Plain Jane

Various outfits from the past 2 weeks , mostly looking kinda dorky.

I think I was trying to pull a bored face but instead I look like a walker, great.
Skirt I gripped in the ‘sauga at Goodwill for 2.50 (half off days are the happiest days) , blouse is Frip-Prix in my ‘hood , 4.99$ gripped it back in March and have worn it at least 12 times since , it’s so me. Vintage beret 99¢ at Salvation Army downtown.Belt was 4$ at a thrifty in Austin , picked by the boyfriend who seems to want me to dress like Stevie Nicks as he’s always picking out capes , ponchos and beaded things. No complaints. Cardi , also from Verdun Frip-Prix , 5$ , bought it back in 06 an wore it exclusively for a few years , pulled out of rotation but now it’s back in since I got a sweater shaver for giftmas this year. Highly essential gadget if a) you like sweaters and b)you want to still wear them without being ashamed more than 6 years after thrifting and c) you don’t believe in drycleaners. Machine wash forever.
Oh I assembled the necklace out one I thrifted and random broken jewels from the floor/street.

I’ve already post each item I’m wearing here but both sweater and blouse are from Frip-Prix (Mile End and Verdun respectively), shorts are cutoffs from the boyfriends cords that he had to buy at Salvation Army to be in a men’s choir of shirtless white pants. Black lips = OCC in Tarred.

Everything (blazer , belt , jupsuit) is from Cheap Opulance except from the necklace Connie from Nutcase Fashion traded me.

Same outfit hard at work:

In the lift ,

I do love that skirt , I do.Blouse , Cheap Opulance (she has nice stuff) , coat Sally Ann in Birmingham ,7$ , I loooooove it so , cardi , Sally Ann in suburban Calgary, 4$ , from Sears back in the day, self mad friendship necklaces , I’ve posted this a billion times but voila , make your own .Shoes from Payless 2 years ago . Lipstick is Wet n’ Wild Megalast in Purty Persimmon. I’m really digging the formula on the Megalast it seems to stay put better than anything else I’ve every tried. They are vegan, cheap and surprisingly high performance. Cruelty Free Face lists all the Wet and Wild products that are vegan.

Probably the most terrifying picture to be posted on a “style” blog? I thought about not posting but it seems too ugly not to. I think I was laughing or having a brief interlude of demonic possession , the other pics are way worse. Blouse I gripped at some filthy thrifty in Sherbrooke last week for 1.50$. Blazer that I’ve been wearing since 2004. It has a burn on it , various stains , is probably too small , I love it. Bought at Salvation Army on Notre Dame , ?$? Pink jeans bought from the devil, 10$ (boxing day).

The Toronto gig was Saturday and it was the best possible last gig, so many peeps in the zone it felt like an episode of This Is Your Life. It was what I hoping for with the Montreal show , I was seriously touched having so many folks I love and respect there. We didn’t get back to Kya’s house until after 4 , the hang sessions were so long. In life, often what I wish for in Montreal , I get in Toronto. I keep thinking I should move there but I have A LOT of books and records , maybe I should apply to York once I’m done playing catch up.

Here’s a eulogy from a guy I don’t know who takes some nice pics .

Here’s a write up from a lady I don’t know who seems to know my friend Daniel.
The men of Child Abuse always bring a good gig and a good brunch hang , this time was no exception.

Already I find myself feeling slightly nostalgic, more than that though , I’m pumped to do other stuff. Heading to Rimouski tomorrow morn , then as soon as we get back it’s a mad dash to get the last bits and bobs ready for our exhibition in Winnipeg. Tried to sculpt with supplies from the hardware store , realized we have to make the trip to the ‘burbs to the sculpture and casting supply place.

“So , how was the show?”

Is something I’m not going to miss hearing. It’s always a special torture for a neurotic to play local gigs and then be faced with that question over the next week or 2 every time I venture out of my hobbit hole. It often comes from friends and acquaintances who never, ever hit my gigs. I’ve always been tempted to say “If you cared you would be been there.” Instead, I smile and say something like “oh it was a gig , lots of randos , so-and-so got naked/drunk/covered in fake blood”. You know , typical gig. It’s draining ’cause if you are insane like I probably am, after 14 years of living and gigging in Montreal, local gigs always make me notice who isn’t there. It’s dumb but it’s true and is one of the reasons retirement will be good for my mind. Not like I’m not a giant hypocrite who only hits 1/10 of the gigs I wanna see myself. Neurosis knows no logic, no reason.

On the eve of the last ever AIDS Wolf gig I can say , yeah the Montreal show was a gig. Lots of randos, Fannie & Maude from Souffle got covered in fake blood.
I had no idea who 3/4 of the crowd was but a few heads drove up from Ottawa and Toronto and that makes for some warm fuzzies.
No pic of the most important detail , what I wore, but Laura Crapo caught the set on video so that earth shattering question can be answered. Plus jams.

THE TIME IS NOW episode 8, AIDS WOLF live at casa del popolo, montrèal. Last montreal show. video by Laura Crapo

The beau and I are kinda camping in our apartment while the landlord takes his sweet time repairing our destroyed kitchen and damaged bathroom , bedrooms. Everything is piled into the office and living room and I’m just caught in the mosh. Going to Rimouski to hang our show and I’ve never been so excited to go en région, hopefully hit a triffty or 2. I’m feeling gold after scores in Sherbrooke 2 silk blouses for 1.50 each and an arm full of bangles for the same. No matter I’m busted and so is my home , retail theraphy for a few loonies is just what the doctor ordered.

I’d never posted what I wore to the fancy museum benefit I was all stressin’ about so here it is. It was weird cause except for the other artists and curators, everyone looked like an aspiring extra for Sex in the City or something. Lots of bodycon and 8 inch heels. We left pretty early.

Blouse and shorts both from Cheap Opulance , Sarah suggested both for the event cause I think I said I wanted to look like a lady from a late 70′s early 80′s Woody Allen movie (merci Sarah!). Tights and shoes from Simons’ , tights were under 5$ , that’s how I roll , the shoes were bought to wear to a fancy art opening we had in Vienna and felt decadently expensive at 45$. I’d wear them more if they didn’t hurt. Double silver chain doing something cool with the crazy collar , got it at a resale shop some fellow jammers had in Sacto in trade for some art. Belt , Gap 4$ (boxing day FTW). Tired expression = earned from a day at the stude and a night on the town.

Ladies , ladies , ladies

Carly Ptak

 

Les Momies de Palerme

Kate Bush

 

Jessica Rylan

 

Talk Normal

 

Pod Blotz

 

Metalux

 

Alexis O’Hara

Ikue Mori

 

Orphan Fairytale

 

Joni Mitchell

 

Linda Sharrock

Leslie Keffer

Magali Babin

US Girls

Les Beyond

Charity Chan  & Aurora Josephson Duo

Diamanda Gallas

Schurt Kwitters

 

Suzie Ibarra

Unicorn Hardon

Whore Paint

 

Free Kitten

 

16 Bitch Pile Up

Maria Chavez

Grouper

 Mary Harvolson Trio

 

Dead Machines

 

Joane Hetu with Jean Derome

Lexie Mountain & Child Bride

Lydia Lunch

A One Woman Grievance Comitte , Come on Down to Noise Park and Meet Some (Dude) Friends of Mine..

Long time no post , over the past 2 weeks my computer died twice and the most disgusting thing possible happened to my apartment. My upstairs neighbor’s shower leaked , causing my ceiling to fall in. This is not the disgusting part , this has happened about 13 times in the 9 years I’ve lived in my current zone. The disgusting part is this , the landlord slumlord sawed out the part in the ceiling and the next day set out to fix the leak. Somehow , the “repair” involved busting the pipe for my neighbor’s toilet. You can probably imagine where this is going. If you can’t , it’s my kitchen literally filled with piss , shit and tp. Turns out that every time they flushed upstairs , it sprayed all over my kitchen. By the time I came home from the studio there was a half inch covering the floor. Dealing with a lot of shit.

Anyway , I’m currently in Sherbrooke with the men. Doing a short residency with the band before it dies. Staying in a hotel , having per diems , pretending my life is slightly glam. This kinda shit has only happened I think 2 other times in the life of this band. Talking about Noise Park on the internet with my noise friends.

Now if you spend anytime on the internet and have an interest in the nebulous musical genre “noise” (the term is about as useful as “punk” or “indie” at this point) and it’s various sub-genres and mutations , you’ve probably seen this blog. If you haven’t you should. It’s hilarious.
Olson’s is one of the more spot-on one but he should have a shopping cart or some maracas.

Scroungy jammers done up as South Park characters. People I’ve toured with , gigged with , who have crashed on my floor in less exploding upstairs toilet times , or who’s floor I have crashed on (Rat probably has the bet pad out of them all) , look and have a laff with the crew. Until you notice it’s almost exclusively men. That in several cases where a band has both men and women in it , the dude is solo. It ‘s weird and because of the humor of the site it almost feels stupid or petty to call out the sexism but there you go. Probably unintentional but it’s often the case and is a side effect of systematic male privilege. Women being less visible , women’s contributions glossed over and viewed as less than.

Why are the ladies pushed out in this representation of a scene filled with fierce women?

Where do we go from here? How can “noise” be an attractive sonic space for younger ladies when representations tend to that of a boys club? Why do male artists for whom “noise” is a pretty big strech get in , but not many of the ladies running the show? More than seeing my badass female jammer pals featured on a comedic blog , I’d like to see women not on the margins of underground culture in general.

My OWN jams have been killer , we are fucking around with a whole new set up for this gig and it’s really fun. Got the tap shoes in action , drum synths , lots of basement effects. We could open our own pawn shop.

Wearing a buch of shit. Silk short sleeve , bought at the Village des Valleurs in Trois Rivieres for 3$ , insane neon red cape from my studiomate , Jacinthe , just added to the bracelet collection by gripping 5 thin metal ones at the Sherbrooke SallyAnn for 1.50$. General dishevelment via hours upon hours of harsh jams. Also , eating chips in bed cause that’ what I do when in a hotel.

*****Edited to add that I had a wee back and forth with Mr. Noise Park over Twitter and my post was taken to heart. He’s a self described feminist (yay!) who was actually glad to be called out and said he’d think the creator of Noise Park was a jerk for the oversight and then said that with the templates he is using to make the characters , the women came out looking really wonky. Anyway , there’s already been several ladies added including Jessica Rylan , who is one of my all time favorite musicians ever. I’m a super dorky fan girl for her. I’ll never sell my LBB , no matter how broke I may get.

Life Rules And Then You Die…..

Heavy zones lately , constant stream of screenprinting various 2d projects (46 colour triptych almost done) and scrounging for materials that can be suitable for the new series of sculptures the beau and I have in the works for our upcoming shows in western Canada.

Our pal clued us into the Montreal Mega Reuse Centre (totally bonkers , in case you had any doubts) so we took a lil’ trip to see we could grip and use as materials.

Behold!

The owls are not what they seem.

I can’t stop thinking about this giant spool or rope , no breakthrough yet though.

This guy came home with us.

So did Mister Naked No-Hands.

Our studio makes zero sense right now.

Last weekend , on my way to gallery-hop. Vintage top as a hand-me-down from my pal Jasa , blazer from Cheap Opulance, tights sales bin at Simons , special shoes from Birmingham, AL Salvation Army. They were 20$ , expensive for a thrift but too cool to pass up.Shorts are cut-offs from cords the boyfriend bought at Salvation Army , when he needed to wear white pants as part of a choir , I made the necklace , I made the the beads.

Holt Renfrew sweater , scored at Salvation Army on Notre Dame 6 years ago , scarf from a clothing swap, jeans from the devil. mask , still has it’s tag from the Value Village in Red Deer. AB , 1.50$.

Both blazer and skirt from Cheap Opulance aka my fairy godmother , sweater was gripped at the Gap I think in 2006 so I’d have something “normal” to wear to Xmas dinner at the outlaws’. It was on sale for 25$. I think it’s one of the only times I bought a new sweater. I made the friendship necklaces , shoes were from Payless in 2010. Lips in OCC Safety Orange omg it’s on sale for 8$!

I don’t have access to the backyard , just the alley but the yard of my apartment is a mudflat filled with litter and a cap for a pickup truck. none of my neighbors have a pickup, the cap’s been there since the summer.

My neighborhoodis, in one word, trashy.I call it anti-gentrification insurance.

Scrounging As Lifestyle & Who’s Idea of Success Are We Talkin’ About?

Last week I headed down to Cheap Thrills , a pile of old records in my bag (goodbye mid-90′s post rock phase) in order to pull together enough coin to grip a couple Voivod tickets for me and the beau. A few days latter our comped tickets to the museum fundraiser arrived. My first though was what the heck am I going to wear to either of these events? The second was how the heck am I , as a total scrounger who is a bit of an art world n00b going to fit in amongst the wealthy fundraiser crowd? One word , awkwardly.

According to a survey from the Quebec Gov. that I didn’t fill out because it was too complicated and confusing , most visual artists in Quebec live below the poverty line with median yearly wages being around 10 000 for women and 13 000 for men. I wish I hadn’t thrown it in the recycling as despite opacity of the questions , there were some interesting stats. Anyway , my point is most professional visual artists in Quebec are scroungers, in fact are poor according to our own government’s income statistics.

Most professional artists in the province are poor. And art patrons and non-artist art professionals tend to not be . And so we dance around it and try to pretend the imbalance isn’t there.

I don’t know any artist who will call themselves poor. “Broke” is generally the key word , as if it’s just a temporary condition , ’cause we all hope it is. We are the outliers , not the statistics. Right?

Success is just around the corner and all this scrounging and making do is akin getting a degree in resourcefulness. Something like that. I’m so glad I’m resourceful and can do large scale projects on a shoestring. Right?

The main reason I’m returning to school this fall is for accreditation to help me (hopefully) land some arts related job in order to better support myself and my practice. I’m over the ups and downs of freelancing. Making things costs money , bigger things cost more than small ones. Reality , yeah , it’s ok. It’s weird though because whenever I mention returning to school friends and acquaintances often try to convince me not to. “But you are so successful” they’ll say before maybe mentioning a coffee table book me and the beau have some prints in , or a group show we were in 2 years ago or that fact that someone else they know has seen our work at some point , somewhere.

Hearing this told to me so many times has me wondering how low the bar is for “success” as an artist? Without the ability to cover basic expenses much of the time or to fund large scale projects , without institutional support , critical recognition or regular paid work all while working sometimes 60 hours a week, I wonder if they would be willing to take on that definition of success for themselves?

In an era saturated by social networking, user-created content , and book bound and printed cheaply in China how does having one’s work seen or name know in a non-critical context count for anything?

I posit that a level of awareness of one’s creative work outside of one’s imediate social circle is simply the starting point rather than an end in itself.

No sads , just working towards a better situation because if where I’m at now is supposed to be “success” than I can’t imagine why anyone would even consider being an artist. I certainly wouldn’t.

As a teenager I got tattooed and it said : “Turn delusion into affluence” , we’ll see.

Lately I’m helping a friend get organized , bartending parties , screenprinting for another artist, doing the Etsy hustle to get these new sculptures made. Got a lead on a part time job fit for a scrounger?

Georges. The 2nd laziest cat in the world.

Jolicoeur metro station.
Shoes , Steve Madden Girl (that line tends towards veganess) gripped at winners 30$ , socks bought at the St Laurent street fair more than 10 years ago , probably cheap. Tights , Winners , 4$.

Poly dress gripped from Frip-Prix , 6$ , bought it on my birthday because it was a work day. Cardi , Salvation Army in suburban Calgary , 4$. OCC lip tar in Butch. Noise disks all over the floor.

Studio is full of sun and I’m stunned about the unfurling of the short-leg. Shorts from Cheap Opulance , thanks Sarah for the swap. Blouse from Frip-Prix 5$ , Cardi found on the beach in the summer of ’10 while at an artist’s residency , tights the Gap , on sale for 3.78$ (boxing day) , vegan Docs.

I thought this outfit was pretty tame for me but it elicited a lot of comments from teens on the metro (negative) and randos in the produce aisle (positive) so I guess the lesson is , yellow.
Gap coat from Goodwill in Mississauga , half off day so 5$. Rayon blouse from Frip-Prix , 5$ . Braided chain necklace , Value Village in Red Deer Alberta , 1$. Skirt Salvation Army downtown , 3$ , same Gap tights as above. Stupid facial expression , me after too much coffee and too much screenprinting , free. OCC lip tar in Pretty Boy.

Know who is not a scrounger? Ashely Judd. Hey essay has been going around the internet so perhaps you already read it but just in case.
“Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It privileges, inter alia, the interests of boys and men over the bodily integrity, autonomy, and dignity of girls and women.”

Y B Normal?

Never too old to play dress-up. Photos by Tyr Jami , styling & projections by Zuzu Knew.

There they all , next to the urinal. Just a few ladies hanging out on a Wednesday night.

Thrifting As Refusal

Last week I posted a link about how fucked up the politics of the CEO of Urban Outfitters is (he also owns Anthropologie & Free People). More here. Richard Hayne is a far right , homophobic , anti-choice scumbag who donates to Rick Santorum’s campaign and he makes ALL OF HIS MONEY SELLING COOL TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME.

Do you feel gross yet, cause I do. I’ve only shopped at Urban Outfitters maybe a half dozen times in the past decade (usually on boxing day, hi I’m a scrounger) but knowing my money went to this prick , no matter how small an amount makes me want to fucking vomit.

So I was thinking, since finding this out , “where the fuck will I buy high waisted skinny jeans?” And you know what? Chain stores pretty much all suck. Whether is creepy CEOs or exploitive labour practices overseas , if you are shopping at a mall or high street you generally have to throw you ethics aside momentarily.

So thrifting becomes not only a way to get sick deals and unique clothing , but also a way to refuse to let your/our/my money support injustice. A refusal to condone.

Now don’ get me wrong , I’m not naive and I don’t see buying second hand as revolutionary act or anything but it *is* a way to keep money out of the hands of folks like Richard Hayne and clothes out of landfills. While that’s far from everything , it *is* something. Right?

Beyond that it’s a refusal of buying “cool” and instead scrounging it , making it , building it , finding it , swapping it and defining it on a personal level.

I’ll still go to the mall , and so will you and him and her cause no wants wants second hand underwear (unless they do?) and sometimes you need something NOW. I guess the thing is being mindful on where we shop. Money is political power.

We live in a stupid world where we have very little control or say in what happens or how things get done or made. It’s frustrating.

Refusal is one way to grip a tiny thread of control. Find more ways to hack life and maybe you can weave a blanket to hide under.

My pal Sarah at Cheap Opulance has a good article on her take on thrifting that you should totally read.

And now that you are ready to never step inside UO again , A Pair And A Spare has a thrifting lesson for us all.

In front of the red doors at Darling Foundry , hit that (free day , win at life!) and DHC to see some art. New art crush on Omer Fast. Wearing teal coat from Frip-Prix (10$) , cream blazer from Cheap Opulance , floral blouse Frip-Prix (4.99$), grey jean shorts covered in buttons are free Levi’s I got comped at CMJ 2008? I don’t remember what year , it’s a blur but I wore the jeans to death and after I could no longer patch the knees I cut them and covered them in buttons , mostly from thrift store button bags. Tights are from We Love Colors , they we kinda expensive at 10$ but I ought them in 06 and they still have some wear in ‘em. No holes at all , it’s a miracle. I should really order tights from them next time I have money in the paypal. Very high quality. OCC lip tar in Reverb. Shoes were thrifted in Birmingham , AL. Close up? Sure. Bag was too expensive at (60$) at Little Burgandy. But it’s vegan and giant and orange and pockets! Yeah , I’m an asshole. Earrings H&M 2$. Bracelets are from Senegal except for this one that I hacked:
While in Brooklyn to play a gig? Have an art show? I don’t remember, anyway, some lady was having a garage sale and was selling some bangles and I was all “ohhh shiny” and she was all “take them for free” and I was all “yay I win at life” , anyway I was rough with this one and broke the weld. So I dug up some wire , 2 vintage rhinestone buttons scored in one of those thrift store button bags and some embroidery floss and made the broken cheap-o bangle be uhhhh something? I guess it sums up the concept of “scroungy glamour” pretty well. Grip something for free from a rando on the sidewalk, break up by being a spazz , then “fix” it with rhinestones and craft supplies so it looks glam but weird. Yup.

Like my kinda wonky tape manicure? Scotch tape means straight(ish) stripes. All colours are Barry M 3-free vegan nail paints.

Neon flowers

Old Montreal in the spring is where the lovers hang out. Like an Ashtray Heart.

Fake Flags of Fake Countries

So yesterday us and the intern drove out to Saint Jean to take down our show at Action Art Actuelle and after scrunbing pasted paper off the floor on my hands and knees for a few hours , I reckoned I deserved a lil’ treat. We tried to hit the local thrifty but it has a case of the Mondays and we closed so instead we high tailed it back to the city to hit Frip-Prix , aka my special zone.

See I’m on a mission for blouses. I recently got rid of 2 garbage bags full of band tshirts (talk about the end of an era), because there was a time when ultra tight tees were cool and that time overlapped with the time that I was super skinny. I guess it also overlapped with the time of weird bands touring lots and staying at my house and giving me shirts. For a while it seemed like the boy and I where running a hostel.

At the same time I’m getting into a more severe look and blouses with high waisted bottoms are kinda perfect.I mean I can’t exactly go into the world topless now can I? Brrrr.
I mostly scan for silk and/or insane patterns. (As a vegan , I’ll only wear wool or silk if it’s second hand.)
Anyway , I lucked out on some insanity , it’s like borders of imaginary flags.

Flag blouse , Frip_prix 4.99$ , leggings from Simons’ 20$ , Cape from Cheap Opulance and that red fringe is an acrylic botton up poncho I gripped at Jacinthe’s clothing swap. Lips , OCC lip tar in Safety Orange , this shade is discontinued but can be gripped at the link.
About that cape , it’s reversible & is the greatest coat ever. Plus last weekend i saw an old lady in the village wearing the same one. I love that I can wear ponchos under it without looking lumpy.

Back.

I guess it’s cause since I started selling shit on Etsy , I’ve been trolling around looking at stuff other people make but I’m been catching the bug and making a few things myself. I mean things that aren’t art. Anyway , I guess this is more assembling cause all I did to make this necklace was buy a strand of stone beads , restring them on some stainless steal beading wire and add a clasp. Gives me a new necklace for under 6$. Vintage tie dye tank full of holes swapped from my buddy Daniel , lips in OCC Pretty Boy.

Do You Like Fashion?

Manga underwear insanity.

Adding tons of Style DIYs and fashion stuff on my Pinterest. Crafts seem less shitty nowadays.

John Waters wants the anti-establishment to have a “look”.

Kids think you dress like a jerk?

And I’m getting my shit together to start my own vegan lipstick line. Reformulating my base to be nut/soy free to be more happy for people with allergies. Expect lots of neons.