Category Archives: Artist Series

Dec 03 2012
Activism, Artist Series, Commons, Community, Housekeeping, Social Change

A year in review…It’s our birthday!!

Happy birthday to us!

Our first post was on December 1, 2011 and we are now one year old!

In the last year, Pass it to the Left has:

  • Posted 113 articles!
  • Featured 55 different contributors!
  • Included submissions from all over Canada, including British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec, and all over the World, including the US, France, England, Zambia, Guatemala, and Burma!
  • Posted articles on important topics including the tar sands and proposed oil pipelines; cuts to environmental protections; First Nations issues; Western/Middle East relations; international development; the Bhopal disaster; sustainable fashion; the cancellation of Katimavik; Quebec’s student protests; Human Rights; feminism; gentrification; refugee protections; democracy, and our collective future as a society (among other things…)!!
  • Posted articles on global and local issues, including those affecting Afghanistan, Iran, the US, Laos, Mexico, India, the Congo, Nigeria, Haiti, Guatemala and Palestine!
  • Posted articles on other important human topics including love, food, friendship, family, solidarity, music and art!
  • Featured in our ‘Artist Series’ 12 different artists, sculptors, illustrators, singers, bands, musicians, rappers, music video producers, DJ’s, and galleries!
  • Had over 30,000 visitors to the site, from more than 70 different countries!
  • Created an amazing network of intelligent, passionate young people!

We hope you will treat Pass it to the Left as your own, continue to contribute your amazing ideas and stories, and share it with your friends!  Thank you!

Sincerely, your lovely Admins, Sarah & Tracy

Tagged , , , , ,
Nov 30 2012
Art, Artist Series, Communication, Community, Culture, Local, Music, Photography

Artist Series – Deanna C.

Welcome to the twelfth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community. Enjoy!

by Deanna C.

Why do you create Photography ?

I think the two biggest reasons are a desire for self expression and a need to visually document the world around me.  My photography is an absolute expression of myself.  It reflects so much of who I am – what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking, what inspires me, what I gravitate towards, and my perception and understanding of something or someone.  I also seek to capture moments, memories, places, people and things that I want to remember through a still image. Photos are tangible.  I can “photo-document” my experiences, the people in my life, the things and places that inspire me.

Photograph by Deanna C.

Photograph by Deanna C.

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Sep 14 2012
Art, Artist Series, Communication, Culture, First Nations, Music

Artist Series – Niska Napoleon

Welcome to the eleventh installment of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community. Enjoy!

by Niska Napoleon

How important is art to a culture or society?

Art plays a crucial role in both culture and society.  It’s how we communicate, tell stories, and learn.  Art is a way to express or evoke a feeling, state or message and opens our eyes to new ideas.  Art also has the power to give hope and shed light, it can move people, it can wake people up!  As a cree person, art has played a huge role in both my personal and professional life.  Through traditional teachings I am able to better understand my culture and history and because of it I am able to keep those teachings alive.

Photo Credit: Chris Tsoi

Tagged , , , ,
May 04 2012
Art, Artist Series, Communication, Knowledge, language, Music, Poetry

Artist Series – Ivette Meow: On Poetry, Music and Songwriting

Welcome to the tenth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community. Enjoy!

by Ivette Meow

“Music is the healer no matter who you are” – Bajka in ‘Walk in the Sky’ by Bonobo

People who know me or who have met me usually say that I’m a pretty happy and relaxed person, but I have not always been this way. Like some people I’ve had my share of dark days in my childhood, growing up as the ‘paper girl’ in the wealthy neighbourhood of West Vancouver. While a simple paper route seems pretty normal for kids growing up, my paper delivery experience was actually a whole family operation. I’ll spare you all the details and just mention that this started when I was five, continued for ten years, and for most of it we stuffed and delivered over 2000 papers, three nights a week, and occasionally even more during early mornings. Towards the end of it I realized that I had a unique opportunity to develop a deeper appreciation of liberty, joy, and independence, in comparison to the stressful and oppressive lifestyle that I was experiencing. This is when I began to write poetry.

Poetry was my outlet for recording personal reminders of the small joys and simple pleasures to help me deal with the negativity in my life. Songwriting was a natural progression of writing poetry that allowed me to connect to a larger audience. Highly influenced by Tool, Incubus, and Rage Against The Machine, I had begun to realize the power of conveying important messages and generating strong emotions through lyrics. I decided that I wanted to connect to listeners through themes of inspiration, wisdom, and positivity. I had heard too many mediocre songs about love, sadness, heartache, and relationships that made me want to avoid writing those type of songs. Instead I found it more challenging to write lyrics that were able to inspire people to think, change, and grow. And if I’m not able to inspire people through my lyrics I wanted to at least show how I was inspired through the stories that I tell.

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Apr 13 2012
Art, Artist Series, Community, Culture, Education, International, Knowledge, Photography, Social Change

Artist Series – Studio Beluga: A Montreal Art Facilitator

Welcome to the ninth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community. Enjoy!

by Alina Maizel

I think Svea and I were 24 and 25 respectively when over a coffee (or tea or wine, I mean who remembers now anyways?) we started vocalizing our daydreams and aspirations. We noticed one clear convergence. We both wanted to own an art gallery. So right then and there we decided to do it. If you’re in I’m in type of deal.

The concept behind Studio Beluga was to create a community of artists and art professionals, who could collaborate, share space, work together or independently and support other emerging artists from the Montreal community. The way we decided to build our artist community, and the structure of what was soon to be called Studio Beluga, was through a series of artist residencies. The residencies would work like this: people would have access to shared studio space, to create their works of art, then after a period of 4 months we would clear everything out and transform the space into a gallery style exhibition. In between these series of residencies, we would open up the space to work shops, shows curated by others and any other inspiring art events we believed could foster the exchange of ideas and community building.

Studio Beluga has collaborated with some incredible people and has curated some amazing shows – from a larger than life sized playground installation by Natalie Quagliotto, to an installation by Manuel Mathieu featuring two tongues on mini TV’s almost, but not quite – touching. Most recently we have been working with local arts organizations like Art Matters Festival, Folio Magazine, and the Sexual Assault Awareness week in Montreal.

Black geometric installation by Duy Pham

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 06 2012
Art, Artist Series, Commons, Community, Culture, Knowledge, Music, Social Change

Artist Series – Alex Foth

Welcome to the eigth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community Enjoy!

by Alex Foth

What role do you think that art and/or music play in social change movements? 

I believe any art form has the ability to convey any message, whether it is subtle or overt. Either in the art itself, an artist using their craft as a platform, or even by being at an event that has a cause or message.

What role do you think that art and/or music play in the development of community?

I think that’s where are and music should start, or at least the place where an artist can turn to first: the community. Then from there, with the support of your community, you can take it to the next level.

How important is art and/or music to a culture or society?

Well it definitely affects everyone, and you can tell when people emphatically love or hate something. A place that does not have a thriving arts community, is generally not somewhere people like to go, or stay (unless it’s just naturally gorgeous :-)

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Mar 30 2012
Activism, Art, Artist Series, Culture, Music, Politics, Social Change

ARTIST SERIES – DEVIN ATHERTON

Welcome to the seventh day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community Enjoy!

by Devin Atherton

What role do you think that art and/or music play in social change movements?

I think they play a very valiant role, in social movements though they are only pieces of a larger Voltron. I’m the type of guy who’d like to believe that one song or glorious art instalment could inspire every citizen of the globe and raise us up to a new consciousness and have us basking in the warm UV-free rays of enlightenment. I’m an idealist that way. It’s a bit naive though to think art is that powerful. I mean I have friends my age who grew up in other countries who never even heard of the Beatles. THE BEATLES! I mean c’mon those guys are bigger than Jesus! So yeah, I think it plays a role as it carries a message and inspires or attracts and can attract someone to a cause. So I guess I’d think of art or music as the messenger to the masses that is a little less aggressive than the man with the megaphone and a lot more attractive and sexy than the politician at the press conference. I don’t know if art has enough sway to convert someone who’s already aligned politically to one side or the other, though I think really good stuff could knock someone off the fence.

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Mar 16 2012
Art, Artist Series, Culture

Artist Series – Georgia Knowles

Welcome to the sixth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, and community Enjoy!

What do you hope to achieve through your art? 
The one thing I really just want to achieve through my illustrations is to keep developing and expanding with it. To never stick with what I know or with what is ‘safe’ because to me, that’s not art. Even if I don’t make a living out of art and can still be able to create and enjoy the process, I’ll have achieved.
Why do you create art?
It sounds cliche to say, but I’ve always found a sense of escapism when illustrating. It can relax me or motivate me. To have the smallest idea of what I’m going to create and seeing it expand – I find that exciting.
What do you hope that viewers of your art take away from it?
As long as they come away from a piece and have an opinion on it, bad or good. I’m happy. I want my illustrations to provoke.
Tagged , , ,
Mar 09 2012
Artist Series, Culture, Local, Music, Social Change, Spirituality

Artist Series – Daniela Jackson and Boundaries

Welcome to the fifth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, community and Canada’s arts and music scene. Enjoy!

by Daniela Jackson

What role do you think that art and music play in social change movements? 

I think that music and art play important roles in social change movements. I don’t want to sound cliché, but I think it’s true that music touches many people emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually by offering a new perspective to life. By connecting people from different religions, cultures, and socio-economic status through the arts, the divide between individuals is taken down. To me, the power of music inspires people, often exposing them to images or words that change the way that they think and look at the world.

The ability to express oneself through art is a form of freedom and expression and can be executed and interpreted in so many ways as it offers a venue for people to get out their emotions, create awareness of an issue, or simply invent something that they think is beautiful, new, or creative. Art and music don’t necessarily have an immediate or direct impact on social change, but I think that the connections that they create between people, the common ground that is developed through the sharing and exchange of art and music between people of different backgrounds, is crucial in creating empathy and human connections to people who live a world away. And these connections are what trigger positive social change and movements on a global level.

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Mar 02 2012
Art, Artist Series, Culture, Film, Music, Social Change

Artist Series – Konrad OldMoney

Welcome to the forth day of Pass it to the Left’s ‘Artist Series!’ We have invited amazing artists and musicians to share their work with us, as well as their thoughts on their art, their music, social change, community and Canada’s arts and music scene. Enjoy!

by Konrad OldMoney

What role do you think that art plays in social change movements? 

I think that art is one of the major contributors in social change. Always has been. Artists have the power to reach anyone with their art, and on more levels than just one. To be able to tap into emotion in others is one of the most powerful things we have.

Why do you create art?

I don’t know. It hasn’t told me yet.

What do you hope that viewers of your art take away from it?

I hope that they take anything away from it. The worst thing for an artist is to have no effect on people. Ideally, you inspire someone to create something of their own.

Check out videos produced by Konrad here: 


Check out more of Konrad’s work here:

www.konradoldmoney.com 

www.smokeyrobotic.com

Tagged , , , , , ,
← Older posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 74 other followers

%d bloggers like this: