8/3/2019 Sputnik Issue 5 - Page 9(2)

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The Sputnik // Thursday October 13 9

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SHORT STUDENT DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Keeping it reel.

November3,4,5

$5PER SHOWCASH ONLY

Brantford Film Festival

The Brantford Film Festival will be held on November 3rd, 4thand 5th 2011 in Downtown Brantford, at several downtown

venues including, St. Andrew's Church, and Laurier BrantfordsOdeon & RCW Buildings.

www.brantfordlmfestival.ca

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!

AVAILABLE @Brantford Arts Block,Jammit Music, The Beat Goes On, TheBookworm, Flim Flam Arts and CraftsSupplies, Green Heron Books (Paris, ON)and Stedman Bookstore (Wilfrid LaurierBrantford)

/BtfdFilmFest @BtfdFilmFest

Last Friday, the Brantford Arts Blockheld an opening reception for its latestexhibition, Rabbits and Other Issues,created by artists Heather Verplanke and

Dwayne Mahoney as a way of showcasingtheir pieces over the next six weeks.

Having never gone to an art opening be-

fore, I nervously threw on the most hipsteroutt I had, slung my camera around myneck, and deemed myself worthy of tting

in with the arts crowd.However, I had barely made it ve feet

into the gallery until I felt extremely con-

fused and out of place. I sunk a little lowerin my phony artistic outt, and shifted un-comfortably back and forth, while staring

at the bizarre art hanging on the wall infront of me.What appeared to be a metallic mask in

the shape of a rabbits face stared daunt-ingly back at me. This denitely wasnt thefriendly Easter bunny or the cute face of Pe-

ter Rabbit that I had become accustomed toin my childhood. This rabbit had empty eyesockets, long sharp fangs, and two horns

protruding from its forehead. If Satan hada pet, it would probably be this rabbit.

Confused (and admittedly creeped out)

by the rabbit masks, I hunted down the art-ist, Dwayne Mahoney, to hear the inspira-tion behind these odd creations.

Its a bit of a long story, Mahoneysaid. There used to be an ongoing joke

that I thought bunnies were the devil. Andthen one day we were going to have a par-ty around Easter, so as a joke my wife saidHow about an evil bunny party? I took

that and just ran with it. I made my rstmask and we even had a ritual..., he said,trailing off.

I stared at him with a confused expres-sion, waiting for him to further explain hisEaster ritual.

I dont really know if I want you to

write about the ritual, Mahoney laughedafter some time. I suddenly felt relieved to

see him smile, because until this point inthe interview he had remained stone faced,somber, and frankly a little eerie. Lets justsay the rabbit masks were created as the

nishing touch to our ritual, he said.Having to end my interview quickly

with the busy artist, I ventured to the op-

posite side of the gallery where HeatherVerplanke, the other featured artist of thenight, had her acrylic paintings and papier-

mch sculptures on display.As I stared at a massive papier-mch

piece of steak mounted on bloody styro-

foam on the wall in front of me, I could barely refrain from touching it. The ArtsBlock must have put up the Please do not

touch the art signs for amateurs like my-self.Looking around Verplankes side of

the gallery I noticed a beautifully detailedpainting of a little girl, which seemed toclash with the bloody steak hanging in front

of me. Even as an art amateur, Icould tell there were denitely twodifferent sides to this artist.

Im bipolar, so I can have reallyhigh times and I can have reallylow times and I think that between

the two poles, this is the art thatcomes out of me, explained Ver-planke. Sometimes my art might

portray something that is depress-ing or something that is hyper.

Thats kind of where it comes from,depending on where my emotionsare at the time. To me its whimsi-cal, its sort of dreamlike.

After admiring several of Ver-plankes other pieces- includinga painting of a deer smeared with

blood- I wandered back over toDwayne Mahoneys side of thegallery where I bumped into Chris

Blenkinsop, a friend of Mahoneys for over

20 years.The masks Dwayne creates are actu-

ally for a big Easter party he putson every year. Its an interest-ing thing, and Im one of therare few that are privileged

enough to see them in ac-tion, Blenkinsop said.

There it was again,

talk of the strange Eas-ter ritual that inspiredMahoney to create these

fantastic rabbit masks. AsI pressed Blenkinsop fur-ther, I made the mistake of

saying that Mahoney wouldntreveal any details about their ritual.

If hes not going into detail, then I

probably shouldnt either, Blenkinsopsaid with a laugh.Leaving the gallery later, I felt satised

that I had denitely seen something quiteunique. As mystied as I was by both Ver-plankes and Mahoneys artwork, I had to

admire how brilliantly created they were.

W i t hHalloween

around the corner, I

would denitely recommend stopping bythe Arts Block to see their certainly unusualpieces. And if you do get a chance, be sure

to ask Mahoney about his mysterious Easterritual, because Im dying to know more.

Demonic bunnies, styrofoam steak, and bloody deer, O My!

Kiley BellArts & Entertainment Editor

Fans mingle at the Rabbits & Other Issues art event at the Brantford Arts Block. (Photo by Kiley Bell)

The creepy bunny mask. (Photo by Kiley Bell)

On This Day...In 1978 Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols wasarrested for murdering his girlfriend,Nancy Spungen. Spungen was founddead with a knife wound to her abdo-men on the bathroom oor of their ho-tel room. Four months later, Sid Viciouscommitted suicide.