Eye Scream

Art in the Carleton Cinema, originally uploaded by squiddity of toronto.

I spent all day Tuesday and Thursday watching the info/merch table at the Eye Scream exhibit, part of the Scream festival. It's in the lobby of the Carleton Cinema and runs until the end of the festival (last day's Monday), if you want to check it out.

Sitting in the lobby of the Carleton Cinema all day is interesting. It never got very busy when I was there, even in the evenings. There was a surprising preponderance of elderly people, and a high ratio of gay guys, which was less surprising given the cinema's proximity to Church and Wellesley. Elderly gay couples on an afternoon outing. Chatty groups of older women in flowing summer dresses. Young couples out on dates, all the girls in tank tops. The people come in waves, then it's very quiet while the movies are playing, then the people all emerge again at once. There's a pleasing rhythm to this as the hours go by. Years ago, like more than a decade ago, I used to spend a lot of time hanging out in a rep cinema in Ottawa where a friend worked, and this reminded me a lot of that. In the quiet times while the patrons are watching the movies, the staff don't have much to do. They're all film students or aspiring actors or screenwriters, and they spend a lot of time together in this weird windowless extemporal space, clustering around the snack bar, having long involved rambling conversations about obscure short-lived 80s TV shows, gender differences, the day's headlines, etc. I overheard some of them today working out story puzzles: "Okay, you're on an island with 2 tribes. One tribe only lies, the other one only tells the truth..."

I can't remember the name of the artist who made these wonderfully odd, friendly-looking, crocheted whatsits -- fungi? viruses? cartoon characters without faces? When I find out I'll post it.