Crowds Light Up FUSE at the VAG

With both Duran and I recovering from the weekend/Canada Day, the review for last Friday night's FUSE at the Vancouver Art Gallery is a few days late. Usually, these monthly parties last until midnight, but twice a year an all-nighter is held that lets you stay until 6 a.m. (there's breakfast at the Café in the morning!) I made it until close to 4. Duran left a little earlier, which might have had something to do with liquor service stopping so early.

We arrived at the party around 9, when the line-up was still tolerable. Later, it began to stretch all the way down Homer Hornby Street, and getting in took a while. Once inside, we were given schedules of what shows were on at what time. There was plenty to cover, and there was a ton that I ended up missing over the course of the night. Duran's photos (slide show after the break) alone were full of surprises - I didn't catch a lot of the performances because I spent the first part of my night trying to get all the people I was with in one location. Tip #1: go with one or two friends. If you go with a group, don't count on staying together. You'll end up wasting a lot of time and cell phone minutes.

I hadn't seen KRAZY! before, so there was a lot to take in. The first floor of the exhibit I found simply overwhelming. I don't know a whole lot about comic books, and with this I felt like I was being thrown into their world, not gently guided through it. My attention span was too short to read most of the comics, so I ended up not actually appreciating most of the humor and story-telling behind them. The second floor was fun, but my time with it was limited - I ended up there around 3 a.m., when I was just barely absorbing all the video-game awesomeness. Overall, I was most impressed by the work of artist Zhang Huan on the third floor - his use of himself as a canvas and his experimentation with different mediums was stunning. The work of Rebecca Belmore, also on the third floor, I found less accessible, but memorable nonetheless.

As for the party, I thought that besides a few kinks, it was great (although some disagree). I loved the atmosphere, especially when hanging out and listening to music out on the steps of the art gallery. The highlight of my night was dancing to Arowbe's set. I was even more impressed when Times Neue Roman took to the floor. Their MySpace doesn't do them justice - they are incredibly talented, and kept the audience captivated during their whole performance in the wee hours of the night. The things that annoyed me about FUSE were all the people packed into the Café and into the small lounge just past the entrance. The Café seemed to be perpetually at capacity, and by the time the crowd had lessened the liquor sales had stopped. Tip #2: count on waiting a while for your booze, and don't plan on drinking until late. Also, in both of the dance areas, it got hot and sweaty. A little more ventilation, or at least some water bottles, would have been much appreciated.

When I finally left and headed back home, I was exhausted but still smiling. FUSE is a good thing - there were lots of fun people, both interesting to talk to and to look at, and there was plenty of room to decide where you wanted your night to take you. For $19.50, the event is surprisingly accessible, since that's the exact price of regular Adult admission. This isn't my first FUSE and it won't be my last - these parties are good, and I'm looking forward to going when the next exhibit hits Vancouver.

Photos by Duran Cheung.