Toronto Biennial of Art winding down

In addition to this being Black Friday, it is also the last weekend of the Toronto Biennial of Art.  I truly had meant to blog about this much sooner, but I guess better late than never.  (Actually, I had briefly considered signing up to volunteer for this, but life intervened as it always does.)

There has been a small exhibition of photos by Luis Jacob in Union Station since the beginning of the Biennial, but it took me a while to go out to some of the other exhibition sites (and I just never had any intention of going much beyond the urban core, like out to Mississauga).

Luis Jacob, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto City Hall, 2017

I did make a bit of an effort to get out to MOCA to see the Age of You exhibition curated by Douglas Coupland.  This wasn't technically part of the Biennial (since it wasn't free), but it was reasonably thought provoking, even if the artistic element of the show was on the thin side.  This show seemed to be designed specifically for people with short attention spans, even more than Coupland's previous retrospective.)

This exhibit runs through Jan. 5, so there is still over a month left to see it.  One video installation by Shezad Dawood (actually three parts of the Leviathan series) were on view, though that stopped running in early November.  However, part 5 is still on view at the main Biennial Hub (259 Lakeshore Blvd East) through tomorrow.

It took me quite a while to get to the Biennial Hub, and in the end I tried to bike there.  I did make it in the end, but it felt incredibly dangerous, particularly with the heavy truck traffic on Lakeshore and the construction at the Biennial site itself!  I would not recommend trying to get their via bike (or really even by transit), but if you do attempt it, it is probably safer to stick to Queens Quay and the Martin Goodman Trail, and then cutting north on Bonnycastle.  Nonetheless, this felt like a terrible, terrible location for the hub of the Biennial.

I'll just post a few things I found of interest at the hub, and circle back around and caption them tonight.

Curtis Talwst Santiago, from the Infinity Series, 2012-2019

Shezad Dawood, The Trouble with Lichen 3, 2019

Luis Jacob, Regent Park Boulevard, 2018

Adrian Stimson, Guess who's coming to dinner?, 2019

At this point, I am debating whether to go out to Ontario Place to catch part of The Drowned World installation.  I probably will, since this is the last day (it doesn't run tomorrow), but I definitely find getting over there to be a chore.  I suppose I might take the GO Train one stop to Exhibition.  I already can't make the opening (J.G. Ballard reading from his novel The Drowned World) but I can make some of the intermediate and end sections if I decide I really want to make the effort.  I'll decide shortly.

Update: I did go to Ontario Place.  It was actually an enormous hassle, since the train doors didn't open at Exhibition!  And we were hijacked to Mimico and had to take an Uber to get back.  Believe me, I am going to take this up with many people at GO and Metrolinx on Monday!  I was in an incredibly foul mood by this point, but I decided to head over to Ontario Place anyway (across the seas of parking lots).  It was vaguely amusing to see the long lines to get into Cirque du Soleil's new show, Alegria, and then the lack of lines to get into the Cinesphere for The Drowned World.  That's not to say that there were not people there.  It was moderately full of people who had settled in for the long haul (5+ hours of various video pieces).  Unfortunately, I arrived just as a one-hour piece on saving seeds from ecological devastation started, and this just didn't interest me at all.  I think if I hadn't been waylaid by GO, it would have been more to my taste, and the pieces in the previous half hour looked a bit more interesting.  However, it was pretty clear that this was just not my day, so I turned around and left.  I actually would have taken the streetcar back, but I just missed one, and it was only a 4 minute wait for the next GO train, which did open its doors at Union Station at least.  I will ask the organizers if any of the video from The Drowned World will go on-line or if a DVD will be produced, but the likely answer is no.  So I have to say the way the Biennial wound down for me was fairly disappointing, and I probably won't fondly remember this event, even with the passage of time.  C'est la vie.

High-Pressure Weekend

There are some stories from the business section of the paper showing that Black Friday sales have come to Canada (whereas previously it had been more of a Boxing Day thing, i.e. discounting products only after the holiday rush).  While I will probably go downtown this weekend, I am going to avoid the Eaton Centre and pretty much all shopping districts.  That's not to say I am completely done with Xmas shopping, but I just can't be bothered, especially when the crowds are so large.  I'm also making a semi-conscious effort to reduce the amount of stuff in our lives, moving more to digital delivery as well as "sharing experiences" instead of consumer goods.  (That's not to say that the children are completely on board, though it is true they are much less interested in toys than they used to be.)

What is interesting to me is that in addition to Porter Airlines trying to get in on the Black Friday madness (and I may in the end end up booking a flight), quite a few theatres and musical organizations (like the TSO) are having Black Friday sales.  I probably won't add any more January concerts to an already very full month, but I was happy to take advantage of a sale for Lynn Nottage's Sweat at Canadian Stage.  I've had my eye on this play for a while, and I had held off buying tickets to see if a sale would come along.  I didn't see any sales at Mirvish that particularly interested me (at this point I'm probably only interested in catching Come From Away a second time).  While there are plays at Crow's Nest that I plan to check out next year, they weren't included in any promotions this weekend, though I'll take one more look tonight.

Anyway, it's an interesting strategy, and I'll try to remember next year that if there is something I want to see in the first quarter of the year, then there will likely be a Black Friday sale covering it.  Happy shopping...

Competing (4) Seasons

It's generally not that hard to see Vivaldi's The Four Seasons live.  It's such a popular piece that it pops up generally once a year somewhere in Toronto.  A less common (but still not uncommon pairing) is The Four Seasons and Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.  I saw that combo in Vancouver, but unfortunately didn't make it to a Toronto concert of the same, probably a year ago.

This week has the distinction of having two competing versions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons at two separate venues.  I have to admit, somewhat sheepishly, that I am going to both, so I should be able to make direct comparisons.  Fortunately, the rest of the programs are different!

As it happens, Daniel Hope came through with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at Koerner Hall in Toronto last Sunday.  They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons for strings and harpsichord but accompanied by guitar or lute, depending on the "season."  That was an interesting twist that didn't overwhelm the rest of the performers.

They opened with a very fine Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 104.  By the end of the concert, they had earned (or at least performed) three encores.  No question there is a bit difference in Europe and North America towards the encore at a classical concert.  Generally, I find encores extremely rare, unless it is a European orchestra on tour here.  The first encore was the last movement of a different Vivaldi concerto, then Gershwin's I Got Rhythm! and finally Weill's September Song.  An interesting change of pace.  Sadly, if you didn't already go, you'll have to settle for listening to his recording of the piece with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

However, there are two dates remaining for the TSO's performance of Vivaldi's and Copland's Appalachian Spring: tonight and Thurs.  More details (and some limited tickets) here.  I'm going to the Thurs. performance, which I expect will be very nice as well.  Maybe the music will help clear up some of these early winter blahs, as we seem to have skipped most of autumn this year...

Edit: We saw Jonathan Crow lead the TSO last night.  It was a fine performance, but I am going to give the node to Daniel Hope, partly because I was intrigued by the guitar/lute accompaniment, but also the coughing was so out of control last night.  (I realize this is outside of the control of the musicians, but it is just a regular epidemic at Roy Thompson Hall.)  I did think the TSO did something a bit innovative with vibrato at the start of Winter, but it is a little hard to describe, so I won't try.

Wrapping Up Many Books

While I still feel like I am drowning in books most days (definitely exacerbated by a pressing need to clear out a lot of space in the basement!), I have been getting through books at a faster clip these days.  Surely part of that is due to being on transit more (than biking), but also that I am reading somewhat shorter books in the 200-300 page range.  I've been alternating William Maxwell and Dawn Powell novels from their respective Library of America volumes, and the earlier novels all top out at about 250-300 pages.

I am finding that a little Dawn Powell goes a long way.  I thought Turn, Magic Wheel was a real blast of fresh air, and there were some very amusing moments (particularly dinner parties that go wrong) in A Time to Be Born and The Locusts Have No King.  However, I liked the main characters less and less as the novels progressed.  I particularly had trouble maintaining any interest in Frederick, the male lead in Locusts, who makes a complete fool of himself over a poppet.  Of course this happens, particularly to over-intellectual people, but I definitely lost interest whenever he was pining away after Dodo.

I have about 30 pages left in Loren Eiseley's The Night Country.  While there are some interesting bits here as well, I don't really like how autobiographical these sketches are (nor the creeping in of his religious precepts).  I vastly preferred his articles that are more grounded in science, with the personal restricted to just a few minor asides.  That is not to say that many people wouldn't prefer The Night Country to The Invisible Pyramid or The Immense Journey, both of which I really liked, but this isn't really up my alley.  My general impression is that most of his books are more science-based, but that The Star Thrower (his final book) reverts back to the personal, so I'll probably want to make sure that isn't the book that I read last.  I'll probably want to end my journey through his work with The Unexpected Universe.

While I have a better understanding of what Toni Morrison was doing, after reading quite a few interviews (collected in Conversations), it doesn't mean that I actually like the work any better.  When I do like a Toni Morrison novel, such as Song of Solomon, I really like it, but the ones I don't care for as much (Sula, Tar Baby and Beloved), then I just don't care for them at all.  I finally abandoned Tar Baby after finding the plot (literally a reworking of the tar baby folk tale mixed in with Bodou Saved from Drowning) to be completely unbelievable.  I have about 40 pages left in Sula, and I figure I'll press on at this point.  I honestly don't know if I will reread Beloved, but perhaps I shall.  I probably should save Song of Solomon for last, just to make sure I end this journey on an upbeat note.

And with that, I need to get back to work.

Edit (11/22): I have made it through both works.  Now I'm launching into two relatively short novels: The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe and The Organ Builder by Robert Cohen.  This was Cohen's first novel, and it is one that caught my eye many, many years ago, as the cover reminded me a bit of a Robinson Davies' novel.

Obscure Author No More!

At least within Canada, Ian Williams, winner of the 2019 Giller Prize, will no longer simply be an obscure poet and novelist.  He will be a known commodity among the literati.  I thought his acceptance speech (embedded here) was touching.

I am not terribly likely to read his novel, Reproduction, though I will say the report from the Giller Prize jury ("It's a pointed and often playful plotting out of individual and shared stories in the close spaces of hospital rooms, garages, mansions and apartments, and a symphonic performance of resonant and dissonant voices...") does sound at least a little bit interesting.  Maybe I'll put it at the bottom of my TBR list and see how I am feeling about it in 2025.

Anyhow, best of luck to Mr Williams on writing a worthy follow-up!

Obscure author rescued from oblivion

I enjoyed this article in Slate about John M. Ford.  He was primarily a SF writer, who also occasionally wrote fantasy novels, and apparently was a big hit at conventions, as well as made a bit of a splash in the gaming community (pre-video games).  I have to admit I have never heard about him or read any of his works, but I am glad to hear than an arrangement has been made with his family to republish most of his novels and even bring out some unpublished work, including an unfinished novel called Aspects, which Neil Gaiman raved about. 

It has been a very long time since I have read SF extensively, not since my teens really, though there are a few authors or at least series that I reread from time to time (mostly Roger Zelazny, George Alec Effinger and Ian McDonald), but I think I will try to make time for The Dragon Waiting and then Aspects when they are published (or republished) by Tor, starting in the fall of 2020.

Trip to Hamilton

I don't make that many trips out to Hamilton, probably less than once a year.  My first trip to see the Cezanne's at the Art Gallery of Hamilton is probably still the best.  I generally find Hamilton a little depressing and more than a little disorganized.  I still smart a bit over the fact that I missed a pretty decent concert out there because I could not get any information on whether the box office would actually be open to sell same day tickets...

Today I made pretty decent time on the express bus to Hamilton and had a bit of time to kill before the AGH opened.  I found wandering downtown Hamilton was even more depressing on a Sunday, since an awful lot of shops were closed.

There is this large mall (Hamilton Place?) with an indoor farmer's market that I often visit.  Parts of it were completely closed off or permanently closed down and looked like a ghost town (the way so much of Buffalo does) but I did find an open food court with a decent fast food curry place (this is one area where Vancouver was better than Toronto, at least to date).  I was running a bit late by this point, so I skipped the trek over to the farmer's market.

The show at the AGH was ok, but not mind-blowing.  It was an exhibit on cartoonists from Canada, with a focus on independent cartoonists.  The most famous (to me) was Seth.  The catalogue is fairly reasonable at $25, but I didn't want to just pick it up (and I didn't have time to properly browse it).  At the moment, it still isn't in any of the local libraries, and apparently it won't be offered up on Amazon until mid April(!), so the best way to get one is to trek over to Hamilton.  (Though I will see if the AGO happens to have any on my next trip there.)  They had a smaller exhibit on some pieces they have added to the collection recently.  Probably the highlight was a Colville piece donated in 2014.

Alex Colville, Traveller, 1992

From my perspective, the pieces upstairs in the permanent collection were generally the best.  They had a reasonable mix of the Group of Seven (and Emily Carr) as well as the Painters Eleven.

Tom Thomson, The Birch Grove, Autumn, 1915-6

 

Tom Hodgson, Vertical Construction, 1957

It was 1 by the time I wrapped up, and I was starting to get a bit antsy about getting over to McMaster.  I think this probably is my first time going over to McMaster, though I've been to the Queens campus (in Kingston) a couple of times.  I needed to get there by 2 for a Kronos Quartet concert.

It looks like the 47 GO Bus goes out there, as well as several variants of the 5 bus (run by HSR).  I managed to get on a 5C, and after asking the driver if he was going to McMaster, settled in for the ride.  I kept checking my phone to make sure we were broadly in the right direction.  Now after I got to campus, I got a bit lost, but I finally found the place with about half an hour to spare.

There's no point in sugar coating it.  I didn't really care for the piece (Terry Riley's Sun Rings), as it was just too long (80 minutes) and frankly inane in many places.  I still admire the Kronos Quartet for their dedication to new music and really committing themselves to the piece, but this was a dud of a concert for me.  They didn't even do any of their often raucous encores.

I also find McMaster a pretty ugly campus and probably won't be back anytime soon.  (I was hoping to check out the McMaster Museum of Art, but it is never open on Sundays and not until noon on Saturdays, which really makes it a drag to get to, and basically something I will ignore in terms of regional cultural attractions.)

I was a bit stressed trying to figure out the bus route back, but I finally managed it, so if I have to go back to McMaster, the next time around will be simpler.  I did struggle a bit trying to figure out where the GO bus would pick me up (having not done this in well over a year), so I walked over to the GO bus terminal, where at least I would be assured of getting on the bus.  I was a little surprised that the next 16 leaving was a double-decker bus, but that was fine, and I had some extra space to myself on the upper deck.

So it was a moderately successful trip to Hamilton, though not one I will likely be repeating anytime soon.