choisis par M. Pirotte pour appuyer l’élaboration du projet. La liste des artistes participants et les renseignements sur les projets principaux seront divulgués en mai 2016.


ENGLISH

SYLVIE FORTIN announced today the appointment of PHILIPPE PIROTTE, director of the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule and of Portikus in Francfort, as Curator of  LA BIENNALE DE MONTRÉAL 2016

“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to develop an ambitious international project that engages with Montréal’s complexity,” states Philippe Pirotte. “At the moment, I am imagining the exhibition as a space that informs us about ourselves—uninvited. Simultaneously playful and fatalistic, it is a space where things can go awry. In that sense, the exhibition does not provide relief because its objects do not necessarily reveal themselves as truths.” 

The theme or approach for BNLMTL 2016 will be announced later this year, as well as the team of advisors selected by Pirotte to support the development of the project. The list of participating artists and information about key projects will be released in May 2016.

-LENA GHIO

CENTRE PHI - The Future of Storytelling / Les Nouveaux Sommets du Récit 11.08 - 27.09.2015

Français plus bas

Left to Right / de gauche à droite: PENNY MANCUSO  President of / Présidente du Centre Phi: JULIA SOURIKOFF & YELENA RACHITSKY  Curators of the exhibition  / Commissaires de l'exposition with / avec HUGUES SWEENEY & LAURENT CRASTE. Photos © Lena Ghio 2015

Last Monday I visited the most mind blowing exhibition in the city at this time: SENSORY STORIES going on at PHI CENTRE until September 27th. PENNY MANCUSO, President of PHI CENTRE   recounted with excitement that the idea to present this exhibition in Montreal occurred while sharing a

CARL GOODMAN Executive Director
Museum of the Moving Image
 Photo © Lena Ghio 2015

casual cup of coffee. The exhibition had premiered in New York at the Museum of the Moving Image, MOMI, last spring. JULIA SOURIKOFF and YELENA RACHITSKY from Future of StoryTelling (FoST) curated the exhibition.

CARL GOODMAN, Executive Director at MOMI recommends approaching the VRSE installations like when you go to a Cineplex and choose the film that interests you the most first.

The first work I experienced was Clouds Over Sidra , 2015, by GABO ARORA, CHRIS MILK and BARRY POUSMAN from VRSE.works. This project was made-to-order by the UN to give a human face to conditions in which more than 80 000 people live in at the refugee camp Zaatari in Jordan. We meet 12 year old SIDRA who shows us her universe. I had my hand on my heart throughout the entire screening, moving my head from left to right to get it all in. We are right there in the camp. The children smile at us and gather around. I extended my arms to embrace them. We see teenagers playing video games and we are right beside them. All the while Sidra is telling her story.

I then went to the second floor because when I came out of the VRSE, the other units were already occupied. I tested Hidden Stories, 2015, by Red Paper Heart ( DANIEL SCHEIBEL, ZANDER BRIMIJOIN, ADRIÀ NAVARRO LÓPEZ, ERIC HAGEN, RYAN DE REMER, LISA WALTERS ). It is like eavesdropping on your neighbor. The next work I experienced was Parade, 2014 by Dpt. X, LAURENT CRASTE, MOHANNAD AL-KHATIB and SÉBASTIEN LÉGER. I loved that it connected the latest in 3D technology with the classical art of ceramics. Next I played with Untitled on Google Cube, 2014, by Google's Creative Lab, Sydney and Semi-Permanent, directed by STEVE AYSON and DAMIEN SHATFORD, produced by SWEET SHOP. You move the cube and the story changes, the images change. And the piece Mimicry, 2012 by EMILIE TAPPOLET (Apelab) and RAPHAËL MUNOZ (Aprobado) with Haute École d'art et de design de Genève, really caught me off guard! There are two artworks on the wall that look like ordinary static paintings: Le Petit Baptiste imitates your facial expression and Le Voyageur contemplant une mer de nuage will react to your facial expressions to create phenomena inside the picture, like you can invoke rain by opening your mouth! These are just a few of the pieces I saw.

VRSE installations / Hidden Stories, 2015
 Photos © Lena Ghio 2015

Starting August 18 2015, there will also be the much anticipated Birdly installation, 2014-2015, MAX RHEINER and Haute École d'art et de design de Zurich with THOMAS TOBLER and FABIAN TROXLER, that will give you the experience of flying like a bird over Manhattan. There will be a 5$ ticket fee, or 1$ if you have an STM ticket and there could be a waiting time, and it will be unavailable from September 12 to 19, BUT isn't it worth it to fly like a bird!

PLEASE use 315 Saint-Paul St. W entrance.

Very Important Conferences

September 17 2015  in French only- an exciting panel of Quebec artists featured in this exhibition. FREE

September 23 2015  a day with experts from around the world in the field of the Future of Story Telling. For this event, you will need a ticket. HERE 

DO NOT MISS THESE EVENTS!!!!!

You can now buy an app for you I Phone or I Pad and recreate the VRSE experience whenever you feel like it!

FRANÇAIS

Lundi dernier, j'ai visité une des expositions les plus éclatée en ville en ce moment: SENSORY STORIES qui est présentée au CENTRE PHI jusqu'au 27 Septembre. PENNY MANCUSO, Presidente du CENTRE PHI  raconte avec enthousiasme comment l'idée de présenter l'expo à Montréal s'est manifestée en partageant un café. La première de cette exposition a eu lieu à New York au

 Museum of the Moving Image, MOMI, au printemps dernier. on  JULIA SOURIKOFF  et YELENA RACHITSKY de l'organisme Future of StoryTelling (FoST) sont les commissaires de l'exposition.

Parade / Untitled on Google Cube
 Photos © Lena Ghio 2015

CARL GOODMAN, directeur exécutif à  MOMI a recommendé d'approcher les intallations VRSE installations de la même manière que vous choisissez un film au Cineplex et choisissez celui qui vous intéresse le plus en premier.

La première oeuvre dont j'ai fait l'expérience est Clouds Over Sidra , 2015, par GABO ARORA, CHRIS MILK et BARRY POUSMAN de VRSE.works. Ce projet résulte d'une commande des  ONU pour donner un visage humain aux conditions dans lesquelles doivent vivre plus de 80 000 personnes dans le camp de réfugiés Zaatari en Jordannie. On rencontre une jeune fille de 12 ans, SIDRA, qui nous montre son univers. J'avais la main sur le coeur durant tout le visionnement. Je bougeais ma tête de gauche à droite pour pouvoir tout voir. On se sent réellement dans le camp. Les enfants nous sourient et nous entourrent. J'étirais mon bras pour les embrasser. On voit les adolescents qui s'amusent avec des jeux vidéos. Tout au long, Sidra raconte son histoire. 

Je me suis ensuite rendue au deuxième étage puisqu'à ma sortie du VRSE, les autres unités étaient déjà occupées. J'ai testé Hidden Stories, 2015, par Red Paper Heart ( DANIEL SCHEIBEL, ZANDER BRIMIJOIN, ADRIÀ NAVARRO LÓPEZ, ERIC HAGEN, RYAN DE REMER, LISA WALTERS ). C'est comme écouter aux portes des voisins. L'oeuvre suivante dont j'ai fait l'expérience est   Parade, 2014 par Dpt. X, LAURENT CRASTE, MOHANNAD AL-KHATIB et SÉBASTIEN LÉGER.  J'ai aimé que la pièce réunit la dernière technologie 3D avec l'art classique de la céramique. Ensuite j'ai joué avec  Untitled on Google Cube, 2014, par Google's Creative Lab, Sydney et Semi-Permanent, dirigé par STEVE AYSON et DAMIEN SHATFORD, produit par SWEET SHOP. Quand on bouge le cube, on change l'histoire et l'image sur l'écran. La pièce Mimicry, 2012 par EMILIE TAPPOLET (Apelab) et RAPHAËL MUNOZ (Aprobado) en collaboration avec Haute École d'art et de design de Genève, m'a vraiment prise par surprise! Il y a deux tableaux sur le mur:  Le Petit Baptiste imite nos expressions faciales et Le Voyageur contemplant une mer de nuage réagit à nos expressions faciales pour créer des phénomènes dans le tableau, par exemple si vous ouvrez la bouche vous invoquez la pluie dans le tableau! Ce sont quelques-unes des oeuvres que j'ai vu.

Dès le 18 août 2015 vous pourrez vivre l'expérience du vol d'oiseaux au dessus de Manhattan dans l'installation très anticipée Birdly , 2014-2015, MAX RHEINER et Haute École d'art et de design de Zurich avec THOMAS TOBLER et FABIAN TROXLER. Il y aura un coût de 5$, 1$ si vous présentez votre billet de transport de la STM. Il pourrait y avoir une ligne d'attente, et la pièce ne sera pas disponible du 12 au 19 septembre, MAIS ça vaut la peine pour voler comme un oiseau n'est-ce pas! 

SVP prendre l'entrée 315, rue Saint-Paul O.

Conférences très importantes

17 Septembre 2015  totalement en français, un panel très excitant avec les artistes québécois qui participent à l'exposition. GRATUIT

23 Septembre 2015  une journée avec des experts internationaux dans Les Nouveaux Sommets du Récit. Vous aurez besoin d'un billet:  ICI 

À NE PAS MANQUER!!!!!

Vous pouvez maintenant vous procurer un app pour votre  I Phone ou I Pad et recréer l'expérience  VRSE  quand cela vous plaira! 

Phi Centre also has a great casual wear boutique
with products inspired by the exhibitions. Seen
here Allie X limited edition T-shirts. /
Centre Phi a une merveilleuse boutique de
vêtements décontractés qui sont inspirés par les
expositions. Ici, les T-shirts Allie X édition limitée.

-LENA GHIO

WORLD PRESS PHOTO Montreal 2015 26.08. - 27.09.2015 Marché Bonsecours

Second Prize Long-Term Projects / 2e Prix, Projets à long terme Kacper Kowalski

 Caption: 54°33’47.37”N 18°13’42.22”E

Kacper Kowalski is a pilot and a photographer. Side Effects is a documentary project about the complex relationship between humans and nature. The photos were shot either from a paraglider or a gyroplane, some 150 meters above the ground, mainly in the area around Gdynia, in Poland, where Kowalski lives. In this work, Kowalski explores answers to questions that deeply interest him: What is the natural environment for humans? Is it an untouched, virgin landscape? Or is it a landscape that has changed, adapted to human needs? Kowalski sees his work as offering a graphic and sometimes abstract portrait of how civilization came into being. For Kowalski, the content of the photo is less important than the reactions, reflections, and ideas that arise when looking at it. He would like the project to be a starting point for discussion about what is good or bad, necessary or optional, in the relationship between humans and nature.

The camera is never connected to a remote control, and Kowalski never uses a drone. He wants to be up there, camera in hand. And he flies alone. That means he doesn’t have to explain anything, or rely on another person’s spatial imagination. It means he can fly precisely. Side Effects is more a method of visual storytelling than a concrete set of pictures. It is an ongoing project that will continue to be modified. / Kacper Kowalski est pilote et photographe. Son projet Effets secondaires est un documentaire sur la relation complexe entre l’homme et la nature. Les photos ont été prises d’un parapente ou d’un autogire, à près de 150 m du sol, principalement dans la région de Gdynia, en Pologne, où vit Kowalski. Avec ce projet, il tente de trouver des réponses aux questions qui le préoccupent. Que représente l’environnement naturel pour l’homme ? Est-ce un paysage intacte et vierge ? Ou est-ce un paysage modifié, adapté aux besoins de l’homme ? « C’est un peu comme si le spectateur était à bord avec moi, et – comme c’est mon cas en cours de vol – n’avait aucune information sur ce qu’il voit. L’admiration pour la forme passe avant toute compréhension du contenu. » 

- Kacper Kowalski 

Français plus bas

One of the most anticipated exhibition each year is the WORLD PRESS PHOTO world tour. This year again you will be moved by what photojournalists have captured with their shutters. The rap artist SAMIAN is the spokesperson for this years event happening at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal.

FRANÇAIS

Une des expositions les plus anticipées à chaque année est la tournée mondiale du WORLD PRESS PHOTO. Cette année encore vous serez émus par ce que les photojournalistes ont capturé avec leurs lentilles. Le rappeur SAMIAN est le porte-parole de l'événement qui se déroulera au
Marché Bonsecours dans le Vieux-Montréal.

-LENA GHIO

Les Gazelles / The Chicks

Bande Annonce / Trailer

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Une histoire de filles devenues des femmes dans la trentaine à la recherche d'identité et d'une vie satisfaisante. L'histoire commence par la séparation de Marie ( CAMILLE CHAMOUX, qui est aussi une des scénariste du film en collaboration avec MONA ACHACHE, CÉCILE SELLAM, ELODIE MONLIBERT et JULIEN WEILL) et Éric (FRANCK GASTAMBIDE) qui vivent ensemble depuis 14 années. Marie se sauve de la maison en pleine nuit sous l'emprise d'une attaque d'angoisse. Durant tout le film elle cherche sa place dans ce monde, dans sa communauté et cela lui vaut plusieurs mésaventures. Le film évoque la populaire série SEXE À NEW YORK où quatre femmes célibataires partagent leurs aventures en trinquant avec un Cosmopolitan . Ici aussi il y a un cocktail fétiche, la Vodka.

Ce que j'ai aimé c'est que notre héroine Marie va jusqu'au bout de son aventure pour se ré-inventer sans Prince Charmant!

ENGLISH

A story of girls that are now women in their thirties and still in search of their identity and a satisfying life. The story begins with the break-up of Marie ( CAMILLE CHAMOUX, who is also one of the screenwriters with  MONA ACHACHE, CÉCILE SELLAM, ELODIE MONLIBERT and JULIEN WEILL) and Éric's (FRANCK GASTAMBIDE) 14 year relationship. Marie runs away from their home in the middle of the night while suffering from a severe panic attack. During the entire movie she is searching for her place in the world, in her community and this leads her to many misadventures. The film evokes the popular series SEX AND THE CITY  where four single women share their adventures while toasting on Cosmopolitans. Here too there is a fetich cocktail, Vodka.

What I enjoyed was that our heroine Marie goes all the way with her adventure to re-invent herself without a Prince Charming to save her!

In French with English subtitles.

Disponible en DVD, vidéo sur demande et iTunes dès le 11 août 2015
Availble on DVD, Pay per vu and iTunes on August 11 2015

-LENA GHIO

FANTASIA - STEPHEN HAWKING - EXTRA-TERRESTRIALS

Yuri Milner And Stephen Hawking Host Press Conference On The Breakthrough Life In The Universe Initiatives . 

FRANÇAIS app de traduction à gauche

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 20: (L-R) Theoretical Physicist Stephen Hawking, Cosmologist and astrophysicist Lord Martin Rees and Chairman Emeritus, SETI Institute Frank Drake attend a press conference on the Breakthrough Life in the Universe Initiatives, hosted by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking, at The Royal Society on July 20, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Breakthrough Initiatives)  Left to right: Stephen Hawking; Martin Rees; Frank Drake.

This month of July was bubbling with intense activity as we Montrealers were served a wide ranging cultural buffet rich with huge portions of humor, movies, circus, contemporary art as well as exhibitions about some of art history's giants. It was very hard to select from such abundance of fare. I got a little carried away with analysing the science in two movies that were presented this year at the Fantasia Film Festival: SYNCHRONICITY by JACOB GENTRY and The Visit by MICHAEL MADSEN.

At the same time I was studying the science, I received the press release from BREAKTHROUGH INITIATIVES about a project that will be more sophisticated than ever to search the universe for Intelligent Life. There is a competition for this project. Here is what ANN DRUYAN, Creative Director of the Interstellar Message, NASA Voyager; Co-Founder and CEO, Cosmos Studios; Emmy and Peabody award winning Writer and Producer, said: “The Breakthrough Message competition is designed to spark the imaginations of millions, and to generate conversation about who we really are in the universe and what it is that we wish to share about the nature of being alive on Earth. Even if we don’t send a single message, the act of conceptualizing one can be transformative. In creating the Voyager Interstellar Message, we strived to attain a cosmic perspective on our planet, our species and our time. It was intended for two distinct kinds of recipients - the putative extraterrestrials of distant worlds in the remote future and our human contemporaries. As we approach the Message's fortieth anniversary, I am deeply grateful for the chance to collaborate on the Breakthrough Message, for what we might discover together and in the hope that it might inform our outlook and even our conduct on this world." Here are highlights of the press conference of July 20th 2015 in London:

These actual well-known scientists are gearing up to find life out there while Michael Madsen, a conceptual artist and film-maker, The Visit,  explored with actual professionals whose job it is to greet aliens who would land on Earth. I was amazed to find out A) that there was a department in the United Nations (UN) that specialized in that possibility: The United Nation Office for Outer Space Affairs. The director MAZLAN OTHMAN is one of the speakers in this hypothetical science fiction thriller. 

The movie raises so many fascinating questions about how modern man has chosen to represent himself to a potential intelligent life finding the original Voyager Interstellar Message. For example DOUGLAS VAKOCH, Director of Interstellar Message Composition SETI Institute, asks "Do we tell them about war?" The original Voyager Interstellar Message does not mention war at ALL! Our most time, energy and resource consuming activity, without mentioning the fact that nation upon nation has sacrificed millions and millions of young men to this preoccupation since the origins of the genus Homo, is not mentioned. The movie reflects our fears of being conquered and enslaved, yet, as far as we know, we are the only creatures in the universe to design elegant uniforms with which we dress our young men to face another culture's equally elegant young males so they will endure excruciating hardships, horrors, trials that defy any common sense, young men that will be discarded with the utmost cruelty from the very nations that made them into soldiers in the first place, the reasons for engagement in war range form the stupid to acts of revenge, and  we  have the gall to fear aliens will do this to US, who stand by always as the macabre dance of war goes on and on with every justification mustered up in the minds of the old patriarchs to whom we give our power. Yes! We are the ones afraid THEY will hurt us. I highly recommend this documentary that is a meditation on our global culture that is very sobering.

A FINAL NOTE

Articles from https://www.unoosa.org, a division on the UN that is devoted to the eventuality of us meeting extraterrestrial life here.

I must add a personal concern at this point. As the followers of my blog know, I have made a discovery; that I am writing about more extensively in a book called The Language of Water © Lena Ghio 2015; that our current technology can reveal images created by water in response to specific stimuli that transcend mere refraction. Many articles on this blog document excerpts from my experiments that demonstrate that water could be the source of intelligence in our own beings as the physician GALEN had expressed in circa 200 AD:

This means that extraterrestrial intelligence is already everywhere in the universe as water is everywhere in the universe. Here is one recent water discovery in the cosmos. Also, life as we know it is nondetachable from water. I am sure that very shortly science will demonstrate that it was water in combination with the Alignment Geometries of Celestial Mechanics that created the phenomena we know as life and intelligence.

I fear scientists expect extraterrestrial intelligent beings to be like Oxford educated scientists or professors. Here on earth for example, our very life source, water, is speaking volumes and scientists are not even concerned with looking at the phenomenon much less finding ways to communicate with it, which is what I am doing at this time. The current scientific research on water is done to utilize its powers for commercial gains, in other words, to enslave it to the will of man.

          LENA GHIO 

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New by / Nouveau par Chef JÉRÔME FERRER

Français plus bas

This morning I sampled 3 new ice cream flavors concocted by the renowned Chef JÉRÔME FERRER who has in recent years created a line of gourmet foods you can buy from IGA supermarkets. Dream of flavors with me for a moment: Luscious Lemon Tart  - Fleur de Sel and Praline Maple Glare - Smooth Chocolate and Crunchy Beads. 

The balance of flavor, smoothness and texture is magical! You will not have to worry about desert anymore! 

FRANÇAIS

Ce matin j'ai échantillonné 3 nouvelles saveurs de crème glacée concoctée par le renommé Chef JÉRÔME FERRER qui depuis quelques années a crée une ligne de produits gastronomiques que vous pouvez vous procurer dans les supermarchés IGA. Rêvez de saveurs avec moi pour un moment: Tarte au citron crèmeuse - Caramel à la fleur de sel, éclat de praline à l'érable - Chocolat onctueux et billes croquantes.

La balance entre la saveur, l'onctuosité et la texture est magique! Vous n'avez plus à vous demander quoi servir comme déssert!

On / Sur Facebook Twitter

                                                                             YUMMY!!!!!
-LENA GHIO

ODYSSEO - until / jusqu'au 23.08.2015

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Cavalia ODYSSEO s'est rendu à l’Hôpital de Montréal pour enfants du Centre universitaire de santé McGill (HME-CUSM) au site Glen pour émerveiller les petits et les grands. Comme ces merveilleux  visages l'expriment, parents et enfants furent captivés par la beauté, la musique et les acrobaties des artistes de Cavalia ODYSSEO. 

900 billets pour le spectacle ont été remis à des organismes pour enfants de la ville de Montréal alors que Cavalia ODYSSEO annonce que sa programmation s'étendra jusqu'au 23 août 2015!  

La musique / The music

ENGLISH

Cavalia ODYSSEO went to the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MCH-MUHC) at the Glen site to enthrall big and small. As these marvellous faces express, both parents and children were captivated by the beauty, the music and the acrobatics of the Cavalia ODYSSEO artists.

900 tickets for the show were distributed to organisms for children in the city of Montreal as Cavalia ODYSSEO announced its programming will be extended until August 23 2015!

Après la magie du spectacle, les artistes ont distribué des jolies chevaux en peluche aux enfants. / After the magic of the show, the artists gave away lovely stuffed horses to the children.
All Photos © Lena Ghio 2015

-LENA GHIO