Canadian art can be confusing. Sometimes it feels like there was the Group of 7 and then we were left with Inukshuks and native prints. But lots of great Canadian art has been made in the intervening years, and the Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery at UBC is one of the places that choose… Continue reading Michael Morris at the Belkin Art Gallery
Tag: Art
Trapped in Hidden Architecture
There’s a great exhibit on right now at the Charles H. Scott gallery at Emily Carr. Babak Golkar’s Grounds for Standing and Understanding rethinks our everyday relationship to architecture. At the end of the gallery sits an afghan rug; the patterns have been perfectly extruded to create a speculative cityscape. To get to the rug… Continue reading Trapped in Hidden Architecture
Crushing on LED Art
A weekend visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery has got me crushing on Jim Campbell and his LED art. All of his works are a trompe l’oeil of sorts; he uses blinking LEDs to create the illusion of motion. If you stare at one LED it appears to blink chaotically; it’s only in the context… Continue reading Crushing on LED Art
Treasures from the Tokyo National Museum
One of the stereotypes of the Japanese has been that they don’t so much as ‘create’ things as take an original idea from somewhere else and then continuously improve on it until it is perfected. Exhibits A, B & C: the car industry (American and German), consumer electronics (American) and ramen noodles (originally Chinese). Perhaps… Continue reading Treasures from the Tokyo National Museum
The Sixth Borough
Today Wen and I went to Governors Island (yes, that’s no apostrophe). It’s a unique place: picture a combination of old Coast Guard base, now abandoned; an ancient fort, fantastic views of the city and lots of art. Moreover, the future of the island is still being debated, but you can be sure that it… Continue reading The Sixth Borough