Week in Review - March 16th - 19th, 2026

Art history talk and photography struggles

A decently relaxed week. A lot to do coming up!

Monday, I was supposed to go on my first documentary photo trip, but I ended up in the emergency room instead. Nothing serious, but I have a history of strep throat and I wanted to get it dealt with quickly. I no longer think I have strep, just some sort of quick moving cold. It went from a sore throat to a cough to sinus pressure, and finally to a horrible runny nose. I don’t feel particularly sick, but my popping ears and running nose will be the death of me. I am not good at being sick. Luckily for me, this gave me an extra day to hang out with my brother, his wife, and my nieces who were down for a March break visit. Along with this, I had another (somewhat) lucky instance. My Tuesday photography class ended up being cancelled, but I unfortunately didn’t discover this until I was already at the train station, getting on my train. Super unfortunate, but in the end I was able to simply hop on a bus home right away and I ended up getting some work done at home, alongside more visiting with the family that was visiting. 

My photography made it into a showcase at my school! Every year, my school holds an exhibition of work from students in my program from all disciplines offered (painting, drawing, sculpture, design, print media, and photography.) Last year, I had a sculpture and painting in the showcase. This year, two photos from my series on “transitional spaces between transit” are being displayed. When I can get a picture of them hanging in the gallery, I will add or link an image. I have a lot of photography ahead of me this coming week (and weekend!) Saturday, I’m headed to campus to scan my colour negatives before heading to visit my friend on my other campus so we can do some studying and work on assignments. (For added context, my program takes place in two locations; practical art at one, art history and all academic classes at the other.) After this, I’ll have a little bit of a break on Sunday. Monday has become the new day for my documentary trip. It’s currently up in the air whether I have a friend to accompany me. It’s ultimately okay if no one travels with me, but I would feel that small bit safer if I had another person alongside me. One of my favourite people, my partner Jay, will be accompanying me to photography class this Tuesday! We have a critique for our colour negatives, which I am not too confident about. I had bad luck with the Holga camera, as I have said before. If I can at least get one good image (even if it’s through the magic of editing) I’ll be happy. 

In my art history since 1945 class, we covered queer art alongside activism art centralizing around the 70s - late 80s. We covered a variety of artists and groups, and I found multiple works from this conversation incredibly interesting and relevant to the current state of politics. The artist collective and AIDS activism group Gran Fury’s work especially struck me. Though simple, the art piece SILENCE = DEATH (87) has a very straightforward and meaningful message. A pink triangle on a black background with the bold, demanding text stating that of the title; silence is death. It states its point with the sort of aggression needed for the time of activism, coming with the government's absolute avoidance and ignorance of how serious the AIDS crisis truly was. Gran Fury stuck around for quite a while. Over the years, their work shifted from an aggressive tone towards more of a somber, mourning sense. A generation of queer people, along with their history, were essentially erased. Though a feeling of mourning was heavy in the air, Gran Fury and the political activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) were still advocating just as hard as before. Another piece from the collective shows us how their art evolved with the shift of mood. The Four Questions (93) encapsulates the fear and dejection within the movement. It brings the viewer in as the subject to ask uncomfortable questions and realize how the situation troubles those that are affected. The same year, ACT UP alongside Gran Fury released the poster that captured me more than anything else; You Can’t Wear A Red Ribbon If You’re Dead. The red ribbon is used as a symbol of solidarity and remembrance for those who suffered from AIDS. Underneath the title text is three more statements, all relating to things that queer people in the 80s and 90s were prohibited from participating in. It calls out the grim reality, and brings attention to the high death toll that AIDS brought. All of these works are still extremely relevant and powerful to this day, especially in the current political attitude regarding queer and transgender rights. I have seen a lot of artists in the current day post about the political climate in a similar way that Gran Fury and ACT UP advocated, altered to fit the new social media scape. Statements from artists creating for the sake of creating, essentially saying “I advocate politics because I can’t make art if I am dead.” When the world goes through a huge tension, from AIDS to trans hate to war in any sense of the word, art prevails. It becomes one of the ways that we are able to freely and strongly display the effect politics holds over us. Art will always be political, because you can’t make art if you’re dead. Overall, this lecture was interesting and very poignant for the time we are in now. Other artists interested me as well, but my main takeaway was that of Gran Fury. I do have to say that this lecture disappointed me in some aspects. Firstly, of all the content that we covered, zero of it was made by a person of colour. Not even a photograph of a person of colour within the whole two hour lecture, in fact. I have noticed with this professor he has avoided showing work from POC artists, which really disappoints me. He also entirely avoided transgender artists as a whole. Unfortunately, this is incredibly common in art history spaces. A majority of classes tend to focus upon the white, Eurocentric/Americanized idea of art rather than looking at the incredibly broad scope of what is offered. Disappointing but typical in the academic setting.

(from left to right: SILENCE = DEATH, The Four Questions, You Can't Wear A Red Ribbon If You're Dead)

The rest of this week will be slightly odd for me. I am currently writing this on Thursday in preparation for my busy next two days. A friend will be coming down and seeing a hockey game with me on Friday, then the Saturday plan discussed earlier will be enacted. A 6am start is required, but hopefully this will help out with my readiness in the long run. Thursday I’ll be adventuring to the Art Gallery of Ontario to grab a coffee and sketch with Jay, followed by more train photography. 

Have a wonderful day or night, wherever you are!

S.B.