The McGill Tribune Vol. 14 Issue 18

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P u b lis h e d b y t h e S tu d e n t s ’ S o c ie t y o f M c G i l l U n iv e r s it y

M cG IL L

T R IB U N E

Volume 14 Issue 18

In Domino Confido

February 7th, 1995

Quebec day of protest

News Voting again: The Tribune takes a look at the legitimacy o f the upcoming by-election. See Page 3

•Student assembly to demonstrate Quebec “con­ sensus ” against Axworthy reforms By M onique Shebbeare______

Focus: Black history month. See Page 10

Editorial M cGill Athletics reclas­ sification committee is hindered by lack of direction in its mandate. See Page 6

ENTERTAINMENT Drama ’n discs ’n cheese... See Page 12

SPORTS Redmen hockey hopes still alive with two wins on the weekend. See Page 16

Columnists G. G ibson................ Page 7 M. Luz......................... Page 7 P. Shah.....................Page 9 D e p a rtm e n ts Crossword..................Page 8 Observer..................... Page 8 What’s O n .............. Page 19

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Students are again being asked to protest Human Resources D evelopm ent M in ister Lloyd Axworthy’ s proposals to reform the funding of post-secondary edu­ cation. The protest, to be held today, has a d istinctly Quebec edge. Organised by the Fédération E tudiantes U n iv ersitaires du Québec, recently also given the English name Quebec University Student Federation, the protest is designed to alert the federal gov­ ernment to what FEUQ/QUSF is callin g a consensus o f opinion against the Axworthy reforms in Quebec. “W e’re trying to sell the mes­ sage that th e re’ s a consensus across Quebec,” said Marc André Lefebvre, co-ordinator of external a ffa irs at the Féd ération des A sso ciatio n s E tu d iantes du Campus de l ’ U n iv ersité de M ontréal. “B y having tuition increases they [the federal govern­ ment] will be limiting access to post-secondary education. It’ s a crescendo of messages that we’re trying to send to M in ister o f Finance Paul Martin.” The focus o f the protest is a Quebec-wide student assembly to be held at the Palais des Congrès. Speeches will be given by repre­ sentatives from Quebec’s student, labour, sc ie n tific , a rtistic, and teaching communities. “The point of February 7 is to show consensus not only from stu­ dents but from everyone in Quebec,” said SSMU VP External Nick Benedict. “Given the political reality there is no way that Axworthy will push this plan over the heads of a united Quebec.” McGill students will be meet­ ing at the Roddick gates at 4 p.m. and joining Université de Montréal students at H utchison and Sherbro o ke on the way to the Palais des Congrès. See Protest Page 2

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C ENTRE

O n e a rtist’s “th row -u p ” is a n o th e r artist’s “p iec e.

More than just writing on the wall by

D'Arcy D oran

“Toronto is like a bad night at Bifteck” “Kill your rapist” “Timer”? Over the past two years, the amount o f graffiti appearing on Montreal walls has increased dra­ matically. What we are witnessing may be a reflection of the changes occurring among inner-city youths. In fact, this graffiti is the prod­ uct o f a new em erging youth co u n ter-cu ltu re, accord in g to Louise Gautier, Ph.D. candidate in sociology of art at The New School for Social Research in New York City, who is writing her doctoral thesis on graffiti in Montreal. “Graffiti is an urban phenome­ na created initially by youth in New Y ork city in the 1960s. It spread to other major American city cen tres, like C hicago, Philadelphia, L.A. Then it went to Europe and now i t ’ s com e to Canada,” explained Gautier. According to Gautier, this late migration occurred because at the time graffiti was becoming popular in the United States, youths in

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Montreal were preoccupied with social and political issues such as separatism. “This is something that should have com e to M ontreal in the 1970s but at the time people were more interested in c o lle ctiv e issues,” said Gautier. G autier started studying Montreal’s graffiti five years ago. Her initial interest was in the way people formulated their ideas on the walls. But soon she noticed a new kind of artistic graffiti called “piecing”. Gautier said that the graffiti we are now seeing on M ontreal walls is part of a new movement in street art which emphasises indi­ vidual recognition of the artist. This style of graffiti is based on a “tag”, a stylised signature of the artist’s alias or nickname. Tags tend to be small and usually written in permanent marker or paint. A nother type o f g ra ffiti is called a “throw -up” which is a large tag designed to cover a large surface. It is painted quickly using two colours of spray paint: one to do the outline and another to fill it. A “piece”, short for master­

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piece, is an elaborate throw-up. Since pieces can take several hours to finish, they have to be done in tunnels or on the walls o f aban­ doned fa cto ries where g ra ffiti artists or “w riters” as they are sometimes called, can work with­ out being caught. An older graffiti artist who works under the alias Zëlon and graffiti artist/former mayoral candi­ date Zep are credited by Gautier as having bridged the gap between political graffiti and the current piecing. Zëlon, who exhibits his paintings in Montreal and Toronto galleries, believes that political graffiti can do things that conven­ tional paintings cannot do. “It’s a really powerful way to express your ideas. There’s a cer­ tain energy in graffiti that cannot be found in paintings,” said Zëlon. Part of the attraction of graffiti for Zëlon is that it is not spatially confined. “It has to be ‘au niveau de la rue’ . A graffiti-style painting on canvas is like a bird in a cage; it’s merchandise. On the street you’re giving it to the people.” See Graffiti Page 9

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