Greg Macpherson

What music are you listening to / art are you checking out these days?

I listen to a wide variety of music but my favourites tend to come from independent sources, labels concentrating on music as art rather than as product. Lately I've been getting into soundscape music by artists like Kevin Drumm and Tim Hecker or falling back on old favourites like Silkworm, For Carnation and the Sea and Cake. Visually, I seem to gravitate towards urban form and find myself looking for art in the way cities occur by design or by tendency. I'm not grounded enough in the theory of this stuff to pin point what my preferred school of thinking is but I do spend a lot of time looking at the beauty, or lack thereof, in my own city's relationship to public transportation and private versus shared space.

Why should people, especially youth, vote or why not?

Apathy and inaction accomplish very little. Even if your doubts in the effectiveness of our democracy have reached a fever pitch and you've become actively involved in revolutionary activities against the state, it still can't hurt to cast a vote for the candidate that best represents your interests in the system as it presently exists. I happen to believe that while our current system is flawed, it still offers strong possibilities for change and warrants my participation.

What music are you listening to / art are you checking out these days?

I listen to a wide variety of music but my favourites tend to come from independent sources, labels concentrating on music as art rather than as product. Lately I've been getting into soundscape music by artists like Kevin Drumm and Tim Hecker or falling back on old favourites like Silkworm, For Carnation and the Sea and Cake. Visually, I seem to gravitate towards urban form and find myself looking for art in the way cities occur by design or by tendency. I'm not grounded enough in the theory of this stuff to pin point what my preferred school of thinking is but I do spend a lot of time looking at the beauty, or lack thereof, in my own city's relationship to public transportation and private versus shared space.

Why should people, especially youth, vote or why not?

Apathy and inaction accomplish very little. Even if your doubts in the effectiveness of our democracy have reached a fever pitch and you've become actively involved in revolutionary activities against the state, it still can't hurt to cast a vote for the candidate that best represents your interests in the system as it presently exists. I happen to believe that while our current system is flawed, it still offers strong possibilities for change and warrants my participation.

What music are you listening to / art are you checking out these days?

I listen to a wide variety of music but my favourites tend to come from independent sources, labels concentrating on music as art rather than as product. Lately I've been getting into soundscape music by artists like Kevin Drumm and Tim Hecker or falling back on old favourites like Silkworm, For Carnation and the Sea and Cake. Visually, I seem to gravitate towards urban form and find myself looking for art in the way cities occur by design or by tendency. I'm not grounded enough in the theory of this stuff to pin point what my preferred school of thinking is but I do spend a lot of time looking at the beauty, or lack thereof, in my own city's relationship to public transportation and private versus shared space.

Why should people, especially youth, vote or why not?

Apathy and inaction accomplish very little. Even if your doubts in the effectiveness of our democracy have reached a fever pitch and you've become actively involved in revolutionary activities against the state, it still can't hurt to cast a vote for the candidate that best represents your interests in the system as it presently exists. I happen to believe that while our current system is flawed, it still offers strong possibilities for change and warrants my participation. 

For you, is there a connection between art and democracy? What is it?

Freedom of expression is key to a functioning democracy, with artists, journalists, and academics playing critical roles in the education and mobilization of voters. Art is very much the physical embodiment of a culture's subconscious, reflecting and helping to define the principles, ideas, traditions, strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities inherent in the artist's world.
 
Why do you care about community when it is so easy not to?

It's not easy to ignore community when you're aware of your options. Many people are simply uninformed and human nature is often to follow the pull of inertia, the path of least resistance even if short-term ease leads to long-term friction. I've traveled a great deal and benefited from, or been impressed by, the achievements of communities elsewhere. Seeing firsthand that the quality of life in my city could greatly improve for the majority with a few changes to infrastructure and attitude makes me want to help get us there.

What do you look for in a politician? What do you expect from your MP?

I am very mistrustful of people who seek personal power in society and while I agree these positions are necessary, it takes a great and consistent display of integrity to win my trust. I will often vote for an ideology over an individual, feeling that the party line will most often prevail over the interests of lone members. That being said, I also recognize that a politician with talent, charisma and the power of communication may be just as effective at getting things done as a room full of ideologues.