TBA:09, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s annual Multimedia art
festival, is going on full blast from September 3 through 13. WKE is
covering it through video roundups of the-night-before, starting today, and Radio23 and PRA has been broadcasting the audio live since yesterday.

Problem is, with over 130 events to choose from (133 is my count) over
the period of just 11 days, you may wonder if there is any notable
event (or free booze, of which I know nothing about) that you should
go to each day.

We feel your problem. Our friend at PICA is undoubtedly the best resource to ask this kind of question, so here are a small sampling of performances that we like.

6:30pm Last Meadow – Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People

I secretly wonder if Last Meadow, a performance about “the space of
waiting, where what you need never comes”, is a kind of deconstructed
Waiting for Godot 2.0—wherein after proclaiming “here’s the scene from
our show” proceeded to show the actors in nonmoving gestures, silent
gazes abound? I saw it at Last Meadow’s production trailer, courtesy
of PICA.

8:30pm NAZUNA and spoonfulriver – Hitoshi Toyoda

Hitoshi Toyoda has taken slideshows to there absolute limits since 1999
with arresting images composed entirely in silence. Plus: he clicks
through the slides manually, thus allowing images to become stories
that moves at a controlled pace. Take that, auto-advance. Here are
some images from his visual diary.

10:30pm Explode Into Colors, Janet Pants and Chris Hackett (Los Moustachios)

As if “gritty dance-punk” isn’t hot enough of a description, and “I Believe In Crystal Skullz” enough of a song title, Explode Into Colors (the band) collaborates with Janet Pants (the dancer/musician) and Chris Hackett (the aptly titled “video wizard”) to create a mashup of music, movements and visuals—all danceable, of course. Watch Explode Into Colors perform live at SXSW 2009.

Resources:
Last year, PICA worked with Multnomah Country Library to assemble an artist reading list. A reading list for this year’s festival is now available, because, you know, there’s nothing better than reading books about art on your way from one art exhibit to the next.

Watch WKE’s video recap at http://wk.com/wke

Hear TBA:09 broadcasted live by Radio 23 and Portland Radio Authority
at http://radio23.org