Definitely Superior Art Gallery
Chronicle Journal, Oct. 25,
2007
Article and Photos by Duncan Weller
An unparalleled slamming of events into one night is
happening at Jack’s and Kilroy’s this Saturday. When asked, David Karasiewicz
and Renee Terpstra, the organizers, butted horns attempting to determine what
age group might most appreciate the unbelievable collection of 33 acts. Ages 17
to 50 is hardly a demographer’s category. This epic fundraiser for the
underground alternative art scene through the Definitely Superior Art Gallery
is for the dedicated and the curious, of any age. There is no target market.
Anyone who likes anything experimental and original (no cover bands allowed!)
is destined to have a memorable experience. I am unable to match the hyperbole
of the advertising. But having attended such endogenous events – one in
Victoria, B.C. in which artists branded one another and the disgusting and
sweet smell of burning human flesh was in the air, I can only express my firm
belief that this unique event should not be missed.
The hip-hop-under-the-radar-underground is the uncut blood
diamond of the Thunder Bay retro art scene that sustains a youth culture in
this city. The musical movers and shakers of the region will sift into the
Hunger Cabaret, blow out a few diamonds, and then slide out again like some
kind of magnetic cosmic creation. With seventeen live bands with names like
Forever Dead, Faceless Hulk, Cosmic Granola, Adverse Vital Signs, and Makeshift
Astronaut, you can begin to understand the difficulty of discerning genres.
What is “horrobilly” or “sludge rock” or “grind metal” or “garage grime space
rock”? Do you know? Do they know? Hip-hop itself is a stretch or inclusion of
ten different musical styles that has only recently gained widespread
popularity. The mixing perplexes music critics. Some love it. Others like
Martha Boyles, author of Hole in our Sole, call it all “perverse modernism.”
However, “out of grub street came Charles Dickens” is a phrase that suggests
the possibility is very likely that you will be the first to see the next class
act to make it big, to make it industrially huge. I have my eye on Jean-Paul-De
Roover. I think he’ll be as good as, as influential as, Robert Fripp - never
heard of King Crimson? Then you’re younger than I am. But if you have, you may
want to go if only to make comparative notes, and rekindle the feeling of truly
seeing something fresh. 
Music isn’t all that’s offered. True to contemporary
counter-culture the Hunger Cabaret will offer performance art. If you’re not
sure what that is, think of a mix between WWE wrestling and a scene in a bodice
ripping romance novel. What do you get? Why… Baroque Ladies Wrestling, of
course. Performance art has essentially the same postmodern approach as
contemporary music; everything is a wondrous and sometimes perplexing mix of
styles. Think of a live act like belly dancing, and then think how it can be
morphed with some other live act. You may end up with a VooDoo Doll Dance
Performance, something the talented Helen Leaf Black will perform. Or you may
get Dark Angel Messengers who give out cookies and treats. (It’s a Halloween
event – by-the-way).
Top all this off with big screen projections, raffles, free
candy, big costume prizes, and the lowest admission charge you could possibly
ask for - for so many events in six hours (eight bucks for two venues!) and you
get an EVENT. Last year boasted 650 people - this year, probably more. The list
of sponsors is quite impressive and no doubt a large part of last years
success. Doors open at 8pm. Get a costume. Go early. Go wild.
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