{"id":11359,"date":"2012-05-28T12:16:22","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T16:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=11359"},"modified":"2012-11-30T14:11:24","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T19:11:24","slug":"burning-birch-x3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=11359","title":{"rendered":"Burning Birch X3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trash Palace<\/strong>
\nMay 26, 2012, 9:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The defining characteristic of art is poetry.\u00a0 For all the things that art can be, without poetry it is not.<\/p>\n

Burning Birch X3<\/strong>, the worldwide festival of short art films and videos by artists at the Trash Palace<\/strong> in Toronto May 26, was an evening of visual poetry.\u00a0 Without a pre-selected theme, the program revealed a number of shared commonalities from contemporary artists around the world who work with film and video as an art form.\u00a0 These include art as a sacred ritual, art as an expression of joy, as moving paintings and drawings.\u00a0 From the program of 15 shorts, only one film “Hack Your Own Leg”,<\/em> from Latvia<\/em>, resembled a traditional form of storytelling.\u00a0 Curator Wesley Rickert<\/em> explained that he included the film for its surrealist elements, that the spoken narrative was not in English and there were no subtitles.\u00a0 It reminded me of Chekov’s<\/em> play “The Seagull<\/em>“.\u00a0 The other films screened are direct results of leaving the traditional road of storytelling.\u00a0 The films and videos embrace pluralism without losing individual mannerisms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Black Plastic Fork, Wesley Rickert, Toronto, Canada 2012<\/p>\n

I saw differences in films through schools.\u00a0 Aaron Zeghers’<\/em> work indicates a manner I’ve seen in other films by artists from Winnipeg<\/em>, but it is clearly his own style and voice.\u00a0 I’m not familiar enough with the current schools in Paris<\/em> and Berlin<\/em> to say that Julia Weber’s<\/em> or Andreas Karaoulanis<\/em>‘ work is “typical”, but its clear that their films are current and sophisticated without being slick or corporate.\u00a0 They are poetic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Imtra, Andreas Karaoulanis, Germany, 2012<\/p>\n

Anti-corporate culture was an electricity that ran through the night.\u00a0 First, the festival itself was not sponsored by an institution looking to relieve itself of social responsibility through branding.\u00a0 Secondly, these artists are making films and videos because they are artists, not because they are paid to make them.\u00a0 They are not the only artists out there doing so, which is why last night’s screening was so important.\u00a0 Historical buildings are being replaced with uniform zombie condos but we carve out spaces to screen poetry and this is resistance to mainstream culture.\u00a0 The corporations continue to make movies centered around the male protagonist and the conflict-resolve model but artists paint on film.\u00a0 The difference is a perspective of enlightenment, not entitlement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Story of Thomas Edison, Aaron Zaghers, Winnipeg, Canada, 2011<\/p>\n

Every film was an original experience, an exhibition times 15 which is more than I can properly speak to after a night of punk performance.\u00a0 But there are three\u00a0elements that were remarkable.\u00a0 First, the audience was impressive.\u00a0 The crowd who came out are clearly interested in seeing contemporary art films and this is good news for everyone.\u00a0 Secondly, Wes Rickert<\/em> curated a bridge-building event and provided original, live audio for two of his films, which I was part.\u00a0 An audience member asked about the audio during the break and was surprised to find out that it was not only live but created in the moment, not pre-rehearsed and not pre-recorded.\u00a0 (This doesn’t mean we don’t practice, all artists practice, but the approach is outside the tradition of a repeatable score IE. based in “pure jazz”).\u00a0 During the second half of the program the 253469 noise band was joined by percussionist Maja Klisinski<\/em>, visiting from Belgrade<\/em>, Serbia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Vertigo, Julia Weber, Paris, France, 2012<\/p>\n

Lastly, I fell in love with a 7 minute film by Montreal<\/em> artist Sylvain Chausee<\/em> called “Joy Maybe”.\u00a0<\/em> Sylvain created this film which had over 150 cuts, making it impossible to screen so he had a print made and the first showing of this print was at Burning Birch X3.\u00a0 A silent film, shot in black and white, expressed the joy of dancing, of being, of life.\u00a0 I watched as two young women in plaid shirts danced and threw the shirts into the air.\u00a0 The shirts fell and flew over and over, making me think of the early 90s when I first got into the world of art and underground culture.\u00a0 It made me happy to remember but not nostaglic for the past.\u00a0 Art is present, it is now but it is not everywhere.\u00a0 You have to find it.<\/p>\n

Text by Kathleen Reichelt. Photo: Christina Kozak and Kathleen Reichelt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kathleen Reichelt<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE TRASH PALACE<\/strong>
\nMay 26,2012,9:30pm<\/p>\n

Without a pre-selected theme, the program revealed a number of shared commonalities from contemporary artists around the world <\/p>\n

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