Booker Books

Eugène Atget, Secondhand Book Dealer, place de la Bastille, (1910-1911) from The Getty.

The Man Booker longlist has been announced highlighting, as always, how terribly un(der)read I am. As a lover of literary awards I will most likely follow this one as usual. Hey, I might even pick up on or two of the nineteen longlisted (this one and this one look particularly interesting). A few names are familiar including Peter Carey (I've even read a few of his books! Yay me!) and Nadine Gordiner (I think we have one of her's on our shelves somewhere). From what I can see there is one Canadian on the list- Mary Lawson, for The Other Side of the Bridge, who is from Sarnia but based in London (the good one, you know, in Britain, not London, Ont.) The last word in literary criticism, the bookies, have pegged David Mitchell's Black Swan Green as the favourite to win.

For more see The Guardian and the Times. Short list is annouced Sept. 14th.

Looking for ways to have fun in your archives? Play Guess that Goo!

Howdy Archival types! Are you bored with arranging and describing? Genealogists driving you bonkers? Well then, gather 'round and let's play another exciting game of "Guess that Goo!" Look closely and see if you can determine what on earth the mysterious, sticky, possibly toxic (but hopefully not since I stuck my finger in it), black substance is.

Ick.

The Artel, or One More Reason the Town I Live in Is Cooler than the Town You Live In

Kingston has, for a long time, had a strong arts community but really is lacking in exhibition space. Cue one of the best and coolest ideas I've heard in a good long time: The Artel. This is a combination artists' residence, studio, and gallery/performance space. The artists live, work, and show in the same building. And it isn't just the six residents who show. For a meager fee ($100-175) you can show your work for a three week stint. Currently they are winding down the last installment of the Canadian Poster Exhibition/Concert Series with The Art of Sérigraphie Populaire Screenprinting & Design Co.

This duo from Montreal make screenprinted posters that are LSD-bright and, for the most part, extremely complex. The show is predominantly made up of gig posters, what Seripop is best known for, along with a smattering of fine art and other prints. Seeing two rooms absolutely filled with them do to your retinas what I imagine hearing a live set of their band AIDS Wolf does to your eardrums - challenge and quite possibly punish (but, since the show which was scheduled to open the exhibit was sadly cancelled, this comparison is only conjecture) . After leaving the gallery, even on a very bright August afternoon, everything else seems a little less luminous in comparison. It is a fantastic show and one that you may still have time to see. The Artel website says the show is supposed to end today but the person I talked to there said it was running throughout the weekend [note: i was mixed up. It ended the 6th but the 3rd was the last day I could go to see it]. So, Kingston, get out to 205 Sydenham (that's NOP, just so you know) and take a look-see. If you miss this show, there are many more to follow. I highly recommend you keep an eye on this place.
rgsc
Update: Here is a photo of the Seripop installation taken from the Artel site so you can get a sense the sensory overload I was talking about:

The Wallet

There has been a lot of slander aimed at my wallet on these pages and in person in the recent past. Frankly, I see nothing wrong at all with the size of my wallet. It is accused of being a "George Costanza" wallet. Well, I am not ashamed of this and, indeed, look upon it as a compliment. I will remind you of George's wise words : "A man carries a wallet." In dialogue with Jerry, George explains the importance of a real wallet:

JERRY: ... You know it is better without this big wallet. It's more comfortable.
GEORGE: It doesn't matter if it's more comfortable. It's wrong.
JERRY: Why?
(George pulling out his wallet.)
GEORGE: Because important things go in a case. You got a skull for your brain, a plastic sleeve for your comb, and a wallet for your money.

Truer words have never been spoken. No namby-pamby wallet for this kid.

The way I see it, when this archives gig starts really paying off (any day now, I'm sure) and I make Scrooge McDuck-sized piles of cash, I need an appropriate place to store my walking around money. With my wallet, I am prepared.


rgsc

Iconoclasm

Today I participated in a little bit of iconoclasm. Don't worry, I have not been swept up in some Reformation-type fervour. I had to vacate a room in the archives and we are using this as an opportunity to deaccession a lot of stuff that we not longer need or should never have kept in the first place. This Sacred Heart statue was unremarkable, in less than ideal condition, and there really is no one who wants this sort of thing . So instead of hanging on to it, I was given permission to remove it from the archives. And what is the proper way of performing this task? Destruction. While smashing things can be fun, and I had no attachment to the statue, I still felt a twinge of guilt when I took the hammer to it. I suppose it is the art historian in me. Or the remnants of a Catholic school education.

I figured I might try something new (well, new for me) and I recorded the process. If everything works here is me destroying the statue, courtesy of youtube:


Just another day in the archives.

rgsc
PS - woo-hoo this is my 100th post. Took me long enough, eh.