CHROMATIC BLOCK PARTY — CHICKEN
Chromatic Block Party: Playing Chicken
Saturday, May 30, 2014. The rain held off just long enough for Festival Chromatic’s block party to do its thing in grand style. Ribbons of lights and festive coloured flags wove their way across the normally abandoned courtyard like a drunken spider’s web. All eyes were drawn toward a low, impromptu stage set up against powerful speakers. This describes the basic recipe for an event that will eventually become the stuff of urban legend.
This one (of many) such events that took place in the Rosemont neighbourhood. A number of Montreal street artist luminaries had carte blanche to ‘redecorate’ the largely unused space.
Including myself, the day featured live painting with Olivier Bonnard, Chris Dyer, Waxhead, MC Baldassari, EARTH CRUSHER, WIA, Scaner, Opire and Produkt.
Musical soundtrack provided by DJ Lexis, VXNYL, la Rue, Babylon Shards, J.O the Corrupted and CJ Flemings.
CHROMATIC
Created in 2009 by MASSIVart, Chromatic’s goals were to support montreal’s artistic and cultural ecosystem. It’s about making art accessible to all.
The organization hosted multiple events around the city every year, occupying museums, galleries and vacant urban spaces. Their productions included pop-up exhibitions, conferences, and concerts. The events were like creative laboratories, where artists, local and international, could immerse themselves in unifying experiences.
Those were wild days of Montreal’s urban artistic party culture. It felt powerful to plant a flag that wasn’t attached to the hip of a dominant cultural institution.
ROOSTER
Roosters wake people up on time, like a call to action, with a reminder to be vigilant, courageous and strong. It is the very symbol of male sexual potency.
In this mural, I cut off its head.
The headless rooster acts as a metaphor of disconnectedness from one’s true self and inner guidance. The decapitated cock lacks mindfulness. It acts solely by instinct, in the throes of a little death; influenced by external forces rather than conscious thought.
An important question is posed…what are the consequences of acting without clear purpose or direction?
URBAN TERRAFORMING
Stepping back for that bigger picture, the writing was already on the wall. These gonzo festivals were wicked fun but pointed out some long-term sustainability issues.
Many of these events — locally and abroad — were experiencing the gangrenous effects of corporate interests and investments. These cultural communities were paying little meaningful attention to the effects of gentrification.
This is what I refer to as ‘urban terraforming’.
These issues are complicated, depending on numerous factors such as content, location, and socio-economic context.
Generally, a lot of yawning is encountered when attempting to talk this issue out. These are complicated issues, to say the least. Lacking clear purpose and direction, the very positive momentum we felt we were gaining as a grassroots community change makers quickly began to dissipate or worse; rot from the inside out.
I’m not trying to pick on CHROMATIC in the least, though I have, perhaps unfairly. These were the very early days of an organization that would go on to greater degrees of maturity. The road to hell is paved with good intentions however, and even well-meaning actions can have unintended negative consequences.
Now more than ever, we need to call on the energy of Mr. Rooster, head fully intact, to rise up to the unprecedented challenges of our day.
Big ups
I can’t tell tall tales of these events without dropping a very BIG acknowledgement to Valéry Lajoie and Arthur Gaillard. Those two cats pulled of the nearly impossible everywhere they went, with tireless energy and enthusiasm to make shit happen. Sending love to you both wherever in this wide world you may be, doing something outrageous without doubt.
Nickie Robinson‘s post on this event has way more and better pics than what I’ve got to offer here. I’ve scabbed a number of her pics for this page. Please check it out!
