Showcase Tacoma
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A full two days of entertainment in downtown Tacoma
by Paul Schrag
Aug 07, 2008
I’ll be damned if Showcase Tacoma hasn’t hit its stride. This is what can happen when we come together, say organizers, with this year’s offering of Tacoma talent reaching a nice, quiet critical mass. I offer as introductory evidence Fulcrum Gallery’s topographical sculpture made from recycled junk; or seemingly random light-pole cozies by local devil-knitters, who helped announce the event’s immanent arrival; or the cardboard whale to be crafted by folks from the Helm. Yeah, dog. Cardboard whale.
Sure, there’ll be some glass art, and there will be the requisite beaded jewelry kiosks. But hidden in amongst the blessed cacophony of creation and consumption, there is something just a little bit fresh going on.
With two Showcase Tacomas under her belt, city Arts Administrator Amy McBride has seen plenty of what Tacoma truly has to offer. This year, she seems particularly excited, almost a little giddy. She talks about a coordinated effort to shroud random bits of architecture in knitted cozies like a child might talk about a trip to Disneyland. McBride talks fondly and excitedly about the rest, too, but notes that this avant-vein will be coursing with contributors.
“My hope is that people will come and see the amazing range of possibilities,” says McBride. “Showcase really has the potential to be a signature event in downtown. You have this whole range of experiences that people can be a part of.”
I want to be part of the Knit-in organized by doily-marauder Amy Thomas, who helped coordinate the placement of knitted shrouds on benches, light poles and fire hydrants, to name a few, throughout downtown. With the Knit-in, Thomas and crew invite the community to contribute yarn to a community tapestry of sorts. Well, actually, it’s supposed to be a plant. Whatever it is, it has the chance to be a truly revolutionary event. Like a quilting bee, the Knit-in invites artists to simply come and contribute, their participation providing little more than meaning and material. This is an old kind of art, but still cutting edge as hell. It’s edgy because it’s the kind of art that engenders immediate reciprocity, presence — production of meaning, production as play, hidden in the process of producing some Thing. Within the Bee — or the Knit-in — is what French utopian Charles Fourier called a passional series — a group of humans linked to a single, visceral goal — a passion — outside the stifling dialectic of mere exchange and consumption. People coming together to do nothing more than create — a sort of communal Barakah.
So real you can taste it, as the saying goes.
Expect the same from all-day, communal chalk drawing, which is sure to feature Tacoma’s growing legion of amazing chalk artists, and will probably taste like chalk.
Spinning yarns of a different sort (sorry, folks) will be storyteller Kali Kucera, who will tell tales of Vashon Island’s hidden village, for example, and where the trap doors in City Council chambers go. Kucera wants to remind you that myths are alive and well, being born every minute, right here in the South Sound. Look for Kucera and a bunch of poets at the Poemporium (sorry, folks).
Also adding to the magic will be Portland-area Sub Pop sensation the Helio Sequence. There’s only two of them, but they sound huge. Drummer Benjamin Weikel plays like he’s possessed by a dirty, old, Southern, Holy-ass ghost; and guitarist/singer Brandon Summers croons on par with Bono and Chris Martin, and he’s way less creepy than Bono and way less boring than Martin. And if you haven’t, go see Deborah Page, for God’s sake. She’s one of the best things happening around here, musically speaking. She’s everything you want from a singer — range, rhythm, presence, tone, a little funk. And unlike many of her more successful contemporaries, her shiz will make you move.
And then there’s this rag’s Lava Tube exhibit. I’m talking black lights people.
All-in-all, McBride says, Showcase Tacoma will be so packed with talent this year, everyone will be able to find something to get a little Disney over. The difference, of course, is that you don’t have to leave town.
“This has to be the child of a multitude of people coming together,” says McBride. “It can’t be what it is without community involvement.”
[Tollefson Plaza, Friday, Aug. 8-Saturday, Aug. 9, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., no cover, 17th and Pacific Avenue, www.showcasetacoma.org]
User comments
submitted 12:36 on Aug 10, 2008 by Reylan FernandezI think Amy Mcbride needs to figure out what "Showcasing Tacoma" means. I know a lot of local musicians that are pissed off and boycotted the event due to the headlining choice of the Helio Sequence and Speaker Speaker. Those are a Portland and Seattle bands respectively. There are many great Tacoma band that would pack that plaza. The F***ing Eagles, Mono in VCF Trip the Light Fantastic and Kusikia are just an eclectic few... Don't get me wrong I love Speaker Speaker and The Helio Sequence, but if you are exposing bands to the general tacoma public that doesn't listen to KEXP or follow music as almost a religion (as I do) help expose them to our local talent with more than a side stage... Amy spent Tacoma money on bands that will take it out of our local economy. It doesn't make sense. Either showcase Tacoma or change the event's name.
