living in eventful times
Parade of Lost Souls
Sun, October 26, 2008 - 12:42 AM
The Parade of Lost Souls felt empty to me, too many "costumes" and not enough character, too many people talking on phones and taking photos, stumbling in the darkness, not really present...and that greasy french fry booth smell wafting over the altars...ech. I took a scan of the faces walking toward me and noticed how few were smiling or seemed engaged, most looked vaguely anxious or distracted.
To keep spirit in large events there has to be spontaneity and the unexpected, space for people to create the experienc and give it meaning... less "performance" and more "happening"...when people expect to be entertained, they consume like hungry ghosts.
Sun, October 26, 2008 - 12:42 AM -
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12 Comments
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Sun, October 26, 2008 - 10:38 AM
it's a spectator sport isn't it? probably not that far removed from the santa clause parade i imagine, except people are walking instead of standing or sitting.
funny picture, except for the smiling guy in the middle it looks like a zombie walk.... |
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Sun, October 26, 2008 - 11:04 AM
exactly...when i riffled through flikr for a photo i found lots like this, that actually captured what i felt to be the real spirit of the event, in addition to the many artistic photos of firespinners and flashy costumes
to be fair, I know the folks at Public Dreams tried very hard to make the whole thing "participatory" rather than spectator, with workshops and altars and stuff...but it being so large, and at night, i think its really stuck in a rut...i think its just time to put this one to bed and open it up to inventing something new. As an event manager i am very wary of the curse of "annual" events...gotta keep em moving or they die... |
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Sun, October 26, 2008 - 12:16 PM
it's been a steady demise for this and dare I say the Lantern Festival over the years. i give the Public Dreams Society credit for trying. the problem is definitely more the attitude of spectator sport vs. the numbers in and of themselves. North Americans simply don't think of culture as something that is dynamic and created. They think it's something to be consumed. And with all that TV, why would they think otherwise?
Sad, very sad. I agree, I think it should be put to rest, or scaled down massively. Should do like they did with Om Fest in Ontario. Go back to the roots. That's the only way. |
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Mon, October 27, 2008 - 8:51 AM
Yet this IS the time for the Zombies to show themselves
I am grateful to the Universe for offering this opportunity to see them as they really are there are MANY zombies amongst us they are showing themselves to us so that we may act appropriately |
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Mon, October 27, 2008 - 10:34 PM
no, it's not the fault of the people who came. they are not soulless. they came looking for a genuine experience...otherwise, they would have gone to a mall or a movie. the problem is with a general human tendency, to hold on to nostalgia...to want to do it again, relive the experience, only bigger and better. re-lived experience is like yesterday's sushi. it's stale. the event needs to be re-envisioned, and for that to happen, the people attached to it have to set it free.
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Tue, October 28, 2008 - 12:34 AM
<my rant>
i was there too....
parade of lost souls in a lot of ways seemed like the freakier version of Carfree commercial festival only less stuff being sold, way more energy getting put into the art (as performers we got paid a little bit, which definitely helps) i saw tons of people who put effort into amazing costumes they made on their own houses in the neighborhood all done up hundreds of volunteers It was definitely intense, i don't do too well in crowds (who really does?) but for myself personally, i actually saw mostly smiling faces out there when i went walking around. There are some things i would change about the parade, for sure, many of which you've mentioned... I definitely see how Parade of Lost Souls is plagued by the same virus sweeping many festivals nowadays- ...the over proliferation of digital device junkies in spectator mode. When the festival was smaller back in the day, there weren't as many cameras/phones etc... it totally changes the energy of an event to have people stopping to take photos all the time. I totally agree with your point that events need spontaneity and more "happening", and mindless boring no-costume people stinking up the place with gross food and stinky cars suck. The zombies! I think though, you might be disregarding the phenomenal amount of artistic & creative energy that DOES get put into the event from the community (more than many other festivals i've seen). Sure it's dark, and there's the feeling of danger lurking, and there's the usual stinkyfood carzombies with cellphone cameras, but there was also at least 4 different shadow puppetry groups (where else could you see that?), dozens of giant puppets, bands, not to mention weird clown activities that involved acrobatics & sweeping, and myriads of other details. The whole thing is just bursting with potential! Now, the parade happened from around 7-8, but i don't see a lot of photos online of that (was it because people were actually engaged at that time?) What I see in the public photoalbums is the aftermath on commercial drive 9:30 or later. <thats my rant> aaaaaaaaoaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooah! |
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Tue, October 28, 2008 - 1:07 AM
hey chloe,
yeah i hear you, the quality of the artistry was great, no question...i did see some of your shadow show and it was beautiful. what i see as a problem, is that when you promise "entertainment" people do arrive to be entertained, and they are in spectator mode. i don't have any definitive solution for that. my personal dream for the car-free fests would be to do away with "stages" altogether, to let people just entertain each other, without scheduling performances. that's just my vision, and i have passed on the vision for the fest to others, so it will be what they want it to be. hopefully they will continue to pass it on to others. the paying of performers is an interesting conundrum, one that certainly deserves its own blog piece...for the car-free fests we made a decision that NO ONE would get paid -- not the organizers, not the performers. they choose whether to give to the event or not, its their choice. i think what this does, in this case, is break down the distinction between "performers" and "spectators". we have everyone from a little kid playing violin to a gospel choir and djs and roving bands and artists playing, but no one gets paid. and no one "busks", which means that no one has to choose whether they should linger for a song, and if they do, whether they should throw a quarter in the hat. it's not that we thought that performers should not be paid for their work, of course we do...but there are times to give gifts, and other times to ask for due payment. the reason we can put on a party for 125,000 people for free, is that nobody gets paid. it's an experiment. it's all an experiment. |
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Tue, October 28, 2008 - 1:22 AM
oh, and the digital devices...yes...they make me so sad. no idea what to do about that. just wait til the grid comes down, i guess.
btw i agree with you, i also felt that the Commercial Drive fest this past summer felt a bit too, um, commercial...i guess one thing to do would be to get rid of the vendors, except for the stores that already exist on the street (as they are a vital part of our economy and our culture). that would lose a chunk of the ol' revenue...but shit man, let the city kick in some cash. one lesson i've learned repeatedly (as lessons tend to be learned) is that whenever you do something you don't believe in or feel comfortable with, for money, you lose. it's all an experiment. and thank you so much for your rant! we should hang out and talk more. :) |
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Tue, October 28, 2008 - 10:49 PM
my own particular flavour
Best to write things after the flash of emotion has passed and rational can set in.
I was a bit disappointed in reading your comments, since 1. I dont think some of you who commented were even there, or didnt penetrate the periphery. 2. like a lot of things in life, one sees what one projects. The mental construct being so strong, the consensual reality, barely flexes. 3. I also was impressed with the community spirit, and the amount of individual character/effort so many put into the event the performances, the costumes, ect. I was blown away, the best turn out ever, with the weather co-operating for once, (how many shitty, cold rained out parades have I been to- you can count them if you were there...) I was gaping with a smile plastered to my face, and my head spinning with trying to see all the amazing costume, make-up and mask work. I witnessed great groups of people being quite festive, happy and celebratory. It was good to see so many dropping the superficial social walls in a celebratory spirit. Not expecting anything, it raised the bar for me. Like the carfree festival, I didnt have enough time to see and get involved with everything, it was all happening at once, an aspect I also enjoy. It was like an endless all night festival with the camaraderie and openness continuing on to house parties, sky train parties, after parties and more after parties. But I suppose its the minority that follow the party feeling through. At the, all too soon, end of the event (like the socially conservative culture we are, we cut the night events short early); 'hey people, you ever been to Europe...?' Chloe paraphrase; "I think though, you might be disregarding the phenomenal amount of artistic & creative energy that DOES get put into the event from the community (more than many other festivals i've seen). Sure it's dark, and there's the feeling of danger lurking, and there's the usual stinkyfood carzombies with cellphone cameras, but there was also at least 4 different shadow puppetry groups (where else could you see that?), dozens of giant puppets, bands, not to mention weird clown activities that involved acrobatics & sweeping, and myriads of other details. The whole thing is just bursting with potential!" L |
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Tue, October 28, 2008 - 10:53 PM
Oh' B.T.W.
I used video, didnt take so many pics due to my low ISO, kept it running for while, thought to put some of it up online, so people can see how good we got it...
L |