QORK


		Q O RK/oDDITY photo rekon

		qORK/oDDITY/: a performance art protest Oddity a juxtaposition of cultures with large amounts of sound in a house setting.. the clash of hard techno via forest green (cloudfactory, oakland, california) vs. a crowd of indie rock standards and confused “ravers” result mass confusion of musikal education until the process moves to-- QORK the occupation of a downtown parking garage, location:: the downtown eastside:: the musikal resistance feeding off the building’s power to fuel a sonicartharthis echoing over lonely grey industrial streets. the empty parking garage of the boarded up failed department store looms above oppressive advertisements. the bringing of a minimal aesthetic to it’s proper place: the transformation of a space to a habitat to be encountered or rejected, but one that must be accepted, as ghost rythms echo cascading off tiers of cement walls and platforms, built for the use of the wealthy business person to consume more goods at said boarded-up resident-claimed and security-patrolled former canadian distributor of goods for pubic consumption. an ideology finally brought to consummation, however small: a small victory: a niche of resistance, an act of self-empowerment against the unconstitutional vancouver anti-entertainment bylaw. It is 3am-- are we entertaining, officer ? I am not entertained. Prove that I am. 1)As an action to reclaim public space 2)As a peaceful protest against the Anti-Entertainment ByLaw 3)As a protest against poor City action within the Downtown Eastside.

	Declaration of Purpose Peaceful Performance Art Protest Whereas we realise the problems within the city Whereas our peaceful actions constitute a far less problem to the city Whereas beneath our feet and around the block lie far more serious problems Whereas this is an ironic juxtaposition as we realise this Whereas we realise our right as citizens to peacefully protest We do this to support those beneath our feet and around the block We do this to show where the help should really be going: to them As different strategies are needed to cope with the problems of the Downtown Eastside As different strategies are needed to cope with the night culture of the city We peacefully protest the City’s history of dealing with the Downtown Eastside We peacefully protest against the unconstitutional Anti-Entertainment Bylaw We therefore peacefully protest in a form of aural performance art We therefore make our point We therefore when peacefully asked to do so, leave. As this is a peaceful, performance art protest we do this only to raise awareness, and to make people stop and think, to reconsider the irony of the situation, and realise compassion and the need for freedom. And if asked to do so, we shall peacefully leave, as it is not our mandate to disturb. .a peaceful performance art protest. <ST>


	perceptions It was late, it was cold, and it was not comfortable. this gathering was bare bones, stripped of things such as heat, lighting, lasers, smoke machines, decorations, and the djs were forced to play in cramped quarters. however despite all this, the true nature of the event shone through. ::::::: A house somewhere. and the Party. Bodies jammed so close--a constant stream seemilngly coming in. Bottles and cans of beer, drunken laughter. In the small living room, speakers take up half the space, and the floor bounces up and down as people dance. A mix of bodies and sweat as two sub-cultures are suddenly made aware of each other. D-- - G-- starts the night off, moving into drum 'n bass, then leads us into techno as F-- takes the reigns. And it's smooth, smooth, and hard, and the people dance, while others stop to listen. And the music is fantastic. A state of living the not-ordinary. A parkade in the city. It is kind of like having one of those out-of-humanity moments, right at the point when you find yourself most in it. There I am, suddenly awoken from my weird dreams interwoven by sounds of techno, to find myself in a concrete parking garage, speakers aimed outside of a van, dj crouched in the van behind the decks, while dancers stomp, swaying, creating movements, intertwining with the rhythm. I walk around in a half daze--that state I often find myself in between sleep and awake. It seems so surreal. Manifestos on the wall--urging us to take action against the binds and injustices of society that entangle us into monotone existence; the hard, echoing sounds of the music reverberate against the cement walls; and from the top level of the parkade the darkness of the outside world is illuminated by the small twinkling lights of the city. We are suspended in time. And then before the night begins to lift her heavy veil to the advancing rays of dawn, T-- comes on to play Plastikman's "Sickness". Sounds emerge as the frequencies are altered by the dj; reverberating base tones; the music swells and grows louder, to finally end in errie silence. qork has rekindled the necessity to revatilise van's ug. commercial massives have been killing van's potential for quite some time. sucks but it's true. tune out and drop in, van's ug won't go anywhere if you don't come along. (there's so much boxed rhetoric out there) and curiosity (but of course, you never know). fortunately, curiosity won out. once the music started at the parkade, however, everything just changed. suddenly everyone was doing something to alter the space around them. really hit me out was the view over the railings coupled with what was going on in the parkade. here was this great vibe (lovely, balanced people, sweet music, nice energy) and all you had to do was look outside to the wasteland that is now gastown....a pile of rubble here, boarded up windows there, and that eerie noise the billboard on the street down bellow made when it flipped the ads around. then there was the odd desperate character who wandered by, totally cold and alone, only to hear this mechanical music blasting and echoing out of this huge parkade. it seemed that the location had been chosen by someone who has actually spent some time in that part of town, watching how people live and how the area has (d)evolved over the last few years. if this wasn't the case, it was a pretty lucky choice. a bunch of predominatly white middleclass youths being in such a location.