Latest News

a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

Warhol takes the MMFA’s walls

by Burgess Powell on

More in a:

With Warhol Mania, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts  (MMFA) presents an eclectic collection of Andy Warhol’s illustrations, posters, and record art—but leaves the viewer to reconcile Warhol the artist with Warhol the advertiser. Through image repetition and his typical three-colour style, Warhol’s work remains dynamic and innovative in the eyes of the modern viewer. Yet the impact of Warhol’s work relies as much on his skill as on our understanding of its cultural significance. Walking through exhibitions of Warhol’s renowned celebrity portraits along with innovative yet comparatively tentative earlier illustrations, the viewers have the sense that they are witnessing the creation of an aesthetic that still permeates today’s culture.

While Warhol’s famous images—Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Campbell’s soup—are sometimes dismissed as merely popular posters, they also represent Warhol’s contribution to the growth of celebrity culture and advertising. Indeed, much of Warhol’s work was produced with a purpose beyond the creation of art. His images were mass-produced to sell products, be it records, alcohol, beauty products, or people. In Warhol Mania, a description accompanies a striking poster of an Absolut Vodka bottle, explaining that Warhol met with the CEO of Carillon Importers—the European spirits company that produces Absolut Vodka—to create what the exhibit describes as “a ‘portrait’ of the Absolut bottle.”  Warhol’s Absolut poster is not only a striking piece of artwork, but a clever marketing strategy that extends beyond Absolut. By creating a beautiful piece originally commissioned to encourage product sales, Warhol blurs the line between advertising and art.

Though Warhol created many “portraits” of objects, he is best known for his celebrity portraits and consequent contribution to our cultural fascination with celebrities.  Through Warhol’s LIFE and TIME magazine covers, record art, and portraits, his visuals of celebrities permeated our culture, and have remained relevant ever since.  A poster of Diana Ross for her album Silk Electric (1982) hangs in the Warhol Mania exhibit with a description that quotes Warhol. He asks, “I wonder if she wants to be black or white.” Looking at the poster, the viewer observes four captivating repetitions of Diana Ross’s noticeably pale face. As an artist, Warhol made deliberate choices concerning his work, but the wide circulation of his art as a form of advertising ensures the prevalence of his perspective, no matter what his motivations. 

The extent of Andy Warhol’s influence can be traced back to the start of his career. In an issue of LIFE dating back to January 21, 1957, Warhol is described as a “commercial artist.”  Though his celebrity status has increased significantly since his creation of the illustrations that accompanied that comment, this characterization remains accurate. Warhol’s artwork has universal appeal and is enduring because it symbolizes modernity and influences the present. His vivid images are amplified by the viewer’s knowledge that they are important, that they embody something greater than an advertisement, a celebrity portrait, or a beautiful illustration. Through his innovative depiction and perpetuation of American consumer products, he informs our modern understanding of art.

In his self-portrait, Andy Warhol’s yellow face stares at the viewer with penetrating eyes, which the museum description characterizes as, “infused […] with a terrifying realism.” As with any artist, we will never know precisely what Warhol intended to express through his work. Perhaps he understood that in order to bring art to a large audience, one had to reconcile art with advertising. With this portrait, Warhol does for himself what he has done throughout his career for others—portraying himself as an artist while engaging in advertising.

Warhol Mania runs until March 15, 2015 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1380 Sherbrooke Ouest). Student admission is $12, and $10 on Wednesday evenings.

a, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Sports

10 Things: Unbreakable sports records

by Aaron Rose on

More in a:

  1. In the 1961-1962 season, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 48.52 minutes per game. Not only did the ‘Big Dipper’ never sit out because of injury, but he never tired, playing every minute of every game, including all 50 overtime minutes his team played that season. In the modern era, only Allen Iverson has come close to breaking the record, averaging 43.70 minutes per game in the 2001-2002 season.
  2. From 1956-1960, the Montreal Canadiens won five consecutive Stanley Cups. Since the addition of the salary cap in 2004, no team has even repeated as champions. Great teams are often dismantled in free agency, and since the NHL expanded from six teams to 12 in 1967, only the New York Islanders have come close to breaking the Habs record, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-1983.
  3. The Buffalo Bills own easily one of the most devastating records of all time. From 1990-1993, the Bills went to four consecutive Super Bowls. While this feat in itself is a record that may never be broken, the fact that the Bills lost all four trips earned Buffalo a spot on this list. While no team has ever three-peated as champions, only the Bills can say they have four-peated as losers.
  4. In 1985-1986, Wayne Gretzky had his greatest season, posting 215 points. With goalies playing better than ever and the game becoming more physical, nobody will ever come close to breaking Gretzky’s record. Jaromir Jagr scored 149 points in the 1995-1996 season, but even the likes of Sidney Crosby won’t even approach the greatness of Gretzky’s 1985 season.
  5. From 1959-1966, Bill Russell led the Boston Celtics to eight consecutive NBA Championships. While it’s not unheard of for teams to repeat or three-peat in today’s NBA, only the Chicago Bulls teams of the ‘90s have ever come close to winning eight consecutive championships. Michael Jordan’s two-season stint in baseball, however, took the wind out of the Bulls’ sails.
  6. From May 30, 1982 to September 19, 1998, Cal Ripken Jr. did not miss a game, starting in 2,632 consecutive games and breaking the record of 2,130 previously held by Lou Gehrig. Hunter Pence has the longest active streak at 382 starts, but starting every game over a 162-game season is a tall order. Doing so for 16 seasons is even more daunting.
  7. Over his 19-year career, John Stockton registered 15,806 assists. While the Stockton-Malone combo never won a championship for Utah, the dynamic duo ruled the Western Conference in the late ‘90s. Jason Kidd’s 12,091 career assists have him second on the all-time list, but nobody in the foreseeable future will come remotely close to breaking Stockton’s record.
  8. From 1979-2003, Rickey Henderson was an unstoppable thief on the basepaths, leading the American League in stolen bases 12 times. His 1,406 stolen bases are by far the most of all time–468 more than the Lou Brock, the next name on the list. For the most part, stealing has become a lost art in the league, as teams are becoming more reluctant to risk running into an out, making this an improbable record to break.
  9. While Brett Favre’s touchdown record only stood for four years, his career interception record of 336 won’t be toppled. It takes a special kind of quarterback to throw 300 interceptions. Favre was a gunslinger who was good enough to hold onto his job for 18 seasons, and had the confidence to keep heaving the ball deep into double or triple-coverage throughout his career.
  10. On February 7, 1976, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Darryl Sittler registered six goals and four assists, in an 11-4 beat down of the Boston Bruins. Teams don’t score 11 goals in the modern era, and even on an easy difficulty, it’s a struggle to tally 10 points in hockey video games. Only 15 players have ever registered eight points in a game and nobody, other than Sittler, has registered nine let alone 10.
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Album Review: Ryan Hemsworth – Alone For the First Time

by Martin Molpeceres on

More in a:

Ryan Hemsworth’s Alone For the First Time follows his well-received Guilt Trips (2013) to constitute the Canadian producer’s third studio album. The record immediately offers a unique, somewhat melancholic tone with the opening track “Hurt Me”—something that remains present throughout. The minimalist electronic beats, coupled with a grounding percussion, mix well with the tracks’ slow-paced vocals, all of which are distorted wonderfully to give the album a mellow rhythm that serves it well.

Unfortunately, the album does not build upon this foundation and instead chooses to maintain its slow tempo—a decision that wouldn’t be as maddening if not for the feeling of wasted potential that lingers throughout the album. More baffling still is the short track listing, which would have worked well had its sparse composition climaxed into something greater, but in reality, it leaves the listener wanting more. The whole affair breeds musical style not unlike The Weeknd’s House of Balloons (2011), but whereas that gelled into a complete experience, Alone For the First Time fails to emerge as a satisfying whole, even though tracks like “Snow in Newark” bring it close. Hemsworth’s latest may offer a rich atmosphere and a well executed bare-bones style, but for some, that may not be enough.

a, Opinion

Commentary: The portrait of a terrorist

by Sharon Xie on

More in a:

The portrait of a terrorist is often painted by the media as such: A radical jihadist with a calculating and deliberate plan to bring down the West. (more…)

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Deep Cuts: Classical pieces that everyone should know

by Evelyn Kaczmarek on

More in a:

Eine kleine Nactmusik, K525

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Composed: 1787

You’ve heard the famous first movement maybe a million times: In movies, TV shows, commercials, and on stages time and time again—maybe you even played it with your middle school orchestra. Translated quite literally to “A Little Night Music,” this serenade has been noted by critics as the most enduringly popular of all of Mozart’s works. Interestingly enough, unlike the majority of his work, there is no record of it being commissioned by any one person or institution. Albert Einstein hypothesized that Mozart wrote the piece to fulfill a personal need—something otherwise unheard of for the prodigious professional.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Composed: 1824

A list of popular classical music wouldn’t be complete without Beethoven. Symphony No. 9, which Beethoven wrote while completely deaf, is not only considered the composer’s greatest work, but is arguably the best piece of music ever written. The hour-long symphony features “Ode to Joy” in its fourth movement—the most famous musical manifestation of human happiness that exists in the Western world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHuGktVssdc

Orpheus in the Underworld: Infernal Gallop

Composer: Jacques Offenbach

Composed: 1858

Practically anyone can whistle the “can-can” on command. But how many people can tell you where it comes from or how they even know it? Embodying pure joy, this small—but erroneously dubbed—melody is part of a much greater story. In fact, it is only a tiny segment of the first-ever full-length classical operetta. Written by the great romantic-era composer, Jacques Offenbach, the music serves as an accompaniment to Offenbach’s scathing satirical plot, which was not originally well-received thanks to its vulgar scenes and rather ruthless parodying of well-respected composers.

Rhapsody in Blue

Composer: George Gershwin

Composed: 1924

Commissioned by Paul Whiteman to create a “jazz concerto,” American pianist George Gershwin composed the exuberant masterpiece known as “Rhapsody in Blue” while on a single train ride to Boston. An intricate fusion of classical and jazz styles, this seminal piece was originally created for solo piano and jazz band, but in 1942, its scores were also published for symphony orchestra. Gershwin has referred to the piece as the “musical kaleidoscope of America” and it seems to capture the essence of America’s conceptual ‘melting pot’ and characteristic national pep with its perpetual movement, innovative harmonic structures, and heightened contrasts.  In popular culture, this piece is notoriously associated with New York City (Fantasia 2000, anyone?), which is certainly an appropriate coupling due to the piece’s bouncing, metropolitan feel.

a, Editorial, Opinion

Fall 2014 Referendum: Endorsements

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

More in a:

The Tribune gives its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Fall 2014 Referendum.

(more…)

a, Opinion

Commentary: To be heard, or not to be heard

by Daan Rozenbroek on

More in a:

“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….”  – Noam Chomsky

(more…)

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Pop Rhetoric: A missed opportunity for The Newsroom

by Abraham Moussako on

More in a:

For those convinced of the self-absorption of the American “media elite,” the hoopla that surrounded the debut of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom in 2012 was an excellent case-in-point.  (more…)

a, Science & Technology

Uber simple, Uber convenient, Uber ruthless

by Wilder Walker-Stewart on

More in a:

Uber taxi service has recently blown away its previous valuation in a $1.2 billion financing round—making the taxi company worth a staggering $18.2 billion. According to Business Insider, the company is rumored to have made $2 billion of total profit, and Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, claims that profits are doubling at least every six months. However, profits being realized in only five out of the 130 cities in which the company operates, according to Insider.

“Uber is revolutionizing the way taxis work,” stated William Nairi, an Uber spokesperson.

Uber is a transportation service that, according to its website, offers a “one-tap” alternative to a taxi. The entire process, including paying for the ride, happens within the app, much of it automatically through algorithms. The sleek user interface is easy to use, making getting a taxi simple and accessible. The company promises a ride within minutes, with five levels of service, including everything from fast and cheap transportation—UberX—to limousine-style travelling—UberLux. With 4.4 stars on the iTunes App Store and four out of five stars on Google Play, the app is gaining considerable traction even here at McGill, Uber has many fans.

“Uber has completely replaced taxis in my life,” says Maddie Dean, U3 Arts.

“It is way faster than a normal taxicab,” added Evan Thomas, U0 Arts.

And that’s the appeal. The company provides cheap, convenient, and fast transportation for the masses. It goes further than that, explained Nairi.

“Uber has a dual purpose: Providing a new way for consumers to travel, and providing the app economy’s first job market,” Nairi said.

If Kalanick’s claims that Uber hires 50,000 new drivers every month are true, it will be one of the first examples of an app mass-producing jobs.

Despite all of this success, however, Uber has many detractors. Many accuse Uber of undermining taxi company livelihoods. In Europe, particularly in France and Germany, taxi unions have staged multiple protests against the company, some of which have even turned violent.

Allegations about the company’s questionable practices are also increasing. The company has been accused of decreasing drivers’ fare revenues at will—in one case lowering fares from $2.10 to $1.10 per mile over a year—causing protests in several cities.

Furthermore, according to The Verge, there are allegations of Ubers anti-competitive behavior against rivals, such as Hailo—which uses established taxi companies in offering Uber-like services, and Lyft—a ridesharing service similar to Uber, whose drivers sport pink polyester mustaches on their cars. This summer, as Lyft was launching in New York City, Uber launched an office known as SLOG (Supplying Long-term Operations Growth), where employees ordered Lyft rides and tried to convince drivers to join Uber, in a story broken by The Verge,  or if not, cancel rides—causing slower times for Lyft customers.

Uber is spearheading a revolution by replacing a service consumers use daily with an app. But whether or not one should use Uber over other competing solutions is another matter. Lyft and Hailo are companies who claim to provide the same convenience, offer compelling alternatives, and are not surrounded in a cloud of scandal.

However, the company still remains one of the most reliable ways to get cheap and fast transportation in Montreal. It has the best location-tracking algorithms, the most drivers, and the shortest waiting times. Despite the allegations and the ruthlessly competitive nature of the market, Uber may still be the wisest choice. Only when more ethical counterparts catch up to Uber in accessibility and ease should users consider switching to a different service. For now, at least, Uber remains king.

1 … 885 886 887 888 889 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue