That's Not Art - Broken Area Podcast Isabelle Michaud and Mark Helsten

This week, we discuss David Lynch’s “The Art Life.” Mark thought it was interesting to see how much Lynch’s painting explained a lot about his movies’ dark looks and feels. We loved watching Lynch paint with his hands. I thought that Lynch’s paintings were very strong, I loved how he shaped clay on wire to write words and integrated that text in his paintings. I loved “things I learned in school”… childish and eery. Gloomy. Tending towards the grotesque, just like Twin Peaks Part II. I wonder what it is that makes us painters want to reach pieces of the past, our past, and grab them and reflect on them through painting ? Is it a form of release ? or perpetuation ?

Episode 50! Wooohoo! We looked at the work of Elle Pérez today. This photographer is interested in showing images that question the boundaries of gender, fragility, inside and outside. Their work fleshes out detailed visual cues, a drop of water, a tiny scar, to evoke in the viewer feelings of empathy. The question the artist poses in the Art 21 video “Works between the frame” made me think about those boundaries in my own work. Mark turned 50 and we talk about how it feels to get older. https://art21.org/watch/new-york-close-up/elle-perez-works-between-the-frame/ https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/elle-perezs-poetic-visceral-bodies

Spring will never arrive! Sault Ste. Marie saw the most snow this year, Isabelle can see 5 ft tall snow banks out her window while Mark can see grass out of his in London Ontario. Isabelle would rather forget this past Winter. Talking about memory, there was in ancient Roman time a social behaviour called “Damnatio Memoria” which caused Romans to want to erase another person from history by scratching this person from paintings, removing their names from walls. Isabelle argued that the modern impulse of Damnatio Memoria would be “unfriending” someone from Facebook. Mark and Isabelle discuss grant applications, they talk about an hypothetical visit from an uncle wanting to discover contemporary art. And as usual, they banter about anything and everything. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae

Isabelle welcomes two special guests today, Yves Larocque and Mónica Márquez, owners and facilitators of Walk the arts, an artistic company that oversees the administration of BRAVO-ARTS, in Ottawa. We met on International Women’s Day at Algoma University where we recorded this conversation. This special episode then, marks the end of a long process for Isabelle, as a recent member of BRAVO-Arts (Bureau de regroupement des artistes visuels de l’Ontario), she facilitated the installation of pentadécagone and welcomed two artists Doris Lamontagne and Nancy Brandsma who came to Sault Ste. Marie to install this multi-video exhibition. It is important to note that this exhibit was important for our northern Ontario town because according to Michael Burtch, former Curator of the Art Gallery of Algoma, the last visual exhibition in French was in 1987; Sans Démarcation regrouped English-speaking Ontarians and French-Speaking Quebeckers 32 years ago while pentadécagone was in French only. It was also a significant event for 180 Projects, a small Ad Hoc Collective working hard to bring alternative voices to Sault Ste. Marie. This multi-video exhibit also brought ACCANO (The African Caribbean Canadian Association of Northern Ontario) to 180 Projects for the first time. Finally, pentadécagone served as a point of beginning and of social change for a small but very essential number of Franco-Ontarian women to come and view art completely in French. Many people contributed to this installation: Jacky Dupuis, Lon Granger, Katy Huckson, Taylor Jolin, Andrea Pinheiro, Miranda Bouchard, Ray Fox, Lisa Meschino, thank you so much for helping in your own way to this successful exhibition. We decided to do the podcast in English in order to mix our voices to the others in this podcast. Links: https://www.walkthearts.com https://www.bravoart.org/publications/edition-bravo-livre-catalogue-depliants/133-pentadecagone-2016 https://www.sootoday.com/local-entertainment/pentadecagone-1213571 https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1151757/exposition-artiste-visuel-francophone-sault-ste-marie http://oneeightyprojects.ca

Gabriel Orozco, Yeilding Stone, 1992 2009

Last Saturday September 29th, I had an exhibit on board the MS Norgoma but I did not want to miss the opportunity to speak with Ryan Amadore before he left with his amazing work for Kapuskasing where he lives with his wife Sophie and son. For the past month, I worked in my studio space, right beside the gallery where Ryan’s work was exhibited. I kept catching a glance at his water or his ducky, the two paintings I could see while painting. His loose yet controlled brushstrokes were a reminder to keep exploring and staying fresh and loose. Not to overwork my work. I am indebted to Ryan for this et merci aussi à Sophie!! I was so fortunate that Ryan was happy to share his thoughts with me. It’s a shorter than usual recording but such a wonderful one. Thanks Ryan and happy trails in the middle of no(some)where. Visit http://picbear.xyz/ryanamadore to know more about Ryan! Photo: Ryan Amadore 2018 Music: Neil Young, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, 1969