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Urban Planner: December 10, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
Condensation. A Cove Story (2009) by Michael Snow. Courtesy of the artist and The Power Planet Contemporary Art Gallery.
ART: Art students past and present will be familiar with Michael Snow’s Walking Woman. Likewise, film students will know his most famous experimental film Wavelength, arguably containing the world’s slowest ever zoom shot (at a whopping forty-five minutes long). The rest of us will know his work from staring up at the Eaton Centre Geese or another permanent flock—the giant fans at what was then the Skydome. The Power Plant Gallery presents “Recent Snow: Projected Works by Michael Snow,” opening on the artist’s eighty-first birthday. The exhibit premieres two new time-based pieces plus five other recent experimental film works not yet exhibited in a Toronto public gallery. Also opening at the gallery tonight is the new “Nothing to Declare: Current Sculpture from Canada” exhibit, which includes new works from artists nationwide (but not Michael Snow). The exhibit reflects on contemporary sculptors’ renewed collective interest in the nature of material, and the everyday objects many of them have gravitated to in recent years. The Power Plant (231 Queens Quay West), 8–11 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: In honour of International Human Rights Day, professional and amateur writers across the city will be putting pen to paper for Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign. The Amnesty International Toronto Office will be hosting an all-day write-a-thon which includes on-the-hour speakers to inspire drop-in activists. Refreshments will be served and Amnesty merchandise and prizes given away. Alternatively, those near the Junction can drop in to the Annette Street Library any time today to join their all-day writing campaign. Annette Street Library (145 Annette Street), 12:30–8:30 p.m., FREE; Amnesty International Toronto Office (1992 Yonge Street, 3rd floor), 11 a.m.–8 p.m., FREE.
DRINK: Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto’s oldest craft brewery, holds a cask-beer tasting club every month called Project X. Every second Thursday the brewery pulls out a new cask-conditioned beer for sampling with a selection of complementary “beer-themed” food. Great Lakes staff join in to lead the tasting, talk about the current beer, and answer any beer-related questions. The brewery does charge a membership fee of $10 (good forever), but that gets you access to both the Thursday tastings and the newly available limited-run bottles of the monthly brews. RSVP here. Great Lakes Brewery (30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard, Etobicoke), 6:30–9 p.m., $10 (plus $10 membership).
MUSIC: A star-studded line-up (in Toronto indie-scene terms) gives it up for The Band at tonight’s W.S. Walcott’s Rabbit’s Foot Minstrel Review: A Tribute to The Band. Born Ruffians, Cuff the Duke, Ohbijou, Jason Collett, The Golden Dogs, Zeus, and more turn their ears and tune their guitars to one of the country’s most influential bands ever. The “Rabbit’s Foot Minstrel Review” refers to early American music from the deep south that held a strong resonance for both Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson, and audience members can likely expect a large element of raw roots music in tonight’s tribute. The Boat (158 Augusta Avenue), 8 p.m., $5.
