#fiona is solving puzzles and creating other problems

[themagickalrecord]

Day 16: Punk.

for @carryon-countdown 🎸 by @martsonmars and @onepintobean

play along here

[clockmongler]

i posted this on twitter and  i’m gonna post this here:

#DMC5 and the problem with V, aka Why It Felt Like Capcom Came Into My Living Room, Snatched My Wig, and Made Me Kick My Own Cat: an essay 

obviously spoilers

I see a lot of people rolling their eyes about some players saying they grew attached to V as a character. We should be happy he served his purpose as a plot-point and move on. He was a gimmick character. Itsuno wasn't even sold on the idea of people liking him. Why even care?

I'll tell you why: because he was entirely designed - from visuals, to story, to gameplay - FOR you to care. And not just because his ultimate role in bringing back a fan favorite.

Let's go back to 2005. In the pile of stuff that came spewing forth from RE4's Production Hell Bosom were 2 very important games. One was obviously DMC in 2001, but there was a second, less talked about game. A game Capcom wants to pretend they don't remember. But I remember it.

It was called Haunting Ground. You see a LOT of DMC3 in it, from the gothic set designs to the soundtrack, but in tone it's a completely different beast. Haunting Ground is basically what Clock Tower 3 was GOING to be: a hide-and-seek survival horror and not... magical girls.

You played a hapless, defenseless heroine named Fiona Belli. Fiona is a pretty, tiny creature in revealing clothing and is terrified of her surroundings to the point where her panic is a gameplay mechanic. The only things she can do herself are run, hide, kick, and throw things. You aren't wholly meant to identify as Fiona. You're meant to want to protect her. This is stated immediately in the booklet given with the game, and it's something the game actually pulls off incredibly well.

Instead of a gun, sword, or even magic to defend herself, Fiona is given a pet. She is given a white German Sheppard named Hewie, and instead of singularly controlling Fiona, you need to multitask and use the right joystick to also give commands to Hewie.

The entire game centers around the bond between Fiona and Hewie. You feed Hewie when he's injured. You train him by praising what he's done right and scolding him when he doesn't listen. You solve puzzles together. By the end of the game, the two of you have become partners.

But Hewie's biggest asset is physically protecting Fiona. Stalkers will barge into your happy little puzzle-solving time to mutilate poor Fiona for her Azoth (aka her mystical McGuffin) and pressing up on the right joystick sends Hewie into attack mode. By throwing himself at enemies, Hewie is the only thing keeping Fiona from... all the horrific, terrifying things the antagonists want to do to her. If this sounds familiar to you, it's because you're getting what I'm laying down: V is Fiona Belli.

V is a hapless, mostly helpless hero. He's a pretty, tiny creature in revealing clothing who is the only playable character in the DMC series to show any amount of panic and fear over his surroundings. The only things he himself can do is hit things with a cane or run.

Look at every other playable character in the game (yes, even unlockables like Lady and Trish): they're ALL power fantasies. They're cool. They're unflappable. They're witty and wield weapons bigger than Nero's inferiority complex. You're meant to relate and feel COOL.

V is... different. Yes, he's still cool in his own way. He puts on an air of being unflappable. But he's quieter. His humor is dry. His taunts are either to endearingly goof off and tap-dance, play air violin, or... double-over and go into a terrifying coughing fit. You are reminded at every opportunity just how fragile and sickly V is. It causes a slight separation between player and character, like with Fiona, in a way that forces you to not want to BE this person, but to PROTECT this person and I think a lot of people are missing that.

Like with Fiona, V ends up using pets to protect himself. Giant murder-bird Griffon is fiercely loyal and protective, even when being teasing. Aside from Nero, most of V's conversations happen with Griffon, who quickly establishes himself as V's best friend.

Griffon constantly flies you out of harm's way in the form of a dodge. He banters with V in the middle of fights. He asks after his health, and praises him for doing well in battle with adorable little things like "YER A SUPERSTAR, V!!" And while we as a people are forever robbed of having a Griffon Style Announcer, V has a similar, if less obvious relationship with Shadow, the big giant kitty. Griffon does the talking for the other two familiars, but Shadow is also there in battle and out: helping you move, helping you dodge, and even resting at V's feet like you'd see a guard-dog doing. It even has an idle animation of sitting down and just... watching him. It's quiet, but the care is there. Even Nightmare, who's just a blob of death and destruction, feels like a part of the team.

In your last mission as V, you're stripped of all of your familiars and need to reclaim them one by one. This is the point where you truly see just how weak V is without them: he can't run several paces without collapsing in on himself in exhaustion. Dodging causes him to raise his arm in the air in the expectation of Griffon taking his wrist like he would any other time, only for Griffon to not be there. He can whistle for his familiars, his FRIENDS, to come to his side... and they won't. You're alone. V's alone. So getting them back is important not just for protecting V, but because these things have become your friends. You feel a joy and relief when each one comes back to you. You get the gang back together. The boys are back in town.  And then...

So. Back to Haunting Ground. In the end of the game (if you were nice to Hewie and why wouldn't you be, you monster), Fiona escapes the clutches of the last Stalker, who wanted to use her McGuffin to create a fuller, more perfect form of himself. She and Hewie dump his ass into some convenient lava and eventually watch him burn out after having to defeat the real final boss which was that goddamn falling statue. Fiona is stronger. She refuses to be used as the ends of someone else's means. She's her own damn person.

Fiona and Hewie leave the castle they've been trapped in all game together. If you leave the first stalker alive, he'll catch sight of this woman he spent one third of a game terrorizing and she STARES HIM DOWN. She's not having it anymore. So the guy bows to her. And without saying a word, Fiona turns her back to him and walks the fuck away. BAMF of the year. 10/10. She, Hewie, and you worked your ass off for this ending and you deserve it. Go live happily ever after with your dog, girl.

...but now I want you to imagine something different. Instead of Fiona beating that last Stalker, she loses. Lorenzo wins. She is killed and her McGuffin is absorbed into him and this woman you've spent all this time caring and protecting for is no more. You are then given control of another character who is then tasked with shooting Hewie, your best friend. This creature that has protected you and Fiona your entire journey. Your PET. 

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH V.

Yes, circumstances are different. In order for Vergil to take responsibility for the dumbass shenanigans he'd done, V had to stop existing and reform into him and he merged with Urizen knowing that. V can't have Fiona's happy ending. But the point is that we're SUPPOSED to be sad about this. Anyone trying to call people out by calming this IS the happy ending, that V is just a part of Vergil and technically got as best as he was going to is missing the entire goddamn point.

Capcom designed this character, having successfully done it before, for you to get attached. The loss of not only him, but the things that protected him, his friends, even if it means getting something stronger and shinier, is meant to be a painful sacrifice. People are complaining BY DESIGN. It isn't baseless fan-harping over the cute goth boy (...okay, some of it is that). It's more than that. 

And I'll take a formal apology from Matt Walker for the heartbreak, thank you and good night. 

[barbara-costa]

8. Speculation in Design: Looking at ourselves through the Holoscope

We are getting close to the end of the course and still we haven’t finalised our design idea.  After Crit 1 and 2 we are feeling quite stuck and can’t decide what to settle with.  Ideas keep flowing but we feel like some are too complicated and we don’t have much time or energy to invest on something new.

That was when I had this crazy idea which I thought could potentially be very exciting, but it was rejected by the group because they could not see how it could work.  I decided to discuss it here in my Blog because in the book Speculative Everything by Antony Dunne and Fiona Raby I found that Speculative Design is about dreams and fantasy, about speculating how things could be different.

So far in this project we have mistakenly been trying to solve a problem, even though we have been told several times to stir clear from doing so.  Design Thinking and Social Design, as I understand now, are concerned with solving problem.  The latter deals with more complex human problems and the former more commercial ones, but Speculative Design is about being provocative and “to momentarily forget how things are now and wonder how things could be”.  (Dunne and Raby, 2013: 3).  

We were feeling a bit stuck after the 2nd Crit. I have neglected other modules because this one was taking a lot of brain space and like using my brain this way.  So one night before falling asleep I was thinking about the project and suddenly I had a thought: “What if through the Holoscope we could look at ourselves?”

A few weeks ago on the first Crit after listening intently to our tutor reflecting on our idea about well-being and suggesting that we moved away from trying to ‘fix’ people’s stress by giving them more technology, he said something that made me think.  What if Instagram’s social influencers went to places like the Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park to show off their bodies and to ‘influence’ people in real life?

I normally think about the impact of social media on us and I worry that more and more some people are turning to social media and YouTube for the ‘truth’.  ‘The university of Facebook’ was apparent to me during the Brazilian elections last year, and people are so used to being on the platform that they can no longer judge the image they are portraying and the validity of information they are consuming.

Combining these existing thoughts to the exercise of self reflection, trying to find a way to include animals in our design that was not human-centric, I thought that through trying to see animals, I saw us and our struggles to solving this puzzle.  That was when I thought that pointing the Hologram at us humans would provoke thinking and open up spaces for conversations about humans’ own ethics and values which probably comes through in the data we generate online.  I think of it as a combination of Technology and Ayahuaska.

In practice the technology would allow people to step back from themselves and look at their online-self through a device that projects an image of who they are online. 

1. A person wanting to ‘see themselves’ enters their details on the app and allows the Holoscope to access their online information.

2. The technology gathers all of the data that a person has generated for a period of time and creates and projects a holographic image of the person based on that data. 

3. The person watches him/herself. 

4. The image is sent to the app and a report is generated for the person to read and keep for self-reflection.

5. All of the information is instantly wiped out and is untraceable. 

The experience allows people to see whether they are portraying who they want to portray and how they are perceived by their online community and followers and who those followers really are.

Occasionally, I have wondered about my own online presence and have dueled on whether to keep updating my Instagram and Facebook with my family and holiday pictures; whether to stop using it altogether to protect my privacy; or whether to use my social media only to express my opinion on important issues such as climate change.  I would love to take a look at my ‘online-self’ to see what insights I would gain. 

I like Speculative Design and want to read more. 

I end this post with a quote from Dunne and Raby (2013:2):

“This form of design thrives on imagination and aims to open up new perspectives on what are sometimes called wicked problems, to create spaces for discussion and debate about alternative ways of being, and to inspire and encourage people’s imaginations to flow freely. Design speculations can act as a catalyst for collectively redefining our relationship to reality.”

[gunboatbaylodge]

Things to Do in Vancouver this Weekend: September 7, 2017

It’s a weekend of the arts as the Vancouver Fringe Festival has begun, bringing performance of all kinds on to Granville Island for 10 days of creative expression you can go watch and even participate in. There’s also an accordion festival, there’s the Facade Festival projecting all over the outside of the Art Gallery, concerts, a Persian calligraphy workshop, and two different sports that can be called “football” depending on where you’re from.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday September 8

Vancouver Fringe Festival Where: Various locations, Granville Island What: A celebration of theatre for everyone, featuring more than 800 performances by over 90 artists. The Fringe employs an “everyone welcome” selection technique—the mainstage shows are literally drawn out of a hat, giving all artists a chance to participate. There are also unique site-specific theatre where artists stage their work in the nooks and crannies of Granville Island. Runs until: Sunday September 17, 2017

Accordion Noir Festival Where: Various locations What: Celebrating its tenth anniversary as Canada’s only festival of alternative accordion music, this year’s special anniversary edition of Accordion Noir presents a pantheon of international and local accordion talent, including the North American debuts of Finnish accordion shaman Antti Paalanen and all-female Russian ethno-rock quartet Iva Nova, the Canadian debut of Accordion DJ Lykaire from Louisiana, as well as the launch party for Geoff Berner’s latest album, Canadiana Grotesquica. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Facade Festival Where: Georgia Street façade of the Vancouver Art Gallery What: New and traditional media is used with projection mapping to create ephemeral artworks that respond to Vancouver’s vibrant city center and urban landscape through a plethora of styles and approaches. Artists involved: Diyan Achjadi, Fiona Ackerman, Scott Billings, Annie Briard, Shawn Hunt, James Nizam, Luke Ramsey, Evann Siebens, Ben Skinner, and Paul Wong. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Angels in America Where: Arts Club Theatre What: Witness the soaring conclusion to the acclaimed play that asks us what we do for those we love. Perestroika is a revolution against the politics and prejudice in the 1980s as the AIDS epidemic rages on, and the characters wrestle with their ideologies and an angel looking for an answer. In the centre of it all is Prior Walter, a man in a world of peril who chooses to live in his light. Runs until: Sunday October 8, 2017

Against Me!

Against Me! Where: The Vogue What: Punk that’s a bit pop with a generous dusting of emo.

BC Lions vs. Montreal Alouettes

BC Lions vs. Montreal Alouettes Where: BC Place Stadium What: It’s a football game, Canadian vs. Canadian – cheer for your fave coast.

Interrupting the Interface | David Wilson Where: Kimoto Gallery What: In building this body of work, Wilson scanned thousands of photographs on Instagram and selected the images he felt compelled to work with. Then it was a matter of copying, pasting, further filtering for his own painting references. Most of the selected images identified with water or fluidity, a pervasive theme throughout Wilson’s work. Runs until: Saturday September 30, 2017

The Getaway Escape Room Where: 4386 Main Street What: A free entertainment experience with a theme focused on escaping the trappings of tedious adulthood tasks, like doing chores, dealing with technology glitches and commuting.  Teams of up to eight people have up to 45-minutes to search for clues and solve brain teasing puzzles to help them escape the room. Runs until: Tuesday September 12, 2017

Daniel O’Donnel

Daniel O’Donnell Where: The Orpheum What: According to a press release, this Irish singer made record-breaking chart history earlier this year by becoming the first recording artist in the history of the UK Artist Album Chart to have charted at least one new album every year since 1988, an unprecedented and unbroken 30-year span, surpassing everyone from Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Madonna and U2.

Big Sugar | Image by Michael Maxxis

Big Sugar Where: Commodore Ballroom What: This cocky-rock reggae group that was big in the 90s with Turn the Lights On and Diggin’ a Hole continue to sell out shows across the continent.

Icons Vintage Market Where: 1024 Main Street What: Shop vintage and collectables to the tune of a live DJ and drink specials.

Aileen Bahmanipour: Technical Problem

Aileen Bahmanipour: Technical Problem Where: Grunt Gallery What: An exhibition of mixed media drawings by Vancouver-based, Iranian-born artist Aileen Bahmanipour that explores cyclical political power and cultural identity. Runs until: Saturday October 14, 2017

Seven Beauties: The Films Of Lina Wertmüller

Seven Beauties: The Films Of Lina Wertmüller Where: The Cinematheque What: Known for her bawdy, boisterous satirical forays into the minefields of sex, politics, and social class, Lina Wertmüller (b. 1928 in Rome) was an art-house sensation, and just about the world’s most prominent female director, in the 1970s. Her films, provocative, parodic, and often decidedly un-PC — or, at least, too savage in their irony and iconoclasm to fit easily into simple political boxes — were often highly contentious. Runs until: Monday September 25, 2017

  Saturday September 9

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Persian Calligraphy Workshop

Persian Calligraphy Workshop Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology What: Master calligrapher Mojtaba Daneshi from Iran will lead an in-depth workshop on the historical background, materials and methods of Persian calligraphy. Mojtaba will demonstrate the traditional and experimental techniques he has developed over the years, including carving wet paint on canvas. Participants will complete a unique work on canvas to take home.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Real Salt Lake

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Real Salt Lake Where: BC Place Stadium What:Watch and cheer for some soccer.

Fall For Local

Fall for Local Where: The Pipe Shop Building (Vancouver’s North Shore) What: A market by a community for established and emerging entrepreneurs interested in gaining brand exposure, sharing knowledge and collaborating with other creative entrepreneurs to promote the “circle economy” philosophy. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Slumber Here

Slumber Here Where: Granville Island What:A fully immersive, multi-sensory experience, in which audience members explore a dreamlike fairy world where they find themselves seduced by Oberon, assist the Mechanicals to fix their play, help Puck create mischief, and even interact with a real, live mini donkey. Inspired by Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, it offers an interactive narrative for audience members to explore, often by themselves, in order to discover hidden scenes, encounter performers one-on-one, imbibe custom-designed fairy elixirs and treats, and potentially change the outcome of the play. Runs until: Sunday September 17, 2017

GoGo Penguin

GoGo Penguin (show 1 of 2) Where: Frankie’s Jazz Club What: Hailing from Manchester in the UK, jazz meets electronica with influences from Brian Eno, John Cage, Massive Attack, and Aphex Twin.

The Quiz Show Returns

The Quiz Show Returns Where: The Fox Cabaret What: A spoof on segments from game shows past with all-original segments featuring local comedians as contestants doing their best to make audience members laugh – and win prizes, of course.

Benjamin Booker

Benjamin Booker Where: The Biltmore What: New Orleans-based guitarist, singer-songwriter and guitarist on tour to support his latest release “Witness”.

Performance: Object Without Shadow

Performance: Object Without Shadow Where: TBC What: Sikarnt Skoolisariyaporn re-enacts a ritual she practiced with her father’s Chinese-born family each September, the period when it is believed that ghosts are able to make a momentary reappearance from the afterlife. In this custom, paper replicas of desirable objects – such as jewelry, iPhones, computers and majong sets – are burned as offerings to ancestors.

Perturbator + Author and Punisher

Perturbator + Author and Punisher Where: The Rickshaw What: Dark synth wiz from Paris + a one-man industrial doom and drone metal machine from San Diego.

Luxury and Supercar Weekend Where: VanDusen Gardens What: Canada’s premier luxury lifestyle and automotive event celebrates its eighth year with latest Supercar designs, classic Concours collectibles, fall fashion, watches, jewelry, specialty foods, wines and premium spirits. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

  Sunday September 10

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Pop Up Roller Disco

Pop Up Roller Disco Where: Robson Square Skating Rink  What: Classic roller rink vibes with big hair, short shorts, long socks, and all of the disco, funk, R&B and glam rock you can handle, brought to you by DJ K-Tel. Limited quad and in-line skate rentals will be available (first come, first served).

Thundercat

Thundercat Where: The Commodore Ballroom What: An American multi-genre bass guitarist, producer and singer from LA.

GoGo Penguin (show 2 of 2) Where: Frankie’s Jazz Club What: Hailing from Manchester in the UK, jazz meets electronica with influences from Brian Eno, John Cage, Massive Attack, and Aphex Twin.

  Ongoing

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Facade Festival Where: Georgia Street façade of the Vancouver Art Gallery What: New and traditional media is used with projection mapping to create ephemeral artworks that respond to Vancouver’s vibrant city center and urban landscape through a plethora of styles and approaches. Artists involved: Diyan Achjadi, Fiona Ackerman, Scott Billings, Annie Briard, Shawn Hunt, James Nizam, Luke Ramsey, Evann Siebens, Ben Skinner, and Paul Wong. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Accordion Noir Festival Where: Various lacations What: Celebrating its tenth anniversary as Canada’s only festival of alternative accordion music, this year’s special anniversary edition of Accordion Noir presents a pantheon of international and local accordion talent, including the North American debuts of Finnish accordion shaman Antti Paalanen and all-female Russian ethno-rock quartet Iva Nova, the Canadian debut of Accordion DJ Lykaire from Louisiana, as well as the launch party for Geoff Berner’s latest album, Canadiana Grotesquica. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Neither Wolf Nor Dog

Neither Wolf Nor Dog Where: VanCity Theatre What: Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Kent Nerburn, this funny and deeply moving film follows an author who gets sucked into the heart of contemporary Native American life in the sparse lands of the Dakotas by a 95-year-old Lakota elder. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

The Teacher

The Teacher Where: VanCity Theatre What: Set in Bratislava during the final decade of Communism, it examines the abuse of power at a middle school. Zuzana Mauréry tears into the part of a lifetime as a terrifyingly passive-aggressive teacher, Mrs. Drazdechova, who happens to be a bigwig in the local Communist party. She shamelessly exploits pupils and parents alike in return for dispensing generous grades. Runs until: Sunday September 10, 2017

Panda International Night Market Where: Richmond, BC What: A diverse market in Richmond, with shopping, food, beverages, and a game zone. Runs until: Monday September 11, 2017

The Getaway Escape Room Where: 4386 Main Street What: A free entertainment experience with a theme focused on escaping the trappings of tedious adulthood tasks, like doing chores, dealing with technology glitches and commuting.  Teams of up to eight people have up to 45-minutes to search for clues and solve brain teasing puzzles to help them escape the room. Runs until: Tuesday September 12, 2017

Aileen Bahmanipour: Technical Problem

Aileen Bahmanipour: Technical Problem Where: Grunt Gallery What: An exhibition of mixed media drawings by Vancouver-based, Iranian-born artist Aileen Bahmanipour that explores cyclical political power and cultural identity. Runs until: Saturday October 14, 2017

Flora and Fauna: A Summer Art Show Where: The Fall Tattooing and Artist Studio What: An artistic summer celebration of all vibrant, colourful, living things. Runs until: Friday September 15, 2017

Oh, Canada – The True North Strong and Funny

Oh, Canada – The True North Strong and Funny Where: The Improv Centre on Granville Island What: Based on audience suggestions, the cast lampoon such Canadian ‘institutions’ as Heritage Minutes, the Mounties, winter, our hunky Prime Minister, hockey, and lumberjacks or other endless possibilities. As this is improv and the show is made up on the spot, no two shows are ever the same. Join us for some distinctively Canadian laughs. You’ll be nicer for it. Runs until: Saturday September 16, 2017

Vancouver Fringe Festival Where: Various locations, Granville Island What: A celebration of theatre for everyone, featuring more than 800 performances by over 90 artists. The Fringe employs an “everyone welcome” selection technique—the mainstage shows are literally drawn out of a hat, giving all artists a chance to participate. There are also unique site-specific theatre where artists stage their work in the nooks and crannies of Granville Island. Runs until: Sunday September 17, 2017

Slumber Here

Slumber Here Where: Granville Island What:A fully immersive, multi-sensory experience, in which audience members explore a dreamlike fairy world where they find themselves seduced by Oberon, assist the Mechanicals to fix their play, help Puck create mischief, and even interact with a real, live mini donkey. Inspired by Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, it offers an interactive narrative for audience members to explore, often by themselves, in order to discover hidden scenes, encounter performers one-on-one, imbibe custom-designed fairy elixirs and treats, and potentially change the outcome of the play. Runs until: Sunday September 17, 2017

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival Where: Vanier Park What: What do you say to watching a live production of Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice or The Two Gentlemen of Verona in a custom-built tent on the beach while sipping wine, beer, and munching on a picnic lunch themed to the play? Yes! Right? After 28 years, this festival has hit a stride of near perfection (and don’t even get us started on the amazing costumes.) Runs until: Saturday September 23, 2017

Jaad Kuujus: Meghann O’Brien

Jaad Kuujus: Meghann O’Brien Where: Bill Reid Gallery What: Meghann takes materials from the natural world and transforms them into pieces of high-level human expression. Working with traditional materials such as mountain goat wool and cedar bark has given her a deep connection to the supernatural world, a connection to her ancestors. She describes working with cedar bark as, “travelling back in time” or “touching the cosmos”. Her creations have a profound impact within contemporary Northwest Coast art and beyond. Runs until: September 2017

A Sublime Vernacular: The Landscape Paintings of Levine Flexhaug

A Sublime Vernacular: The Landscape Paintings of Levine Flexhaug Where: Contemporary Art Gallery What: The first overview of the extraordinary career of Levine Flexhaug (1918 – 1974), born in the Treelon area near Climax, Saskatchewan. It brings together approximately 450 of the artist’s paintings as well as several of his mural-sized works. An itinerant painter, he sold thousands of variations of essentially the same landscape painting in national parks, resorts, department stores and bars across western Canada from the late 1930s through the early 1960s. Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Unbelievable

Unbelievable Where: The Museum of Vancouver What: This exhibition poses provocative questions about our perception of stories by assembling iconic artifacts, storied replicas, and contested objects for a mind-bending exploration of the role stories play in defining lives and communities – and what happens when we question the tales we’ve long relied upon. Unbelievable objects include the Thunderbird totem pole that appeared in controversial filmmaker Edward Curtis’ 1906 work In the Land of the Head Hunters; contemporary ‘totems’, each with contrasting stories about a point in time in Vancouver; and artifacts illustrating the complex narrative around Vancouver’s relationship with First Nations communities. Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Uninterrupted

Uninterrupted Where: Under the Cambie Street Bridge What: After dusk, audiences will witness the extraordinary migration of wild Pacific salmon in a 30-minute cinematic spectacle that explores the connection between nature and our urban environments. Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Be Polite

Be Polite Where: Contemporary Art Gallery What: Working closely with the Estate of Gordon Bennett and IMA Brisbane the exhibition will comprise a selection of rare works on paper including drawing, painting, watercolour, poetry, and essays from the early 1990s through to the early 2000s. Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Sunday Art Market

Sunday Art Market Where: Jim Deva Plaza What: Local artists, vendors and makers, largely from Vancouver’s West End, along with musical and other live performances and artist-led workshops to drop into. Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Seven Beauties: The Films Of Lina Wertmüller

Seven Beauties: The Films Of Lina Wertmüller Where: The Cinematheque What: Known for her bawdy, boisterous satirical forays into the minefields of sex, politics, and social class, Lina Wertmüller (b. 1928 in Rome) was an art-house sensation, and just about the world’s most prominent female director, in the 1970s. Her films, provocative, parodic, and often decidedly un-PC — or, at least, too savage in their irony and iconoclasm to fit easily into simple political boxes — were often highly contentious. Runs until: Monday September 25, 2017

Works by Anna Milton

Works by Anna Milton Where: VanDusen Gardens What: Anna has been exhibiting and selling her work internationally since her college years. She trained and worked as an art therapist for many years and is interested in symbols and metaphor that are present in visual art. Runs until: Wednesday September 27, 2017

Shipyards Night Marlet

Shipyards Night Market Where: Lonsdale, North Vancouver What: Food, art, music, entertainment, shopping, a beer garden, and you can bring your dog! Runs until: September 29, 2017

Interrupting the Interface | David Wilson Where: Kimoto Gallery What: In building this body of work, Wilson scanned thousands of photographs on Instagram and selected the images he felt compelled to work with. Then it was a matter of copying, pasting, further filtering for his own painting references. Most of the selected images identified with water or fluidity, a pervasive theme throughout Wilson’s work. Runs until: Saturday September 30, 2017

ZimCarvings Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden What: Patrick Sephani along with visiting artist Peter Kananji will be showcasing works from over 30 Zimbabwean stone sculptors on the beautiful garden grounds and carving stone sculptures on site.  All works will be available for purchase. Runs until: Saturday September 30, 2017

Downtown Eastside Women’s Summer Fair Where: Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre What: Over twenty-five vendors and artisans from within the community, entertainment from local performers, an area for children to play, information booths about the different resources available in the community, and a wide variety of goods and services for purchase. Runs until: Saturday September 30, 2017 (Saturdays)

Claude Monet’s Secret Garden

Claude Monet’s Secret Garden Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: The most comprehensive exhibition of French painter Claude Monet’s work in Canada in two decades, Claude Monet’s Secret Garden will trace the career of this pivotal figure in Western art history. This exhibition will present thirty-eight paintings spanning the course of Monet’s long career from the unparalleled collection of the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris. Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio

Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Twenty-five photographs by contemporary American photographer Stephen Shore produced during several visits to Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s famous gardens at Giverny, France. Showing concurrently with the exhibition Claude Monet’s Secret Garden, Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio offers a contemporary perspective on the tranquility originally captured in Monet’s iconic paintings. Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Persistence

Persistence Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Persistence draws together three recent contemporary installations to explore the surprising and creative ways that technologies, physical objects and natural processes endure and transform. Runs until: October 1, 2017

Elad Lassry

Elad Lassry Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Investigating the nature of perception with a special focus on the photographic image within the digital era, the exhibition includes more than seventy works—films, photographs and sculpture—produced by Lassry over the last decade. Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Mount Pleasant Farmers Market Where: Dude Chilling Park What: Amble over and pick up some afternoon picnic supplies, groceries for the week, and Sunday dinner fixings from 25+ farms and producers. Each week you’ll find a fresh selection of just-picked seasonal fruits & veggies, ethically-raised meats & sustainable seafood, artisanal bread & prepared foods, craft beer, wine, & spirits, handmade craft, and coffee & food trucks. Runs until: Sunday October 8, 2017

Angels in America Where: Arts Club Theatre What: Witness the soaring conclusion to the acclaimed play that asks us what we do for those we love. Perestroika is a revolution against the politics and prejudice in the 1980s as the AIDS epidemic rages on, and the characters wrestle with their ideologies and an angel looking for an answer. In the centre of it all is Prior Walter, a man in a world of peril who chooses to live in his light. Runs until: Sunday October 8, 2017

Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia

Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology What: Words and their physical manifestations are explored in this insightful exhibition, which will honour the special significance that written forms. Varied forms of expression associated with writing throughout Asia is shown over the span of different time periods: from Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions, Qu’ranic manuscripts, Southeast Asian palm leaf manuscripts and Chinese calligraphy from MOA’s Asian collection to graffiti art from Afghanistan and contemporary artworks using Japanese calligraphy, and Tibetan and Thai scripts. Runs until: Monday October 9, 2017

Richmond Night Market

Richmond Night Market Where: Richmond, BC What: There’s a dinosaur park! Anamatronic dinosaurs! Also – live performances, carnival games, over 200 retail stalls and over 500 food choices from around the world. Runs until: October 9, 2017

Onsite / Offsite Tsang Kin-Wah

Onsite / Offsite Tsang Kin-Wah Where:  Vancouver Art Gallery What:  This large-scale composition transforms English texts to form intricate floral and animal patterns. The work draws from discriminatory language that appeared in newspapers and political campaigns in Vancouver during the 1887 anti-Chinese riots, the mid-1980s immigration influx from Hong Kong and most recently, the heated exchanges around the foreign buyers and the local housing market. Runs until: Sunday October 15, 2017

West End Farmers Market Where: 1100 Comox St What: Located in the heart of Vancouver’s busy West End, this laid-back Saturday market looks onto beautiful Nelson Park and adjacent community gardens. Each week, shop for the best in local, seasonal produce, artisanal bread & prepared foods, craft beer, wine, & spirits, ethically raised meat, eggs, & dairy, sustainable seafood, wild crafted product, and handmade craft. Hot food & coffee on-site as well. Runs until: Saturday October 21, 2017 (Saturdays)

Trout Lake Farmers Market Where: Trout Lake What: This is where you’ll find the vendors who have been doing it since the beginning; what started as 14 farmers ‘squatting’ at the Croatian Cultural Centre back in 1995 has grown into Vancouver’s most well-known and beloved market. Visitors come from near and far to sample artisan breads & preserves, stock up on free-range and organic eggs & meats, get the freshest, hard-to-find heirloom vegetables and taste the first Okanagan cherries and peaches of the season. Runs until: Saturday October 21, 2017 (Saturdays)

Kitsilano Farmers Market

Kitsilano Farmers Market Where: Kitsilano Community Centre parking lot What:   A great selection of just-picked, seasonal fruits & vegetables, ethically raised and grass fed meat, eggs, & dairy, sustainable seafood, fresh baked bread & artisanal food, local beer, wine, & spirits, and beautiful, handmade craft. Kids and parents alike can enjoy entertainment by market musicians, a nearby playground and splash park, and coffee and food truck offerings each week. Runs until: Sunday October 22, 2017 (Sundays)

The Lost Fleet Exhibit Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum What: On December 7, 1941 the world was shocked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into the war. This action also resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The Lost Fleet looks at the world of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major role in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese-Canadian property and the internment of an entire people. Runs until: Winter 2017

Bill Reid Creative Journeys | Image via the Canadian Museum of History

Bill Reid Creative Journeys Where: The Bill Reid Gallery What: Celebrating the many creative journeys of acclaimed master goldsmith and sculptor Bill Reid (1920–1998), this exhibition provides a comprehensive introduction to his life and work. Runs until: Sunday December 10, 2017

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology What: MOA will showcase its Amazonian collections in a significant exploration of socially and environmentally-conscious notions intrinsic to indigenous South American cultures, which have recently become innovations in International Law. These are foundational to the notions of Rights of Nature, and they have been consolidating in the nine countries that share responsibilities over the Amazonian basin. Runs until: January 28, 2018

Emily Carr: Into the Forest

Emily Carr: Into the Forest Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Far from feeling that the forests of the West Coast were a difficult subject matter, Carr exulted in the symphonies of greens and browns found in the natural world. With oil on paper as her primary medium, Carr was free to work outdoors in close proximity to the landscape. She went into the forest to paint and saw nature in ways unlike her fellow British Columbians, who perceived it as either untamed wilderness or a plentiful source of lumber. Runs until: March 4, 2018

Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist Where: North Vancouver Museum What: An exhibition exploring the life and legacy of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George (1899- 1981) and his influence as an Indigenous rights advocate and his career as an actor. The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the George family. Runs until: April 2018

In a Different Light

In a Different Light Where: Museum of Anthropology What: More than 110 historical Indigenous artworks and marks the return of many important works to British Columbia. These objects are amazing artistic achievements. Yet they also transcend the idea of ‘art’ or ‘artifact’. Through the voices of contemporary First Nations artists and community members, this exhibition reflects on the roles historical artworks have today. Featuring immersive storytelling and innovative design, it explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to Indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands. Runs until: Spring 2019

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below or tweet me directly at @lextacular

Inside Vancouver Blog

[positivebranding]

Charity 8 Experts Reveal Their Top Tips on Team Building Success

Teams are what drive success within a business, but a team that gets on like a house on fire can sometimes be hard to achieve, especially with personality clashes or isolation due to the nature of the job at hand. Many business owners are now taking advantage of team building activities in order to increase employee confidence, productivity and make the team as a whole more harmonious in their working environment. Research conducted by

Total Team Building

found that 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy has an impact on business success - but only 25% of these business owners have an actual strategy in place. Over at

Positive Branding

we recognise the need for a coordinated and positive working environment, and found that team building has been shown to positively impact outcomes by providing some useful benefits such as:

Improved morale

Increased leadership skills

Identifies areas of strengths and weakness

Increases problem solving skills

Forms new bonds and increases respect within the team

The right team building strategy and activity will really help to create plenty of business (and personal) opportunities. Check out what our chosen experts had to say about team building and what actionable advice they have. We asked the below experts one simple question:

What are your top tips when it comes to team building?

Let’s see what these branding experts have to say…

Poppy @

The Great Escape Game

I'd definitely say our top tips for team building are trusting someone's judgment and LOTS of communication. Within an escape game, it's imperative that every member shares all their resources and information. If somebody doesn't tell the team about something they've discovered then they'll all struggle! Teams must also trust and support one another in the games when it comes to exploring new ideas or possible solutions. Playing an escape game is a unique and fun way for a team to bond and discover their strengths and leadership style.

Mark Fanning @

ACF Team Building

When booking a team building or staff away day, it is wise to avoid the top phobias i.e. Heights, snakes, public speaking and spiders. It sounds obvious but going on a survival skills day or a ropes course could end up causing the opposite of building a team. When choosing the right activity it is best to go to a company that owns a large range of equipment and runs many different experiences which then means a day out can be moulded and created around the group not the other way round.

Elizabeth @

Fire Hazard

1 - Give players a common goal to complete.

Live games give groups the opportunity to develop their skills as a team, as a side effect of having fun. By giving players a common goal to work towards – solve puzzles effectively in order to get as many points as possible, and beat the other teams - we encourage them to be both cooperative and competitive, while keeping the experience entertaining and fun.

2 - Give teams challenges that require the coordination of different skills.

The puzzles included in the games require a variety of skills to be solved, so playing the game becomes a matter of teams recognising each player’s strengths and developing a group dynamic that makes optimum use of those strengths. This creates an environment in which everyone is valuable and has the opportunity to contribute to problem solving.

3 – Have fun!

Team building activities should be fun and engaging. Games are one of the best ways to do this, as they naturally give players a sense of autonomy, competence and social relatedness in a fun and entertaining environment. Players get to have fun and have a memorable shared experience while developing skills that translate seamlessly into the real world.

Ben @

Bluehat Team Building

1 - The team building event concept

Delegates are intelligent and relish a genuine challenge. Look for a company who can provide more sophisticated and better thought out concepts with a strong storyline that bind the various challenges and tasks together. This will help increase engagement levels in participants.

2 - The quality of the equipment

You would have hoped that the ropes, planks and barrels team building events were assigned to the history books long ago. Sadly, they are still prevalent in the industry today. Ask to see a demonstration of the equipment that will be on your event and avoid anything that looks like it’s been purchased from the local DIY store! Intelligent events with realistic props and equipment will add a huge amount to the delegate experience.

3 - The people on your event

The quality and skill of the individuals who will interact with your delegates will add a huge amount to the overall experience. Ask your provider about the staff on your event and what roles they play. Avoid companies who use dual roles for the event manager and presenter as these are and should be two different skill sets and you deserve experts within each individual role.

4 - A team event that is personalised to your team and your brand

Will drive engagement levels much more creating a far more memorable experience. Choose a team building agency who are interested in what your group are doing for the rest of the time at their offsite outside of the team building activity. They will be ain a stronger position to recommend solutions that are more aligned with the group and the overall meeting outcomes.

5 - Look for an innovative experience

There’s a good chance that a number of your delegates will have been on many team building events in the past. Avoid the traditional ropes, planks and barrels and look for genuinely innovative experiences that are more sophisticated, involving and memorable. Activities that tick these boxes will engage the whole group at a much deeper level.

6 - Added value

A team building event can be so much more than just a fun time for your delegates. Getting the whole team together is often a once in a year opportunity, so whilst you’ve already made the effort and expense to get everybody there, look for learning and growth and development opportunities and weave these through the team building event.

7 - Choosing experienced team to deliver your event

On a live event, you’ve only got one chance to get it right. So choose a team that has a long track record of doing just that. Ask to speak to past clients who have had a similar event to yours to get their unbiased feedback.

James Lloyd-Townshend @

Anderson Frank

We actively encourage all of our colleagues – whether they’re in sales or marketing – to work together. For example, we hold themed Sales Days that combine work tasks with fun games, snacks, fancy dress and prizes for the teams that generate the best sales at the end of the day. It’s a great reward for their hard work and helps boost productivity throughout the business as everyone gets involved.

Fiona Dent @

HULT International Business School

We live in an uncertain and complex world where the hierarchical approach to organization structure is fast becoming obsolete so, building effective teams are more important today than it has ever been as. Here are 3 tips for building effective teams:

Building trust within any team is vital and is largely about getting commitment from all.

Invest time to develop emotional intelligence of all team members, which is about self-awareness, self-analysis, self-regulation and others awareness.

The essence of teamwork is mutual accountability where all team members take responsibility for their actions, behaviours and outputs.

Fiona Elsa Dent and Mike Brent authors of “The Leadership of Team: How to develop and inspire high performance teams” (2017) Bloomsbury

Prosper Taruvinga @

Live Long Digital

The first thing is clarity. this can be clarity on goals, expectations, and job descriptions. Anyone can bear the course as long as they know the reward they get in the end. this way, you have people willing to build what you are creating instead of just having people doing "time". Second is: Celebrate achievements. Whenever you reach any milestones or a team member does, not only does that motivate that individual and the rest of the team, but it drives your cause. Humans are motivated by growth. If something is not growing, it's dying. No one wants to keep beating a dead horse. Last but not least, hire more for attitude than skill. When you have the people with the right attitude, it's easier to train them to do the job well. if you hire people just because of what their resume says, not most of them will get along and that creates a toxic working space.

Sam Tram @

Uplift Events

The top tips we recommend is understanding what you are trying to achieve out of the team building event Is it for increased productivity, improving communication, develop problem solving or keeping employee motivated? As team building is NOT one size fits all, understanding the objectives allows us to tailor and recommend an event that is focused on the outcomes and results. We always like to learn as much as we can about the client and the team, so that we understand the demographics and culture of the organisation. This will allow us to recommend and design an event that is inclusive to everyone, but most importantly fun and engaging to leave a lasting and memorable experience.