Michel: At first they told me I should try to be a little more specialized. Because I thought writing in Le Devoir was going to reach people who were somewhat interested in art in a general way, and an article doesn't have that much time to really go into details. So I tried to write things like "what's interesting to see on the weekend," and my editors said that I should be more critical. Because the readers of Le Devoir are people who really have a passion for Art and they go to see exhibitions as well as reading someone really dissecting the show. So I now try to do both. I think that it's better to see an exhibition than to just write about it. To answer a question that you didn't ask, I was initially disappointed because I thought that there was a lot of bullshit in the art world and felt sometimes that I was having to write an article just to fill space. And I really hated just filling space. It wasn't terrible but it just wasn't that interesting.

Chris: How much of the stuff you write is what you want to write about versus what you are directed towards writing?

Michel: I have a lot of freedom at Le Devoir, which is good. Most of the time I choose what I want to write about. Where it gets difficult is on the weeks when there is just nothing that inspiring to write about. Some writers really like engaging themselves in young emerging artists and the "art scene", I like doing research and writing about things that are more organized... that's why I like writing about the museum exhibitions.

Chris: Do you ever bank shows and say this is an exhibition that I will save for the week that there is nothing happening or is it always one is written then on to the next one?

Michel: No. But, that's the way it should be.

Chris: What is it then specifically with a generic exhibition that would make it easier for you to review, assuming the quality of the art is up to par?

Michel: A theme. I told you I like figurative art. I like cartoon art. But, if there was some kind of theme behind it then it would give me a way to approach it, an easier way. Because if I was write a review about this exhibit that you have up here I would write about the artist, biographical things, but there's only so much that you can write about when the artist doesn't have a history. Three pages is pretty long for an article. If it were a show with a theme about people using cartoons, or something like that, then it would be a lot easier to write an article about it.