Hot Action at One Inch Button Show

A perennial Vancouver favourite, Hot One Inch Action once again takes over Gallery Gachet this Saturday, May 24 at 8pm sharp. Here's your chance to hob knob with the hottest art audience in town and watch panic stricken attendees breathlessly search out that elusive button that has everyone talking. Or just kick back and ride the wave of hundreds of people all mingling, bumping and talking to each other in this unique, one-night-only world.

Conceived by Jim Hoehnle and Chris Bentzen in 2004, this is the fifth, and possibly final year, for Hot One Inch Action in it's present state. A simple idea to get 50 artists to design the artwork for 50 different buttons, sold at the show for five bucks a bag - you take what you get and trade up the rest in a scene that, at times, resembles a stock market's closing hour. This year has an added bonus: they are raffling off all five years of hot action for a total of 250 unique buttons up for grabs. As they say: "Don't think you need that many buttons? Wait until you're in the heat of the moment." That's what it's all about.

While the marriage of art and protest was on the minds of the creators at the beginning, the event has become so popular they sell out of buttons within a few hours and find the thing takes on a life of it's own soon after doors open. It's become a template for social interaction, merging the high with the low brow. Redefining a familiar scene into something outside the bubble. Oh yeah, and it's a total blast as well. Keep reading for an interview with one of the creators...

While we profiled Hoehnle last year, I spoke with Bentzen about some of the ideas making Hot One Inch Action such a unique and thoroughly over-the-top success.

BR: Tell me a bit about the history of the show. Why did you think an art show featuring tiny buttons would work and how did the idea come about?

Bentzen: I had an art show about five years ago in which I created six-foot paintings and one-inch buttons. I was looking at the relationship between protest and media and since one inch buttons are a part of protest culture, thought it would be an interesting way of presenting original art. That's where I met Jim. I ran into him a couple weeks later and he suggested we have a group show where artists submit art for buttons. I thought it sounded like a good idea and we met soon after to work out the details. The biggest detail, which turned into an integral part of the show, was the trading. We worked out a way to get an art audience to interact - as opposed to just looking passively at art - by selling mixed bags of buttons so people may not get what they're looking for. They can use the buttons they have to trade with people. We weren't entirely sure if it would work but in the end, it went exactly as planned. Better actually. We didn't realize just how crazy it would be, it ends up being like the stock market or even drugs - with us pushing little baggies of buttons and people going crazy over them. Each year since the first the show has grown a bit more and now, I'm pretty sure we're at our peak.

BR: I have heard rumours....is this the final year for the show?

Bentzen: Yes. And no. It's definitely the final year for the show at Gallery Gachet. This is the 3rd year at Gachet and we'll probably be too big for the space. It's to the point now that we need to be somewhere twice the size which isn't necessarily where we want to be. Of course, we also have an idea for a similar show. We really want to give more space to the artists work and also create more opportunity for them. So, next it's trading cards. Artists will create what still will be tiny art (3"x4" probably) but on the backs of the cards there will be info about the artist, the work, website, etc. It will also give the audience something big enough to frame but still allow for interaction at the show - the trading is the key to all the fun. We just have to work out details, especially the printing of the cards. It would be great if we could find a local offset printer willing to sponsor the show so the costs would be lower.

We've also talked about taking the button show to other cities. Toronto has something similar now inspired by our show but we were actually thinking about going even farther. We could do all the work from here and simply take the results to another city for the one night event. We'd just need a gallery willing to work with us.

BR: So, if this is it for now, how would you advise Vancouver art-button addicts to get their fix next year?

Bentzen: Have patience Vancouver, we'll be back...In the meantime, stock up on buttons, make your own, and get your artwork ready.

BR: How many people do you expect to attend this year? Bentzen: I don't even want to think about that. Last year it was a couple hundred. This year, well, our facebook event has over 1000 people invited, with 300 confirmed and another 4 or 500 maybes. Think of it this way, everyone in the show (50 artists) will bring at least one friend. Everyone from previous years typically shows up as well.

BR: What is your favourite part of the night?

Bentzen: There's a moment in the evening when it's wall to wall people and I've been selling buttons for a while, the music is going, and I just have a moment of clarity. I see everyone having fun and talking and I think, wow, we made this happen and it just makes me happy and realize that the work we put into it makes it all worthwhile.

BR: Both yourself and Jim have strong ties to the cycling community...what is the connection between that and the show?

Bentzen: There's no real connection. Jim brought me in to the bike community (chopper building, advocacy, etc) and it reminded me enough of Vancouver punk/hardcore of the 90's and the whole DIY movement that I stuck with it. I'd always liked riding my bike but didn't think of it beyond a purely functional machine. Now, it's become my community. Plus, bikers are hot. I'd say the bikes are more just part of our lifestyle.

BR: Can a tiny button with a hot slogan change the world?

Bentzen: It can! But only if the people who read it take the message to heart and act.

Hot One Inch Action runs May 25 - June 1 at Gallery Gachet (88 E. Cordova). Opening night - and the aforementioned trading fiesta - is Saturday May 24, 8-11pm.

Top photo by me. Event photos by David Grove. See more here