Thursday 24 October 2013

Clash of Art: The Hunger 8 and the October Studio Walkabout


     This coming weekend is filled with events. Two of them are Definitely Superior’s fundraising masterpiece, The Hunger and the other is the more refined non-Halloween October Studio Walkabout. Both are in their eighth year, both in the North Core and both requiring a bit of touring, although The Hunger, designed for more younger folk, might include more staggering.
    Thousands of attendees to last year’s one night Halloween event have spread the word. This year The Hunger is expected to break the four-thousand attendee mark.
    No doubt the number of people wearing traditional and wacky costume creations will also increase. To accommodate Hunger fans, there will be 52 bands and DJs, there will be more venues and more performances, and there will be more raffles and prizes, including “street prizes.”
     Within seven venues, multiple performances include: the Saharan Belly Dancers, an Asylum Side Show Cabaret, Hot as Hell Burlesque, Day of the Dead Go Go Dancers, fire manipulators, drag performances, contortionists video projections, light shows, a Rocky Horror tribute, necromancers, and much more, ending the night with a big DJ lineup for the massive dance party.
     For music, why not try some stoner sludge metal, or punk/ska, or jazz/groove/improv, or instrumental math, or old school hip hop/turntablism, or tribal/breaks/kamikazi/downtech, or psychobilly/punk/rockabilly?      
     The competing venues will also be tightly packed, likely with zombies, vampires, gaming characters, muppets, vixens, Greek Gods, inappropriately dressed nurses, superheroes, tramps, creeps, a man carrying his own severed head, fairy tale characters, creatures, clowns, angels, fairies, mobsters, and on and on. 
      The cover charge of $10.00 will get you into every event and every venue. The list of venues and acts can be found on the DEFSUP website: www.definitelysuperior.com – click on "events." The Hunger begins at 8pm on Saturday, October 26. And a bit of advice: don't come late! Come early and see it all.
"Riley McManus" Riley McManus
    More for the adults among us is the October Walkabout Tour. An eclectic group of professional artists are showcasing their work over the weekend, offering the public the opportunity to meet them in their home and working environment. This group lives close enough together that the route is a manageable walk.
     Artists include John Books, who will feature his cast bronze figurative sculptures. Alison Kendall will have handmade books available, along with her etchings, which score a variety of materials including paper and deer hide. Sara Link is an internationally recognized potter and sculptor recently inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. James Woodbeck’s sculptures incorporate the experimental with the eclectic, so you may see fairies and gargoyles at play. The stoneware and porcelain pottery that Tim Alexander will have in his home was fired at his studio in Rossport where he has his two-chamber climbing wood kiln. Liz and Peter Powlowski of Strawberry Hill Pottery will have functional and decorative sculptural ceramics for sale in their home. They’ve been collaborating for over thirty years. Full disclosure, I am part of this group as well, showing with John Books. I have my books and some art for sale.
     Admission is free. Maps are available to download at www.duncanweller.blogspot.ca, or to pick up at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Painted Turtle, Baggage Building at the waterfront and various locations in the Bay/Algoma neighbourhood. The Walkabout takes place this Friday from 6 to 9pm, Saturday from 10am to 4pm, and Sunday from 12 to 4pm.
     Riley McManus modeled for this image. She is on the far left with the party hat, and she plans to attend the Hunger 8!

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