EDIBLE EXCESS.

Despite all my travels I still have troubles shaking the disturbing scenes of an Albertan shopping mall, lifeless slugs, screaming brats, trophy wives, blindly following their consumer instincts through those horrible labyrinth's of food courts, outlet stores and junk kiosks. Its Fear and Loathing In West Edmonton, bare witness Eddy Bernay's successful massacre of the human spirit.

Wednesdays field trip gave me some hope, for many reasons. Not only for the actions being taken by people to thwart the beast, but also because the upper echelon of the art world is looking at some counter cultural youth movements as important catalysts for change.

Seeing Steve Alba's name at the Canadian Centre For Architecture really took me by surprise. As a teen I idolized the whole Californian skate movement, the music as well. My shit poor garage band mainly covered T.S.O.L. tunes and of course the Circle Jerks and Black Flag. I loved the whole energy, and nothing topped it all off like seeing Salba, Gator etc... shred pools that werent theirs!! I tried to mimic this lifestyle the best I could living in Airdrie, unfortunately prairie bedroom communities dont have too many pools.

The most inspiring part of the exhibit was reading about the contemporary actions being taken by people in North America and Europe. Urban Gardens in London that actually produce vegetables, Turin using sheep to mow grass, Edible Excess stickers and the fascinating protest of new development in San Bernardo, Seville Spain. Its so good to know that people are getting active, smart people, people with money, hopefully if there is enough of us we can create our own beast. The energy is here in Montreal, it just needs to be harnessed. Two sundays ago Craig and I witnessed it first hand, as we watched through the lenses of our cameras, mobs of angry youth hurl rocks and bottles at riot police. The act of documentation is apparently grounds for arrest now, and found us detained for several hours, still well worth the footage.

What we witnessed was a display of wild youthful disobedience, with no brains behind it. It looks bad but it will come in handy, and it isn't as poorly received as one would think. A french buisnessman with grey hair passed me on the sidewalk and asked me why these kids were breaking windows and throwing rocks at the police, i replied "because they hate them" he smiled and said "they should". People of all ages and class know the world is getting fucked over, and their unhappy about it. Some fight it by not showering and being pissed off all the time, some are starting to fight it with organization and logic. Both are needed. The owner of the Indian import store down the street put it best when describing the goddess Kali to me.

"my friend, the forces of evil cannot always be beaten with kind words and soft prayer, sometime you need kick a little ass"

Thanks Raj.

I really appreciated the variety of ideas being displayed at the CCA, however, there was alot of stuff to go through without much visual stimulation. The overall display was overcrowded with only a couple pieces that really stood out visually, the photos of downtown Detroit for example. My Brain is also completely fried from three months of Rap and the accessibility of good hash in this city, so take my criticism with a grain of salt.