When telling the story of the Holocaust, one effective way to overcome our sheer inability to comprehend the scope and scale of such atrocities is to zoom in on one or two stories: share one particular experience, in all its brutal specificity, and we have at least a small way into the event—the small details illuminate the larger whole.

One theatre company from the Netherlands, Hotel Modern, takes a related approach in KAMP (CAMP). The production depicts a typical day at the Auschwitz concentration camp, but instead of zooming in into a closeup, it shrinks everything down, literally, into miniature. It’s the accumulation of thousands of small details that has the impact in this case.

Eleanor McMahon thinks it’s time to change the conversation around cycling in Ontario.

McMahon is the founder of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, who will be hosting the fifth annual Ontario Bike Summit this week in Toronto. She says that we need to stop talking about things like bike lanes and other bicycle infrastructure as a zero sum game between cars and bikes.

“We do polling, and our polling tells us that 89 per cent of Ontarians are both drivers and cyclists,” she says. “The notion that it’s cars versus bikes is overblown, and it’s really not working anymore. Deciding to change the conversation means going out of our way to poke holes in that idea and say from the get go ‘We don’t buy into that philosophy, and just because you say it, doesn’t make it true.’ ”

Even with the success of acts like Lonely Island and Flight of the Conchords, people still tend to view musical comedy with some suspicion, and not without reason. Those high-profile success stories aside, at the club level, musical comedy is too often the province of people who aren’t quite good enough to make it as musicians, but not quite funny enough to make it as comedians.

Two local comics, Robert Keller and Rush Zilla, are out to change that perception with their show, Off Key Comedy, which features a wide variety of acts whose only commonality is that they combine music and comedy in one form or another. The third edition of the monthly show will take place on May 23, at Comedy Bar.

Despite the fact that the last show in Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s 2012/2013 season is titled Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical, Lady Gaga herself takes a secondary role. There are no homages to raw-meat dresses and gold-plated wheelchairs here. Instead, writer and director Alistair Newton uses the House of Gaga as a pathway into the history of the notable performance-art stars that came before her in the pantheon of queer iconography, and how she is and isn’t a construct of all of them put together.

Torontoist: How did you get into street art?
Specter: I started doing graffiti about twelve years ago in Montreal—no art; just tagging. After a couple years I started to do more artistic work and helped start the Kops crew, which is one of Montreal’s oldest active graffiti crews. My graffiti was always a little different from the traditional stuff. I was always experimenting with different ways to spell my name, then I got in to doing more figurative work on walls and that led to my experimenting with three-dimensional street work.
How does your approach differ when creating installation-based pieces, compared to going out tagging or doing burners?
I can only compare painting burners or tagging to installing pieces illegally because the execution is done in a similar environment of stress and speed due to the fact that you may get caught. Installing pieces requires a lot of research and time while a burner or tag can be executed anywhere deemed a good spot. Installations also require a broader base of knowledge about different materials. I wouldn’t say one is harder than the other, but installing pieces in the street definitely takes more time, that’s for sure.
What are you hoping to initiate in people with your outdoor installations?
The purpose of my work is to engage people in their environment by altering their surroundings. This causes people to ask questions; What is that? Why did they do that? Getting people to ask questions involves them in their everyday settings, allowing them to view what they may usually take for granted differently. There are also deeper and more complex messages in my work that are intended for art educated viewers, but the main idea is to engage the public.
What are some of these more complex messages?
Most of the messages are not as literal as they may seem. They are more about subtleties such as the juxtaposition between a piece and its surroundings or the relationship between them.

Have you ever been arrested, and have any of your pranks ever gone awry?
I’ve been busted at least three times and chased more than I can remember. As far as installation gone wrong, there have been several. Sometimes you take weeks to work on a piece, put it up, come back for photos and it’s destroyed. And other times you make something and it doesn’t work as you planned because of forces of nature.
Is traditional, wild-style graff dead?
I wouldn’t say that traditional graffiti is dead because Canadian artists like Sight, Causr, Kwest and Stare are really pushing the art form. However, I do think that, for the most part, Canada has become stagnant. If you look at how the Europeans have pushed graffiti, it’s inspiring. If we follow their example, there is no telling what might happen.
Another impressive element of your creations is that each piece is different from the others. As such, how would you describe the Specter style to someone unfamiliar with your work?
My style is very open to change. I basically do whatever comes to mind, trying not to set limits on my art by not becoming too comfortable with one medium. Constantly experimenting with new styles and materials allows me to discover different ways to approach each one of my pieces.
As you do use so many different materials in your work, what’s been your favorite so far, and what would you really like to experiment with if money wasn’t a worry?
My favorite material is wood because it is so versatile, accessible, permanent and beautiful. If money was not a worry I would love to experiment with concrete and moulds on a large scale.

When thinking of a new piece, do you find a spot in need of a facelift or do you create something and then try and find a home for it?
Sometimes a spot will influence a piece or sometimes it’s just an idea that needs a spot to make it come to life. It requires a special attention to be given to things that may seem irrelevant or ordinary. I just try to think of things that are original and fun.
Which artists’ work do you admire, and what outside of actual locations inspires you day to day?
I admire all the rebel artists: Duchamp, Basquait and anyone who is willing to challenge the status quo. As far as my own inspiration, I get inspired by architecture, industrial design, graphics, humans—basically everything. I just take it all in and my mind does the rest.
As your work resides in the public spectrum, how do you consider your work in relation to advertising, often the most visible of outdoor visuals?
My installations and outdoor advertising relate in many ways. They both try to convey a message or emotion to the viewer. They both use existing space and create a new space to promote and both use imagery as a language. Though I see the many similarities between my installations and outdoor advertising, I feel that my work challenges the viewer and forces them to question their surroundings, which in general, ads are void of.
So then what do you think of the intersection between today’s street art and advertising? Does advertising ever inspire you to create?
Some art directors are very talented, just like some street artists are very talented. I think that both take influence from each other. I do feel that street artists are more on the cutting edge however, because of the messages in their work. But as far as visuals are concerned, ads are pretty enticing. Personally, I’m inspired by them. Not only do I constantly think about adding to or changing ads, because they are a visual focal point in our everyday, but I also use advertising icons in my work. However, advertising’s biggest influence on me would be in how I try to mimic their ruthlessness—being that there are no limits to the location, magnitude or ends that advertisers will go to to sell their products.
As you’re about to embark on your first solo show in a gallery, what are your thoughts about going from street to gallery? Is it inevitable for any artist working outside, and how can that transition be made seamlessly and without losing your credibility?
I think that as long as you relate to the space you work in, it’s a great opportunity to create something completely controlled. The transition from street to gallery is inevitable for success in the arts because to make a living as an artist you must be able to sell your work. Unfortunately, it is impossible to bring the raw energy of illegal art to a controlled environment, but I think that if you use a different approach for the inside and the outside, you can definitely maintain your cred. Just look at Barry McGee.
All images courtesy of Specter. Find more on his website, and don’t forget to check out Resistor Gallery for more info. Specter’s Cardboard Gates installation runs during the gallery’s hours (Friday 10–5 and Saturday 12–4) until Friday July 13.

And then there was the man himself, Daniel Johnston. Arriving to the stage alone, he performed the new song, “Mean Girls Give Pleasure,” alone on acoustic guitar. Two songs later, Johnston was joined by an impromptu band that included Wiseman, and played a number of “hits” from the last 25 years, including “The Beatles,” “Casper The Friendly Ghost” and “Rock This Town”. (Check out his MySpace page to hear some of these.) The spontaneous nature of the band gave a the songs a ragged edge that didn’t take them too far from the original cassette recordings. And it was fun. Later, Johnston returned for a short encore of “Devil Town,” sung a cappella with the audience.
While Johnston was the stand-out performer of the festival, the evening’s mix of entertainment was a suitable finale to the Over The Top Festival. Here’s looking forward to next year’s line-up.

Austinist would totally vote for Shane Black if he ran for office. Ditto Amy Sedaris and Broken Social Scene. Also deserving of a vote? Wind. With Whole Foods as its Campaign Manager, how can it be beat?
SFist may have voted for Bill Clinton, once, but now their votes go to Halloween fun. Just not with gun violence.
Sampaist votes for zombies. Plain and simple.
Gothamist votes for dogs’ rights, and against Hitler. If they could, they’d vote for a lower cost of living, an across-the-board recuction in poor taste, and more creative ways to stage a show.
DCist has a full election guide to facilitate your voting. Among the things they’ll be voting for? Beck and late-night munchies. They’re also strongly lobbying against the clueless and the sketchy.
Seattlest votes for First Amendment rights, rather than snitchin’.
Parisist votes for photography, cheap dates, and the right to a peaceful demonstration.
Phillyist is glad that they can’t vote for local university presidents, or the makers of really decadent sex toys. They’d happily vote for making Philadelphia appear better to other people, or Terrell Owens meeting his timely end. On the ballot for renewal: possibly haunted mansions and speeding trains.
Edited and compiled by Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey.
First image doctored from this photo on Gothamist, by Sarah Brown. Subsequent images on Torontoist and DCist.

You will now also need a pair of sharp scissors for the scavenger hunt on Sunday. Do not run with these. You can participate in the hunt as a single person or in pairs (I would recommend a partner). Artists and friends Sandy Plotnikoff, Victoria Kent, Erin O’Hara, Michael-Ryan Kerr, Damian Rogers (and me) will be “manning” various booths/games/tables at the party (some of which will be practice for some of the scavenger hunt “challenges”). I would encourage you to bring a camera also to take photos as you go (prize for best photo). At the party on Saturday, Spiral Beach play at midnight. Since everyone things the party is a Santa Cruz, it now is. I will be handing out numbers for mailboxes. New prizes for the scavenger hunt (beyond the grand prize of $500) include two tickets to see Beck (and his new CD) and, courtesy of Fox Distribution, 3-season sets of each IN LIVING COLOUR and my bff Paris’ show THE SIMPLE LIFE. The Beck concert is on Monday, October 16.