If you know, you know.
CBC

View in browser

Hi, Art!

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Hi, Art!

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Hi, art lovers!

 
Cartoon-style illustration of two lines of country-line dancers. They are of all ages and most wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots. They are smiling and slapping the heels of their boots. The composition is in mirrored symmetry. The background is full of stereotypical Albertan iconography: oil wells, grain elevators, women riding horses while carrying the provincial flag. At centre is a giant wild rose and a mountain peak. Two yellow cadillacs, in reference to the

Ben Shannon/CBC Arts

 
Late last summer, I started asking the same annoying question to every person I met: What is the Cadillac Ranch? 

Just so we’re clear, I already knew the answer, and if you’ve spent any significant amount of time in Alberta over the last 40 years, you probably know what it is, too. As for the rest of Canada? Well, I conducted a thoroughly unscientific poll, and the answers are in: nobody has a clue. 

And that’s totally OK! Because what is it? The Cadillac Ranch is a corny line dance, a sequence that’s about as easy to learn as the Macarena. People do it at clubs and weddings and the Calgary Stampede. It’s baffled the prime minister of Iceland. It’s how to say you’re from Alberta without saying you’re from Alberta. And, crucially, it’s been taught in Alberta schools for decades now. As a product of that particular public school system, I was completely thrown when I realized this one weird dance craze is uniquely beloved in Alberta. The song it’s based on was never even a hit! That’s just one of the many details I turned up while compiling this exhaustive (maybe too exhaustive) history of the Cadillac Ranch. Australia has the Nutbush. Ireland has Rock the Boat. I guess Alberta has a dance craze of its own — a sort of “trauma bonding” through synchronized choreography, as this tweet puts it.

I guess you don’t recognize the quirks of the culture you grew up in until you’re older — and living thousands of kilometres from home. And that leaves me wondering just how many bits of regional lore are utterly obscured to me: dances like the Cadillac Ranch, or songs, games, slang, TV jingles. What’s something you grew up with that’s oddly specific to your city or province, something you were shocked to discover didn’t translate across the country? You’ve got to tell me. I’d be fascinated to hear!
 

And because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Photo of four

Vikki Wiercinski

More oddly specific Albertan content! More! MORE! I recently discovered Edmonton: It’s Fine Here!, an illustrated map by designer Vikki Wiercinski. She’ll be selling her guide to Edmonton’s best/quirkiest landmarks at the Royal Bison Art and Craft Fair this weekend, and OMG I wish I were in Alberta to get one. Put me down for a map of West Edmonton Mall, too!
 
Realistic painting in orange tones. Depicts a young woman of Chinese descent in extreme closeup. She wears her dark hair in a bob with bangs. A popsicle stick is sticking out of her mouth. A snail crawls on the stick.

Hayley Chiu

I love this painting from Snail’s Home, a series by Hayley Chiu. Hayley won the OCAD University medal for painting and drawing at this year’s GradEx. If you’re wondering about the title of the series, here’s a very sweet excerpt from her artist’s statement: “My home is where I fall asleep and where I wake; not defined by place, but my being. I’m always where I need to be with what I need to thrive.”
 
Colourful cartoon-style illustration of a large green creature with a patchwork-quilt back. Smaller fantasy creatures appear to be burrowed in the green creature's abdomen.

Gabrielle Schwartz

Gabrielle Schwartz is another medal winner (illustration) whose work you can find at GradEx. Today’s the last day of the show, FYI! But if you can’t make it down to OCAD, there’s always the online version of the exhibition. Scroll away!
 
Photo portrait of a male figure whose face is covered with a mask made off orange bric a brac. His white shoulders are bare and he looks to the distance against a white backdrop.

Lyle XOX

This print by Lyle XOX (previously seen here) is part of L23K, an exhibition and art auction benefiting Contemporary Calgary. To drool over the rest of the catalogue, click here.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Still from I'm Just Here for the Riot. Photo of the aftermath of the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot. A Vancouver city street is covered with litter. Fires can be seen burning in the background. Cops in riot gear fill the scene. A lone man wearing a Vancouver Canucks jersey and cap kneels on the ground, his hands behind his head, as if awaiting arrest.
Hot Docs

What really caused Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot?

 
I’m Just Here for the Riot explores how the mayhem was fuelled by the rise of the smartphone.
 
Black and white portrait of Albert Einstein, an older man with unruly white hair and a bristly moustache.
Frequent Flyer Films

The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain

 
He hid it for years and even smuggled it to Canada in a cookie jar. But according to a new documentary, the guy had his reasons. Dr. Thomas Harvey spent a lifetime guarding the world’s greatest mind.
 
Still from The Lebanese Burger Mafia. A man in winter clothes holding a snow shovel, stands in front of a short building painted in red-and-white stripes. Sign reads: Burger Baron 2 for 1 pizza.

Hot Docs

 

The meaty saga of Alberta's cult-favourite burger

 
Director Omar Mouallem writes about the making of The Lebanese Burger Mafia, his definitive history of Burger Baron.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Kaori Izumiya

@kaori_izumiya_art
Digital illustration of the CBC Arts logo in a style inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. The segments of the gem resemble curly clouds and the centre circle is a scene of the sun rising over curly ocean waves.

Kaori Izumiya

Kaori Izumiya designed this CBC Arts logo for Asian Heritage Month. Based in Montreal, Kaori was born and raised in Japan. “Participating in Asian Heritage Month is a special opportunity for me to celebrate and honour my heritage, and to showcase the beauty and richness of Asian art and culture,” she writes. Learn more about her work in this Q&A.
 

Share this newsletter

Facebook Twitter

or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you.

 
 

Got questions? Typo catches? Story ideas?

 

We're just an email away. Send us a note, and we'll do our best to get back to you.

If someone forwarded you this message and you like what you've read, here's where to subscribe for more.

I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time!

 
XOXO CBC Arts
XOXO CBC Arts
 
Follow us
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instragram Subscribe on YouTube
View in browser Preferences Feedback Unsubscribe
CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
250 Front St. W, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3G5
cbc.radio-canada.ca | radio-canada.ca | cbc.ca

 
Get this newsletter delivered to you