Ingenuity Fest 2008

I came for the Pecka Kucha Night and stayed because the city seemed alive. It isn't very often that the city manages to celebrate the spaces and niches it creates in the corners. Most often the street festivals block off the street, push people to the sides to become spectators and remove the sense of exploration, wonder and control that allow for urban discoveries to be made.

The alleys, the corners, the empty storefronts became spaces, used and celebrated. Full of life and color, all around the citizens mulled, watching and waiting. A sensible hum of white noise, a cacophony of sound and images and the slow shuffle of a herd wanting to take it all in, knowing that in a few short days the experience will be gone and these spaces will again be lost to see, to witness, to touch and claim as our proper heritage.

When a city is alive, when it is truly for the people to experience, then these spaces are used and thought of. They are given a purpose and a meaning and a chance to be related to. How much of our city is hidden behind boarded up windows and locked doors? How much seems dark and unsafe and dirty? Was it really that difficult to make those places programmed? To give them life?

As we stumble with the notion that we can celebrate our population withdrawal perhaps this is our opportunity to take over the niches and pockets to give them personality, to celebrate their shortcuts, their hiddeness, their access to grand spaces and cloisters which becomes more realistic as denizens become more accountable and take ownership of their area.

I don't believe we have to wait though. If anything, Ingenuity showed us that there is a creative culture here, one willing to take control with a firm hand and shake loose the ugliness of the city, or, if the intent so makes it, celebrate the ugliness.

Cleveland felt alive last night and made me a little proud to be part of it.

It was nice to see.

Folly, time lapsed: The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by F.O.Gehry

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008

I just wanted to share.

Things around Ceveland I would have liked to see time lapsed videos of...

Euclid Corridor going in.
CSU Student Center going down (it is still going on).
The erection of the Rock Hall's structure.
The CHUH Library walkway going up and being filled in with glass.
A freighter winding its way through the flats and out to Lake Erie

I just enjoy the tectonic of construction and deconstruction. The art of making and unmaking. The instantaneous gratification of compressing the process into some discernable and recognizable procedure.

Pecha Kucha Night - Cleveland Vol. 1

Friday, July 25th, 2008
1240 Huron Road, Star Plaza, Ground Floor
8.20pm
Part of ingenuity so the cost is to get into the whole shebang.

Could you explain what you do in 20 seconds per 20 slides? Could you show your voice, your talent, your interest? Could you sell your purpose 6 minutes 40 seconds to a crowd armed with nothing but a quick powerpoint, a stopwatch and your wit?

I hope you can.

Come and enjoy the first of the Pecha Kucha series to take place in Cleveland. Pecha Kucha is an international presentation style with its roots in Japan that forces succinct presentation. In the time it takes to order one beer you could have missed a presenter. Join us for a night of wonder and guile.

Resources:
ingenuityfest 2008
Pecha Kucha - Cleveland
LAUNCHcleveland

The potential of a city street...

Lakewood Walk and Roll


What happens when you shut down a city street to motorized vehicles? Can you celebrate the walkability of your community? Lakewood, Ohio sure can. Offering a plethora of eating establishments, shopping and professional offices a community that celebrates its diversity and its density happens to be one of the most enjoyable places I have had the fortune to call home.

Taste of Tremont


Of course Tremont gets to celebrate a long history of eclectic and exciting eateries and finds no other way to share in its bounty than putting aside a festival based solely on eating and drinking! Not to shabby for one of Cleveland's oldest ethnic communities that manages to seem to reinvent itself every decade.

Two widely varied events in two of Cleveland's inner ring suburbs, both based upon the idea the the public street could be a public right of way and is, in essence, public space that is typically underutilized. While the argument that infrastructure drives development can be made it is also important to realize how integral PEOPLE on the street are to local businesses and neighborhoods. Granted, not every day can be a festival, but enough festivals/events and some decent street planning and layout may bring back the public interaction and activity that so many neighborhoods need.

Just imagine a city street with people. Window shopping would lead to better retail business, the area would be safer and cleaner as there would be more self policing, a sense of community and of ownership would create family legacies in neighborhoods just as we had before the advent of television forced us to scurry inside to pander to the gratification of the flickering screen.

So next time you are sick of flipping the channels and finding nothing to passively watch, how about grabbing a cool beverage and sitting on your porch, waving to your neighbors? Or take a stroll down the local retail strip and see what goods are to offer? How about stopping to chat to someone about the humidity, or the local sports team or even to ask directions to that new local restaurant you overheard a co-worker talking about? It doesn't take much but it can save an entire neighborhood and you may even find yourself having a good time and taking a sense of pride in where you live.

Special thanks to Lilly Handmade Chocolates for the chocolate eating contest. Luckily, what we couldn't finish we were able to take home! They also offer a beer (and soon wine) selection that is designed to compliment the chocolate!