Contemporary visual art inspired by science fiction writing? Until now, the thought summons up hundreds of websites devoted to "fan art" glorifying Star Wars or The X-Files. The black velvet paintings of our generation...

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia aimed for something loftier in its commission for a new multi-artist exhibit, Scienced Fictions: Vehicles, Technologies, and Tracings of Other Places. No George Lucas, no Steven Spielberg, no David Duchovny.

Halifax video and multi-media artists David Clark, Andrea Wollensak, Douglas Walker, John Scott and Cynthia Pachikara were asked to look deeper into 20th century sci-fi and fantasy literature. "Word play lurked throughout the formative stages of this exhibition as a mischievous agent to shake loose wider associations around the terms 'science' and 'fiction' within contemporary art practices," curator Peter Dykhuis writes in his introduction to the exhibit.

Science fiction has been with us since the cold war. Actually it's been around since H.G. Wells hopped into his Time Machine. But it was really in the 50s when sci-fi began seeping into our popular collective consciousness. Science fiction was rooted in our post war anxiety about alien invaders (ie: the dreaded Commies) and the concern over technological advance (imagine people fretting about nuclear bombs.) It makes more than a little sense that sci-fi books, mags, films and television have proliferated like triffids. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's exhibit sounds fascinating. I imagine that as we grow closer and closer to technology and further and further away from nature, this will only grow. Got any ideas?

Link:
Scienced Fictions: Vehicles, Technologies, and Tracings of Other Places
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
To Sept. 1.

The Convict Lover

A few years ago I read a fascinating first novel by Merilyn Simonds, called The Convict Lover. The author had discovered a cache of old letters from the 1920s in the attic of her house in Kingston, Ont. The correspondence turned out to be letters from an inmate at the federal penitentiary, to an innocent young woman who lived in the house at the time. Simonds did some thorough research, learned a bit about the girl, a lot about the convict, and filled in the blanks to write an imaginative, almost hypnotic story about penal system, as well as the socially-confining world of life in the twenties. I mention all this because Simonds is giving a talk Thursday afternoon, 1 to 3 p.m., at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa. Pre-registration is required, and you can get more information by calling: (819) 776-7037

If you can't get to Ottawa, check out this link:
Midday Bookclub's comments on The Convict Lover

Canuck Operetta
Toronto Operetta Theatre is kicking off its summer season with the revival of a turn-of-the-century, little-known Canadian operetta, Leo the Royal Cadet. It features a revised libretto and a new orchestration by Canadian composer John Greer. The original Leo was composed by Oscar Telegmann, who until the 1940s was a revered music professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. Greer wields the baton, and performers include Eric Shaw, Alexandra Lennox, Bruce Kelly.

Until July 1
Jane Mallett Theatre
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
Toronto Operetta Theatre