Janice recently caught up with Russell Leng, an emerging Vancouver-based artist at the opening of his first solo exhibition entitled “New Nature Systems” and asked him about his work and the show, currently still on at the Mezzanine Gallery at Blim until August 29, this Sunday.

Could you tell us about the new nature systems series?

It is an exploration of the relationship between natural environments and man-made structures. By contrasting loose brush strokes and the life-like watery qualities of India ink with more clean-cut angular lines, these paintings are meant to convey the tension between geometric and organic forms.

Do you have a favorite medium to work with?

Right now, I like working with acrylic paint. I like its immediacy.

Photo: Janice Wu

What influences your paintings? Inspirations? Other artist’s work?

Certain genres like Cubism and Op Art has had some influence in my aesthetics.
I‘m also very inspired by the combination of rigid geometric forms and color, particularly neon colors. Kill Pixie and Maya Hayuk are some artists whose work I admire.

What do you want viewers to see or experience when looking at your paintings?

I want people to be initially attracted to my paintings for its visual impact and appreciate them as visual objects. And hopefully as they examine my work, they will begin to question the layers of contrasts in my paintings, such as why a free flowing brushstroke is right next to a harsh jagged line.

Photo: Janice Wu

I’d probably want to live with an ever-changing Yves Klein performance where he paints using human bodies as brushes literally. It would be pretty entertaining.

What’s next?

I’m enrolled into the Masters in Architecture program at UBC this fall. My goal is to take my concepts in these paintings and transform them into buildings and installations. The idea of people actually interacting in New Nature Systems is exciting to me. I look forward to expanding these conceptual forms into real like sculptural structures.

Photo: Janice Wu

“New Nature Systems” is on now until August 29th
Mezzanine Gallery, at Blim
115 Pender St. Chinatown, Vancouver

Check out more of Russell’s work at http://www.russellleng.com

The “Festival @ the Oval” launch is now in full swing, and the excitement begins to build up from way down Kamloops and Kelowna to up north Pemberton and Whistler, within the ferries from Nanaimo and Victoria, from all of Greater Vancouver to across the border in Seattle, Washington. Filipino communities from all over beautiful British Columbia brace themselves for this very first mega-event of the third largest ethnic community in the province.

“Hataw Pinoy!” promises to rock the magnificent Richmond Olympic Oval grounds on August 28-29, 2010 with a caravan of 10,000 to 15,000 tagalogs, ilocanos, kapampangans, bicolanos, biyasas, cebuanos, ilonggos, etc., all all marching under the banner of Filipino Canadians, filling the breeze with an aroma of sumptuous adobo,bagnet, sinigang, dinakdakan, pakbet, atbp. Taste delicious food, enjoy the music and just breathe in the culture!

For more information:
Visit the Philippines Summer Festival site for more info.

It also happened to be the launch event for Ricepaper’s hot-off-the-press Food Issue and wordsmith Ray Hsu’s new book, Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon, the long-awaited follow-up to his critic-slaying poetry collection, Anthropy, which earned him comparisons to Anne Carson and Michael Ondaatje.

Sipping fair trade coffee and munching cake, attentive listeners (many of them standing due to lack of seating) got to hear a recital of Linda Mei’s excellent play featured in the current Ricepaper issue, “Culinary Contributions”.

In a simple dialogue revolving around food, the play reveals the many heartaches and miscommunications between a mother and daughter who are trying to fit into Canada while holding on to their culture.

The dialogue was performed by Fiona Tinwei Lam, Adrienne Wong, and Linda Mei herself, their smooth delivery getting reactions from a mostly non-Asian audience. The cranky, hard-to-please immigrant parent is recognizable not just by the Ricepaper crowd, but anyone who has dealt with people pining for food and culture they left behind.

The excellent play was followed up by a reading by poet Ray Hsu, looking dapper (and vaguely like MJ in his glory days from Smooth Criminal) as he read from his new book.
Perhaps in keeping with the food theme from the previous reading, he started off with an ode to pork, the pig’s eerie similarities to a certain religious figure that got me worried about the reactions from the crowd.

In the middle of Hsu’s reading, I immediately recalled an eccentric university history professor who taught 20th century world history through art and poems, on the basis that artists — real artists — interpret their era, helping others make sense of the chaotic and seemingly disconnected symbols and events around us.

That’s precisely the feeling we get from Hsu’s reading — his poems aren’t about the literary canon, but more about the present age in which we live and our shared humanity. In his reading, he tackles about current topics such as the Tamil Tigers, QR codes, and baggage checks by the US Transportation Security Administration. He even qualifies our present age with a specific colour — far more exciting and iconic than any analysis you’d read in Foreign Affairs magazine.

“Orange is what I think to be the colour of our present age,” says Ray Hsu, pointing to the bright orange jumpsuits of Guantanamo Bay detainees that have been seared into memory over the last few years. It’s the colour of youth and vibrancy, but also controversy and revolt.

“Orange — on the verge of always becoming red,” he says ominously, pointing to the Homeland Security Advisory System.

Touching on everything from Tamil Tigers to child soldiers, Vivienne Westwood to the ever-trendy Eat, Pray, Love, Ray Hsu is an inspiration to those who use poetry to engage with the world and be a relevant part of it, not just as a vehicle to air out dirty laundry.

For more of Hsu’s writing, check out this interview with local poetry mag Poetry is Dead, and read a few of his poems here.

And if you missed your chance to SUBSCRIBE to Ricepaper, here is your chance!

Ricepaper 15.3 Flavours of Food

Check out our latest issue – dedicated to food! Read Eury’s editor’s letter, and browse the table of contents.

To get a copy of Ricepaper 15.3, you can subscribe to Ricepaper or purchase the single issue.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our launch party held with the Main Street Magazine Tour.

How did you like the event? Let us know by leaving a comment, or drop us an email!

It felt like a localized scene from The Matrix: just as I was walking on the bus and wondering how to orient myself at the city’s annual Anime Evolution convention, a girl in a white rabbit ears and a voluminous ruffled skirt came and plopped herself down in the seat in front of me. Awesome, I thought. I have to do is follow this white rabbit and she’ll lead wherever I need to go.

It turns out the white rabbit was only the first of many other convention-goers to jump on the bus, and soon the whole vehicle felt like part of an altered reality: suddenly I was surrounded by odd characters like guys in ruffled shirts and levitating yellow hair, punk ninjas, sexy demons with lavender hair and cute Lolita girls with frills and ribbons, looking like anthropomorphized cupcakes. Clearly, this was going to be a surreal weekend at the UBC campus.

Jason Rako, the Media Manager of the Anime Evolution convention, tells me that the event has grown over the years, with 4,000 registrations on Friday and possibly growing to 5,000 or 6,000. The fans are passionate about the event, he says, to the point of forgetting to drink water or stop wearing their heavy costumes in the sun to avoid heatstroke. The entire convention, he says, is a labour of love run by volunteers, which is astounding considering the level of some of the events involved, including the Final Fantasy Fight, which quite simply has to be seen to be believed.

Renee Cheung, the convention’s programming director, says that the convention has been helped out by its strong roots in the comic and gaming industry. “Connections are really important,” she stresses, “We try to meet face to face as much as possible. It’s always nice to know the person before they come to the conference.” She lists Udon Entertainment, Funimation and Dark Horse Comic as as one of the main supporters of the event, as well as standout independent comic publisher Cloudscape, which has been pivotal in the careers of many local artists. She notes that many of the Vancouver-based artists, like Nina Matsumoto (Space Coyote), Wei Li (one of Cheung’s personal favorites), and the ubiquitous Camilla d’Errico, whose drawings can be seen not only in comic stores, but also in art galleries and bookstores across Canada.

Cheung brims with enthusiasm as she talks about the uniquenesss of local comic artists who have taken Japanese anime and manga and not merely replicated it, but have made it their own.
“Many people have adapted the original manga style and have kind of taken their own slant mixed with the North American stories and drawing style. What you get is this kind of hybrid that is also very symbolic of Vancouver itself.”

Even though the majority of the convention-goers are teenagers and youth, she says that the edginess of some of the recent manga (such as Noir, and Ganz) helps widen the books’ appeal to an older audience. Cheung says that while some issues in the manga (such as “honorable” deaths and intense family bonds) may feel foreign to Western audiences, its complexity keeps the older readers intrigued all the while seducing the younger readers.

Cheung says that the Vancouver Anime Evolution is run more like a family than some other conventions, which are more operated like a business. Rako points out, “We don’t make any money off of this. Any money we make goes straight to the next convention.”

Rako notes that there is a charity auction, mostly for unique and non-duplicate autographed pieces by voice actors and artists, and that 100% of the proceeds goes toward the B.C. Children’s Hospital. He grins while recalling some of the more eccentric items put up for auction at previous conventions. “I remember in ’06, somebody bid on a sandwich that was autographed,” Rako says, turning to Cheung.

“One of the voice actors in the front made a joke about auctioning off a bottle of water and then it just started, like it actually happened for real.” Cheung adds. “It was a signed bottle of water that went for like, $300.” Cheung laughed at the incredible geekiness of it all.

The conference had no shortage of things to do and see over the weekend — from Cosplay Cafes to AMV showings to card game battles. There were on an incredible range of panels and seminars, ranging from how to style one’s wig in a believable manga hairstyle, to tips on voice acting and publishing an original comic.

This year’s focus, however, was artists, and the entire Student Union Building was pretty much transformed into a manga art gallery. Many extremely talented artists showed up, including Nina Matsumoto and Susan Li, a UBC student whose exquisite drawings put many of Tokyo’s professional manga artists to shame.

There were quite a few vendors selling costumes and accessories, among them Edmonton-based Melissa Wartenberg of Attic Raiders, who handcrafts “Steampunk” prescription goggles and gorgeous antique jewelry for those fascinated by the romantic Victorian era aesthetic.

Many fantastic cosplayers at the event, who were more than happy to have a photo taken.

Some people apparently wanted to remain completely anonymous, yet also be really noticed by everyone around them.

Looking at the attendants of the convention, I was struck by the different age groups and ethnicities of the attendees, as well as their camaraderie: people who would fall into the pretty/popular category were socializing freely with the offbeat and socially awkward, bound by their shared enthusiasm for their favorite series. Whether you’re a die-hard anime/video game/manga fan or just a curious observer of Vancouver culture, this event is a must-see and worth every minute of attending.

Check out more at the Anime Evolution photo blog.

For a brief history of animation through the decades, check out this wonderful website.

Come visit Ricepaper and celebrate our local arts, cultural and literary magazines, with poets Jennica Harper and Elizabeth Bachinsky as your guides.

VANCOUVER – The Main Street Magazine Tour is a free event that invites participants to explore the local literary landscape, set against Vancouver’s eclectic Main Street neighbourhood. Known previously as the Main Street Literary Tour, the event now shines a spotlight on the arts and culture “magascene,” with presentations by FRONT, OCW Magazine, Ricepaper, Room, Sad Mag and subTerrain—all Vancouver-based publications. The tour starts at the Rhizome Café (317 E. Broadway) on Thursday, August 19 at 6:00 p.m.

From there, poets Elizabeth Bachinsky (EVENT magazine poetry editor and author of God of Missed Connections, 2009) and Jennica Harper (winner of the 2009 National Magazine Silver Award in Poetry and author of What It Feels Like for a Girl, 2008) will lead two tours that traverse the area at Main Street and Broadway, stopping in at local haunts for 30-minute encounters with city’s arts, cultural and literary publications.

“What’s fun about this event is its spontaneous, grassroots nature,” says Heidi Waechtler of the Magazine Association of British Columbia, the organization that coordinates the event. “We’re showcasing literary arts magazines out in the community, in spaces you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see poetry readings or improv, such as a vintage clothing store and a hair salon. The tour makes visible the intersection of magazines with our communities and our everyday lives—how they both reflect and shape our culture.”

The Magazine Association of British Columbia (formerly known as the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers) was established in 1993 to represent, connect and promote the diverse British Columbia magazine industry by uniting and fostering the immense talent, knowledge and skills of its more than 80 member publishers. For more information about the association, visit bcmags.com.

For more info: mainstreetmagazinetour.ca

TOUR ITINERARY
Thursday, August 19, 2010
6:00–10:00 p.m.

Meetup point: Rhizome Café (317 E. Broadway), 6:00 p.m. Select Tour A or Tour B—or mix and match!

TOUR A

• Room magazine presents poetry by Casey Wolf and Elena Johnson. (Kafka’s Coffee & Tea, 2525 Main St.
• subTerrain magazine, source of Strong Words for a Polite Nation, presents readings from issue #56. (Pulpfiction Books, 2422 Main St.)
• Slam poetry by Fernando Raguero collides with improv by members of The Exploding Sandwich, Hip Bang! and Pump Trolley, presented by the recently relaunched OCW Magazine. (F As In Frank Vintage Clothing, 2425 Main St.)

TOUR B

• Ricepaper magazine celebrates the launch of 15.3, the Food Issue, with a reading of a tasty new play by Linda Mei, featuring Adrienne Wong and Fiona Tinwei Lam, followed by delectable poetry by Ray Hsu. (Rhizome Café, 317 E. Broadway)
• Visit the FRONT magazine reading room and meet artist Heidi Nagtegaal, who’s combed through 20 years of the magazine’s archives to produce a limited number of one-of-a-kind presents for tour-goers. (The Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave.)
• Sad Mag presents a conversation with salon owner Jim Dreichel and Burcu Ozdemir (of Burcu’s Angels) on drag culture, gay and lesbian culture, and the history of Main Street. Hosted by drag sensation Isolde N. Barron. (Mine:Stylesource, 177 E. Broadway)

Afterparty: Rhizome Café, 8:20 p.m. onwards. Readings by Elizabeth Bachinsky and Jennica Harper, prize giveaways, magazine sales and music.

Date: Wednesday, August 25 2010
Location: Biltmore Cabaret, 395 Kingsway, Vancouver
Doors: 8:00PM Live Auction: 9:00PM

Mind Your Bid-Ness is a one-of-a-kind massively hot Auction Party, presented by the Vancouver Asian Film Festival as one of its annual fundraising events.

For one night only, tons of goods, fun services, performances & persons (yup, people!) are auctioned off to the highest bidders.

Register for a Bidding Paddle and start bidding on Vancouver’s brightest and best personalities in the LIVE AUCTION — it’s going to be loud and hila…rious. The auction will be followed by a raucous dance party DJ’ed by Tyler Fedchuk.

Oh, and there will be a SILENT AUCTION as well! Walk around and bid on items including food, wine, gift certificates, local art and handmade clothing.

BONUS ALERT!!!

Buy your $5 ticket online, and we’ll give you $5 worth of Bid-Ness Bucks to bid, bid, bid!
Bring all your friends and try to outbid them.

The site, Chinese-Canadian Stories: Uncommon Stories from a Common Past History, is scheduled to launch in 2012 and will feature resources in Chinese and English.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will provide $900,000 under its Canada’s Community Historical Recognition Program. In addition to the Web portal, the funds will help build a searchable archive of digital materials, learning materials for students and three “mobile museum” kiosks to be deployed in cities across the country.

“Chinese migrants came to what is now British Columbia over two centuries ago, engaging with first nations peoples at the same moment that the first migrants from Europe arrived,” said Henry Yu, project lead and associate professor in the department of history.

“In other words, long before Confederation, the Chinese were part of the founding peoples of what would become Canada. This project will reshape the way all of us understand Canada, and reclaim the forgotten histories of peoples who have long been ignored in Canadian history.”

As original reported in the Vancouver Sun

Join the first ever Filipino Cultural Street Parade.

Whether you’re Filipino/Filipina (or just one at heart) you will surely enjoy the first ever Filipino Cultural Street Party.  Live the sights and signs of the Filipino culture with performances by Ati-athihand of Aklan, Sinulog of Cebu, Dinagyang of Illolio, MassKara of Bacolod, Panagbena of Baulo and many more! Taste traditional Filipino food, see trade exhibits and see live entertainment by popular local Pinoy bands and artists.

Pinoy Fiesta is in coordination with the Aklanon Sto, Nino Association, Multicultural Helping House society, St, Patrick Seniors and Youth Group and with the cooperation of all Filipino community and organizations.

For more information:
contact Jojo Quimo 778 868 2128 or fquimpo@telus.net
Ryan Ferrer 604 346 7493