Stocking Up For Christmas

This Christmas, we had the pleasant arrival of a couple of really ginger little men who stole the spotlight in our storefront to compete in the 2012 Downtown BIA Christmas Window Display Competition.

Literally.  They stole it, along with a bunch of other things from Santa's warehouse.

Christmas is such a cheery time full of vibrant characters.  Take the elves for example, they must the be the most nimble and hardest working little workers around, just imagine how hard it must be to manufacture Nintendo games and iPhones by hand all year round in a chilly old workshop at the North Pole.  Or those jolly snowmen, who put on a smile no matter how cold it is and they hold their ground to bitter end, through the worst of sunburns.  Think of all the hard workers that bring the Christmas spectacle together every year.  Reindeer that can fly and haul millions of presents around the world.  The Abominable Snowman who runs a top notch security perimeter for Santa's village, who to this day has still prevented anyone from penetrating the secret compound.  Even Santa himself, that fat old man runs a scheduled delivery still unsurpassed by the best and most modern in the courier industry today.  But then there's one other group... those sweet little gingerbread men.  The ones that jump from your baking sheet as you pull them from your oven and make a break for the door.  Nobody really seems to know what greater Christmas purpose these guys serve.  In fact, from time to time their devilish acts seem to be against Christmas belief.  Some are beginning to wonder if it was the gingerbread men who put the 'x' in X-mas, creating a new generation of greedy kids who aren't even illegible for coal delivery to pressure their parents to shop for their gifts.  What a crazy concept!  Ya I know it sounds far fetched, but after what we've seen around here this year, I wouldn't be surprised if those gingerbread men weren't behind it all.

Well, in case you were wondering, I have the results for the display competition right here.

This year's 1st place prize was given to Downtown Dental for their retro-festive.ca lamp display.

The second place went to Laurenzo’s School of Hair Design arrangement of Christmas stockings. 

And in 3rd place, slightly saddened by our hard efforts to win peoples' Christmas spirit, our ginger little gallery sparkled with hope.

 

As for the other contenders, in alphabetical order, these were the remaining displays.

Allegra

Crazy Bill's

Downtown Bike Hounds

 E. Fusaro's

 Leather's

 Nathaniel Hughson Gallery

Sonic Unyon

TriOS College

YMCA Careerworx

Also, HECFI was listed as a contender but we couldn't find any of their Christmas decorations or display windows to photograph.

Although BIA polls are closed we still encourage our viewers to let us know their favourites.  Send us an email and tell us what you think.  If you have ideas for next year send em this way too!

Partially cooked gingerbread men on the loose.

TREE WOLF & OTHER STORIES

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if you were trapped in imaginative storybook world constructed of your wildest childhood dreams?

A brief look at Tara Krebs new collection of paintings will submerse the viewer in a creative fantasy world like stepping inside pages taken from your favourite childhood story.  However, upon looking a little closer you will find yourself in the company of several bizarre hybrid animal characters in a variety of eerie settings.  Witnessing these paintings are like observing another dimension through a keyhole.  You will likely have no idea who or what you are looking at, but will certainly wonder what is going on.

Each piece is never unaccompanied, and the characters always have a striking resemblance to various opposing but recognizable animals.  Furthermore, you will notice reoccurring little girl who restlessly continues to explore and take part in the events unfolding in various pieces.  Inevitably, you will be left alone to put together each piece of a larger narrative.  Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure novel.
Every viewer will find themselves in a different world.

To see more of Tara Kreb's Tree Wolf & Other Stories collection, visit her exhibition page on our website.

Addiction Is The New Steel

The road to success!

Ya you heard it right, a group of smart little cronies high up in city hall have found a foolproof market in Hamilton they can tap into for a little cash flow.

Addicts!

Yes, addicts, the easiest damn group of people to cater to.  They will literally pay whatever it takes to get their hands on what you're selling.  Ask you local drug dealer if he/she ever has a problem trying to get return customers.

Well, anyways those thoughtful ol' folks figured a department store sized bingo just doesn't cut it anymore for our growing city and came up with a whole new game plan.  A flashy new casino.  As long as it is carefully placed near the racetrack or better yet, downtown by the bingo hall, they will have torn a brand new hole in the already saturated addiction market to stick their shiny little heads through and snag some bucks.  Bucks that could have left town for Niagara, or even worse... to Toronto's new gambling hole!  Ugh.
Imagine another city taking our hard earned gamblers' cash.  It's ours!

But with such a brilliant plan creating millions of new jobs that will make us all well-off, why stop at gambling addicts???  Perhaps, the city of Hamilton should consider a municipal brand of cigarettes or a nice whisky aged in the finest Hamilton steel drums for a unique metallic aftertaste.  Or better yet, the most loyal customers will always respond best to a heroine fix.  Think of how sustainable this industry could be, think of the jobs.  Think of the children!

Peep the full proposal here and pass it on to your local councillor for some immediate approval.

What d'ya say?

Halloween: The Saga Continues

If you happened to spot a human sized squirrel, raccoon, skunk, giant pumpkinhead, bobble-head George W, a humungous skull, Bill Lumbergh look-alike, or a crazy cardboard box robot on Halloween night in Hamilton, then there is a good chance you caught the remnants of a MANTA celebration.  Celebrations at MANTA often cascade into the streets late at night in search of warm and exciting new retreats to eat, drink, and eventually expand onto a dance floor.  Although scary in costume, this parade is harmless and full of candy, like piñatas.  In fact, if you ever get close enough, you will likely be greeted with a whole box of candy.

Sugar taking its toll.

On October 31, 2012 the Raise the Dead exhibit came to a close with a gathering of friends and costume makers to celebrate Halloween for Halloween's sake!  Initially meeting at MANTA, everyone then decided the best route to wander and the parade begun.  Packed with candy and loot, no one with a good costume was passed without a reward.

Packing loot boxes for costumers and lucky Halloweeners.

Thanks to all who got involved and submitted costumes.

Free sugar!

Join us October 2013 in costume and we'll do it all over again!

 

RAISE THE DEAD

What the #$@! happened to Halloween?!?

There is something to be said about Halloween these days, but I won't say it, somehow I think you know what I am talking about.

It's all too easy to go with the flow.  People are basically told what is new and cool and how to be hip.  Is anyone ever questioning who is calling the shots though?  Who is determining what colours are going to be 'in' this year?  Do you fear your reputation is at risk if you dare to be different?  Do you think the people dictating the latest fads are afraid?  I think we can all easily classify two types of people here: there are those who ride the waves and those who make them.  If the latter group appeals to you, I might just have something to whet your appetite.

I want to propose something.  I want to try and bring something back this Halloween.  Actually, make that every Halloween.  Lets try to revive this quasi-holiday spectacle that was once a single day of the year devoted to the creative pursuit of scaring people and getting loot.  I have listed a few points I would like to change.

NEW HALLOWEEN RULES:

ANYONE CAN PARTICIPATE:

No more prejudice against 'overage' trick-or-treaters!
Despite the greater culture of fear telling us stories of older trick-or-treaters attacking homeowners, a larger presence of responsible parents and young adults taking part in the festivities will only strengthen and help self-govern unsafe behaviour in our neighbourhoods.
News and media sources have scared people stiff in the US where some states have made it illegal for children over the age of 12 to take part and limit looting hours from 3-6pm during daylight. 

HALLOWEEN STARTS AT SUNDOWN:

Nothing is scary about a bunch of rugrats dressed as princesses and superheroes sprinting through your gardens after school to get their grubby hands on some candy.  Halloween can be the one day of the year you can truly turn the corner on a dark street and run into the grim reaper (hopefully).  Regardless of how scary the costumes may be though, Halloween in the daylight is out of context and should at least start at sundown.

LET THE CANDY BE THE JUDGE:

No more handfuls of generic bite-size candy for everyone.

Next year, try this:

1. Reach for the unpopular hard little sugar candies (preferably licorice) but also buy some nice big juicy chocolate bars.

2. Lay them out on a table in your front hall and have a seat.

3. Rehearse your favourite reality talent show host's lines and then welcome in your costumed neighbours.

4. Look each costume up and down and deliver treats accordingly.

Good candy = Great, original costume, lots of character, scary yet polite, and maybe sparks a little jealousy.

Crappy candy = Mediocre attempt at buying/wearing something, impatient, with grubby/scratchy hands.

No candy = No costume, bad attitude, complains about not getting the good candy.

If we all institute a little operant conditioning, we will receive a much better Halloween experience.

A store bought Spiderman or Cinderella surely don't deserve as much candy as anything homemade. 

And a scary homemade costume definitely deserves a bonus!

If people get great rewards for making their own costumes, I am sure better and better costumes will be made every year.  And for the ones who don't ante up and make something, well they won't have much candy to look forward to.  It's like survival of the fittest.

With all due respect though, many working people don't always have the time and money to put something together and might as well just grab a cheap costume on the run.  Now before you had over to the 'Made in China' isle, let me propose a more creative idea...

SHOP FOR A CREATIVE COSTUME OR MAKE IT YOURSELF:
Try your best at creating something that will make people scared, or even just laugh at you.
If creating something isn't your thing, or you just don't have the time, try heading downtown to see what is 'Made in Hamilton' and you might be in for a surprise.

 Raise the Dead by day

...and night

Each year for the month of October MANTA Contemporary will host a costume sale at the gallery right up until Halloween.  You won't find any flimsy plastic molds here.  Every costume and/or mask is made by hand by local artists and professional costume designers and they are all completely unique.  It's like buying a clever piece of art... that you can wear.

It will make you so much more popular!

Don't you wish you could be this cool?

If you already have a costume, come on over and try ours on anyways, it's fun.  Get your photo taken, and score some candy too!

Don't you want to be this happy?

Look out on Halloween 2013, we will Raise the Dead again!

...

There Goes The Neighbourhood!

Things got a little too hot on King last week.

If there is any city in Canada that is heating up its real estate market right now it is Hamilton!  All happy thoughts aside though, Hamilton's councillors better double check that things don't start catching on fire.

 

Mo' rubble, mo' problems.

There is no questioning, one of Hamilton's most vital yet delicate features it has to offer are its beautiful feats of architecture.  As anyone from the GTA with the bad taste of faulty glass towers in their mouth will gladly agree that this city is refreshing.  Almost everywhere you look are the storefronts, towers and homes built by masterful masons and bricklayers nearly a century ago.  Most of the architecture is much older and in better shape than anything else in Ontario.  Buildings in the city's core are comparable in age and stature to those in Quebec and the Maritimes and for a fraction of the price too!  Hamilton is dead centre in the middle of Canada's Golden Horseshoe and there is no doubt things are starting to pick up.  People are flocking to the city for the urban feel they only wished they could afford, until now.

 The original CNR Station (built in 1931), now LIUNA Station banquet hall.

Many officials may read the growing statistics and simple numbers that equate to more highways and cookie-cutters in the burbs.  And when a striking 72% of the Hamilton population lives at a higher altitude than the downtown core, things don't always turn out in favour of the lower half.  An ongoing problem in short term Canadian politics has been just that, everything now functions on a short term basis.  If Hamilton is to succeed in the future, everyone needs to plan ahead.  This is coming from the city that sold its train station only to sluggishly come back to it as a flourishing new banquet hall they can't have.  Now the city will attempt to build a train platform and kiosk across the street on a likely miniscule budget.

GO's new generation of stations: a simple platform, shelter, kiosk and vast parking lot.

In the depths of municipal politics there is ongoing debates over land use and development in Hamilton, and many of the ideas seem to contradict the overall growth of the city and nobody seems to be stepping in.  Where's the ref?

It's becoming evermore evident that large numbers of historic buildings in the city are being demolished and turned into parking or gravel lots.  The common safety card is pulled to excuse the large number of losses, and Hamiltonians are told 'we can't save 'em all' from almost every angle of city hall.

Sanford Avenue School to be demolished for green space.

Take the Sherman School at 149 Sherman Ave. N. for example, coming close to heritage status on the city's Inventory of Buildings of Architectural and/or Historical Interest on page 94 and now it is being ripped down to build a park.  Now don't get me wrong, parks are great, but there are developers who want to revitalize the space and turn it into a community and cultural centre.  If public centres of this sort are being denied in order for more park land, we won't have any spaces left for cultural development.  This neighbourhood is already home to a vast assortment of empty lots that could be used for park space.  See CBC.

An easier venue for green space that is practically building itself.

In the heart of Hamilton's Gore Park four large historical buildings in a row are going to be demolished with no future developments planned.  These buildings are just subject to destruction so the property owners will not have to face any restoration challenges when they're deemed historically significant.  The Gore Park will not only lose several historic buildings, it will also gain another gaping void if the city council doesn't act by January 9th.  How can a city function properly when its landlords are allowed to vacate residents and successful businesses to avoid gaining heritage status turning the most vital parts of the city into wasteland?

And how does the city figure a casino downtown is going to help matters at all?
That will be a whole new can of worms.

 Everything you see here is to be vacated and demolished before it can reach historical status.

Hamilton has been given a second chance at reinventing itself and this time it wasn't the steel industry that broke its back for the city, it was creative arts and cultural sectors that pulled the weight.  With the 'new steel' in town, assets of the arts and culture should be embraced and shared to investors and most importantly this includes the historical real estate the city has to offer.  Drive-thrus, big box centres and commercial parks can be built anywhere and there is plenty of questionable open spaces to develop parkland.  Let the prime retail locations foster new pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods and retain the large vacant schools and warehouses for more ambitious cultural developments.

...

 Liberty Village and The Distillery District in Toronto

The success of Toronto's restored Distillery District and Liberty Village neighbourhoods can been seen as great examples of reinventing large industrial spaces that might otherwise be demolished.  Try poking around the north end of Hamilton and you'll discover massive districts of abandoned facilities much larger and older than Toronto's.  Just imagine the opportunities available to create flourishing new cultural micro cities.  Imagine what they could offer back to the community!

Some of the many spaces just begging for development.

Not demolition.

 
Let's hope the next time the hammer is raised it will fix something, cause these places aren't coming back.

Congratulations, to those who fought and worked hard to bring life back to the Lister Block! 

Pearl Company, Staircase Theatre, 270 Sherman, Gallery on the Bay, and the WAHC just to shout out a few more!

FROM CARDBOARD

Almost two years ago I started working a really interesting position creating professional mascots for large sports teams and TV characters.  At first thought, the job was a far fetch from the regular due service in the food industry that many artists dread.  Located in the Lakeshore neighbourhood of Etobicoke between large empty rubble lots, social housing complexes and Ontario's newest super prison were five of us hired to construct a gnarly array of bizarre and ridiculous costumes.  If you can think of a mascot, there is a good chance one of us made it.

At first, the work was energizing and full of very informative and innovative construction techniques and materials.  However, as a result of the increasingly repetitive and monotonous work, it all began to take its toll on us.  The sweatshop feeling was becoming evermore present as we were pushed to work harder and harder.  We no longer found it amusing to wear the costumes for fittings and developed more intense exercises amongst ourselves to increase the level of excitement among us.  It is hard to explain the thrill you get watching your nodding coworker jump when you slap his desk as you walk by.  You know it is going to come back at you.  It really keeps you on your toes.  In an environment with high powered saws and precision blades, the old boss giving you the run down on your performance and justifying your financial shortcomings just wasn't quite lifting our spirits enough to keep us awake anymore.

A couple of slingshots and a crossbow.

That year, all of the mascot builders developed a close bond as a group, sticking together, yet withholding a subtle resentments cowardly expecting each other to stand up against the company.  Gradually, it wasn't that uncommon to have an 8 foot block of foam barricade you into the washroom, or returning to your desk to find everything you own glued in place.  As the bar rose and little antics escalated, it became a necessity to have a slingshot and a pocket full of chopped glue sticks at all times.  Slingshots turned into cannons, and eventually it just wasn't fun anymore unless you trapped your coworker in a giant box or something.

One day, I was at my desk assorting large bins of mascot parts when I was unexpectedly trapped in a cardboard box.  This day changed the prank game for good.  It was way more humiliating having a box hammered down on your head then collecting small welt wounds from glue bits being shot at you.  The key was to construct a box trap that would stay on someones head.   After a week or so the razor box head trap had evolved, equipped half inch thick rubber shoe treads cut in triangles facing upwards inside the box which would lock around a person's neck when pushed down far enough.  Same idea as the razor box from Saw II, but with rubber.  On the outside it was decorated with spare mascot eyes, a propeller hat and a couple of floppy arms that would flail about as one of us struggled for a good 10-15 minutes to get it off our head.  It was the utmost humiliating thing and it was worn with discontent at least twice a day.  You can imagine the paranoia of working in a sweatshop in constant fear of getting trapped, tied up and shot at with glue pellets.

The real deal: don't get this guy stuck on your head!

The razor box trap from Saw II.

As our cabin fever-like state raged on, particular rivalries formed.  For proximity reasons, the target of my choice was the coworker that sat the furthest from me, Eugene.  Our relationship was both calm and tense at times.  Eugene was the oldest employee having worked there for 7 years and considerably more experienced.  He often touted about his time in the trade, but nevertheless he had the expertise to back it up. Despite our frequent assaults on one another, the space between us gave good grounds for cooling off when things went too far.  When it came down to business, we could always call a truce and brainstorm new ideas.  During downtime, we put our workplace differences aside and went out to one of the nearby derelict properties or to the lake where Eugene would often meditate.

If you are still reading by now, I will keep a long story short.  Later that year, the five of us all found our jobs to be a meager waste of time and quit one after another to go our own ways.

Eugene and I have kept in touch and occasionally share a laugh about the past, but for the most part, the boxhead days are over.  Eugene is still consistently creating costumes and masks of his own, inspired by easily accessible materials and with little bits and pieces from the mascot making world.

Corp Bot

When I found out that Melody and I would be opening a gallery, Eugene's masks came to mind.  Recently, Eugene had contributed large cardboard creations to Manifesto shows at both the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Regent Park Arts and Culture Centre.

As part of plan to include various other ex-mascot creators we created our first annual mask and costume Halloween show at the gallery.  Experienced artists can showcase their talent by creating completely unique costumes never seen before, for sale too!  Just in time for Halloween.  Anyways, that's a whole other story, I will get into that later.  In the meantime, we needed a poster boy.

Tri-Top

Eugene Paunil was raised in Markham and lives in Toronto.  He is currently working as a freelance mascot maker and artist.  Having studied industrial design at OCADU, Eugene has learned how to carefully render objects in 3D and has a strong passion for furniture design.  In recent years, Eugene has primarily been working with cardboard, creating full head masks reminiscent of various recognizable animals and other creatures.  The cardboard in each mask is left bare, creating a unique skeletal effect exposing the materials and process to the viewer.

From Cardboard at MANTA Contemporary in October 2012.

Eugene included a collection of five large cardboard fabricated masks both wearable and decorative for our October exhibit titled, "From Cardboard" due to the lengthy history of the material in Eugene's trade and the importance it plays in his work today.

The Crazy Cockatoo and Ramasaurus Rex

For more of Eugene's work go to www.eugenepaunil.com.