www.theotherpress.ca

ARTS.

 

Current events in caricature

Contrast, humour, and
selFreflection in the
work of artist lonel

Sarah Andrews, Rafael Sandoval,
Crystal Rivera, Ya Hsuan Wu,
and Pei Ying Chou, Contributors

he contemporary art of

Cuban artist Tonel, born
Antonio Eligio Fernandez,
reflects current and historical
topics in his cartoon and
caricature style drawings as
well as sculptures made froma
variety of forms and materials.

He cleverly addresses
main themes around the global
economy, neoliberalism, and
recent financial crises by relating
them to the geography of the
body, the humanity, the nation,
and even the cosmos.

Tonel plays a lot with
contrast in order to shock
viewers. In his piece “In the
History of Velcro” (2009), he
depicts the image of the famous
first lunar landing by the
Americans with Soviet symbols.

At first glance we might
simply perceive this to be
an inaccurate account of the
event. Some might even feel
irritated by his use of an iconic
all-American image with the
Soviets’ symbols, as this was a
proud moment in American and
Western history. Others might

simply laugh at the occurrence.

But no matter what the
reaction, Tonel has got your
attention: you are captured by
the opposing images, and the
visible tension that accentuates
this contrast. This not only
forces the audience to interpret
a larger scheme but it also
turns the exaggeration into an
absurdity that the audience
becomes acutely aware of.

Why is it that we
are so easily moved by a
“misrepresentation” of the
lunar landing? It is almost
unrealistic how violently and
viscerally we react to history, or
art that portrays different ideas
than those we have come to
understand.

Tonel also expresses his
ideas in a humorous, often ironic
way. His piece “Lunajod-2”
(2009) depicts a comically drawn
driverless golf cart over the
moon.

Once again, viewers are
shocked by two contrasting
images that seemingly have
nothing to do with each other.
But an acute viewer can
interpret this as the expansion of
capitalism as golf is a sport that
only those with a lot of money
can afford to participate in. The
driverless car makes reference to
the supposedly invisible hand
that drives the liberal economy.

Yet this is not a welcoming
image because we see the golf
cart is lost in the middle of

a difficult terrain. It is going
nowhere because no one is
driving it to safe port, just like
what was happening during the
economic recession in the late
2000s. And even worse, it looks
absolutely pointless to take the
golf cart anywhere. The task is
doomed at its core.

One final trait of Tonel’s
work is his use of self-portraits.
Most of them are half-naked
and presented in vulnerable or
uncomfortable positions. This
is the case with “The Chair”
(1993), a wooden sculpture
that shows a man in an upright
sitting position vomiting. It
becomes evident that the man
has been in this uncomfortable
position for so long that he has
become the chair himself and he
is expressing his sickness with
vomit.

If this has caught your
attention then join us on
Wednesday, October 16 at 6:45

p-m. in the Aboriginal Gathering

Place for an open talk with
the intelligent and witty artist,
Tonel.

This article features the individual
work of the above contributors,
combined into the final piece by
professor Ruth Mandujano-Lopez.

 

 

Tonel’s In the History of Velcro

Photo courtesy of http:/www.cubanvisions.com/?p=812

How much are we willing to sacrifice?

DSU holds screening
of Crude Sacrifice

Shea O'Grady, Contributor

Ri that portray the
state of environmental
destruction in our country
stand a fairly poor chance
competing with the latest
Hollywood blockbuster. We
have become saturated in a
world of mediocre rom-coms
and action movies, where
films about the realities of our
current predicament generate
a collective yawn. It’s hard to
get passionate about the next
crisis, but perhaps we should.
Douglas college students
partook in the college’s second
screening of the award-

winning, feature-length
documentary film, Crude
Sacrifice: A Story of Dirty Oil
and Democracy on October 8.
Hosted in the Douglas
Students’ Union lounge at the
New Westminster campus,
the movie provided an in-
depth look at the effect the
exploitation of Alberta’s tar
sands has on the residents of
Fort Chipewyan, an isolated
northern First Nations
community living along the
shores of the Athabasca River.
Taking viewers beyond
the environmental costs
by providing personal
accounts through interviews
with seemingly forgotten
Canadians, Crude Sacrifice
documents the effects of
toxic contamination flowing
steadily downstream to the

community—effectively
ceasing the viability of fishing
and hunting.

Extraordinary
repercussions abound
as Viewers witness the
disappearance of a way of life
the community depends on.

Exposure to the constant
barrage of chemical sludge
has caused a dramatic increase
of extremely rare and fatal
cancers to afflict the people of
Fort Chipewyan.

The film goes on to
present a scathing view of the
state of a Canadian democracy
that refuses to acknowledge or
fix the problems contributing
to the deaths of citizens.

The film seeks foremost
to answer the question
the community is asking
themselves: does anybody

actually care about the
devastation that corporations
in the tar sands have inflicted
upon the people in the
surrounding area?

Member of Parliament
Kennedy Stewart attended the
screening and sought to help
students answer that question
during a discussion period
after the film.

“One thing we have to ask
ourselves in life: are we going
to be an agent of change?” he
said.

The lesson for students
here is that it is essential to
partake in the politics of our
community to affect any
meaningful change we hope to
see. Change happens because
people demand it.

How do we demand it?

Another guest speaker,
Alexandra Swan from the

Dogwood Initiative (an active
environmental organization
in BC), outlined exactly how
individuals can affect change
by encouraging students to
follow these simple steps:
educate yourself, show up,
participate, and maintain
hope.

With the recent upheaval
around the Kinder Morgan
and Enbridge pipeline
proposals in BC, this film
highlights a very poignant
question about what our own
future could look like and
whether or not unforeseen
circumstances could leave
residents of Greater Vancouver
in a situation similar to Fort
Chipewyan.

If you’re looking for
an opportunity to become
an agent of change, go to
dogwoodinitiative.org