A Game of Poker, by Artist Curtis MacLean.

This deck of cards are none of the ordinary. Curtis MacLean, visual artist who is studying the Art & Art History joint program at University of Mississauga and Sheridan have created this revolutionary card game base on the power structure in the world. These cards hold arbitrary values correspondent to the cards that is surrounding them (Game instructions at the bottom). In the artist’s words, MacLean would like to “focus the exercise of their power to reform our collective subjectivity”.

MacLean have been hosting poker game nights at the AS Annie Smith building at Sheridan Collage sharing chips and lots of fun!!

THE CARDS:

MNC: multinational corporation

IGO: inter-governmental organization

NGO: non-governmental organization

C: Crime

R: Religion

E: Education

T: Technology

B: Banking Institutions

M: Media

A: Army

G: Individual Governments

W: Wildcard

I: The Indivdual

THE RULES:

• All cards have arbitrary value, and gain their value based on the cards surrounding them (just as powerful institutions gain their influence on account of their connections).

• Rather than spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds, the suits are: War, Epidemic, Financial Crisis, and Hegemony (stability, of a kind). Hands will be assembled with these conditions in mind.

• The rules governing the hands are the same as in poker, except without straights since the card values are not sequential (a full house of multinational corporations and banking institutions would be a pretty formidable hand).

Each new hand deals with a new issue - all issues relate to the ways in which the current organization of worldwide/local power influences the way identity is formed

• Once the round of betting is over, players will argue for their hand, with a silent vote to determine the winner.

THE OBJECT

The object of the game is to generate discussion about the ways that power is currently negotiated in the world - specifically in regards to how this influences the individual and the production of subjectivity (see Guattari). Often the pursuits of the individual are thwarted or redirected by the overwhelming influence of powerful institutions, simply because individuals are not reacting defensively and critically. Poker demands this critical mindset, while mirroring the conditions of the real world, in which one can only utilize what is available (the cards you are dealt). The game is a thought experiment designed to explore ways that the power of existing institutions can be redirected by the individual to take back the means of production of our collective selves.

[via CurtisMacLean - Visual Artist]

ON Thin Ice: the natural solution. A Compelling Competition.

a compelling exhibit

@ *Hotshot

181 Augusta Avenue

Toronto

March 23-30

featuring works by UTM/Sheridan College

Art & Art History Students

The Art & Art History's joint program with University of Mississauga & Sheridan Collage in Oakville's design students from Professor Lauren Nurse's class are commissioned to design posters for the CPAWS Wildlife League to address the issue of polar bears in danger due to the thinning iceland in the Arctic. The event was an exciting experience to allow students to play a role of being an activist to use art & design to promote a good cost!

[via polarbearontairo.ca]

Below are some pictures from the GALA opening!

[via. http://www.wildlandsleague.org/display.aspx?pid=413&cid=492]

The Infamous Drake Hotel

The Drake Hotel is a small hotel located in Toronto, Ontario. The hotel was first opened in 1890 on Queen Street West. The hotel has gone through numerous changes in the past 60 years; in 2001, it was recently renovated once new owners acquired it. The Drake Hotel has turned into a cultural experience now, often hosting art venues and many other events. Gentrification has pushed the creative-class away, who was once populated in the historically low cost downtown neighborhood. In the past decade, the revival of art and music within the area has brought the art culture back to what it once was.

Anti-Gentrification Street Art

Wooster Collective points us to a great street art protest piece from Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1978, Michael Mojher painted a vibrant mural titled “Geo-Chromatic Progress” with the help of a group of underemployed artists. The work took 18 months to complete, but was tragically painted over recently by realtors who wanted to rent the building.

In retaliation to this, three local artists; DAZE, ROKE and PRIEST, put up a clever piece which shows the paint being peeled away to reveal the mural underneath.

[via Wooster Collective]

The Roles of Social and Community Centers

The two possible solutions to preserve the cultural values for artists who simply could not endure the rent gap are to establish social centers and community centers to serve as a home for cultural activities for those who would otherwise not be able to gain access to it. Since the 1970s, a network of hundreds of occupied spaces across Italy existed. These abandoned spaces were turned into classrooms, libraries, movie theatres, housing, radio stations, stage concerts and meeting rooms that were made available to the public. Due to the success of

Social centers are a way to alter perception of things in a different way of being together. The social centers allowed the community to access these features that would otherwise not be financially able to enjoy such activities. The opening of these social centers is being taken advantage of by the youths and it has turned into cultural political habits. By starting up these community centers, it has change the subjectivity of the people in which it creates a condition for everyone to live in a sustainable neighborhood, and to have a better way of living.

Community centers on public locations help provide the members of community to gather together in one location for public information, social support, and group activities. An example of a community center in Toronto is the Habourfront Community Centre, a government-funded, non-profit organization managed by a volunteer board of local community residents. The organization has provided the community a way to preserve the precious culture that was once built by the creative class.

The Factors of Gentrification

The residents of its city have often discussed the issue of gentrification. Some believe that gentrification provides a community with hope and changes; meanwhile others believe that it imposes a negative effect on the neighborhood. Geographer Neil Smith argued about the two forces that drive gentrification-the first issue is the “rent gap,” and the second is the competition between the major cities all around the globe.

The rent gap is defined as the gap between the amount of rent paid for a property compared to the amount that could be paid for it, which leads to much higher prices than the typical cost. This is the significant difference between the price of the property and the reflection of the ground rent. The inflation in the rent ground rate is decided by the situation at hand, which is the main source for gentrification. This leads to the rise of rent and property values in the neighborhood and the closing of the rent gap.

The decline of industrial tenants, and the historic fabric of working class neighborhoods that depreciates ground rents stimulate the second factor of gentrification. Due to this factor, the transformation of land use in the core of mid 1990s has turned from industrial zones to residential and commercial spaces. However, the process of developments is not only caused by the result of local development, but it is also a contemporary global process.

"Gentrification"

Since the early 1960s, Toronto has undergone a series of changes in the process of gentrification. What is gentrification? Gentrification is defined as “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents” The social-political matter has affected the urbanized space around the city, and it has led to the shifting of cultural means and society practices. The problem with gentrification has resulted in the numerous re-locations of artists, who were no longer able to afford the high rent prices.

The process of gentrification has evolved through slow development of remaking and rebuilding of the neighborhoods all around the world, not just Toronto. Wealthier people would buy real estate properties in poorer areas since the land’s property values are usually significantly lower. With the increase of wealthier people migrating into the area, taxes on the land would increase over time. These “business” people would often renovate a property that they own, and then rent it out for a much higher price than the typical cost of other homes within the area; Slowly, more and more of these higher priced houses/buildings/apartments/condos would spread in the neighborhood leading to a higher cost of living. Due to a higher rent, the poorer class of people who lived there in the first place would be driven out of the area. The community’s cultural diversity would be greatly impacted.