Still, there are many ways in which print media, particularly books, continue to provide the standard, official tale of history and society. And there are many ways in which those who disagree with official versions have continued to talk back, no blogging required.
Vancouver-based artist Kyla Mallett (who has some experience with authority herself as an instructor at Emily Carr) investigates those more bricks-and-mortar forms of critique and commentary in “Marginalia,” which previously showed at Vancouver’s Artspeak and is now exhibiting at the MSVU Art Gallery in Halifax.
In the past, Mallett has presented alternative, unofficial histories in the form of teenage graffiti and anonymous gossip. Here, in a related turn, she photographs handmade notes left in the margins of books borrowed from the Vancouver Public Library.
The comments left by readers are often remarkable in their concise summations of painful historical wrongs. “Church and state sanctioned violence against [women],” one heart-shaped note in The Montreal Massacre reads. Sometimes this intense distillation is likewise applied to matters of art and spirit: “Think about light and/or darkness,” reads a scrawl on Klee Wyck.
It’s refreshing to see Mallett address these forms of backtalk that go beyond the adolescent. Likewise, it’s inspiring (if amusing or shocking at times) to see these moments of quiet resistance and contemplation come to light—no HTML necessary. (166 Bedford Hwy, Halifax NS)
