BY: TYLER FYFE In recent years, spoken word poetry is becoming an increasingly relevant form of expression exposing us to new voices outside the peripherals of a sluggish and unsteady publishing industry. Shane Koyczan is one of those voices that…
Expression & Culture
In Dawson City, enjoy a Sourtoe Cocktail, a shot of Yukon Jack garnished with an amputated toe
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Nestled on the bank of the Yukon River in Canada’s north, Dawson City is home to a population of 1,319. The subarctic town fosters a culture that’s influenced by First Nations, artists and the Klondike Gold Rush,…
Man breaks record for largest Christmas lights display in the name of altruism
BY: SINEAD MULHERN It’s like a scene straight out of Dr. Seuss’s Whoville. A man named David Richards has created a Christmas light display so big it could rival Martha May Whovier’s. It’s also broken a Guinness World Record. The…
Why North America needs Krampus, the Christmas devil who drowns children
BY: AL DONATO He’s a black furry goat demon who throws duffle bags of kids into rivers and chills out with Santa Claus. What’s not to love? Krampus, a horned, pointy-tongued creature hailing from European legend, is like the Batman…
These independent comic book publishers are exposing the forgotten history of Canadian culture
BY: DANIEL KORN When asked who their favourite superheroes are, most people would answer with the typical DC or Marvel staples: Spider-Man, Superman, maybe Iron Man or Rocket Raccoon thanks to the newer movies. But not Hope Nicholson; she’s more…
Under the thumb of debt: modern music funding is in a sad and sorry state
BY: DANIEL KORN A few weeks ago, Jack Conte – co-founder of crowdfunding platform Patreon and well-regarded independent musician in his own right – wrote an article regarding the loss that his band Pomplamoose took on their last tour. The…
Photography of Tokyo in motion shows us the terrifying speed of modern life
BY: MATTHEW PILLSBURY Photographer Matthew Pillsbury dropped his tripod amidst the torrents of Tokyo’s cosmopolitan daily life. He created exposures to record up to 15 minutes of activity. He chose Tokyo because of the city’s astounding technological advances. The Japanese…
Art Spiegelman created the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, and it’s on display in Toronto.
BY: SINEAD MULHERN This winter, Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will be displaying rarely-seen art from illustrator and Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman. The exhibit titled, Art Spiegelman’s CO-MIX: A Retrospective, comes to the AGO on Dec. 20, 2014…
Aerial and microscopic photos side by side are strangely similar
BY: KAILEE MANDEL With this series I wanted to juxtapose views of nature in order to de-familiarize the landscape from its literal state. Aerial images demand the viewer’s attention to the terrain and details of the landscape, showing an abstraction unavailable at…
The Royal Academy of Arts mistook the base of a broken statue for minimalist art
BY: TED BARNABY In mid-2006, British artist, David Hensel, submitted one of his sculptures—a large, black, laughing head—to the British Royal Academy of Arts in hopes of having it displayed at their Summer Exhibition. He was later delighted to find…
These Polaroid portraits of Kenyans will make you reconsider your self-entitlement to technology (PHOTOS)
BY: KAILEE MANDEL I took a trip to Kenya to photograph the wildlife with my family and we were told to bring presents for the children. I did not want to bring the typical candy or toys; I wanted to…
Stairbombing will piss you off to the point where you might actually care about disability rights
BY: AL DONATO “OUT OF SERVICE” Those words on an elevator sign mean you are forced to the minor inconvenience of taking the stairs—that is unless you have a disability that makes that broken elevator your only way of accessing…
Drag Kings are becoming an endangered species
BY: EMILY CRAIG-EVANS Under pink light, in front of a red-checked curtain, a man about five-and-a-half feet tall is bobbing around to some version of “River of Jordan” inside a box made to look like a killer whale that hangs…
Is this 55-year old homeless fashionista more stylish than you? (PHOTOS)
BY: YURKO DYACHYSHYN Collected from city trash bins and homeless aid centres, Slavik changes his clothes at least once every day. With each shift in wardrobe, Slavik restyles his beard and hair, always remembering to shave his armpits. In this…
The Netherlands’ Black Pete tradition is definitely the most racist way to celebrate Christmas
BY: PILGRIM On November 15th, 2014, 90 protesters were arrested for demonstrating against the ‘Black Pete’ festival in Gouda, Netherlands, holding signs and wearing shirts that read, “Black Pete is Racism.” Mass demonstrations against Black Pete have become increasingly prominent…
The Scarehouse: Poverty, Heartache & Exhaustion Are The Diet Of Any Good Filmmaker
BY: TED BARNABY Gavin Michael Booth tells me that his film career is all his father’s fault. Growing up, Booth’s father exposed him to a number of classics—if slightly age inappropriate—cult films (Indiana Jones, Return of the Jedi, Highlander etc.)…
Portraits of Movember heroes and their faces of glory
BY: KAILEE MANDEL Movember participants cultivate their lip sweaters to raise awareness for men’s health, to assert their manliness over clean-shaven peasants and to compare their face art with other moustache men of the most stylish and luxurious order. Here…
Why Our Lives Are Not And Should Never Be Like Reality TV
BY: AYA TSINTZIRAS When young adult author Kathleen Hale read a negative review of her first novel on the popular site Goodreads, she didn’t shrug it off. Instead, she wanted to connect with the person behind the screen, and found…
Catherine Hennessey’s Paintings Show The Transaction of Human Perception And Human Experience
BY: CATHERINE HENNESSEY Human perception is constantly seen through the looking glass of subjectivity, a tint formed by the collision of all colours of previous experience. As humans we are merely a collage of influence— a palate of watercolours through…
It’s Not A Joke; Cassette Tapes Are Experiencing A Modern Revival
BY: ALEXANDER DOWNHAM When I saw local bands handing cassette tapes to audiences, I was initially dumbfounded. The well-known resurgence of vinyl was understandable; their full, original sound was well-known among music fanatics. But the rise of cassettes seemed to…