from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 5, 2008 11:16 AM
subject Great Ice Storm still bring shivers
Dear Stephen,
Happy New Year! Yes, I’m still here. I took a break from writing you during the holidays. We spent two weeks in NB. We drove to Saint John with the two cats. Left the cats with my parents and hung out with friends, staying alternately with S&M, Judith and Rae. The news? S&M are engaged, perhaps I had forgotten to mention that to you. Our first night back we played monopoly at their house and slept over. No, I did not complete one of my resolutions for 2007 but mostly the desire wasn’t there. It would probably mess too much with the friendship and despite the fact we now see one another so rarely they do feel like deep and true friends, the kind one would hope to have for a lifetime.
Do you have friends that you’ve had forever?
Judith and Peter have separated and are filing for divorce. It has devastated him but he seems to be holding up. She found someone new, ironically he is slightly older than Peter and was in fact my Canadian Drama professor at UNBSJ way back in 1992. They seem happy and giddy like schoolkids in love. I have to admit I am skeptical as to the longevity of their couple but they do seem quite committed and in tune with one another.
What is the best way for a community to react when a well-known and liked couple split apart?
Rae and Meghan are still together. He was finishing working at Handworks, is laid off for the next couple months and will look for something new, probably more design-related. Meghan had a successful studio show and handled the Third Space Gallery Members’ Show well, and was house-sitting and working odd jobs such as wrapping gifts. I get the feeling she does not want to continue working the office of the gallery; too little direction, too much responsibility, too little pay. I don’t even know if she was getting paid; the board hadn’t met, Alex didn’t know. There was at least two months of unopened mail in the office. Not a good sign. The gallery lights hadn’t been adjusted for the Members’ Show. Another bad sign.
What should we do about the gallery?
I worked the bar one night and made good tips. It was busy between Xmas and New Years Eve. In fact, a bunch of us ended up there just after midnight on New Year’s Eve because our deep woods cottage trip was cancelled due to yet another winter storm. We skied and snowshoed at Rockwood Park and then partied at Kate and Rich’s instead, went sliding in Queen’s Square and then piled into Happinez, which was busy and poor Peter was working alone but he loves it.
Christmas was fine and dandy, we stayed at my parents’ for three days. Trevor and Tamara visited with the two dogs, and on Boxing Day my grandparents arrived and stayed a few days. Despite having explained quite clearly, especially after what happened last year, the rules to the Xmas Draw, most of my family ignored the rules and bought too many gifts. If it fits their budgets that’s fine, but it feels a bit lopsided as we did not have many gifts to give.
In your family is there someone who habitually goes overboard with the gifts?
I was OK for money during the holidays. I was meeting with Robin S. at SKOL just before heading out and Anne paid me the $300 for guest-curating the Robin Moody show—in advance (though I had finished the writing, it is online now, you can see it at
http://www.skol.ca/programmation/0708/expo.html). Of course, guess what I did with it? I deposited it into my Saint John Credit Union account without realizing I had left that account bank card here in Montréal! But the tips from working Happinez kept me flush.
When we arrived back, a day later than expected due to yet another winter storm, there was a cheque from the CMA for the VAS and it was more than my claim, $400 even plus the $30 for the slide scrum. Pays the rent! The rest goes on Mr. VISA.
Do you carry a balance on your credit cards, or do you pay everything off each month?
Yesterday I took Kuan to get shaved; she escaped in the salon and I had to retrieve her, as the girl who shaved her was a little frightened. Kuan can be quite the little terror. I finished trimming her mane which was left all uncut due to the cone she was wearing. In general the cats seem to have settled back into their lives in Montréal quite quickly, the trauma of the eleven-hour drive far behind them. Manu, who spent almost the whole two weeks hiding in my parents’ basement, is back to being a continual lap-cat. Kuan has no other cats or dogs to hiss and growl at, so she is more pleasant as well.
Joanne, Philippe and Nataniel are stopping by this afternoon for a visit so I had best get cracking at some vacuuming and housecleaning. Jo and especially Philippe are highly allergic to cats.
Any New Years Resolutions? I’ll let you know mine later tonight or tomorrow. Next letter, in any case.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 8, 2008 5:06 PM
subject Winter thaw floods Quebec towns
Dear Stephen,
I had a great weekend and even the start to the week was good, but today I’m in the doldrums again. Saturday we had a visit from Jo and Philippe and Nataniel. We de-haired and cleaned the apartment well, and even re-arranged some furniture. We placed the futon and TV in the living room with the other couch and it works so much better. It was fun to have the little guy here. He was quite active, crawling all over the place, laughing, playing with the few toys we have in the house.
(The toys we have in the apartment consist of an ancient Fisher Price telephone on wheels, the one with eyes that move when you pull it and a stuffed beaver from a Bell Canada promotion. We could have brought out some Tupperware if he was wanting for something to do but he was quite content just exploring)
Sunday I worked a bit at SKOL, mostly scraping old plaster and preparing walls for new plaster. Sarah Roberts came over for supper and I cooked chicken tandoori and we talked about various fundraising plans. She is running a marathon in Iceland in August and raising money for diabetes research.
Monday was an unexpected day off school for me. I had thought it was the first day back but that was actually today. So I spent the whole day at SKOL, finishing the plastering, a bit of painting and lots of waiting. One of Robyn Moody’s crates is still unaccounted for. It contains some components for TARDIS and the entire Constellation installation. We were also waiting for the curtains from 303, and then when we got the curtains we had to wait for hardware. We decided to hang the curtains from airplane cable strung across the gallery. We need to form a light corridor to darken completely the gallery.
So today was my first day back in school. It went well. Marie is a good instructor but I sense she will really have her hands full; it is a mixed Level 5 and Level 6 class, for a combined total of about twenty students. Usually she teaches just level 6 to a half-dozen or so. Despite having some problems with some indirect pronouns such as dequelle, lesquelle, pour qui, etc. I had a good class. It was only afterwards, coming home, that my mood dropped.
I just can’t get focused on any one thing. I have job applications to make, art applications to prepare, writing to finish, art to make, taxes too prepare and laundry to wash. As soon as I sit to do one thing my mind wanders to all the others. All I really want to do is finish the damn curtains—using airplane cable, of course—and read some books. Maybe listen o some podcasts. I’m quite enjoying Radiolab from NY lately.
Claudine is working her ass off on a huge David Adams Richards translation for Goose Lane, as well as shorter texts for Decentre, as well as her regular, full-time job. I feel guilty because I know she is taking on so many contracts because I have no money. I’m such a slacker. I haven’t even finished my own text for Decentre, let alone any active editing of the others. I can’t even stay committed to writing you everyday, even on email. Do you ever have problems with motivation? If so, how do you re-motivate yourself?
Maybe the answer is to have kids and be a stay-at-home dad. Hmmm.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 10, 2008 6:25 PM
subject Toronto school safety bleak: report
Dear Stephen,
For the past three weeks my online Employment Insurance account said that they would “review this information and make a decision on January 8 or the next business day”. That would have been yesterday. Today it says “We are making every effort to review this information as soon as possible.” Three weeks was not enough time, apparently. So I still have no idea how much EI I am eligible to receive or when I might receive it. If ever.
I just applied to a commercial gallery for a position of “personal assistant to the director”. I have no idea what kind of gallery.
Mohanad suggests I take an electrician course, paint murals or turn to prostitution.
And oddly enough, I have had an exchange of emails with Suzanne Hill in NB about a potential contemporary art curator position that might open up at the NBM. The odd thing is that I would actually consider the position and moving back to Saint John.
I still hope things come together here. Ideally I could continue with the french classes in the mornings and work part-time in a gallery in the afternoons, either as a technician, curator, administrator, writer, whatever.
I’ve spent more time recently doing some of the pre-planning for the next exhibition at Third Space. I really have to stop working for free.
I’m heading out to a series of talks sponsored by an artist group called Dork-bots at Oboro tonight. My friend Peter Flemming will be there as well as Robyn Moody, who is giving one of the talks. His crate did arrive and he was up until the wee hours of this morning installing Constellation. The opening is tomorrow.
I tried to tackle my taxes this afternoon and it put me into a dulled stupor. Can’t I just bundle it all up into an envelope and send it off to Revenue Canada? The way Homer did?
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 15, 2008 8:50 PM
subject Cdns arrested in Internet child porn ring
Dear Stephen,
Sorry I haven’t written in a bit. It was a busy weekend! I hardly know where to begin. Let’s start with Robyn’s exhibition.
Friday I went to SKOL immediately after class, in fact I left at noon. Robin and Peter were still working on Constellation; in fact, there was lots to do. Anne fed everyone with sandwiches and then I was soldering, rubberizing, taping and fastening wires and poles throughout the gallery. We stopped at quarter past 4, fifteen minutes after our cutoff time, to clean up a bit and prepare for the opening at 5pm. The overall effect is amazing, even with the five or six remaining poles to be wired. The gallery is completely light-tight, and the LEDs at various levels throughout the space creates a really effective sensation of not only observing a galaxy in space, but even being in space. It really changes ones perception of the size of the room; no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Just lights.
TARDIS is a fun little installation, too, skipping randomly through a recording of The Planets by Holst. There was a good turnout for the openign but after a couple hours I was really, really hungry and exhausted. The plan was for a group of us to all eat together, after the closing reception/party at Articule. Peter Flemming had installed an upside-down Christmas tree in the front window that would shake and vibrate violently when a quarter was placed in the machine outside. Claudine won a raffle, a gift certificate from a local pottery store. Finally we were all organized and Anne and SKOL treated us to supper at a nearby Peruvian restaurant, Pucapuca. There was a great $15 table-de-hôte.
Saturday I assisted Robyn’s gizmology workshops at SKOL, where we had a larger-than-expected turnout, close to sixteen people crammed around a couple tables wedged into the entryway. I have no head for gears and electronics, but Robyn knows this stuff inside and out and mostly answered questions as most people there were at different levels. A wired broke leading to the solenoid that causes the piston to strike the tone arm in the TARDIs, so my makeshift job became demonstrating how it was supposed to work to various gallery visitors. Saturdays are busy days at the Belgo.
Then it was off to Oboro for Patrice Dufaux’s vernissage. His machine Radiant had just broken down 1 hour before the opening. Another work of art succumbs to narrative tropes! He wants me to write about the piece, so I’ll go back later when it is up and running.
Clo and I rented some films from La Boite Noir and headed home, exhausted. We watched Superbad. I almost feel odd in saying it wasn’t half bad. there were definitely some gratuitous comedy that only appeals to adolescents, or addicts of Saturday Night Live, but that I can live with. We started in on a Korean film called Time but fell asleep.
Sunday I cleaned the apartment, and washed six loads of laundry. It took most of the afternoon. Caroline and Francois invited us for supper; he had cooked a Paella. It was really tasty, with a nice mix of sausages. A fun and relaxing evening. We came home and watched most of Talk to me, a film about DC radio personality Petey Green. We finished it Monday evening. Last night.
And then the week began, school, work, etc. Still no word from EI but Peter emailed me to say someone called him on Monday to verify numbers. At least this means they are working on it.
Mario Doucette has contacted me to write an essay on the performance troupe Collectif Taupe for their “retrospective” exhibition this spring in Moncton. Their work is hilarious, but smart and well-done at the same time. You should check out their site:
http://collectiftaupe.blogspot.com/
And in other exciting news: I received an email from James at DHC Art asking if I’d be available to help install their next show. Of course I will! I sent them an email awhile back asking for tech work. Maybe the same strategy will work with the MAC? I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Actually, I should network more, it probably works better.
Anyway, I’d best be off. I’ve got proposals a cookin’. Today was a deadline for a residency and exhibition at a centre called Action Art Actuel in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. I proposed a kind of retrieved Time Capsule version of the PM Project that deals with themes of Utopia. It wasn’t my best-written proposal but it has got the juices flowing for others that must follow.
But in the short term I’m off to watch the second episode of Les Lavigueurs, the “true” story about the Québecois family who won $8 million but who fell apart as a result. The episode last week was a real tear-jerker.
-chris
—
Chris Lloyd Projects
http://chrislloydprojects.googlepages.com
A Division of ADD Painters:
“we’re here to swerve”
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 16, 2008 10:59 PM
subject Thousands remember ‘Boys in Red’
Dear Stephen,
That terrible accident in Bathurst a few days ago has only reinforced my hatred of large trucks. Even though it wasn’t the fault of the trucker, the fact that those gross machines share the road with smaller passenger vehicles makes me shudder. How about entertaining a regulator system of some sort, so we don’t have to deal with those monsters barreling down the highway at 130 kilometers per hour?
Ever have one of those days when you just didn’t feel like doing anything? As you know I have many of those. Sometimes it is an effort just to play Scrabulous. Especially when Courtney pulls out 100-point words and is almost double ahead.
Today we had a substitute for class, Anne from France, whose accent and high-pitched voice tends to annoy me. I am also getting used to Marie-Christine’s very rigorous focus on grammar and her constant efforts. I think I’ll learn a lot this term. We are heavy into pronouns at the moment.
I’ve been working on some proposals and in doing so am backing up some letters. I realize that I haven’t made backups of letters since 2005! What if the Internet breaks tomorrow? I’ll lose two years of “work”. I also think I’ve already lost a small block of letters from just after TRAFIC in 2005, before I switched to the gmail account.
Claudine just got in from her choir practice. She joined the choir Sarah R. is in. I was listening to the new Radiohead In Rainbows and she continued to practice, which had an interesting effect. If the cats had joined in it would have been purrfect.
I had cooked a rainbow trout for supper this evening. I was downtown, retrieving my bag of tools from SKOL and chatting with Robin S about art. I had called James from DHC and we arranged to meet tomorrow. Exciting! Work! Money!
On a somewhat serious note, my Aunt is fundraising to go to China at the end of the month to receive stem cell therapy for her MS. As you are no doubt aware she has to go to China and pay the $35-grand because these procedures aren’t offered in Canada or subsidized by Medicare. Do you think that there is something you can do about this? Here is a link to her website, as well as a link to the recent newspaper story about it. Sorry, I missed the CTV report; I don’t watch that much TV.
http://www.freewebs.com/margoliver/index.htm
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=98457&sc=98
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 20, 2008 11:21 AM
subject Mayor calls for action on gun violence
mailed-by gmail.com
Dear Stephen,
I’m getting back into the groove of getting proposals together for the Dear PM project. There are a number of deadlines approaching (there always are). Perhaps you could help in this area and send me a reply and/or an autographed photograph of yourself looking prime ministerial. I could use just about anything.
I met with James from DHC on Thursday and it looks like I will be part of the secondary crew putting together their next exhibition, Re-enactments. The exhibition will feature video installations by Stan Douglas, Nancy Davenport, Ann Lislegaard, Paul Pfeiffer, Kerry Tribe and Harun Farocki. All the pieces are complicated and ambitious, and DHC is in the midst of massive renovations to build soundproof walls almost everywhere.
Thursday we celebrated Art’s birthday at Oboro, with a launch of a new animated work by Jenny Lin. In 1963 the artist Robert Filliou dedicated his own birthday to that of Art, and in some circles it is still celebrated today. Afterwards we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant on Mont royal and I gave Clo an advance birthday gift, some perfume to replace the bottle she had broken accidentally at yoga class last week. It was Prada tendre which I had bought earlier in the day at the Bay, using my new Bay credit card. I only applied because I would receive 10% off. My own credit card is already fully loaded, I don’t want any more credit!
After supper we went to Cinema Beaubien to see L’age des tenebres. It had some really funny moments, and the setting is absurd (the Québec government housed in le Stade Olympique, par example), but overall it felt a bit like a quirky, quebecois version of American Beauty. I can understand why the critics have been hard on it; it lacks a bit of the rigor expected of Arcan. Still, I liked it.
Friday I went to an opening at Articule of Toronto-based video artist Deirdre Logue. She makes videos of herself performing odd actions, such as painting her ears black or climbing between a mattress and box spring, or trying to demonstrate the sound of her jaw cracking. She also has this project where she attempts to count every single piece of paper from a bag of confetti. The best part about the project—which she captures on video—is the second count. If the second number doesn’t match up to the first then the counting begins again. I love the absurdity of it.
I met Clo at St. Hubert downtown for supper. We had intended to go to Igloofest, an outdoor dance party in Le vieux port, but we decided against it and just rented movies instead. We went home and watched Eastern Promises.
Saturday I had an mid-afternoon meeting with Pascal Dufaux to discuss his work Radiant currently up at Oboro. He wants me to write a text. I’m thinking of pitching a broader review to some art magazines, perhaps something that will include Robyn Moody and Jessica Field, who is currently showing at Optica. I should probably see her exhibit before writing about it.
Claudine and Caroline went cross-country skiing at Oka yesterday. After meeting with Pascal I bought some hardware and finally installed a cable and curtains in our living room and bedroom. When Clo and Caro came back we went out to Cinema Beaubien to see Persepolis. It is such a good film, the animation is wonderful, delicate and ornate when it needs to be, simple and direct at other times. For some reason it reminds me of Maus.
This morning I woke early and finished watching HG Wells’ Things to Come. It has terribly cheesy dialogue that I can forgive considering it was made in 1936. There are really some interesting montages, one can see the filmmakers experimenting with different effects. It is often funny in retrospect to see how stories about the future get some things correct (flat-screen TV, projections, underground cities, the style of architecture) and some things a bit off (space gun shooting a rocket to “conquer” the moon, clothing, underground cities).
Speaking of the moon, do you ever question the first moon landing? Don’t you find that the technology at the time — Neil Armstrong’s landing was televised, remember—seems a bit advanced and out of place? If it weren’t for the retroreflectors left on the moon I’d almost entertain the doubts myself.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 21, 2008 8:16 PM
subject Cdn health-care fails to stack up globally
Dear Stephen,
The cold snap arrived yesterday. Clo and I went for a brief walk to the grocery store in quick march mode. This time we tried France’s, an Arab grocery located across the street from our usual Metro. Prices are good there, and they have a wider array of sauces.
The cold snap continued today. I caught the bus to and from school; I am making good use of my Metro pass. The price went up this month so now an adult pass costs almost $70. I guess I can use that amount for my taxes next year. Speaking of taxes I’ve still not finished mine from the previous few years though the forms have been on my desk for a couple weeks now. My new desk which consists of the former dining room door. I needed more space. More space for random papers and tools and bits of stuff. And someday I’ll make some art on this table.
Today I FINALLY managed to speak to a human being at Service Canada regarding my EI. He told me that they are a week late. What does that mean, I asked. He says that they have analyzed the new information (my ROE) and he assumes that the delay is because they are trying to determine my self-employed income allowance. I can empathize that this would be confusing since I haven’t filed my taxes, so what can they possibly measure these numbers against? They would have to take my word for it. Of course, it will be mostly my word in my taxes anyway, since I burned most of my papers and pay stubs and bank account records in a fit of madness last year.
The EI delay is starting to worry me though. I applied on November 11, assuming that even with delays I should start getting some money in January. Now I just want to be able to help pay rent in February. At least I’ll be working at DHC in February, which will help cover some costs. Like my Visa minimum payment.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the day writing various things and finishing up some proposals. I have some others on the go; it is a constant cycle, but a good cyclical habit to get into. I just realized I missed a nice Gros Morn National Park residency program. I have to be more vigilant! Less Scrabulous!
I’m off to venture into the cold to return a movie and rent another. We’re thinking of renting Dans une galaxie prèt de chez vous. We saw a trailer for the sequel during Persepolis.
Have you seen any good movies lately? Seen any good art? Heard any good bands? Peter, Bjorn and John were playing tonight in Montréal. And I finally downloaded In Rainbows (I caved and bought it on iTunes; I would have paid $9.99 direct to Radiohead if I had gotten around to visiting the pay-what-you-like site before they shut it down. The album is great; on par with OK Computer. Maybe a little more subtle.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 23, 2008 9:02 PM
subject Girl, 15, left bound for hours in police cell
Dear Stephen,
Today is a sad day. David Askevold, artist and educator from Halifax, passed away. He was a hard-working artist, a great conceptualist, and had a huge impact on art students and artists alike. He will be sorely missed.
On other sad news, though not as sad as a death, Claudine and I had an up-and-down argument yesterday. It actually started late a couple nights ago, over money, and my lack of it, and my lack of a job. This was exacerbated following a discussion I had with Judith who offered to sell us her new beau’s house for almost $30 grand less than what it will be listed for. They are planning to buy a place together in the South End; his old place is on the West Side, with ocean view, close to Partridge Island. The photos she sent us were stunning and Clo made a telephone appointment with Cindy from SJ and was pre-approved for a mortgage. Then we cooled our heels a little and realized buying a house in SJ at this time is a bit out of reach. Hello! I’m unemployed and can’t even get a straight answer from Service Canada as to how much EI I am entitled to nor when or if I’ll ever get it. My credit is shot and she’d be buying the house all herself. So we argued about that, about how I can’t travel with her, and how I am antisocial.
Sometimes I wonder if we’ll make our 1 year anniversary still married. Sometimes it feels we are growing distant to one another. It makes me feel like I’m about to fail in yet another area.
The french classes are wearing me out. I come home with no ambition to do anything. Yesterday I watched Logan’s Run and then had a nap. How productive.
Today our class was offered tickets to a performance of Les Justes at Théatre Denise-Pelletier. It starred Maxime Denommée, who is also starring opposite my favourite quebecoise actress Isabelle Blais in the film La belle empoisonneuse. I didn’t particularly like the play. I found it stodgy, over-acted in parts, too much yelling, too static. The theme of terrorists and revolutions is interesting, but any attempt to make connections to current times seemed forced.
I have to take some responsibility for planning a party chez nous to celebrate Clo’s birthday. Kent just called and he will be here; I have to notify the rest of the gang. And I have to finish my taxes. And I need to wash my hair. And I need a haircut.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Jan 26, 2008 8:47 PM
subject Jennifer Teague’s killer pleads guilty
Dear Stephen,
Things have been a bit better between Clo and I since we more or less decided not to pursue buying the house in Saint John. There remains a tension that is sitting somewhere in the cultural/linguistic area. She goes out; I’ve been staying at home. The fact that I’m not seeing friends bothers her, even though she knows how broke I am and that I would rather work at home then go out and spend money I don’t have. But maybe that is a lame excuse.
Anyhow, I’ve decided to be less frank with you about my relationships with others. I’ll try to keep the contents of my letters confined to current events, politics and art. There is really no need to be so personal with you when you never return the favour. Besides, I’ve been preparing many exhibition proposals and if I start showing Dear PM again then I’ll be exposing myself even more to an unknown public and at the moment I don’t very much feel like I can handle that. Perhaps another lame excuse, but so be it.
Speaking of art I actually made some last night. I finally got around to boiling up some of the letters into a sort of papier mâché that I then made into a couple sculptures. They are really just small maquettes, experiments to see how durable the paste is after it completely dries out.
I’ve watched lots of movies lately, catching up on more Sci Fi classics. Last night I started When Worlds Collide, but stopped it to make way for a Québecoise classic, Les bons débarasse, written by the elusive genius of Québecois literature, Réjean Ducharme. A disturbing yet remarkably engaging and authentic story of a young girl overwhelmed with love for her mother, and who goes to excessive lengths to protect their relationship in her idealized form.
Today we went for a walk down to Art Mûr to see an exhibition exchange with the Toronto gallery Edward Day. Some really good works, as always, and some not so good. The variety they exhibit there is always pleasing. There was an amazing digital portrait by John Oswald, where he morphs the visage of a Rembrandt painting into that of a contemporary dancer; the likeness is astonishing, as is his deftness with the numeric touch.
Afterwards Clo treated us to supper at Le Petit Alep, a quaint Iranian restaurant on Jean-Talon. We’re back at home now, each working, she on Decentre translations, myself on various applications. She’s been working like a maniac lately, which is just something else that makes me feel guilty. We’ll watch a film later tonight, something by Werner Herzog.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Sun, Jan 27, 2008 at 11:33 PM
subject Funerals held for University students
Dear Stephen,
Are you all set for the return to Parliament tomorrow? Honestly, I can’t tell half the time if it is in session or not. It all seems to get leveled out in the news, with most of the discussion about standings in polls and other hypothetical posturing.
Had an indoor work day. Claudine worked on translations for decentre, I worked on job applications, art exhibition and residency applications.
Had a Skype conference call with the Third Space board today. It went well, and some positive initiatives were discussed. Among them was the decision to keep me engaged as programmer and grant writer, work for which I will be paid. I will also devise a job description and issue a call for a part-time position to begin in the spring or summer. Or maybe Fall, depending on what happens for work for me here. Or there, with the possible NBM curator position. In any case, it seems like 3Space will dissolve somewhat, giving up its gallery space if the board can come up with an agreement with UNBSJ to use their window display on Charlotte Street as its principal venue. That, and other off-site locations. Who needs another white cube?
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 10:55 PM
subject One dead as Canada in deep freeze
Dear Stephen,
There finally seems to be some progress on my EI. Yesterday the lines were busy and I couldn’t get through; I have to admit, I like the Service Canada strategy of dealing with “higher than normal call volumes”; they just hang up. Very efficient; no long waiting, no messy messages. Today I finally spoke to someone, and in a conversation that lasted almost an hour, went over all my previous claims so they could be sent for “processing”. And then someone from a local office called me within an hour of the first call, to clarify training details. They said they might be able to release payment in 2 days. A little late for February rent, but close enough.
Dropped off my application at MAI for the technical director position, and spent the rest of the afternoon gallery hopping. UQAM was a bit boring, a surprise given the track record of their curator Louise Déry. I felt the 2 works by an artist concept was a bit weak. And though I liked the cross-section of an asphalt road in Scott Duncan’s Hatred of Capitalism show, the videos and images of crows seems too esoteric.
I was pleasantly surprised at the show at VOX. They are showing work by French artist Gilles Mahé. The front gallery displays shelves with unmarked brown boxes filled with digitally-printed images; some art, some found images, some personal photos. There is a computer and one is able to scan any of his collected images, alter and re-assign to the archive. I didn’t have the time to stay and play but I may go back and heavily integrate myself into his archives. There was also documentation of a piece he made in the early 1990s called Art Gens, where he created an instant art-making booth at Le Centre Pompidou. The device consisted of a photocopier with an engraved glass plate; by photocopying and then leaving with the artist paper money or a cheque, the gallery visitor left with the photocopy, the art. The exhibit was temporarily shut down by police, who accused him of counterfeiting. Apparently it was resolved after he added “false” or something to that effect, to the photocopies.
I’d like to learn more about this fascinating artist; he is like something of a grandfather conceptualist, but his ongoing concerns with the everyday, with dismantling the divisions between art/life, and his focus on currency and other modes of exchange are particularly interesting for me.
After Vox I reached the Belgo and checked out a few new exhibitions; the Jessica Field show at Optica was particularly nice. Her Overview of Robot Ecosystem diagrams greets visitors on a blackboard painted on a gallery wall; a video monitor nearby shows the artist (in lab coat) explaining the various features of the robots. Inside the small room her “specimens” are featured in display cases while other videos document various experiments. The whole show is like an anthropological study of robot pets she has created. There is a sort of cuteness to them, hovering somewhere in that are of pet and science experiment.
Stopped at SKOL to see if Anne or Robin were going to the Christo and Jeanne-Claude lecture at Concordia and of course found out that the lecture in next week. I often have problems ready basic information, like dates.
My friend Emily Jones sent me a couple catalogues from exhibitions she curated in Halifax, as well as some pins. The pins read “As always, we are eternally grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts”. The pins include the CCA logo. They even use similar CCA colours. It is part of her Sovereignty School movement, which I think I am a part of.
Claudine made supper tonight, and after a brief nap (for me) and more translating work (for her) we watched Les Lavigeur on TV. It almost makes me never to want to win the lottery. Of course, I don’t play in the first place.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Thu, Jan 31, 2008 at 11:56 PM
subject Police release video baby abandonment
Dear Stephen,
Last night I met up with Chris Flower at his studio in an old, big abandoned building on Parc and Van Horne. Most of the building is empty except the top floor which has artist studios. There are lots of leaks and some structural problems but the rent is reasonable. We talked about his past and upcoming projects and exhibitions, drinking beers amongst his tools and gadgets. We had a few more pints at a nearby pub and by the time caught the bus home the metro was closed and I walked home from Parc. It was really, really cold.
As a result of last night I couldn’t wake up in time for class today. Spent the day listlessly working on some of my writing gigs. Prepared a few more exhibition proposals. Hung out with the cats.
Went to Oboro to meet Claudine and her coworkers had thrown a sort of surprise party, which wasn’t much of a surprise to her. They were also celebrating the birthdays of Hugo, their webguy, and Nancy, a sound artist. After cake we Caro, Clo and I walked to the MAI for an exhibition vernissage by Haitian artist Killy. It was also my chance to meet the directrice Régine, a meeting which I blew by being uncomfortably shy and anti-social. I just can’t be charming in french. Do you suffer from the same problem? Anyway, I don’t think I have the theatrical technical background they are looking for.
After the opening Clo and I went to Patati-Patata for supper. I had been craving their teeny burgers for weeks. We were silent with each other by this point, another bone of contention that blew up and we argued on the bus on the way home. We had a longer talk when we got home. Things seem tenuous. I hate that it is mostly money that is causing this.
Speaking of $ I’ve been on the phone with a local Service Canada rep many times the past two days and it seems that the claim is all settled and in order and I will possibly receive my first payments by direct deposit tomorrow. Needless to say I have my fingers crossed. Let’s recap: I submitted my claim on November 11. There is a 2 week waiting period where I receive no money, and my contracts for SKOL and Oboro canceled out a couple weeks of earnings, which brings the grand total to: $534. At least the $89/week covers rent. Well, almost. Close enough.
-chris
DEAR PM 