January 7 2010

Seth gets wordy

Pg . 8

page 4&5

the newspaper

University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly

Clit Lit needs some lovin’

Miller on Miller

the brief the campus

U of T researchers have released results from a study indicating adults who experienced physical abuse as children face odds of osteoarthritis up to fifty-six percent more than those who did not.

the local

After being shut down in November after an OSPCA raid that found five Humane Society officials guilty of animal cruelty the Toronto Humane society has once again opened its doors up for animal adoption. Thus far, there are 125 cats and 25 dogs available for adoption with a remainder of 800 still “not ready” for new homes.

2009 was a year of carnage for print media, and while some businesses look forward to a more promising new year, it’s off to an unfortunate start for the Toronto Women’s Bookstore at Harbord and Spadina. After 36 years of catering to Toronto’s women and marginalized communities, the TWB is in desperate need of financial support, without which it will have to permanently shut its doors.

Janet Romero-Leiva has been

ALEX NURSALL

CAILIN SMART

Miller leaves office to enjoy more Miller time.

ALEX NURSALL

TOMASZ BUGAJSKI

Fighting to keep books on shelves.

Continued on page 3

January 7, 200

Vol. XXXII N0. 1

After seven years in office, David Miller will end his term as mayor of Toronto this coming December. He sat down with the newspaper to talk about some of the important issues that faced his administration.

Gun violence received a lot of attention, especially after the 2005 Boxing Day shooting at Yonge and Dundas, one of Canada’s busiest intersections. Miller’s efforts to reduce crime centre on his Community Safety Plan, which helps disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Among Miller’s environmental initiatives is the Mayor’s Tower Renewal, which retrofits old apartment buildings to make them more efficient. He also traveled to Copenhagen with mayors from the C40 group of cities for the recent climate conference, where they announced a new Electric Vehicle Initiative. The plan encourages the use of electric vehicles in cities through infrastructure development and private industry partnerships.

The TTC is on most commut-

ers’ minds because they now pay a $3 adult fare. In response to complaints about price hikes, Miller blamed the provincial government’s lack of support.

Miller refused to tell the newspaper if he would endorse someone for mayor, but he indirectly suggested that none of the potential candidates have shown that they are right for the job. We will find out October 25, 2010, who has what it takes to win the election. the newspaper: Let’s start with your legacy. In 2003, you campaigned with a broom, saying you were going to clean up the city. Do you feel that you’ve accomplished that goal?

David Miller: Yes. tn: How did you clean up the city?

DM: I’ve faced a government that was tarred by corruption scandals, had a structural deficit, and was not open and transparent. It was government that was based more on whom you know rather than what you know. People who are doing business with the city shouldn’t be coming in

the back door, but should come in the front door like everyone else. We’ve turned it around completely. [Former city councillors] Anne Johnston, Bas Balkissoon, and I have been instrumental in creating the public inquiry investigating the previous government. We’ve implemented all the recommendations. We’ve got the first integrity commissioner in any municipal government in Canada, and the second municipal ombudsman. We have the first lobbyist register of any municipal government in Canada.

All those accountability offices make a very big difference.

I think there’s been a complete turnaround. That campaign wasn’t only about cleaning up the government, it was also about cleaning up the city in the sense of restoring basic public services that have been cut because of my predecessor’s tax freeze pledge.

We restored all of those and much more. tn: What has been your greatest accomplishment as mayor?

DM: I’ve still got a year left, so…

the world

Dubai officially inaugurated the centerpiece- Burj Khalifaafter its ten-year construction boom with a firework ceremony and unveiling of a plaque in commemoration of the event.

The skyscraper currently stands at 168 stories, named after Khalifa Bin Zayed, president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

the weird

A woman in Ohio by the name of Melodi Dushane is reported to have punched through a drive through window because there were no chicken Mcnuggets available. Police were called to the restaurant where Dushane was treated for injuries then jailed. She was released but ordered not to have any contact with the restaurant.

-Amina Stella tn: Up to this point?

DM: I’ll let others comment on that. History will judge. But I’m very proud of the work we’ve done on community safety, in priority neighbourhoods. Crime has Continued on page 3

the guest editorial

2

January 7, 2010

Dixiecrats, Republicans tie Obama’s hands on healthcare

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Joseph Uranowski wonders if Obama can be America’s Wilfrid Laurier Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s 7th Prime Minister, was known as “the Great Conciliator” throughout his tenure from 1896 to 1911. Laurier managed to reign as the fourth longest serving Prime Minister (with a huge majority government win in 1900 and 1904) by always seeking compromise. PM Laurier did not have altruistic motives behind his work but was forced out of necessity to reconcile his party, which was split geographically and between Protestants and Catholics.

Barack Obama, America’s 44th President, ran on a centrist platform and has been forced to deal with a party divided ideologically even though, like Laurier’s Liberals, the Democrats have majorities in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate while holding the White House. Where Laurier is remembered for his “naval compromise” and “reciprocity”, President Obama is wagering his legacy on the success of the Health Insurance Reform bill that passed the Senate 60 – 40 (a strict partyline vote) on Christmas Eve. The United States ranks #1 in

percentage of GDP spent on health care (approximately 15%) though they remain far from first when ranked in terms of quality of care.

A 2009 estimate puts the number of uninsured in the United States at 47 million. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, American Presidents have spent time and political capital on reforming the United States’ health care system. In the 1960s, Lyndon B. Johnson failed because of lobbying by the Health Insurance industry and the Dixiecrats (Southern Democrats) blocking reform. Bill Clinton failed because of a Republican Congress and accusations that his administration was too secretive in its attempts. Health reform in the United States is the equivalent of fighting a land war in Russia for Presidential administrations.

So what does the population of the United States, and President Obama, get from the Senate Bill?

H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does not contain a “public option” but does have an insurance exchange program which would allow those with in-

surance to keep a similar program when switching careers. The Senate Bill will increase the Medicare payroll tax from 1.45% to 2.35% on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.

The bill finally makes it illegal for insurances companies to deny coverage. All of this, if the Senate bill was signed into law today, would come into effect on December 26, 2011.

Lester B. Pearson, another Liberal PM forced to compromise by presiding over a minority government, passed the Medicare Act in 1966. In 1984 under Brian Mulroney, the Canada Health Act was passed, which prohibited user fees and extra billing by doctors.

From a Canadian perspective the Senate Bill, which is still a ways away from being signed into law, seems weak by comparison. Those in favour of more comprehensive health reform in the United States decry obstructionist Republicans and conservative Democrats.

The reason that H.R. 3590 doesn’t include a public option and the US Health Care system is

nowhere close to “socialized medicine” (a term popularized by President Reagan) is their system of government. If the Prime Minister of Canada isn’t passing bills quickly, efficiently and without checks and balances, then the system isn’t working. Though Harper doesn’t have a majority, the Conservative Government has operated that way with no real opposition to prevent them. John A. Macdonald and the Fathers of Confederation designed our government to give majority governments as much power as possible. The American founding fathers designed the US government to have three equal branches (legislative, judicial, and executive) with as many institutional veto points as possible.

President Obama is quick to point out that this isn’t “Obamacare” - it is the US Congress’ health care bill. This isn’t an attempt to distance himself from a bill that doesn’t go far enough for his liking but a pragmatic admission of his own institutional limitations.

Perhaps President Obama will be America’s Great Conciliator.

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the news

January 7, 2010

3

Miller

been down every single year since Bill Blair came in as police chief.

We’ve worked very closely with the police on strategies, particularly those that involve giving young people a hands up in neighbourhoods where they struggle because there’s a lack of opportunity.

I’m proud of the work on Transit City, proud that Toronto is considered one of the leading environmental cities in the world, and our very significant work on fighting climate change. I’m proud of projects like Mayor’s Tower Renewal and that we’ve actually invested in public services. That’s the role of government from my perspective. tn: What about your biggest shortcoming?

DM: I’ll let someone else answer that question. tn: What is the most important quality for a mayor to have?

DM: I think a mayor has to know before he or she becomes mayor what it is they want to do, and have a very clear vision about the needs of the city they’re going to represent. You have to live and breathe the city. You have to know it inside and out, every neighbourhood, not just some.

I’ve made a real point of knowing the entire city, not just the West End, where I’m from, or downtown. You have to have the ability to implement your vision. tn: Do you think any of the potential candidates for mayor have those qualities?

DM: Oh, that’s not something I’m going to comment on. I can say one thing, though: They’re all going to have to answer the question why they’re running. All of them have said they want to be the mayor, none of them has said why. People are going to demand why; you can’t just run against something, you have to run for something. tn: Looking ahead, what do you think will be the most important issues facing Toronto in the next 10 to 20 years?

DM: Making sure that we build the public transit system we started is essential. We should have built that 30 years ago. Public transit is about transportation, the environment, and how you build a city. Transit City, because it’s light rail, supports the goals of our official plan to intensify Toronto. That matters an enormous amount.

It creates huge private sector wealth. More importantly, it creates a livable city. It’s also about social justice, because if you have rapid transit in every neighbourhood, everybody can be part of the city. That is essential.

Toronto needs to keep growing.

We’ve put a number of strategies in place to ensure that Toronto grows economically. We used to take for granted that we’re Canada’s business centre. You can’t take that for granted in the world anymore. This is a huge chal-

SARAH D’ANGELO

cont’d from page 1

Miller is on the last leg of his run as Mayor (and sometimes resembles Obama). lenge for the city, we’re starting to see pockets of poverty. Canada is a country of a big middle, not extremes of wealth and poverty. tn: Concerning violence in Toronto, why are crime prevention initiatives so important to your Community Safety Plan?

What about actual crime fighting, where does that fit in?

DM: The police are an arm’s length from us. We fund them, and I was on the police board for several years. Crime prevention initiatives are within our direct control. We have a two part strategy by trying to balance enforcement with prevention.

I want to be clear about this: The largest single increase in the police budget in the history of this city has come since I’ve been mayor. We’ve got 450 more officers on the street than when I was first mayor. We’ve done that quite consciously in partnership with the police because officers on the street are about enforcement issues, but also about prevention. It’s very important to have a visible police presence.

I’ve focused the city’s resources on investing in young people in neighbourhoods where there’s a high correlation between poverty and a lack of public services.

That’s for a very simple reason: The drug trade tends to take root in places where people don’t have economic hope. If you don’t have public services or economic opportunity, a tiny fraction of young people will turn to the drug trade, and that creates massive problems. tn: Is there anything else you

think should be done, after your term as mayor, to address crime in Toronto?

DM: TAVIS (Toronto AntiViolence Intervention Strategy) needs to be continued. I think the investments in the poor neighbourhoods need to be significantly increased. One thing that we started to do – but the recession hurt – is bring private sector jobs to these neighbourhoods through a program called PAYE (Partnership for Advanced Youth Employment). That effort needs to be redoubled. You need the private institutions to be really connected to the lives of young people in neighbourhoods that are excluded from the mainstream. tn: You just got back from Copenhagen. How do you think the outcome of the conference will impact Toronto?

DM: A stronger agreement would have helped more. If there was a binding international agreement, there would have to be support for the effort that cities are doing. For example, we have a program called Mayor’s Tower Renewal. It’s about doing energy retrofits on apartment buildings from the 1960s. It pays for itself in six to 10 years by reduced heating and cooling costs.

There could be a federal role in helping us do this. That would help rejuvenate neighbourhoods, create employment, and do the right thing for the environment all at once.

If there was a stronger agreement from Copenhagen, the federal government would be looking

for these kinds of opportunities.

It was the least they could have done from my perspective. tn: You agreed to an Electric Vehicle Network initiative with other mayors from the C40 group. Why did only 14 of the 40 member cities sign up for it?

DM: Those were the cities that were ready. If you look at those 14 cities, you’ve got a population that’s probably close to equal to the USA. That’s very significant, so I wouldn’t look at it as “only 14.” tn: Would you have preferred to make a more robust agreement?

DM: No, that wasn’t the point of Copenhagen for us. The C40 has been making significant steps all along. The announcement that President Clinton made with us in New York a couple of years ago, about building retrofits, was

the single biggest step anybody had ever taken to fight climate change.

That’s a good agreement, the electric vehicles, but electric vehicles are a small piece of what needs to be done. Our purpose in Copenhagen was to demonstrate to the national governments that what’s actually happening is real, it’s creating jobs, it’s good for the economy, good for the environment, and fighting climate change, in order to put pressure on them to reach an agreement.

We made an announcement merely because it was convenient to do it there. tn: We’re trying to encourage people to use more public transportation to help our environment. How do you justify the recent TTC fare hike?

DM: Well, first of all, we froze fares last year, unlike every other transit system in the GTA. Secondly, the challenge for public transit funding in Ontario is that the province has completely abandoned operating subsidies. It used to subsidise half of the operating subsidy for the TTC. At the time, the TTC was actually subsidised more than it is now. That was true under Conservative governments, Liberal governments, and NDP governments. Mike Harris’s conservative government ended that. That’s responsible for the fare hikes, because with fewer subsidies, the riders have to pay more. In a way, this year has been a success. We’ve put far more bus service on the TTC. tn: Finally, how do you want to be remembered after you leave office?

DM: I’ll let others be the judge of that, but I’m passionate about Toronto and I’ve done my best to do the right thing. I’m actually very proud of this council, notwithstanding the fact that there are a few members of one political party who choose to vote against everything. This council has made huge strides to move Toronto forward. I can’t choose the way I’ll be remembered, I’ll let others do that. tn: Thanks for talking to the newspaper DM: It’s a pleasure to talk to the newspaper.

To see what U of T students think of Miller’s legacy, turn to page 8.

the seth interview

4

January 7, 2010

Drawn together: Seth and the newspaper AMY STUPAVSKY

the newspaper: A lot of people sit down with a graphic novel and expect the pace and style of a comic book. Your books, however, are more about inaction and reaction than the action itself. The characters seem to internalize a lot more than in comic books, where emotions are readily apparent on the surface. Is there a common thread among your works as far as character development? What kinds of messages are you hoping to convey through your characters?

Seth: A long time ago I decided that I was more interested in portraying the interior world of an experience than the exterior one. That is a bit misleading because as a cartoonist you are always drawing the outside of things; you can only hint at the inside of experience. That said, I try to keep my comic books quiet.

I’m attracted to things that are slow and contemplative. To be honest, I am attracted to a lot of things that are downright boring. I know that my work is always teetering on the edge of that kind of boredom. I try to keep it from being boring, but I don’t worry too much about it. I can only hope that what I find interesting will interest some readers as well.

Most comic books are about action because of their pulp origins.

That approach has defined the medium. I don’t think regular life is much about “action”. Quite the opposite, really. Most people’s lives are slow in pace. I’m trying to get some of that into the work. All my work is about this is some manner.

I’m especially concerned with that profound schism between our inner lives and our outer lives.

I don’t have any “messages” in my work, but I am trying to convey some sense of “being alive.” Disappointment, sadness, regret, and death figure prominently in my stories, but that’s probably because I tend to write about old people.

I’m a pretty melancholic person, but I’m also generally a very happy person. I don’t think sadness and happiness cancel each other out.

They complement each other. Depression is another story. That cancels happiness.

SETH, COURTESY DRAWN & QUARTERLY

Seth, a.k.a. Gregory Gallant, a.k.a. my hero, has been a mainstay of the indie comics scene for over a decade as a graphic novelist, cartoonist, and illustrator. His most recent book, George Sprott: 18941975, is a series of reminiscences about a TV host woven together from the unreliable, contradictory memories of those who knew him.

Seth dropped the newspaper a line to talk about his love for the past, the art of cartooning, and unfortunate name choices.

A page right out of George Sprott. tn: How did George Sprott come about?

S: It came about simply because The New York Times called me up and asked me if I would do a “graphic novel” to serialize in their magazine.

I was really trying to finish up my Clyde Fans story, but I couldn’t turn them down.

I gave them three

possible choices for a story.

Choice number one was to continue and finish a story I had begun in Toro Magazine but had left unfinished due to an editorial conflict. Choice number two (my favorite at the time) was a quiet, meditative study on a block of abandoned buildings. I looked over my first two choices and instantly knew that I needed to give them a third. It was

pure strategic thinking. They were not going to pick num-

ber one; they wouldn’t want to continue something begun elsewhere.

Number two was a shot in the dark, but probably too “poetic” for them. Too artsy. It seemed obvious that there had to be a third option that was a more traditional story and had some human characters in it. Sprott - a rather unformed idea at that point - was what was currently floating around in the back of my brain, and Sprott it was.

I figured they would pick it, but I was still hoping against hope that they would go for the second option. In the end, they were correct. Working on Sprott was the more challenging choice, and ultimately the more rewarding for me.

I had no specific plans to turn this serialized piece into a book, but when Drawn & Quarterly asked me what I was planning to do with the work, I decided to expand on it and make it into its present form.

This was another lucky accident.

Expanding the work deepened it to some degree. I like the strip much better in its final form than in the original magazine run. tn: Many of your works (Palookaville and It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken) seem autobiographical, or at least semi-autobiographical.

Is the Seth in your books the Seth from real life? How are you the same and how do you differ?

S: Well, the easy answer is no. The character in the strips isn’t really like me, mostly because it’s difficult to create a reasonable facsimile of yourself without putting more effort or time into it. When I use myself in a comic strip, it is usually for a straightforward purpose: to capture some moment or to relate some thought. There’s not usually enough complexity to the character to really transmit my personality.

The Seth in the comics is probably a lot more one-note than I am in real life (I hope).

Lately, I’ve been working on some strips in my sketchbook in which I’ve been trying to write a memoir of sorts. I’m hoping to dig a little deeper into my own character, but it’s hard to say. It’s pretty impossible to present an objective view of yourself. Just trying to know yourself is difficult enough, but to put it down on paper accurately is a daunting task.

The character of Seth that shows up in my strips certainly represents aspects of my personality. He is just a little more consistent in his behaviour than I am. Real human beings have more contradictions. tn: Your characters are obsessed with the past, reaching back to days gone by in a search for meaning. Your own dress sense and style of drawing are also quite anachronistic. Why do you continually revisit that theme in your works? Why is it important?

S: Mostly, it’s the aesthetics of that period. I am very drawn to the look and design of the early twentieth century. It was an era - say, 1890 to 1950 - when things were designed with a great deal of care. You can look at almost any common item from that time and see that it is superior to an equal item from today.

In the fifties our culture started a downhill slide into cheapness. The current North American landscape is shoddy and ugly. This is the direct result of a culture that has consistently undermined the value of beauty. I am not saying that nothing of beauty is created today, but it is the exception, not the rule. In that earlier period, the ratio was better.

I am also not saying that 1920 was a superior time to live in than 2010.

That would be an impossible statement to make. The changes are too complicated, some good and some not so good. On a sheer level of aesthetics, however, this time period

January 7, 2010 loses. I’m drawn to the beauty of what was left behind. It almost seems as if that time never even existed, like a dream world. It seems utterly unconnected with today’s world.

I also find the past fascinating for the simple reason that it no longer exists. There is something about the process of the present fading into the past that is profound and sad...and strange. I think about it constantly. I feel hyperaware that I am moving through time, and that as I pass from one moment to the next those experiences have become inaccessible to me. In some ways I cannot really accept that the past is gone. I feel like it still lives on somewhere, and that I could step into it again if I could just turn the right corner or put certain objects into the right arrangement.

There is something about the early twentieth century that has a fetishistic quality for me. Whenever I hear any date from the 1920s or 30s, I get a little thrill. It probably comes from growing up with old parents.

tn: My childhood died a little bit when the ROM renovated its dinosaur exhibit. I kept thinking of the scene in It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken when your character visits the museum. I have to ask: what was your reaction to the ROM’s alterations? How do you feel about the changing face of Toronto?

S: I felt that way as well. I actually haven’t been back to the ROM since they changed it. It depressed me tremendously. I think the new exterior is an absolute abomination: the typical, ham-fisted, shoddy show-offishness of certain kinds of modern architecture. A sad piece of work.

I have a lot of fond feeling for Toronto because I lived there for 20 years - 20 formative and important years in my life. That said, I don’t think of Toronto as a very beautiful city. So much of what was wonderful was knocked down before I even moved there in 1980. It’s a city with little interest in its history or the charm of the past. Toronto is about the present, always trying to be “world class.” I always found that kind of embarrassing.

Still, everytime I go back I feel a mixture of joy and sadness when I look around. Joy when I notice some restaurant or shop that I use to love that is still in business, or sadness when I see just the opposite: some well-remembered place

the seth interview that is gone. I think this is pretty normal for people as they grow older. They watch the landscape of their lives vanish. Bit by bit the city they knew becomes a city of memory, existing only inside the body. It can be depressing. It really causes an ache when you think that the Dinosaur Room from the ROM isn’t there any longer, that it’s only there in your mind. I can see it so perfectly in my memory. I would like to believe that it still exists somewhere in a concrete form, but you simply cannot get there.

tn: Has your fan base changed since you started writing?

S: It’s hard to tell for sure since I don’t have that much contact with them. I suspect my readers have grown older along with me. In the earlier part of my “career,” my core audience was made up of young hipsters. But that was back when comics were more “underground” or “alternative.” They’ve been “mainstreamed” in the last decade.

I write a lot about older people, and I suspect that a 20-year-old might not be all that interested in a story about an old fat man rambling on about his life. Who knows, though.

Very young people still come up to me at book signings. When I was 20, I was interested in such topics, so maybe I am selling 20-year-olds short. tn: What are the freedoms and constraints of working within your medium compared to prose novels and conventional comic books?

S: That is a very complicated question. It could take hours of talk to answer. Let me simplify by saying that comics and prose have similar abilities to capture life, but different tools. The main difference between the two is, of course, the drawings.

In comics, the drawings supply all the description you would find in a novel. In some ways the drawings are superior to description because it can be a subtler way of presenting information. You don’t have to tell the reader that a character is wearing a red sweater, you simply see it.

However, the drawing style of the cartoonist can be a drawback. A cartoonist must render the world, and a prose writer can allow his reader to visualize his own reality. In some ways the prose writer has a more direct access to “reality” since the cartoonist can only present visual symbols for the reader to translate into real objects. The drawings are a plus and a minus. I will say this for comics: They are one of the only mediums that cannot be experienced by a group. Comics are an

entirely singular experience, meant to be read alone. The words and pictures can only come together in the mind of a solitary reader. Prose can be read aloud to an audience.

Doing this with a comic just emphasizes how fragmented its various elements are. Comics are meant to be experienced inside the body.

As for mainstream comics, I think they serve a different goal than mine. I am aiming to describe the real world in some manner. Mainstream comics are about escapism and genre thrills. We use some of the same cartooning language. As I grow older, I see that there is less and less common ground between these two worlds. tn: Chester Brown figured prominently in It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken.

Are you friends in real life?

Is there a rivalry between the you? Are you planning any collaborations?

S: Chester is my best friend and has been for years. I have learned a lot from him over the years. He’s a real inspiration, a great cartoonist.

There is a real rivalry between us, especially because we are both pretty competitive. Especially Chet!!

We rarely collaborate. I’m not a collaborator. I like to work alone. We have been doing a long “jam-strip” for a few years in a sketchbook, but I have let it languish over the last year. It is sitting on a shelf growing dusty. I should get back to that. tn: Why did you choose Seth as a nom de plume?

S: It’s a boring story. It goes back to my youthful days as a punk. I wanted a scary pseudonym and I made of list of names. I picked Seth. I shudder to imagine what else was on that list. Thank God that Seth is,

at least, a real name. It could have been much worse. tn: You’ve done a lot of design and illustration work for various books and publications (artwork for The New Yorker, Mark Kingwell and Joshua Glenn’s The Idler’s Glossary, the cover art for The Portable Dorothy Parker reissue). How

5 do you choose your commercial projects?

S: They usually choose me. I can think of a million books I would love to design, but the problem is that it isn’t up to me. I’d love to do a deluxe edition of Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel. I love that book, but no publisher is calling me about it. That kind of leaves me out in the cold. Truthfully, I pick the work that comes to me. That’s not to say I will do just anything; I have to feel some affinity for the subject. A lot of the time people come to me to supply some sort of whimsy or urbanity to a project. I don’t mind that. It’s an element of my work, but I prefer to be offered something where I might be able to go a little deeper. It’s a tightrope walk between surface style and deeper content. I like it when both elements come together in a project. That’s the kind of job I leap at. Just recently I designed the package for the Criterion reissue of Leo McCarey’s wonderful thirties film Make Way for Tomorrow.

A perfect job: wonderful, moving content and a 1930s context for the design. Heaven!

For full interview, visit thenewspaper.ca

the arts

6

January 7, 2010

Portraits of an Munk & the Wolf artist at Robarts

Affordable

COC

Prokofiev doc screens at Munk Centre

CARL KOHLER

You probably don’t recognize his name, but you will soon be seeing some of his works on the first floor at Robarts library. Carl Köhler (19192006) is not known by many outside his native Sweden, but this is something his children, Henry and Frida, hope to change. In the last few years, they have been introducing the their father’s captivating works to other parts of the world.

The neo-Modernist painter was born in Stockholm, where he spent most of his life and produced the majority of his works. During the 1950s, he also lived and worked in Spain, France, and Canada.

What makes his ‘author portraits’ so fascinating is the use of various methods and techniques in his creations. Each work is highly stylized in accordance to the individual he portrays. “[My father] used different techniques for different characters, whatever suited the character he worked on.”

Kafka is portrayed through thick black blockprint - bold and alienating, much like his notorious works.

By mixing style with the individual’s personality and works, Kohler expresses the authors and figures in a way unparalleled by simple realism.

His diverse use media forms - paint, ink, blockprint, and collage - depict multiple aspects and the uniqueness of figure.

His subjects range from Artaud to Rilke, Dostoevsky to Michael Jackson, amongst many other American and European writers, popular artists, and intellectuals. Unlike many portrait artists, Köhler didn’t actually meet any of his subjects, but rather as Henry says “I think my father did all these portraits because he was so interested in the characters. He looked up to the authors and characters he did portraits of, they really inspired him.”

Köhler’s literary influences include Joyce, Beckett, Woolf, Miller; classic French authors; he was also inspired by Russian authors, some of whose portraits will be among those at the exhibit. As well as being an avid reader, Kohler also wrote, though he never published.

Köhler completed well over one hundred works, including two selfportraits - one from Capri in 1980, and one from his time at the Swedish Royal Art Academy in 1945-51.

27 of Köhler’s author portraits will be on display from January 10 until late March at Robarts library. You can learn more about Carl Köhler and his works at www.carlkohler. com.

Kohler’s Kafka will metamorphasize Robarts first floor this month.

“I feel an artist should be beyond politics.”

Thus spoke Sergei Prokofiev, a man considered to be one of the 20th century’s greatest composers. Yet as a new documentary produced by Toronto-based filmmaker Yosif Feyginberg shows, politics were never in the background of Prokofiev’s rich and fascinating life.

The film is the first biography of Prokofiev to be produced following the recent publication of his personal diaries. It features extracts brought to life with archive footage, stills, and of course, plenty of music. There are also interviews with many experts on the composer’s life, including his son Sviatoslav and his grandson Serge.

A musical prodigy, Prokofiev began composing his first opera at age 9. His decision in 1919 to emigrate to San Fransisco was very symbolic for both East and West; the transcript of his interview with U.S. officials is particularly poignant. The film charts his struggles to make a living in America as a composer and performer, and his eventual decision to return to the Soviet Union in

1935. Under the increasingly tight grip of the Composer’s Union, he wrote some of his finest works, including the wellknown children’s classic, “Peter and the Wolf.”

The film was conceived several years ago in Toronto, during a conference organized by Professor Sterling Beckwith, founding chair of the Department of Music at York University. It was there that filmmaker Yosif Feyginberg first met Simon Morrison, a musicologist and leading Prokofiev expert who appears in the film.

“Prokofiev: The Unfinished Diary” has been shown in Canada on the Bravo Network, intersperced with many commercials.

“As soon as I saw it, I immediately said, ‘We’ve got to put this on properly,’” says Beckwith. “I think people will connect to the musical aspect, the political aspect, the ballet and the filmography. It’s a fantastic documentary.”

A screening organized by the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, will take place on Sunday at 4:00 PM at Innis Town Hall. Mr. Feyginberg will be on hand to answer audience questions and lead a discussion following the film.

JOEY COLEMAN

COURTESY OF STERLING BECKWITH

MIKI SATO

TYLER IRVING

The Canadian Opera Company is marketing itself as an affordable night out for students with $20 tickets, the TSO with $12 tickets.

With a date night at the movies easily costing over thirty dollars, a night of culture is an attractive change from the latest cookie cutter Hollywood flick.

“We’re trying to bring younger people into our audiences … by making it [opera] affordable” says Falan Hamilton, COC assistant publicist.

Opera has shed its stereotypical image of being bland and boring. The modern opera is as much as theatrical experience as it is a musical one. A person could even be forgiven for believing their attending a live variation of The Muppet Show last fall when the COC used puppets in their innovative production of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables.

Nightgale earned wide critical acclaim and is indicative of modernization of the Opera. The production broke convention by placing the orchestra on-stage and the performance in the orchestra pit, which was flooded with 67 tons of water. Paul Wells of Maclean’s called it “most beautiful piece of creative work I saw, in any genre or medium, this year.”

The COC is not the only cultural organization marketing itself to students, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra offers tickets to the under age 35 crowd for $12 per performance; less than the average price of a ticket to even the worst Hollywood movie.

Both organizations are trying to connect with young people by holding special social events. The TSO holds two after performance parties during the year and the COC offers special dinner and movie packages for their under 30 crowd.

Knowing that many of the youth they hope to draw may not have experienced opera previously, the COC offers special educational sessions during the year.

Opera 101 is marketed as a “free, relaxed, no-attitude evening” to learn about upcoming perforContinued on page 7

the arts

January 7, 2010

COC cont’d from page 6 mances and better understand the art form. The TSO offers similar events. Both have youth oriented sections on their websites; TSO even lists frequently asked questions such as “What should I wear?” and “When do I applaud?”

Professor David Briskin, director of orchestral studies at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, says the key to successfully reaching out to a younger generation is to make it affordable, relevant, and “Whatever you do, don’t “dumb down” the work in order to attract a younger audience” Director of Orchestral Studies, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto This winter, the COC will be performing crowd favourite Carmen and Otello. The TSO will be performing a wide range of concerts from numerous Mozart classics, Beethoven, and even a Vegas themed night.

TSO tickets are on sale now and tickets for COC winter performance go on sale January 16.

More information about the TSO can be found at www.tsoundcheck.ca and more about the COC at www.coc.ca

7

ROM hawks forgeries AMY STUPAVSKY

Can you guess which jade cicada is really from the Han Dynasty?

Looks really can be deceiving. On January 9, the ROM will pull the wool off our eyes with Fakes and Forgeries: Yesterday and Today, an exhibit devoted to separating the real McCoy from the frauds.

The interactive exhibit delves into the science of counterfeiting, with tips and tricks from the pros on how to spot the fakes. It includes 11 cases brimming with objects ranging from antiquities and money, to designer goods, computer games, and everyday items. It’s a little bit like the Antiques Roadshow: The wares are on the judgement block as visitors’ detecting skills are put to the test. After careful examination, finding the forgeries is no mean feat. This discerning reporter was fooled more than once!

Paul Denis, curator of the exhibition, admits that even the ROM has been duped many times. He also points to the exhibit’s utility.

“It’s educational,” explained Denis. “It’s very interesting to show the public a comparison between the fake and the genuine, and to show them how to tell the difference.”

Counterfeiting and piracy is the world’s largest growing crime wave, with approximately $22 billion lost annually in tax revenue, investment, and innovation in Canada alone. Buying counterfeit can result not only in monetary loss, but illness and death.

“I think people should be worried about food, toothpaste, and medications,” said Denis. “What interested me most in the exhibit, besides the antiquities, was finding out how prevalent knockoffs are in society.”

Fakes and Forgeries: Yesterday and Today runs through April 4, 2010.

up-to-date, with academic, trade and independent books” The TWB does not, however, limit itself to the academic community. “Literature is not always accessible,” explains RomeroLeiva. The TWB has reached out to and become a hub of activity for marginalized minorities who might not attend a book launch or purchase a book. “One of the biggest things that differs us from

other independent bookstores is our commitment to working from an anti-oppression mandate,” says Romero-Leiva. This mandate spurred such daring moves as hosting a creative writing course for survivors of sexual abuse, among many other fundraisers, courses and seminars.

The TWB being one-of-a-kind, if it should dissappear the resources it provides would also vanish.

PHOTOS courtesy of ROM

Women’s Bookstore a buyer for the TWB for five years now. “There’s been a change in buying trends,” she says. “Students are buying their books online because they’re cheaper.

Textbooks, especially from U of T students, are a big part of our revenue.” This, in addition to an inability to compete with major book retailers like Chapters and Indigo as well as internal turnover has landed the TWB in a financial crisis.

As a unique, non-proft small business, the TWB has always transcended the functions of a retail store. Savitri Persaud, copresident of U of T’s Women and Gender Studies Student Union describes it as “an alternative space that provides a wealth of feminist literature and an accessible point of entry for many U of T students with a budding or keen interest in issues pertaining to a range of subjects from gender, to politics, to equity, to glo-

balization and development.”

While the September closing of Queen West’s Pages was disappointing, the loss of the TWB would hit closer to home for U of T students, given the store’s deeprooted affiliation with the University and surrounding community.

Prof. Elspeth Brown from U of T’s history department has been a frequent customer since 2000, “I’ve sent my students there. Personally I think it’s an invaluable resource, their buying has been incredible, most interesting and

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January 7, 2010

“ the campus comment ”

the newspaper asks: What is David Miller’s biggest shortcoming?

“What he’s done pertaining to environmental issues in Toronto has been his biggest impact, and that’s really cool.”

Alisha Tharani

“Overspending, increasing the deficit, investing a crapload of money into infrastructure without help from the provincial government which leaves the city with serious financial troubles, and the garbage strike.”

Arman Hamidian

“The garbage strike. It was a pretty big and very publicized issue.”

Paul Humphrey

“His twitter account, because that’s all I know him for.”

Daniel Tsekhman

ALEX NURSALL

MIKE WINTERS

“Who is David Miller?”

Russell Moore

“His love of brooms.”

Buttons the Bluebird

Down 2. Young bear 4. Tree of hard, strong wood 5. Viper 6. Race course 7. Animated chipmunk 8. Curves 11. Clarinets 12. Disparage 15. Average 17. Patrick Stewart, as of 2010 19. Wastepaper basket 20. Paddle 22. Beer 23. Superlative suffix 27. In the manner of (Fr.) 28. Fermented apple juice 29. Blazes 30. Err 31. Farewell!

32. Cries 34. Engorge 35. Multi-headed monster of myth 39. Lie 40. Light pull

the comics

LAURENT NOONAN

ANDREW GYORKOS

Across 1. Bad habit 3. Soft drink 9. Challenge 10. Quick rest from work 13. Trigonometric function 14. Fugitive 16. Escape 18. IBM OS 19. They may come before ìhoesî 21. Rabbit 24. Flightless New Zealand bird 25. What a #24 across canít do 26. Police informant 29. Event or gathering 33. Ugandan dictator ___ Amin 36. John McClaneís debut 37. Absconder 38. Observe 39. 2008 film ___/Nixon 41. Insult 42. Steals 43. Craz

MIKE WINTERS

the crossword