I haven't been working lately. And related to that, I haven't had money to go see shows. So you can see how this leads to me not having anything to write about.
But, when you can't work, you volunteer. So, when a friend (/swim instructor/ dance classmate/ friend of a sister of a friend) from childhood, Jessica Fleming, announced that she was putting together an event, I jumped at the chance to help out.
The event was an "art orgy," the second annual art orgy in fact. It was called TAC.TWO.ART.ORGY and it took place at a bar/cafe on Queen West, Tequila Bookworm. We took over the upstairs space, which was two rooms and a patio.
On the patio there was a glitter station, where people could bedazzle themselves. It was a lot of fun to see twenty-somethings walking around with glitter and sparkles all over their faces, as if they were kids at summer camp who just got out of arts & crafts. Unfortunately, there was a small thunderstorm during the event, so the patio was a bit damp. That didn't stop many people, though.
[Let me preface this next part by saying I am not any kind of expert when it comes to art. I haven't taken art since high school, and I don't know the right terms. I appreciate art though, and have always loved going to galleries.]
Throughout the two rooms, artists had their pieces on display for the event. Brittany Anderson occupied one wall with her large abstract painting. It reminded me of a fire in a rainstorm. Corey Durand's small photographs were arranged in a line. They were beautiful and made great use of light. Most were colourful, but there were a few black and white ones as well. Paige Stewart is an illustrator and photographer. She brought the most pieces out of all the artists, and her display mostly included photographs, with a few illustrations, and three tiny clay models. Her wall was tightly arranged, with photographs making a kind of collage. It was five photographs tall, and five photographs wide. Her mixed media included portraits in black and white, photos of a cat, and illustrations of Mario with Bowser's head in his hand. The three tiny clay models were plants, from the game Plants Vs. Zombies. Lana Filippone is a ceramic maker, her piece was porcelain, and named "people say a lot of things." Karl Leung had four abstract pieces, and adorned the wall around his pieces with quotations from artists and art critics about what art is and what art should do. Mike Ruszczycki is a graphic artist and photographer. He had four pieces from his series Monster Mash. They were funny, morbid, and pornographic. They were photographs in sepia tones, of naked people in odd poses, with skulls imposed over their faces. They also had funny quotations, such as one about a threesome, and another about Bieber's balls.
In the front room, the bands were set up. There were three acts throughout the night. Luke Michielsen played first. He's a solo singer-songwriter, though he had some support from one of the later band's drummers, Sean Graham. He played his acoustic guitar, and some harmonica. To which I said, "There is not enough harmonica in music today, we need to bring that back!" Seriously. It's awesome. His songs were sweet, sad, happy, and fun, and had fun titles like "Dandelion/Dandy Liar."
Next came the band Dress Rehearsal, composed of Sean Graham on drums, Ryan Watson on guitar, and Kevin Graham on guitar and lead vocals. They played mostly original pieces, although they did cover a Luke Michielsen song, and were pretty rockin'.
Last was Most People, a duo composed of Paul McEachern and Brandon Degroote. They were the least traditional band of the evening, self-described on their myspace page as Indie/ Pop/ Psychedelic. Paul played guitar and Brandon played bass, and they played one drum kit between the two of them. They were also accompanied by their computer playing soundscapes and beats. They reminded me of The Besnard Lakes, Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, and Fleet Foxes smashed together. Though, of course, they're completely original. Unfortunately, they were unable to finish their set, which begs the question: Who moves into an apartment above a bar and then calls in a noise complaint to the cops before midnight?
My job for the evening was to run the bands. I had to let them know when to start, and when to stop. Mostly, I just got to listen to music all night, and discover three new acts that I quite enjoyed.
Between Dress Rehearsal and Most People, there was a small dance flash mob to Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass," choreographed by the same woman who choreographed the whole evening, Jessica Fleming. My other job was to cue that up, but there were technical difficulties, and we had to take a do-over. But, hey! What's an art orgy without a minor screw up? I also composed a mini playlist to follow the flash mob, featuring Imaginary Cities, Camera Obscura, Mother Mother and Arcade Fire. Because I will take any opportunity I can to make people listen to the music I like.
Overall, it was a great night, with good music, fun people, tasty drinks, and a whole lotta art.