Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 20 All-Stars
It came and it went. Last night I attended Pecha Kucha Night Vancouver, which was the 20th volume in the series which started a few years ago. Pecha Kucha (pronounced “peh-chak-cha” which is often butchered) means “conversation” in Japanese, and started in Japan in 2003 by a couple, who sent a very nice congratulatory video before the Vancouver speakers began. The aim of the event was to bring together a group of creative professionals to talk about things in a very structured format: 20 slides at 20 seconds each. Now, 491 cities (and counting) are holding their own versions of Pecha Kucha, over 100 of which took place Feb. 29th as well.
Steven and Jane Cox of Cause + Affect Design took on the role of bringing the event to Vancouver, which has grown to oversell the 1200 capacity of the Vogue Theatre. They also evolved the event to encompass not just the creative people in our city but speakers of all professions and opening bands. Since this was their 20th edition, they determined the speakers by asking for votes from previous attendees (over 1000 votes were placed) on who they wanted to see again. I’m sure not all of the top choices were able to come, but since this was an all-stars edition I registered ASAP to go.
Experimental duo EVY JANE took the stage with a few beat-heavy, electronic songs. I loved their blend of R&B melodies with electronica, but I think the crowd was mostly older so it wasn’t really their thing.
Before the speaker portion of the event, Stephen Cox explained the history of the event, did a nice tribute to one of the original Vol. 1 speakers, Jim Green, and talked about some of Vancouver’s trends. What I really like about this event is that it’s not about agreeing with whoever’s speaking but just learning about what they think about what’s going on in their community or line of work. And Steven was this kind of person. It also helps that he had a sense of humour. After all of the formalities, the speakers each took the stage. This is in no way a full recap of their presentations – you can visit the PKN Vancouver site to see them posted online.
David Eby of the BC Civil Liberties Association spoke mostly of the investigation regarding the missing women in the Downtown Eastside. Even though Pickton has already been convicted, there are still so many aspects of the case that need to be called into question. We really need to continue questioning what the “law” means to us and what we can do when it’s not on our side. Eby is the guy who fights for these rights.
Diane Roberts is the Director of Urban Ink Productions, an indigenous multimedia arts group. And what does that mean? Well, Diane speaks in beautiful poetry, so you’d have to hear her talk again to explain exactly what that means. What I love about this group of speakers is that they all had different styles of speaking – some political and controversial, some more unprepared than others, and some more theatrical. Diane’s was both personal and like a spoken word performance.
Wu-Tang symbol shaped carrots
Photo courtesy Thereisalwaysroom.blogspot.com
Chef Todd is the Chef of 12b, which provides six courses to a private dinner party of 8-20 guests. I’d heard of this concept from a co-worker a few years back, and am glad to hear that Todd’s business model is still thriving – he’s booked until August. Todd’s presentation revolved mostly around his interesting photos, one of which were his Wu-Tang shaped carrots. I’d love to see him cook a part raw-vegan, part meat meal to be paired with Leo‘s choice of craft beer. Now that’d be a challenge!
Marian Bantjes is a graphic designer whose work is made for different types of surfaces. In her presentation she showed us her Valentine’s card series, which was composed of a emblem, sort of stamped/printed over old postcards. Real ones dating back as far as 1906, with old postage on them. Was a fascinating case study on how to make items carrying old memories new.
Bruce Haden, Architect at Dialog, gave one of most powerful presentations I’ve ever heard and seen in 6 minutes. He talked mostly of his brother who passed away, but intercut photos of him with black and white photos of the missing DTES women (this ended up being a bit of a theme that night). So what we might have expected to be a lecture on buildings was instead a manifesto on how we and the events and experiences we have are all connected.
Sean Orr on Sean Orr
Sean Orr is one of the biggest idiots I have ever seen. His advertised title was ‘Writer,’ but he talked mostly about how he was in a band and loved to talk when given a mic. Although, when you read some of his writing on Scout Magazine, it’s not so bad, so his blithering could have been just a big act. He admitted to saying that after his last talk, he told the audience that he hated them and he hated himself. So it’s really a wonder why he got invited back. I have to say though, Sean is representative of a lot of Vancouver guys. Just have a stroll on Granville Street on a Saturday at 1am and you’ll see them there, only maybe in nicer clothing. Sean’s photos of himself were pretty epic, so he had to be pretty on the ball to have chosen them, even if he said they were in the wrong order. The one above is of him on a lake in a Speedo. And, he had dragged the mic stand and put a tambourine over it to block our view of the screen.
