WORK FROM NOWHERE WORK FOR NO ONE at Pith Gallery

Catch up on Friday’s Gossip Part 1.

After Stride, the crowd trickled over to Pith Gallery on 9th Ave SE, where Wednesday Lupypciw was showing WORK FROM NOWHERE WORK FOR NO ONE.

Eduardo Oramas & David Frankovich watch Lupypciw set fire to her loom.

Downstairs in the gallery, viewers watched three loops of Lupypciw dowsing her loom with gasoline then lighting it on fire. Two projections showed the scene from wide angles, while a large television on the floor crackled with a close-up of the flames.

Wednesday Lupypciw (far right) with fans.

Upstairs the last party of the festival was raucous and crowded. Two DJs spun at the top of the stairs. A room labelled “Lupypciw Family Denim” held a tiny tv dripping with honey. The two bartenders appeared to be located in a closet.

Bojana Videkovic and Nahed Mansour spotted out of costume for the first time!

At the end of the night, artists who couldn’t get enough headed to the HiFi Club. Sources say Eduardo Oramas was seen stumbling home at nearly 4am.

Wednesday Lupypciw with an image from JDH: Keepin’ On, Keepin’ On

Lupypciw discusses lady drag, Board Meeting of the Easy Town Super Hos and LIDS’ JDH: Keepin’ On, Keepin’ On, in which she attempted to live the life of Calgary artist Jason de Haan for a week.

LISTEN: Wednesday Lupypciw

Mansour & Videkanic as Nasser & Tito

“When they [Gamal Abdel Nasser & Josip Broz Tito] met each other, and met other of their allies involved in the Non-Aligned Movement, they very much took on each other’s mannerisms and dressed similarly.”

Pauline Cummins

We copy how men take up space, and how relaxed men are, or appear to be, on the street. I would never lean on a bin and stay there for ten minutes as a woman, but as a man it’s kind of relaxing.”

LISTEN: Pauline Cummins

The audience mills around between performances at the Old Y Centre on Wednesday night.

Johanna Householder stopped by John Snow House to chat with Andy Paterson (in residence while developing a performance based on JSH’s extensive archival holdings), John Snow House Director Kaylin Pearce, and I. People fawned over Toronto performance festival 7a*11d‘s promotional material designed by Zab Hobart, and gossiped about previous JSH residents LIDS (Anthea Black, Nicole Burish and Wednesday Lupypciw).

During his performance at the Oly Y Centre on Wednesday evening, Randy Gledhill promised attendees at Sunday’s Performance Cabaret at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery a story about the time he got picked up by the Hell’s Angels. It’s sure to be a fabulous time, and the audience would be well-advised to keep an eye out for flying objects.

“He’s helping me fulfill all my fantasies!” gushed Terrance Houle, of being asked to assist in Gledhill’s performance by donning a white cowboy hat and shouting slurs out of the back of a pickup truck. Watch for more on Wednesday’s performances coming soon.

Chun Hua Catherine Dong and Cindy Baker in front of Chumpon Apisuk’s table of salt and yarn.

At 9:30 I received a text from Mountain Standard Time’s Artistic Director Tomas Jonsson, requesting my presence at an event in some shipping containers near the river.

“Just follow Stephens Ave. east until you get to a sketchy neighbourhood; look for the lights and thumpy dance music.”

I eventually found my way to ContainR Calgary, a temporary outdoor art/party space built from repurposed shipping containers. One of the dozens of performers was M:ST artist Allison Cummings, performing her silent and intimate work Burden with a non-stop flow of arts-curious businesspeople. You can catch Burden again at the Epcor Centre on Monday afternoon.

The ContainRs will be the site of several other parties and events during M:ST. Their bare metal seems to amplify the cold; I’d recommend dressing for warmth (in addition to fashion).