It’s been a while since I went to an art event that I would consider “an experience.”
Don’t get me wrong, I love formal art openings at galleries, exhibitions of talent on display and minglers with creative types. I am one of these myself and I see the value in all those things in furthering the artistic community and bringing together those who care about creativity and celebrating the world of artistic endeavours in all its forms.
But last Friday’s Art Battle at the Willow Point Hall was different. It was an art experience, in the truest sense of the word.
The room was vibrating with an energy seldom felt at an artistic gathering. Arts Fest, held downtown each summer, is close in terms of the overall atmosphere of “fun,” but even that event sees people come and go at their leisure, stopping by to wander through to see what’s happening and then carrying on with their day.
This was a four-hour event where people gathered, celebrated art and stayed until the end.
There are already rumours swirling – more than rumours in some cases, because they were conversations with people who could actually have an impact on it happening – that there are more of these types of interactive art experiences being planned for the community, whether incorporated into other events like Arts Fest or CR Live Streets or as standalone events like the one last Friday Night.
The one thing you can bet on, should this happen again, is that this particular reporter won’t be covering the event for the newspaper.
Because he’ll be in it.
More good news on the arts front this week was the announcement by the provincial government that they will be looking at ways to crack down on ticket scalpers and bots that buy up concert tickets before the general public can get them.
This has always been a problem – for as far back as I can remember, anyway – but it’s grown exponentially since the advent of online ticket sales.
I vividly remember having to get to the ticket booth at the mall before they were even open the morning certain concert tickets were going to be released and line up for your chance of getting to the front of the line before a show was sold out. Sometimes you’d get to the mall at 6 a.m. to find people in sleeping bags camped out at the doors to ensure their spot at the front of the line. Ticket agents would rush to get sales made as quickly as possible to move the line in order to spare people disappointment. Sometimes, even for popular concerts, with sales happening all over the country simultaneously, you’d still have a half hour or so to get to the front of the line and still have a chance.
Now, you hover over your computer with your finger on the mouse – or more likely stare at your cell phone with your finger perched over the “buy” button – and even if you hit that button within seconds of the tickets being available for sale, you don’t get one, because computer programmers have created programs that have bought as many as possible to re-sell at a profit, and computers are way faster than your reflexes.
So if you want to see that show, you now have to buy your tickets from a scalper for the privilege, at a huge increase. And none of that increase is making it to the performer you were trying to pay to see.
It’s garbage.
I don’t know how they’re going to fix it, unless they start criminally charging everyone who tries to sell a ticket for more than the price that’s printed on it, and that’s unlikely to happen.
But at least they’ve acknowledged – finally – that “live events should be an enjoyable experience for British Columbians, not a windfall for scalpers.”
Now we just have to wait for what they do about it to see if they actually believe that.
