issue 21 / volume 40

Under the Feminist Microscope:

‘How Nice to Have a Hobby’ exhibition

» A look at the latest Leigh Square show

  

Julia Siedlanowska
| Staff Writer

x all-female feminist
exhibition that,

according to the show’s
program,“challenges the
preconceived notions of female
achievement in the arts and
addresses the question of
gender bias in the art world”

is open now at Leigh Square.
Curated by Danaca Ackerson
and Deanna Fogstrom, How
Nice to Have a Hobby features
more than 15 female artists

in this powerful and concise
collection with an important
message.

The variety of mediums,
such as paintings, quilts,
ceramics, photographs, and
clothing, within the exhibit sets
up a perfect field for discussions
about art versus hobby.
Mediums like quilting are
often faced with scrutiny and
skepticism about their validity,

Steven's

Man-Cave:
Staying alive

: which may have something to

: do with their origins. With the

: women of the modern world

: traditionally being restricted

: to housework and hobby

: crafts (as is visible in the many
: artifacts of needlework), it’s no
: wonder that breaking into the

: art world may have posed some
: challenges.

Although “there have

: been incredible strides made,”

: according to the program for

: How Nice to Have a Hobby,

: “there’s a lot of work to be done
: yet.” While there are always

: questions about the value and

: validity of art, looking at this

: question through a lens of

: gender equality offers another

: important perspective.

Ackerson and Fogstrom

: were inspired to create the

: exhibition at Leigh Square in

: part because of a visit to the

: Seattle Art Museum’s 2012-13

: exhibit Elles: Women Artists

: from the Centre Pompidou. The
: exhibit featured over 75 women
: artists and was all-female.

: Ackerson recalls that at the

 

>

in stealth games

» Be a lover, not a fighter

    

: time the Pompidou was being
: reconfigured so that “the issue
: of gender bias wasn’t an issue

: anymore,” and that the exhibit
: was “trying to rectify the gender :
: bias” in the art world. Some

: major inspiration, worthy of

: applying to local women artists
: in British Columbia.

With the intention of How

: Nice to Have a Hobby being

: “to generate conversations

: about high-/low-art, art/craft,
: dilettante/artist, gender bias,

: and the notion of hobby vs.

: profession,” nothing does it

: better than Sima Elizabeth

: Shefrin’s fabric piece titled

: “Isabel’s Sort-of-Art-Show.’

: The quilt features an almost

: comic strip-like depiction of

: aseries of snapshots in this

: character’s life. The original

: sketch that inspired the piece

: actually was a short comic that
: depicted the artists own fears.
: “Isabel” (which isa slightly

: abstracted version of the artist’s :
: own name) is seen creating

: her art and apologizing for it.
: In the end, she is small and

 

By Steven Cayer,

Senior Columnist

his week in the Man-Cave, I will be discussing a couple of my favourite stealth

games and why I love them so much.

First on my list is The Last of Us. This game just might be my favourite game of
all time. It’s a beautiful combination of survival, horror, and stealth. Being a lover
of stealth, I always try not to be seen by sneaking up behind the bandits and taking
them out one by one. It’s definitely challenging but it’s worth the trouble if you pull

it off.

Another stealth game I enjoy is Dishonored. Unlike the realistic universe of
The Last of Us, the world of Dishonored is shrouded by the supernatural, from your
special abilities to the runes you find along the way. After every level, the game tells
you if you've killed anyone or been seen by anyone. I always found the safest way
through the levels without killing anybody because I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Last but not least is Splinter Cell: Blacklist. This is the most science-fictional of
the three games. I liked it because it lets you choose between three different play
styles: ghost, panther, and assault. Ghost is where you must not be seen and you
need to use non-lethal gadgets to take care of enemies. Panther is the same, except
you must use lethal gadgets. Assault needs no explanation.

There you have it, three of my favourite stealth games. Something just feels
so good about ghosting through a game that I can’t wait to play the newest stealth
adventure Thief, which was released for PS3, PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 on

February 25.

: defeated. This was my favourite :
: piece in the show as it spoke
: on the subject in a clear and
: precise matter. The artist used

humour in the piece to portray

: the problems many artists, not
: only females, face in their art.

: In an artist’s statement about

: the piece, Shefrin thanks all

: the strident feminist voices

: in the world and also states

: that “sometimes social change
: comes with a smile.” This was

: the quintessential embodiment :
: of the themes in this exhibit,

: and it is worth seeing if just for
: this piece.

Other notable pieces were

: those by artist Karyn Wong.

: With her highly colourful

: paintings depicting women in
: an almost comic book graphic
: style, she is a great contrast to
: Shefrin. While Shefrin depicts
: women ina raw and lifelike

: way (lifelike meaning that the
: women in her work are taken

from reality), Wong depicts

: women ina slightly idealized
: way. Her comic book women
: are depicted in situations with

arts // 7

titles that suggest a political and

: social standpoint. Something is
: hidden there that is much more
: than a pretty face.

While there are many

: gender inequalities within

: professions, the art world

: is not exempt. According to

: the curators, there is a lot of

: work to be done within the

: realm of women’s equality.

: When accepting submissions,
: Ackerson said, “Our mandate

was to be inclusive. We wanted

: to provide women with the

: Opportunity to exhibit because
: it’s hard for women to have

: exhibits—as evidenced by the

: major galleries like the MOMA,
: the Guggenheim, big civic

: museums that have a very small
: percentage of work by women

: artists in their collection—like

: two to four per cent.”

I personally enjoyed the

: theme and would not mind

: seeing more exhibits like this.

: An exhibit that’s 100 per cent

: woman was quite all right with
: me.

 

Destroying history one
disaster movie ata time

» ‘Pompell’ review

  

Steven Cayer
Senior Columnist

known for being utterly
destroyed by Mount Vesuvius
way back in 79 AD. Nowadays,
it’s known for being destroyed
by director Paul W.S. Anderson
in his new movie Pompeii.

Knowing what Anderson's
previous track record was,

I held hope that this movie
would be good—though I also
had pretty low expectations. I
was averagely pleased with the
outcome.

A young boy named Milo
is the only survivor of a vicious
attack on his tribe of Celtic
horsemen. Later caught off-
guard, he is then caught and
traded as a slave. Seventeen
years later, he grows up to bea
gladiator just trying to survive
(played by Kit Harington). As

: he gets transferred to Pompeii,
: he meets Cassia (Emily

: Browning), who's on her way to
: Pompeii when her carriage gets
: stuck and her horse falls down.

00000

he city of Pompeii is mostly :

She allows Milo to help her
put the horse out of its misery.
You just know that sparks
something in them both.

In Pompeii, an evil Roman

: senator (poorly played by Kiefer
: Sutherland) is causing all

: matters of grief to Cassia and

: her parents (Jared Harris and

: Carrie-Ann Moss). Then comes
: the volcano.

One thing I will say about

: this movie is that the special

: effects were pretty cool,

: especially in 3-D. The entire

: final third of the movie is just
: aseries of special effects. The
: actors did the best they could
: with the script, except for

: Sutherland. I’m not even sure
: what kind of accent he was

: going for.

Overall, if you lower your

expectations a fair bit, you may
: mildly enjoy Pompeii as I did.