Art's Birthday 2008

Video Pool Media Arts Centre Celebrated Art’s 1,000,045th 2008 Birthday at Club Desire on 441 Main St.

Video Pool is extremely grateful to have received such generous support from so many local friends including merchants, arts organizations, an art collective, and a band.

Enormous thanks are owed to:
Advance Electronics
American Flamewhip
L’Atelier national du Manitoba
Aqua Books
Bikram Yoga Winnipeg
Blue Earth Organics
BorderCrossings Magazine
Cinematheque
The Fyxx
Hooper’s Bazaar
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Manitoba
Into the Music
Kustom Kulture
The Line Up
Mac Helper
MAWA
Mondragon
Mother’s Music/The Drum Store
Olympia Ski and Cycle
Orange Poppy
Out of the Blue
Pastry Castle
Platform Gallery
Plug In ICA
Prairie Fire
Pure Essence Spa Salon
Red River Books
Urban Shaman
Winnipeg Folk Festival + King's Head Pub

Thank you to Tracy Koga from Shaw TV for taking the time to interview us about this amazing event.

Above: John, a Shaw TV Cameraperson, with an Art's Bday postcard in hand

…and thank you to CityTV for welcoming us onto Breakfast Television… as we were in the studio Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

Heather and our Programming Coordinator talked about the history of
Art's Birthday and about all the exciting things that were happening at Club
Desire etc..

At Video Pool, we love art, and we love parties, and we were thrilled to continue our tradition of bringing international Art's Birthday celebrations to Winnipeg! In 1963, French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou declared that on January 17, one million years ago, art was born when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. A deliberate yet playful act left open to chance… who knew art would evolve to become something so culturally significant? To recognize the worldwide appreciation of art, Video Pool hosts this evening of performances, contests, interactive fun, and other goodies. The night began with a
VJ-style new media performance by Ryan Stec (Winnipeg/Ottawa), which was followed by an experimental electronic music set, by internationally renowned Venetian Snares (Budapest/Winnipeg). Mama Cutsworth, a local favourite, took over the stage as well, and
kept the party going by spinning funky vinyl into the wee hours.

COSTUMES: Everyone was welcome to be creative and party in costume. The theme selected by the International Art’s Birthday Committee for 2008 was “Forever Young”…
unique interpretations of this were encouraged!

CAKE: What is a party without cake? People brought a real or surreal cake to the
party to enter it into a competition and to be judged by a panel of “experts”. Last year's judges were  Morley Walker (Winnipeg Free Press), John Kendle (Uptown Magazine) and
Tracy Koga (Shaw TV). Prizes were awarded in the following categories:

1. The Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod Body Break Award– for the cake most likely to contain vitamins or beneficial nutrients
2. The Stanley Cup – for the cake with the ‘smoothest’ icing
3. The Bell Canada Titanium Timbit – for the cake project most likely to receive Canada Council funding
4. The Darwin Award – for the most primordial cake reflecting art’s humble origins 100,000,045 years ago.
5. The Blizzard Award – for the cake most likely to have been purchased at a St. Vital Dairy Queen
6. The Istvan Kantor Li’l Debbie Log d’Or – for the cake that provokes the most intense reaction in the genital region

MEDIA GIFT EXCHANGE:  In order to participate in this one, all you needed to do was bring a wrapped media item, and get creative. This may be a quirky 8-track or vinyl record you uncovered at a garage sale, a VHS tape you found in your basement, a clip of found video that you've captured onto DVD, or a selection of strange audio samples burned onto CD.  The idea was that everyone would bring a gift and take another mystery one home at the end of the night.

RAFFLES:  The gifts and surprises didn't end there as there were also a few draws for great items from fantastic local merchants!

Art’s Birthday was and always is a chance for one and all to come together and have a wonderful time in the name of Art. It is an event that gets bigger and bigger each year, and it is not to be missed, so join us next year and be a part of the action!

During the days leading up to Art's Birthday, Ryan Stec spent a few days working on-site, preparing footage and planning his performance. Here's a pic…

Art's Bday Photos

The following selection of photos were taken by Michael Talastas and Charles Venzon of incidencephotography.com. Please visit their site for more fantastic shots!