PRELUDE
To quote The Kids in The Hall, it’s a fact! In the face of an abundance of choice, people often choose not to choose.
In an important study, it was demonstrated that promoting an extensive range of product choices in jam causes less jam to be purchased. Too much choice, it seems, can be a disincentive to choosing!
In other words, if I try to promote all that happens in Ottawa Arts with this Newsletter every two weeks, my efforts might cause people to be less engaged with Ottawa Arts.
In light of this fact, from now on, the Ottawa Arts Newsletter is going to be much more focused.
And I need your help!
Hereafter, on the 1st and the 15th of each month, I will include only one photo, three short reviews, three short previews, and the SPOTTED! section.
And I want the content of each Newsletter to be driven primarily by the people who enjoy and discuss the arts the most. That means you: the good people of Seattle! Just kidding. I know we’re in Santa Fe but, seriously, this tour is killing me!
My ultimate goal is to share the very many voices of enthusiasm and support here in Ottawa — not only my own!
I’m in the process of developing a website that will make this process easier, more transparent, and, hopefully, fun. It will also offer a clearing house for people who prefer to sort through the publicity material on their own (I know you’re still out there!).
In the meantime, please send me photos, short reviews, and short recommendations (sterling.lynch@gmail.com). And if you spot someone out and about in Ottawa Arts, let me know too! It’s probably the easiest way to generate some publicity for an event you enjoyed.
And here now, without further ado, is some Ottawa Arts jam for the peanut butter that is the last two weeks of September 2010!
OTTAWA ARTS JAM!
Geoff Berner: Not Local But Very Good At The Black Sheep (10/09/2010)
THREE SHORT REVIEWS
Because my french language skills are more than a bit rusty, it felt like I was taking a big chance by going to see Théâtre de Dehors’ presentation of Michel Garneau’s Les Guerriers on September 4th. I was rewarded with one of the best productions I’ve seen all year! I am resolved to see more local French language theatre! I think you should too! In fact, why not try attending something totally new in Ottawa arts and let me know how it goes!
Greg “Ritallin” Frankson, the Creative Director of Cytopoetics, sends me this review of an event I now wish I had attended:
Bill Brown’s 1-2-3 Slam celebrated its second anniversary September 9 at the Cajun Attic with a high-octane head-to-head elimination slam show. The competition included poets from five different teams participating in the national slam championship at next month’s 2010 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, taking place October 12-16 in Ottawa. BB123 Slam has been a key part of Ottawa’s rise to national slam prominence and an incubator for new poetic talent in the capital. The September show lived up to expectations as 16 of Canada’s best poets battled it out in front of an energetic and appreciative audience.
He also tells me it happens every second Thursday of the month. Something, perhaps, to add to you calendar — unless you take some special pleasure in missing out on great events.
This last review is a long-train-coming kind of review. My friends Von Allon and Sam Boswell have been nominated for some Friends of Lulu awards for their work on the graphic novel, the road to god knows… , which has been very well reviewed, including by me. It’s also a book very much set in Ottawa. Von Allon tells me:
the road to god knows…, myself, and Sammy have been nominated for the Friends of Lulu awards in four different categories. I would deeply appreciate it if you passed this along, since the final awards are by popular vote and we can use every bit of help we can get! More details: click here.
I strongly support the idea of popular voting for awards and I think we should all do whatever we can to help local talent win awards and make their mark on the world. If you can spare some time to vote, please do. If you can spread the word, please do.
To say thanks for our support, Von Allon has offered to mail a signed copy of the road to god knows… to the first person (from Ottawa) who correctly identifies the four awards for which his book is nominated. Email me your answer and mailing address (Ottawa only, please!).
And be sure to let me know of any other nominations and awards that involve local artists!
THREE SHORT PREVIEWS
Katie Bunting, an actor in Third Wall‘s resident company who has lately found a knack for publicity, alerts me to the following:
“Third Wall Theatre’s Blackbird opens Sept. 15th showcasing two of Ottawa’s greatest actors, John Koensgen and Kristina Watt. Blackbird has left audiences around the world mesmerized & stunned. Last week the Citizen named Blackbird its “Best Bet” and the Sun, “the most interesting production” in the city. You will not be disappointed!”
What’s more: she’s offered me two tickets to give away to Blackbird. Be the first person to email me the name of the playwright and the tickets are yours!
I don’t know a whole lot about the literary arts happenings in Ottawa. Fortunately, Amanda Earl, the managing editor of Bywords.ca and the Bywords Quarterly Journal, took the time to send a few suggestions my way. Of the recommendations she sent, I share this one because it involves a gallery opening. Tear down those silos!
Excellent poetry to help launch a new exhibit at the Blink Gallery on Saturday, September 18, 2PM. “Barely Their Reading” will take place at the stone building in Major Hill’s Park and features TA Carter, Claudia Coutu Radmore, Sandra Ridley, Rona Shaffran, Sean Moreland, Margot Gallant, LM Rochefort, Gillian Wallace, and Laurie Koensgen. Don’t forget to visit www.bywords.ca for literary events, news on small press publishers, calls for submission, monthly poetry and more….
In my on-going effort to mine the insights of people across the city, I sent out a call to my Twitter compatriots. I wanted to know if they had a local musical act to recommend — yet another element of the arts scene for which I need me some schooling.
@JesLacasse heeded my call and recommends The Dave Tough Band, who plays the Elmdale Tavern on the 17th. Dave is the (12 inch?) pianist in Jes’ band. In response to the question that matters the most to me — and to any new potential audience members (tee, hee) — “Why should someone see this show,” she answers, “because he’s ridiculously talented, handsome, and a wonderful songwriter. Plus, Elmdale = pickled cheese.” Sold!
SPOTTED BY THE JESSIE!
She’s got a Gemini award, an Order of Canada, and a star on the Walk of Fame. That was Canada’s most renowned cartoonist, “For Better or Worse” creator Lynn Johnston, popping into gallery row just west of Holland, reports from a few days ago tell us. But did any of the work catch her trained eye, enough to make her purchase a souvenir of her visit? The galleristas of West Wellington are keeping mum on that, which, going by our experience of the breed, probably means “no sale.”
Speaking of art, several spottings of our pretty-as-a-picture namesake Jessica Ruano – in a simply gorgeous dress, onlookers say — attending the first night of Opera Lyra’s Turandot at the NAC this past Monday night. Twitter tells us that a few hours later the same evening the versatile Ruano swung to the other extreme, uploading her first ever YouTube vid, a very butch affair extolling the virtues of physical labour — featuring an outdoorsy dude, a burst inner tube, and a bicycle with a woman’s name!
Moving eastward, fabulous singer Dee Dee Butters of The Peptides (check ‘em out on YouTube) can be seen on King Edward Avenue for the next two weeks while she appears in OLT’s Crossing Delancey.
Spotters badges this week: BL, CP, and RP, you know who you are!
ENDGAME
That’s it for September 15th! If you aren’t on the email list, sign up here. And here it is, your moment of Tao: “If we can forget about the “self,” what is there left to worry about?” See you again, October 1st!
Von Allon, who was shouted out in this edition of the Newsletter, has been caught up in a bit of controversy.
Should a man be nominated for an award that is intended for comics that are for and about woman?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/09/16/ottawa-graphic-artist.html
What do you think?
Sure, unless the rules say otherwise, which they apparently don’t.
The awards (according to the news story) are for comics “by and for women”. By that he shouldn’t be included.
Well, the article says that the awards are for comics written by and about women. So yeah, if that’s the “rule”, then a man shouldn’t be nominated for the award because he’s a dude writing a comic when the award is only meant for women. It’s not about discrimination – it’s about just following the rules and principles laid out by the award.
That’s like nominating a male actor who played a woman in a film in the best actress category for an Oscar.
Thanks for your responses guys! There is certainly a pure legal approach to the discussion. What do the rules say and follow them. The president suggests there is no such rule.
But the idea of the rule itself — whether or not it exists — is the source of the controversy.
I see too larger questions:
1) Are gender specific award categories appropriate in the arts; 2) In an industry where women are poorly represented, what is the goal: to promote woman comic artists or more comics for and about women. For example, if a woman created a book that was male-centric. Should it make any difference to her eligibility for the award.
Gender specific awards are certainly appropriate… just like Julie said, there already ARE awards like best actor, best actress, which are gender specific.
These awards were CREATED as awards for women. It isn’t like by existing they are taking away from awards that men are eligible for… they wouldn’t even exist if they weren’t meant to be for women only.
To say they shouldn’t exist is like saying the Junos shouldn’t exist because they discriminate against non-Canadian acts or the BCALA Awards shoulnd’t exist because they discriminate against white people.
Silly.
I agree. There are gender specific awards in the performing arts. And amongst some performing artists there has been talk of whether or not they are appropriate. In what way is a best male performance different than a best female performance in terms of performance excellence?
And I must have been unclear because I’m not suggesting one way or the other that gender specific award should be eliminated. Ultimately, my view is any organization / group can give away whatever award they want to whomever they want based on whatever criteria they want. I’m seeking clarity on the purpose of these kinds of awards.
I’m also happy to say I’m getting too philosophical. From a practical point of view, check the rules, follow them. Done and done.
They’re actually for comics by or ABOUT women…and men have been nominated and won before. I’m astonished that anyone finds this controversial…but pleased that Von is at least getting some nice press out of it.
Moggy
Nominated AND won. Why all the fuss now?
I don’t get the fuss…I honestly don’t. Now, despite the rules, if Von had written a book demeaning women, making fun of women, being a misogynist…well, then I’d say the award shouldn’t be given to him. That he’s created a book that fits exactly what Lulu professes to be about (encouraging women and women-friendly books in comics and cartooning) and THAT has people up in arms…it makes me ashamed of my gender. Really.
Moggy
FURTHERMORE, most of the fuss is over the “newcomer” award, which has never had a male nominee; though men have been nominated and won the other (open to them) Lulus, no male has been nominated for the Kim Yale. The detractors believe there is an unwritten rule that that particular category is meant for women only…and the evidence is, “no man has ever been nominated in it.” Flimsy, flimsy, flimsy…just because something has never happened, despite being legal and allowed in the language of the award, doesn’t mean it can’t happen. If you want it to be for women only, it has to be for “Best female newcomer” and then Von wouldn’t have gotten the nod.
I’m tired and inarticulate.
Honestly…I need a drink.
Sorry if I got the rules wrong; I read “for and about women”, not “for and by women”.
If it’s a nomination that got fucked up because someone didn’t know Von Allon is a man, then seeing as they’ve gone this far along with it I think they should let it go this time, admit they didn’t handle the nominations well this time out, and move on. With all due respect to the genre, I never heard of the LuLus before, and now that I know that the field is big enough to support gender-based awards I’d probably be more likely to keep my eye out for the work of the artists involved.
Of course from a marketing POV they should huff and puff about men not allowed until they get a teabagger like Sarah Palin involved to denounce them as a bunch of radical feminists — meanwhile ramp up a social media campaign featuring the work of their membership. ( Read the women’s comics Sarah Palin hates!
Evan, I think that might have been my bad. Because that’s how I read it and how I wrote it to start the thread.
And I agree with your idea on how best to handle the story. This is a rather minor mistake that could turn into a huge publicity win, if handled properly. Heck, if I was on the communications team, I would post the story on a more prominent teabagger site myself. If it’s government funded, even better!
No, no, you got the rules right…and the fuss is mostly about the “newcomer” award, which just happens to have never had a male nominee before. There’s absolutely nothing in the rules to disqualify Von (and everyone was well aware he was a man and men had in the past been nominated and won).
Press and media SCORE for us!
Score indeed. I hope this leads to a spike in sales. People buying in support and people buying to burn!
Many awards are based on a specific criterion (or specific criteria) to honor effort in a narrow area of achievement (for instance awards in the Black community, for youth, for mental health consumer/survivors, etc.) and awards for women is just another one of these specific areas. In many cases, people from these areas are greatly limited in their ability to access broader opportunities, and recognizing their successes in the face of longer odds makes sense to me. But in the specific case of the Lulu awards, if Von’s book is the top of the pile he should win. It’s not his fault the rules didn’t exclude him and the group chose to publicly nominate him. To go back on that now would be exceedingly bad form.
Hi Ritallin, thanks for reading and your comment!
I like your way of characterizing what’s being recognized: “recognizing their success in the face of longer odds”. Because there is a risk that these targeted awards might seem patronizing. And some have been in the past.
While Friends of Lulu is clear that their mandate is to promote female comic books artists and content aimed at women/girls, I didn’t read anything in the awards qualifications stating a nominee must be female:
http://friendsoflulu.wordpress.com/lulu-awards/lulu-awards-nomination-process-and-qualifications/
If the intent was to create awards specifically and exclusively for women, Von’s nomination may have demonstrated a need to state it explicitly. But if we’re speaking strictly about the rules as written, they don’t appear to have been violated in this case.
The organization was formed to increase the profile and involvement of women in the industry, be that through the support of female creators OR the support of books with positive portrayals of women (be the creators male or female).
Von’s book, as everyone who’s read it will agree, features a strong and realistic female protaganist…as far as I’m concerned, this is the kind of male writer we need to be encouraging. The outcry against the legal and allowed nomination of someone who is GOOD FOR WOMEN IN COMICS makes me quite mad…though less and less mad the more nice press we get out of it all.
Yes it’s a very peculiar controversy, given the fact that the rules are clear and men have in fact been nominated and won before. Great press though. And Von has handled it very well.
It’s going to be win-win in the end…the nominations are good for him, the press generated by the controversy is good for him, and his classiness in the face of detractors is good for him.
Did I say win-win? I mean win-win-WIN!
AND, finally…thank you for the shout-out! I was super pleased to see Von nominated in three categories and I hope he wins some if not all of them. He deserves this more than I can possibly say.
And if I win “Woman of Distinction” for my support…I’m making everyone call me “Her Majesty” from now on.
Wait a minute! I thought you already did!
Only friends…if I win, it’s THE WHOLE WORLD!!