So, an acquaintance called Woody came around today and explained that he's holding an open house for his anarchist bookshop bus. I interviewed him for the radio show a while back, and was impressed by what he's trying to do. He's kitting out an old bus with a heap of alternative literature and also screening socially progressive documentaries in the bus, too. If you have the cash, you donate. If you don't, you see it for free. The books will be used for a combination library/bookstore. The book sales will help fund the bus.

He has also started something called the Cheap Art Collective, which kicks back at museum culture and enoucrages artists to use found materials to create their art. The idea is that anyone can do it. Personally, I like museum culture, especially when it's made more accessible through initiatives such as artist run centres, but I still appreciate what he's trying to do. He wants to take the bus on the road - which is a pity because Saskatoon will lose him - but he has to winter-proof the bus first. In a climate that gets to minus 40C in the winter, that's no mean feat.

Anyway, apparently Woody isn't the only artist and theoretician to hit the road. I hear tell of a woman who's running a similar operation down in the US, and there's also a travelling art train that goes around the States, presenting a moving exhibition of work. In an age where we're increasingly driven to communicate electronically and bind together communities through computer networks, it's refreshing to see a grass roots movement of travelling physical centres, full of alternative culture resources. I'm going to watch this with interest.