The mtl/ART manifesto: Like the confluence of tectonic plates creating unbearable pressure where they meet - so art in the 21st century exerts its inexorable influence on the mind and spirit, creating anomalies. Anomalies - geographic and cultural, as in Montreal (mtl), a nexus of old and new worlds, the junction of Europe and the Americas. Anomalies -- as in mtl/ART, pushed through the banal crust of media, piercing through the thick, flaking skin of commercially motivated product. mtl/Art beats out a new genre that combines poetry with experimental music and visual technologies and toys with narrative expectations. A bloodshot look at art and those who create it, mtl/ART is a synthetic process of appropriation. Equal parts homage, pastiche and lampoon, mtl/ART drags the hapless artist into the crucible and renders back to culture what belongs to culture in the first place. Why mtl/ART? Our battle cry is Art is Alive!. Our intention is to unflinchingly reconsider the work of important artists of the 20th (and now 21st) century, in a language that speaks directly to the jaundiced generations. In the wake of successive revolutions and counter-revolutions on the mall-strewn landscape, this generation has not been left mindless. We are hungry, and we mean to be fed. In today's cultural universe, worlds collide: Hollywood meets Bergman, genres intertwine, and Pop and High Art are rendered liquid and supple under the mantle of ideas. Poised at the epicenter of this explosion are artists the mtl/Art has already treated: Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, Beny Mor, and Moishe Safdie. There are films inspired by other artists in development. We will provide information about these films and artists in our News section as soon as it comes in. Who are We? Jacob is a Montreal writer, director, and producer. In addition to his work on the mtl/ART project, Jacob is co-author, with Denys Arcand, of the screenplay for 'Stardom', which opened at theatres across North America in November 2000. Tony is a Montreal writer, producer and musician. Oh my G-d, what has mtl/ART done? mtl/ART is a series of experimental short films by Jacob Potashnik and Tony Babinski. The films have resulted in an album of new music called music from the mtl/ART project. They have also led directly to the development of two feature films, Beautiful Losers and The Love Rack . Lastly, the mtl/ART project is a provocative slap on the forehead, the little pink tongue sticking out from Buddha's smiling face, the raised middle finger to the culture of standard texts and received wisdom. Letters, diaries, opinions and ephemera: the effluvium of life, engaged!

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