Cake Wrecks: under neat that, put article By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
August 26, 2009 What better way to start your day than with humour and cake?  That’s what Cake Wrecks blog creator Jen Yates has done since May 2008 and things have worked out pretty well for her. Besides winning two awards in her first year (Weblog award for the Best Food Blog and the Blogger’s Choice award for Best Humour Blog), Yates will be releasing her book, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong, from Andrews McMeel Publishing, on Sept. 4.
Cake Wrecks began when a friend of Yates emailed her the infamous Wal-Mart cake—a rectangular creation iced in white with orange and yellow flowers and the message, “Best Wishes Suzanne/ Under Neat that/ We will Miss you.”
Each cake monstrosity is followed by Yates’ commentary, a feature that attracts visitors and keeps them coming back for more. >> | Guerilla knitters set yarn bombs downtown By Stefanie Helbich
Lance Writer August 26, 2009 Denizens of the City of Windsor may have noticed over the past few months a surge in decoration around the city.  Courtesy of Elisha Giquel, Nicole Drouillard, and Samantha Cooper, the city has begun to be beautified by what they term “yarn bombs” or “knit tags.”
“I think of yarn bombing as a way to turn bland and ignorable city features into eye catching works of art using knit or crochet pieces,” Giquel says. “I do it primarily for the pleasure of creating small knit and crochet pieces, but also as a way to help people notice their city.”
You can see the tags around the city adorning lamp posts, bicycle racks, and other areas of mundane public viewing, and artists like Drouillard have even gone a step further and started making large knit works that hang on the sides of buildings in recessed alcoves. >> | Consumerism, religion, washed-up rockers in Norvid's exhibit By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer
August 26, 2009 Rock and roll, formerly the voice of the counterculture, has seen its edge worn down, its followers cast as out of touch dinosaurs, and its innovators pushed aside by more ground-breaking talent.
That is the central theme to an exhibit titled “Showstoppers, Whoppers, Downers and Out of Towners,” a collection of (mostly) music-related drawings by Montreal-via-England artist Adrian Norvid.
The pop art exhibit, featuring many pieces that helped Norvid find wide acclaim at last year’s Quebec Triennial at the Musee d’art contemporain, features many smaller drawings stylized in late 18th century British style and some abstract works, but the main pieces are noticeable from the moment you walk into the gallery.
The art tackles many subjects from consumerism to religion, but these messages that are now commonplace in the art community are given a unique treatment through the filter of music culture. Norvid, who holds a degree in music in addition to his Masters in studio art from York University, is obviously influenced by popular music of the last 40 years. >> |
