Buffalo Rising Online

May 28th 2008, 12:00am By West Coast Perspective

Pecha Kucha Night is back for its sixth Buffalo event at Artspace’s Gallery on June 14 beginning at 8 pm. Pecha Kucha was conceived in 2003 in Tokyo as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.

As Wired Magazine surmised, "The key to the success of the Pecha Kucha evenings springing up across the world over the last few years -- from Bogota to Buffalo -- is simplicity."

Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global – as Pecha Kucha Night has spread virally to over 123 cities across the world.

Organizers are excited about bringing this year’s event to Artspace. “We are showcasing the work of many of the artists who reside in the building and are also expecting 300-500 attendees," says Peter McCarthy, Pecha Kucha Buffalo co-founder.

Presenters this year include: •Nick Bruscia - architect / designer •Hans Gindlesberger - photography •Soyeon Jung - digital media artist •Nathan W. Naetzker - painter •Tim Newell - actor and painter •Heamchand Subryan - architect / designer •Kate Bae - painter •Lukia Costello - photographer •Brian Kavanaugh - collage artist •Casperous Vine - musicians •Alex Young - mixed media artist •Joel Lewitzky - printmaker •Sandra White - media artist / filmmaker

This will be the sixth Pecha Kucha to take place in Buffalo where fifty presenters have shown work to date. Each event has attracted over 200 Pecha Kucha fans to see an array of artists, musicians, architects, designers, writers and activists each presenting their work in some depth but at a comically breakneck pace.

A Pecha Kucha Buffalo Volume 1 guest remarked, "Creativity is spawned by this kind of interaction amongst others - you come, you present, you listen, you see, you hear, you taste, you touch, you leave it and think (or not)."

Anything goes at Pecha Kucha. “As long as you can figure a coherent way to present your work in six minutes and 40 seconds, you can do whatever you want,” according to McCarthy.

Tickets are $3.00 at the door. Doors open at 8 pm, presentations begin at 9. Saturday, June 14, 2008 Artspace Buffalo Gallery, 1219 Main Street.

Venue information: Joanna Gillespie, 716.803.6205 or 716.783.7984