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TOBAN
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Feb. 2, 2022
The history of a digital trailblazer ARTS & CULTURE Zoë LeBrun, staff
For those who want to get a taste of Winnipeg’s art scene this month without having to physically go to a gallery, look no further than Buffy SainteMarie: Pathfinder, a virtual exhibition on now through Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery.
work that lends an almost documentary-like feeling to the show. While this incredible amount of biographical information felt almost excessive at times, for visitors who may have a limited knowledge of Sainte-Marie, this ephemera helps to paint a picture of who she is as a person and what she has done with her talents thus far.
Curated by Natasha Desrochers Lowenthal, the exhibition is a retrospective on Sainte-Marie’s artistic career, spanning multiple decades and predominantly featuring her digital artwork and how it reflects and intertwines with her personal and professional life. The exhibit is also available to view in person by booking an appointment to visit the gallery.
This documentary feeling is also aided by the layout of the gallery space itself, which is quite museological in its arrangement, with items grouped cleanly around the perimeter of the gallery in a straightforward manner. The gallery’s dark blue walls contrast beautifully against the bright neons and jewel tones of Sainte-Marie’s artworks, drawing viewers toward the walls as they slowly navigate the room, whether it be in person or digitally.
Pathfinder is as much an art exhibition as homage to Sainte-Marie’s lifelong career in music and activism. Alongside Sainte-Marie’s digital art, the exhibition includes various ephemera ranging from handwritten notes and preparatory sketches by Sainte-Marie to handcrafted and beaded objects and newspaper clippings about the artist’s various endeavours. Accompanying all these items is a soundtrack consisting of snippets of Sainte-Marie’s music, which plays on a loop while viewing the virtual gallery. Due to the vast amount of material, parallels can easily be drawn between all the facets of Sainte-Marie’s creative practice and personal life throughout the exhibition, providing a rich and thorough view of the artist and her
Some standout pieces in the exhibition are those that highlight Sainte-Marie’s ability to bridge physical and digital worlds with an element of psychedelic spirituality mixed in. Although many of Sainte-Marie’s works reflect these ideas, some personal favourites were “Ayahuasca Jaguar 1 and 2.” Arranged side by side, the pair act like a diptych in which the same scene is depicted with a sense of passing time through the various colour and texture changes across the two. The repetition of certain images throughout the gallery was particularly striking as well, which demonstrates how Sainte-Marie pulled from her past work and the world around her to continually remix
image / Urban Shaman Gallery / provided
A virtual exhibition celebrating the creative talent, innovation of Buffy Sainte-Marie
imagery into something brand new and meaningful. One of these works was “Fallen Angels (Twins),” a reinterpretation of a portrait of Sainte-Marie by photographer Simon Fowler, which was used as the cover of her album Coincidence and Likely Stories. One critique of Pathfinder is that since it is quite extensive and contains much to read, the looped soundtrack that accompanies the exhibition can become a distraction — luckily, this has an easy fix, as one can just turn down the volume on their computer or mute it entirely to fully concentrate on the works at hand. Overall, the experience of viewing this work within the virtual gallery was fantastic — it allows one to get a sense of how the space feels and more accurately understand the relationships between each of the works throughout the gallery space, all from
the safety and comfort of your own home, which is important in these wintry pandemic times. Pathfinder harnesses a positive, excited energy and truly feels like a celebration of all that SainteMarie has contributed to the world throughout the course of her career. Sainte-Marie’s work is powerful, and her blending of the physical and digital worlds and how they relate to her culture, personal narratives and world history makes this exhibit a must-see this winter. You can catch Buffy Sainte-Marie: Pathfinder until March 5.
arts@themanitoban.com
’Toban turntable ARTS & CULTURE Alex Braun, staff
3.5/5 Stars Sam Weber, a Canadian-born, newly minted Angeleno, follows in a long line of SoCal folkrockers. Echoes from Laurel Canyon resonate in his music: the sound of transplants from across the continent, like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, or the consummately pro singer-songwriters of the ’70s, like Warren Zevon and Randy Newman. But as Weber says in “Survival,” he’s “not looking for some ’70s revival.” His bio proudly lists his inclusion on a compilation that features like-minded L.A. residents such as Tim Heidecker, Blake Mills and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. The more modern L.A. folkrock sound is all over Weber’s album Get Free with clear influence from
Mills and an appearance from Dawes’s Griffin Goldsmith. Inspiration was taken from his move to the Golden State, too, which possibly inspired the title of the record: living in the land of the free. Despite this clear sense of musical community, the record was largely recorded at home with his partner, Mallory Hauser. You can hear that shagginess and comfort — the songs come out loose and dusty, with deeply comfortable grooves and some inventive guitar and production work, obviously the result of long hours spent tinkering. Ballads, like the opener “Truth Or Lie,” have that deep, rubber-bridge guitar sound that is so popular now, and some compelling synth work. “Truth Or Lie” shudders with these building pads, the piano-led “Here’s
To The Future” features a very tasteful saxophone solo and “Nowhere Bound” sparkles with twinkly little bits of keys. “Get Out Of The Game,” a standout track about touring, is appropriately shambling, with Weber tossing off one-liners and wryly summing up his surroundings. He maintains the classic, early Bob Dylan snark in his lyrics throughout the record, and it’s refreshing to get a bit of humour. The spacy bridge is also a welcome, unexpected turn, as the track essentially falls apart before returning with a renewed bite and vigour. Most of the tracks follow a similar formula of a shuffling mid-tempo groove with aggressively tasteful and subtle touches of guitar, synth and percussion. The whole Dessner brothers meets Phoebe Bridgers plucky guitar, twinkly synth, third-wave coffee shop soundtrack thing is a little played out, but this employs it quite well. The
image/ Killbeat Music / provided
Sam Weber — ‘Get Free’
songwriting is tight and clever, the instrumentals — though occasionally drab — are well-executed and Weber has a certain charm to his lyrics and guitar playing. Sam Weber’s latest album, Get Free, will be available Feb. 4.
arts@themanitoban.com
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