June 25: (B)(b)erlin: a photo project! By Aaron Mangle! Lets talk about Shortcuts!

For the last 3 weeks I have been interviewing my brother about cities and art. This is the last (for now) of my interviews with my brother. Aaron photographed 100 shortcuts in halifax with poloroid film. He was thinking about how we all work together to make short cuts, without even talking about it. We make these paths on the ground.
He made a book called "100 Shortcuts". In this interview Aaron talks about what shortcuts do as metaphors. And practically what it means. A place between to points that are meant to be traveled on.... meant to be separated by space. Thinking about political histories and how walls, fences and shortcuts show up in city histories.
Aaron went to Berlin on a scholarship art project last fall... starting his project by looking for shortcuts, as a way of showing a city that had been so significantly divided, now joined by shortcuts. The project changed a bunch once he got there.Listen to the interview to hear his good smart voice, and all the things he says. Contact me for a copy of the show : sarah.mangle@gmail.com, or visit the archives at www.cfru.ca

June 11 and June 18: Cities and Art. Art Bikers. Aaron Mangle. a great interview! Part 1 and 2

Aaron Mangle is my great brother who does lots of exciting things.
Here is one of them. Aaron Mangle has been working with Art Bikers in Halifax for the first 3 summers. Aaron Mangle talks about the beginning of the art biker project, a mobile art and community building project.

This year, the Art Bikers project that Aaron is involved in is based primarily in Bayers Westwood. Aaron describes the neighbourhood. Aaron talks about how Bayers Westwood situates itself in Halifax.

In Part One of the our interview (June 11) Aaron speaks of a tension and challenge involved in working in a neighbourhood not his own, and the negotiation of his priviligde to come and go. The negotiation of personal/professional boundaries. We talked the limits of printing pamphlets about information, or websites, how that is not enough. How you need to meet people face to face, and spend time with them, to really meet people, and do things together that mean anything.

I found this interview particularly interesting because i kept changing out how i thought about what Aaron was saying. He is talking about a subject he has obviously thought a lot about and it shows.

In Part Two of our interview (June 18) We talked a lot about the words CRAFT and ART. Its going for me to some up all the nuances of what we talked about, so it might be best for you to listen to this episode to really get a sense of what we talked about. We talked about kids being given crap for art materials, and doing projects that are mostly invidualized. Aaron talked about the shifting focus of art bikers' projects from individual art projects (using a lot of crappy craft supplies) to collective projects, using cardboard and other materials to create collective projects, but that they were still perscriptive, and Art Bikers' shift to incorporating traditions of craft and skill into their projects. We also talked about the different assumptions of importance placed on Fine Art, as opposed to craft, how those things are tied to specific mediums... and the limits of that.

Check out the archive of this interview at www.cfru.ca, or email me at sarah.mangle@gmail.com and i'll send a copy to you.
check out the 4Cs foundation at:http://www.4csfoundation.com/

June 4: Elisha's 100 Butches! An interview with Elisha Lim

oh dear dear dear, Elisha is so great! I met with her in Toronto. She tells the history of the beginning of her project: 100 Butches.

We talked about her comic style, and process. We talked about the nuances, and limits of the word butch. We talked about how what she originally wanted to acheive through the project has changed. We talked about the gay-stream main stream, and how Elisha's idea of her audience has changed.

I think her work is really important, as a historical, and continually relevant archival project. As a hot, great conversational art piece that holds up a mirror, crumples it up, and lays it out in a series of bright, personal, and realistic portraits. I love it, and it was a joy to meet her. Buy the book when it comes out.

Check out the archives at cfru to hear the interview at http://www.cfru.ca/archive.php or email me and i'll send you an audio copy of the interview!

Check out Art Threat for another interview with Elisha Lim http://artthreat.net/2008/01/100-butches-an-interview-with-elisha-lim/
Find her on No More Potlucks at http://www.nomorepotlucks.org/article/ego/butch-46