East Side Culture Crawl 2004

One of the reasons I love living in Vancouver is how spoiled we are for things to do. If you pay attention, there seems to be something unique practically every weekend, and one of the highlights has got to be the annual East Side Culture Crawl. I've attended for the past three years so I feel like a bit of a veteran, but this doesn't take away from the excitement when I realize it's approaching.

Friday evening was spent at the A.R.C. building, and Saturday afternoon at 1000 Parker and the Mergatroid building. By my calculations, that's only a third of what was available! If someone figures out how to do it all without needing an extra vacation day to recuperate, email me -- I want to know!

What was there to see? Buttons (political), ceramics, collages, cross stitch, fabric art, experimental film, frescoes, jewelry, metalwork, paintings (oil, watercolour, acrylic and mixed media), pottery, photography (animals, food, landscapes, nudes and architectural), sculpture (ivory inlay, kinetic, metal or wood), skate boards, sketches and woodwork (functional art, wood-turned bowls, and masses of furniture). By the end I was well and truly exhausted, physically and emotionally. I'd been amused, bemused, confused, dazzled, disappointed, frustrated, inspired and impressed by what was on offer.

To my mind this was a good thing; one of the strengths of the Crawl is that usually at least one piece of art will catch your attention and demand you form an opinion, even if you're not the type to voice it.

You could even say that viewing art is a democratic act - everyone's equally entitled to an opinion.