Pecha Kucha

Walking down St-Catherine Street, towards the SAT (Société des arts technologiques), I pass the variety of people that make up Montréal’s urban landscape. The characteristic smell of marijuana drifts across the air. Past the downtown shopping complexes, I find myself in the unpopulated middle ground just before the late hustle and bustle of the "Quartier des spectacles". Voila! St-Laurent Street. A line-up is forming before a popular club. Three clearly under aged boys get chased away by the brawny bouncer. Five steps later, I am in line for a possibly hip and happening event. In front of the building with darkened windows reminiscent of the downtown’s various sex businesses, I stand while a few onlookers ponder what the attraction might be (as do I).

I pass the doors, penetrating a previously invisible society of artists and designers. Below an infinitely spinning clock and video projection is a bar. Surely this is to promote conversation, as this is the ultimate goal of Pecha Kucha. Presentations begin. Some presentations reflected a feeling of superiority from the artist. It seems this audience would not be capable of understanding the creator’s wonderful concepts. This is a frustration for me. Many of the presented works are conceptual in nature. Others projected utopian environments, which may never see the light of day, for the bureaucrats are scared of these secret art societies. Each presentation left me thinking; my favourites are represented in links below.

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