Thursday, April 24, 2014

You Don't Have To Worry

This Easter weekend I did everything but celebrate Easter. On Sunday, I went to an art exhibit called The Clock and I was quite impressed. My mom and L. told me it about it, but I didn't know what to expect from it. After waiting half an hour in line, I finally got to see the show.

Basically, Christian Marclay, the artist, collected thousands of clips that featured time in a physical and mental state (e.g. a watch and people waiting for something). He then took all the movie fragments and collaged them together to create a 24 hour realtime installation.

It was so mesmerizing, I could of sat there for hours watching this movie with no story. There wasn't a narrative pattern, but that didn't stop me from wanting to see more. Sometimes it was overwhelming to see the time go by before my eyes. It made me realize how much I base my life on time. It also made me realize how time is the only international language we all understand. Everyone knows what time it is.

When you think about it more, time has only been a big aspect of our society since around the time cinema began. So the choice of medium for this project was perfect. Before films appeared, people had just started worrying about their 10 to 5 jobs and they didn't yet notice how it would affect future generations.

I'm not saying calculating time is bad. It's just something that deeply influences all of us. As I write this, I'm worrying about whether or not I'll have enough time to write this, eat dinner and then go see a play at school. All that in less that 45 minutes.

Oh no! Another minute went by. I should go eat.








Friday, April 18, 2014

I Found Another Way To Caress My Day

Monday, spring came back to Montreal. The sun was shining and my hairy legs were out and about. It was quite exciting. This winter was treacherous this year, so I think we really deserved this. Everyone here would agree with me.

After two days went by, everything was still wonderful, but then something happened. It snowed. I was wearing only summer clothes and some knee socks to cover my legs, and in my feet were my new summer shoes (that you can't see in the pictures really). It was saddening, but I know it won't last. In the meantime, I'll make the best of the last days of winter clothing before it's too hot.





Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Surrealist Yuppie, Urban faery, Aspiring Warrior Poet

I want to create a series of articles to share with you my love for many of my favorite female artists/musicians. I'll present them by talking about how they are role models to me and why I think they are empowering figures in our patriarchal society.


The first woman I'd like to talk about is the Canadian musician, Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes. She is known for her experimental and electronic music. She started recording songs while studying neuroscience at McGill. As her interest in producing music grew stronger, she decided to focus solely on her work, thus getting expelled from university. Throughout the years, Grimes has gained recognition worldwide, making her one of the only women in the electronic music scene.

I admire her a lot in her work because, as you might of noticed, there aren't many women who actually do this kind of music. Often, women's work is underestimated in the music industry. This results in only a minimal number of female musicians to have musical breakthroughs. Grimes has had many people infantilizing her and telling her that couldn't do her own thing.

Last April though, the 26 year-old spoke up about it and wrote a manifesto dealing with how she's being treated by the music industry. In general, people reacted to it in a positive manner and agreed that this way of treating women should change.

Not only is she a great feminist role model, but she has great style. Her hair changes color like she changes outfits. And her outfits remind me of a grungy 90's look combined with her personal touch of absolute "stylishness". 

If I sum this up, I believe that Grimes deserves immense respect for doing what she wants in an industry dominated by men and that she has succeeded in standing up against the injustice that's being done to female musicians/singers. Plus, she does all this with amazing style. 

Bonus: