PechaKucha Night in Champaign-Urbana Vol. 2 may have been held back in January, but hey, it’s never too late to take a look at how an event went, and we’re thankful to organizer Christina Tapp for sending us this report on the terrific event they put together. First, start by checking out this pre-show stop-motion video that fellow organizer Anastasia Tumanova created for the event (and here’s a link to a pre-show video that was created for Vol. 1). All of the photos were taken Wallo Villacorta, Chris Perardi, and Jason Bentley.
Champaign-Urbana’s second PechaKucha Night, held in January at the Canopy Club, boasted a vibrant crowd of over 400 people with 12 awesome presentations and one rockin’ emcee. It was an explosion of creativity, from graphic designers and digital arts to silkscreening and book design; from a world traveler and a photographer to sustainable farmers; and from hiStories and a local charcuterie maker (who brought some pickled tongue to share!) to mad scientists and a bubbleologist!
Kicking off the celebration with videos by Anastasia Tumanova and Jason Bentley, PK Vol. 2 also boasted an artist in the audience who decided to sketch the presenters in 6 minutes and 40 seconds while enjoying the show, along with an after party with two bands and pizza (mmmmm!)
Starting the show with a little lesson in pronouncing PechaKucha, environment designer and emcee Andy Warfel (he was also a fab PK Vol. 1 presenter) held the night’s event together seamlessly, with his laid-back sense of humor.
Paul Young discussed the challenges of balancing work and play for creativity and fun. His philosophy? Play evolves into work and work becomes fun. The result is a more fulfilling life.
Wes Jarrell & Leslie Cooperband, the proud owners of Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, talked about making artisan and farmstead goat and sheep milk cheeses, raising organic fruits and hosting all-local foods dinners on their farm—in a poem!
Kelly Searsmith showed us how contemporary artists use emergent digital media to inspire a deepened sense of humanity and social connection.
William Gillespie & Cristy Scoggins, writers, designers and pop-culture addicts who run the independent publishing house Spineless Books and host the radio program Rock Geek FM, talked about how the end of commercial publishing equals the beginning of book art.
Bryan Heaton shocked the crowd with his storytelling photographs that attempt to exploit the multi-layered meaning of images.
Theodore Gray, author of Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home–But Probably Shouldn’t, along with photographer Nick Mann, wowed the audience with tales of mad science and the elements.
Laurence Mate, a local charcuterie maker discussed Abligurition n (ab- away, off + ligurire to be lickerish), highlighting the cultural ways humans use the tongue—for speech, expression and repression. Laurence even brought samples of pickled tongue to share! (Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it…)
Amy Lin & Eric Shine, working as one Borg-like entity of creativity, presented on hiStories—10 factual and craaayayayaaaaaaazy stories from the pages of history. Viewers discretion was advised—it contained scenes that may not have been suitable for sensitive audiences, including screaming guitars, Microsoft Paint bloodbaths and maggots wearing clothes.
Jillian Nickell took us along on her adventures in silk screening and t-shirt illustration.
Keihly Moore gave us peek into the lives of the Roma: a traveling story of a traveling people living on the margins of European society.
Doug Burgett, a graphic designer by trade, an artist at heart and an astronaut in his dreams, captivated the audience with stories of misunderstood artistic endeavors and creative pursuits.
Mark Peckham passionately spoke about coming to the realization that it’s his true calling to bring joy to the world through the uncanny power of bubbles, which magically filled the air after his presentation!
Keep an eye out for presentations posted from Vol. 2 that will continue to help raise money for Haiti. Our next event will take place on Friday, April 16 at the the Canopy Club as part of this year’s Boneyard Arts Festival.
