Either Dadaism is still alive and well in Halifax or this is what happened to the Haligonian Occupy movement. I'm not sure when the installation was placed (and no one has taken credit) but we discovered it late last year and I kept forgetting to carry my camera until this morning. Oddly enough nobody has bothered to remove these strange characters from the fenced off old factory pit close to the center of the city. I'm glad because I think it looks better every time I see it. Dadaism had only one rule: Follow no rules. It self-destructed when it was in danger of becoming acceptable. Maybe the Occupiers are hiding out at Cabaret Voltaire til spring.
No wonder SOPA and PIPA disappeared without too much trouble. ACTA was signed by President Obama last October.
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
~ Douglas Adams
When I first opened this page, I thought this was another demolition site (I know, demolitions are on my mind these days!). Then I noticed what I thought were real bodies - a disaster zone? You scared me for a split moment there, Susan! Why is that site sitting like that in the middle of the city, undeveloped - is it contaminated?
ReplyDeleteAs for the Dada art - clever appropriation of the site - and for making us think the above thoughts.
Just after I saw this ACTA video, I received a petition from Avaaz to sign in protest against it. Hope everyone does so!
marja-leena - Apparently there's some political wrangling going on between the federal and provincial branches about who's going to pay what percentage of the $155m an expansion of the Halifax Convention Center will cost. Yeah, Halifax has a WTC. The mind boggles. Sorry for startling you but the local dadaists obviously have their own take on the project.
ReplyDeleteI hope more people understand what's happening with ACTA. It could turn the internet into television.
Your blog is one of the delights in my life, most definitely. I am so glad you took your camera to the site to share with us. What an amazing display (and I think it is super that it remains).
ReplyDeleteACTA...never heard of it. If President Obama has already signed the bill then is it a done deal? This is truly shocking. I will read more about it, and may share this video at my facebook page.
Those corpses masquerading as mannequins still haven't been removed as a threat to hockey, mom, & maple syrup? Canada is strange.
ReplyDeleteThe interwebs needs to move forward (like how a North American can watch the African Cup of Nations, dammit) before it takes 37 steps backward.
Very interesting...and weird.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
THAT... is so cool. More people should commit random acts of art.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Halifax is doing OK for you. Good &stuff.
well...i don't quite know what to say..i imagine had i suddenly rounded a corner and there was an apparent pit of clad bodies, interesting had they NOT been clad, i might have at least let out a squeak. not sure i like it at all....no, i KNOW i don't like it...creeps me out. but thanks as always for broadening my narrow perspective!
ReplyDeletexoxoxo
lydia - As is yours for me and I'm glad we met that sunny morning. We don't go in that direction except when we must so I was most glad to see the figures hadn't blown away. I think the Halifax public works people are too lazy to remove it which is fine with me.
ReplyDeletePer Venture Beat: 'Senator Ron Wyden objected to Obama’s signing of ACTA on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional for a President to sign a treaty without the consent of two-thirds of the Senate. Obama did not consult the Senate, so there are some grounds for thinking that ACTA is not a legitimately signed treaty.'
randal - I thought you'd enjoy seeing the Haligonian Zombie Apocalypse. This place is even weirder because everyone is so normal they simply ignore the bodies.
A number of these clowns just don't get the web - or maybe they do. We'll be back to zines and posters soon.
ol'buzzard - Strange indeed.
okjimm - I'm all for that. I'd do some myself but watercolors tend to drip their colors onto the slush.
linda - I found it quite amusing their bodies were all made of sticks plus they're wearing suits and ties. It's a good place for a bankster hangout.
xoxo
I've just dropped over from Lydia's, via your information page. This is my third attempt at finding your current blog. In the meantime, I had the joy of seeing your clever and careful art and writing. (Good grief! An artist's model? Did your father ever find out?)
ReplyDeleteAs to the current thought, Dada meets Occupy Halifax? Why not? Obviously someone was having fun in the process, and you captured the experience delightfully via camera. (I would have said on film, but that doesn't happen much any more, with Kodachrome and Kodak being mostly in the past.)
An ursine character in conversation with a corvid. In Canada. Phantsy that.
rob-bear - Hi Rob, Thanks so much for dropping by and taking the time to find 'phantsythat' among the choices. Lydia is a very cool lady. In answer to your question, no, my dad never did find out.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to see the installation. Whether the artists are Dadaists or not they certainly got to the essence of the movement.
I will come by to visit your blog.
That installation is wild. And your blog title is one of my favorites of all time.
ReplyDeleteAs for ACTA, damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
The internet and all the information it can give us is just too threatening to let go unimpeded. There are cameras up everywhere anymore and of course everything you do on the computer is going to be monitored.
ReplyDeleteThe Dada art scene is really thought provoking too. You live in an interesting place :)
lisa - It's a college town so there's bound to be weirdness. The title just jumped out at me (as they always do).
ReplyDeleteAs for ACTA - they're going do what they're going to do.
lib - These people are such power freaks. It's just a shame they can't focus all that paranoid energy in a more constructive direction.
Believe me, overall it's not that interesting here.
Susan, thanks, both for the interesting art and the thoughtful inclusion of the ACTA explanation video. (I'm stealing it, BTW, so measure me for a set of striped PJ's.)
ReplyDeleteOur US Government knows that without a free and unfettered internet, there will never be an American Spring. I expect them to do everything in their immense power to curtail our freedoms, and most of it will be done below the public radar screen, as ACTA was.
cr - I'm so glad you made it by to see this one and you're most welcome to steal the link. After all, that's what I did too. It used to be called open sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteDamn govnmts.