Friday, January 30, 2009

Hey Toronto- Bad Day Issue #3 Magazine Launch Event next week!


Bad Day's launching their third issue on February 5th at 107 Shaw Street in Toronto. The launch starts at 9PM and will go late. The third issue features Harmony Korine, Jimmy Limit, Agnes Thor, Fucked Up, etc. Switzerland CS' own Ben Pobjoy contributed the Agnes Thor and Fucked Up interviews to the issue. Bad Day's a great magazine, so support it. For launch party details click on the evite above or visit Bad Day's site here.

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Congrats Nadia Hallgren!


We just wanted to congratulate our good pal Nadia Hallgren who contributed cinematography to Trouble the Water, which just earned an 81st Annual Academy Award Nomination for Best Feature Documentary. We'll definitely be rooting for Hallgren on Oscar night next month!

For those who don't know, Hallgren premiered Sanza Hanza (King Surfer), her first short feature documentary, where she was both director and cinematographer, at the Emporium Gallery last fall as part of the larger Sanza Hanza exhibition.

You can see the Trouble the Water trailer here and Hallgren's reel here. We could not be any prouder! Ben Pobjoy

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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hey Montreal- SNAP! Magazine Issue #5 Launch Party this Thursday!


Our good pals at SNAP! Magazine are launching their 5th issue this Thursday at the SNAP Salon (4064 St. Laurent Suite 1) Free drinks will be served from 9PM - 11PM. There will be DJs spinning tunes and free issues of SNAP! to gobble up. Us Swiss boys will be there so come join us. For more information, click on the evite above or visit the SNAP! website here. Thanks, Ben Pobjoy

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Tomoo Gokita


I don't know much about Tomoo Gokita except the fact that he's Japanese and turning 40 years old this year. I've been following his work for sometime now. It's a unique combination of a mid-twentieth century 'painterly' American technique, Cubist conception of shape and form and modernist Magrittean 'identity-denying' Surrealism. And, to be safe, I'll say that he borrows his sensibility from Dali which he infuses with Francis Bacon's doom and gloom esthetic. Ha ha, take that to the bank! And, he tends to paint using Gouache as his medium on linen. Crazy hey? To see more of Gokita's work click here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inside the Frozen Mammoth- New Montreal-based arts blog


Our good friends Julien Ceccaldi and Kit Malo (who exhibited at the Emporium Gallery last fall) recently co-founded Inside the Frozen Mammoth- a Montreal-based arts blog. It looks very promising. You can check it out here. Thanks, Ben Pobjoy

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Vote Elana Mullaly!



Our good friend Elana Mullaly, an exceptionally talented illustrator based in Brisbane, Australia needs your help. She actually needs you to vote for her here. Thanks, Ben Pobjoy

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

The blog suffered last month so that PAS could thrive!


I just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts last month! Shawn and I were heavily at work on PAS; a new browser-based 'software as service' application that RedTree, our software development company, released after 2 years of ideation, design and development. We're incredibly proud of PAS and look forward to heavily promoting it in 2009. There's still a lot of work to be done with regards to PAS but the work is now manageable and should not affect the blog.

PAS, if you're interested, is an acronym for Progress Awareness Simplified. It was developed to help companies and organizations bolster their productivity to increase both their competitiveness and operational practices. A secure, browser-based application, PAS unites stakeholders and participants in any initiative- from anywhere, at anytime.

PAS simplifies and visualizes the processes associated with any initiative so companies and organizations can maximize their innovation and actualize their goals. The result is a dynamic sense of purpose, unprecedented awareness and workforce intuition with regards to team member contributions- all in a single, compliance-friendly medium for collaboration, PAS is Progress Awareness Simplified.

To learn more about PAS click here. Thanks, Ben

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Hey Montreal- There's some great exhibitions these next few days

The next few days are full of great exhibitions at some of our favorite galleries in the city. The following is a rundown;


Mathieu Lévesque's Peripheral Vision exhibition is opening at Megan Bradley's Push Gallery (5264 St. Laurent). The vernissage begins at 7PM on Thursday, January 15th. The exhibition runs until February 15th. Click on the Evite above for more information.




Christian Knudsen's A Brief History of Time exhibition is opening at Ben Klein's Division Gallery (372 Ste. Catherine Ouest, Suite 311). The vernissage runs from 1PM to 6PM on Saturday, January 17th. The exhibition runs until February 26th.



Natalie Reis' Idols and Creatures exhibition (her first solo exhibit in Montreal) is opening at Galerie Trois Points (372 Ste. Catherine Ouest, Suite 520). The vernissage runs from 4PM to 12AM on Saturday, January 17th. The exhibition runs until February 14th. Click on the Evite above for more information.

Hope to see you at these great exhibitions, Ben Pobjoy

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Emporium Gallery website updated with 2 new Virtual Tours and a sneak peek at 2009 programming!


We're pleased to announce that the Emporium Gallery website has been updated with two virtual tours from that Gallery's final 2008 exhibitions. So, you can now access Virtual Tours of Hayden Menzies' Things Change exhibition and Julia Deakin's Ex Oh exhibition. The Virtual Tours can be found in a toggle bar at bottom right hand side of the website's main page. In addition, we're pleased to announce some of the Gallery's exciting 2009 programming on the website too. So, click here to see the aforementioned. Shawn and I look forward to seeing you at the gallery in 2009, Ben Pobjoy

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Monday, January 12, 2009

The Pirate's Dilemma


Matt Mason, formerly of Vice and RWD, has recently released 'The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture is Reinventing Capitalism.' It's a fantastic book that is informative, compelling and inspiring. If you're interested in how youth culture how has evolved to be become a zillion fragmented nanocultures that are intelligent, influential, impervious and temporal, you'll really dig this book. It's one of the few books that highlights Generation Y's ability to reclaim its rightful control of culture and, in doing so, not have to consume 'cool' culture that has been appropriated by brands and repackaged as products to make one feel 'cool' at an expensive price in an inauthentic way. We're all marketeers now and it's our duty to be the gatekeepers of culture- to control culture and collaborate with brands in ways that are most beneficial to both the pioneers and producers of culture- on our own terms and conditions. To learn more about Matt Mason's Pirate's Dilemma (and to download a free copy of the book) click here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Bandstocks


Nothing gives me greater pleasure than witnessing the use of the internet to challenge long standing, historically-exclusive control(s) over the distribution of goods and information- especially as it concerns culture. I have recently learnt about 'Bandstocks', a UK-based website that allows 'fans' (who have to be UK residents) to invest in a musician's prospective new album.

The logic behind Bandstocks is that fans can now invest in the creation of forthcoming albums (by essentially fronting upstart capital required to make an album). This enables musicians to bypass their contractual obligation to record labels- many of which, and I'm referring to the major labels here, have been historically usurious and, instead, be totally supported by their fans. Bandstocks value to fans is that fans can now experience a potential return on their 'fanship' and musicians experience greater freedom and better lending rates.

While I'm unlearned with regards to the mechanics of Bandstocks (and am merely judging Bandstocks on the freshness of its idea), I'm pretty impressed. I like that fans can invest in an album and profit from recommending it- it's so unbelievably viral! The major labels have never rewarded fans for their loyalty or rewarded their 'word of mouth-ness' which has often been instrumental in making certain records major sellers. Bandstocks, on premise alone, seems to correct this. So, it will be interesting to see how Bandstocks challenges music's landscape in the future. To learn more about Bandstocks click here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Jim Lambie


Scottish artist Jim Lambie is on a tear these days. His energetic, raw and fun artworks are winning the artist attention the world over. I've been lucky enough to see Lambie's work in the flesh and it's stellar- it's so simple, often made out of everyday materials, yet so intelligent. He's as pragmatic as he is creative. You can see more of Lambie's work here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Natalie Reis


Natalie Reis is one of my favorite Montreal-based visual artists. Her painting style is sparse and unrefined and even has a Henry Darger dreamlike quality to it. She's participating in the Montreal Biennial this May and, needless to say, I'm excited to see her contribution(s). You can see more of Natalie Reis' work here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Ben Pobjoy interviews Fucked Up, Agnes Thor and Parra for Bad Day Magazine


Bad Day is one of Canada's best arts and culture quarterlies. So, that should be reason enough for you to pick it up. However, if you need more incentive and, we're unsure if it's even incentive, you might be compelled to pick up the next few issues of Bad Day to read interviews that Ben Pobjoy conducted with some really talented people from around the world. Pobjoy already completed an interview with Fucked Up that he conducted with the Toronto Punk behemoths in their tour van in Montreal last October. In addition, he completed another interview with Swedish photographer Agnes Thor in Paris during Paris Photo last November. He's now slated to interview Parra, an influential Dutch illustrator, graphic designer, fashion designer and entrepreneur in the next few days. To learn more about Bad Day and the interviewees click the links below. Support Bad Day, Ben Pobjoy

Bad Day
Fucked Up
Agnes Thor
Parra

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Eva Michon makes us proud!


Congratulations to our long time friend Eva Michon for winning Vice's Super Short Story contest with The Ivy House, her short story. Michon's an uber talented photographer, filmmaker, magazine editor, illustrator and writer from Toronto. We collaborate with her often and feel privileged to call her a friend. Way to go Eva! To read Michon's the Ivy House click here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Hey Montreal- Presence Film Premiere TONIGHT!


Our good friend Greg Flag, a ripping Montreal by way of Nova Scotia BMXer, is in Jeremy Deme's new 'Presence' film. Premiering tonight at Green Room (5386 Boul. St. Laurent) at 9PM, Presence is chock-full of big tricks. It's going to be a fun night, so come out and support a project put together by some talented locals, Ben Pobjoy.

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Switzerland CS creates film titles for Polite Company's Sanza Hanza


Polite Company recently hired Switzerland CS to design the film titles for Sanza Hanza, their production company's debut short documentary. Sanza Hanza, directed by Nadia Hallgren and produced by Jamie-James Medina, made its Canadian premiere at the Emporium Gallery last fall. It is to premiere at Slamdance and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this month before continuing its global travels on the film festival circuit. Described by Morgan Spurlock, director of both Super Size Me and Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, as a "scary and moving. A beautiful film", we could not agree more nor be more pleased to have been a part of such a great project! To learn more about Sanza Hanza click here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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Montreal Mirror nominates Ben Pobjoy as a '2009 Noisemaker'


Montreal Mirror recently named Ben Pobjoy, the Operations Director at Switzerland CS and the Director of Curation and Communications at the Emporium Gallery, as one of Montreal's 20 'Noisemakers' for 2009- thanks to his contribution to local arts and culture. Every January the Montreal Mirror highlights 20 individuals in Montreal (which they refer to as Noisemakers) that are contributing to the city in an interesting, important capacity. Our team appreciates the recognition and looks forward to further enriching Montreal's culture- this year and beyond. You can read the article on Ben Pobjoy here.

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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Michael Pobjoy- new website online


Switzerland CS recently completed a new website for sculptor Michael Pobjoy. You can check it out here. Enjoy, Ben Pobjoy

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