Cirrus asks what it means to be an artist in a world of machines

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Cirrus asks what it means to be an artist in a world of machines

screeching container ports, fairy armadillos, advantageous appendages…


Coming in from a bright sunny afternoon, I am temporarily blinded upon entering the Western Front’s dim gallery. Somewhat ironically, I have to rely on my other senses to locate the leather-covered bench facing the two-channel video installation of Cirrus (2025) by Holly Márie Parnell. The work by the Irish-Canadian filmmaker takes its name from slender appendages used by animals to navigate without sight—like moles, who use cirrus to traverse subsurface landscapes.

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Mood Swing (July 3, 2025)

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Mood Swing (July 3, 2025)

Welcome to the first-ever edition of Mood Swing, a new weekly event round-up from SAD Online. Each week, we'll share a carefully curated list of five upcoming local events and activities that won't break the bank (or your heart). Expect workshops, walking tours, live performances, markets, art shows and whatever else we think will fill you with the inspiration you need to get through the week (and fight that summertime SAD-ness).

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No Comfort in Community: Loneliness and Fanaticism in Liz Cairn's Inedia

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No Comfort in Community: Loneliness and Fanaticism in Liz Cairn's Inedia

“Hunger is a wound of desire.”

Decreed by the seemingly harmless guru of a commune nourished by the sun, this statement sets the tone for a film that hungers for connection, yet centers characters that can’t help but seek it in the wrong place. Immediately, the warm and intimate feel of Liz Cairn’s film is set in stark contrast with the uncanny music and ominous narration, creating a sense of unease that doesn’t quite leave you, even when a false sense of comfort permeates the commune and its members.

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Solarpunk Zine Making as a Ritual of Grief

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Solarpunk Zine Making as a Ritual of Grief

I’m hunched over a folding table at Enabling Arts. Marker ink on my first zine spread is still wet; it mingles with the deep-fried scent drifting off the Jollibee chicken and fries I’ve saved for later. Snip, snip—someone’s scissors keep a heartbeat beside me. On the page, I’ve written: i feel guilty while others suffer in quiet rooms. but grief and joy can live together after Lapu Lapu Day. Zine making, I’m learning, is a space where comfort and agitation coexist.

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Empanadas Ilegales’ new album Sancocho Trifásico is an ode to Latin history, musical traditions, and culture

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Empanadas Ilegales’ new album Sancocho Trifásico is an ode to Latin history, musical traditions, and culture

“Our goal is to break the design flaw,” says Daniel Hernandez Pinto, bassist for the Vancouver-based band, Empanadas Ilegales. Hernanadez Pinto and Daniel Ruiz, two members of their nine piece ensemble, had met me virtually; I was sun soaked in Jalisco practicing my Spanish when we arranged to meet. They made me miss Vancouver, meeting me with the kind of warmth needed in a city still raining on the precipice of June. 

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Sell Out, A Series: 5 Questions with Joy Gyamfi

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Sell Out, A Series: 5 Questions with Joy Gyamfi

Sell Out is a series by interdisciplinary artist Angela Fama (she/they), who co-creates conversations with individual artists across Vancouver. Questioning ideas of artistry, identity, “day jobs,” and how they intertwine, Fama settles in with each artist (at a local café of their choice) and asks the same series of questions. With one roll of medium format film, Fama captures portraits of the artist after their conversations.

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Strollology: The Bipedal Art of Letting Go

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Strollology: The Bipedal Art of Letting Go

It is Thursday and raining, again, in Vancouver. Or rather, it is teary out. Street lights are blurred by mist as I walk beneath them. I can make out the soft dripping of water against weakened leaves and car roofs. Everything is an orchestra here in the Pacific Northwest, even the nearby echo of teenagers strutting down the parallel laneway. 

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Sell Out, A Series: 5 Questions with Yvonne Chew

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Sell Out, A Series: 5 Questions with Yvonne Chew

Sell Out is a series by interdisciplinary artist Angela Fama (she/they), who co-creates conversations with individual artists across Vancouver. Questioning ideas of artistry, identity, “day jobs,” and how they intertwine, Fama settles in with each artist (at a local café of their choice) and asks the same series of questions. With one roll of medium format film, Fama captures portraits of the artist after their conversations.

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