The beautiful people used to go to parties hoping to be seen, but in our digital age they hope to be photographed as well, with the results splashed all over Facebook and Flickr.
The tag on many of those posts is that of photographer Steven Vigar, who seems to be snapping away at superhuman speeds at parties across the country. Yet the first event that he is organizing since moving from Tainan to Taipei is a camera-free one called No Photos!
“It’s as if a person can have zero human interaction with all the unbelievably cool things happening out there, but still get most of the whole experience digitally,” said Vigar, who studied photography at Canada’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. “It’s tragic.”
To spur partygoers into getting creative, cameras are banned. Instead, attendees are encouraged to pick up a sketch pad. The only photos will be the ones exhibited on the walls, along with other works of art.
Vigar is weary of Web sites on which users can see an event’s attendees, “who’s going, who’s not, what to expect ... and then afterwards see all the party photos
and comments,” he said. “Everything [is] wrapped up nicely in a little ... party package.”
Vigar and Gregory Russell formed production group Up Against the
Wall Muther Fucker a year ago to throw alternative art parties, events and exhibitions.
Their most successful venture to date was at Light Lounge in Taichung. At that party, called Get It, they gave partygoers markers and whiteboards on which to write comments and took photos of them holding the results.
Tomorrow’s party begins with melodic post-rock from university favorites Sorry Youth, followed by indie synth rock by The Looking Glass and punk from Divebomb, which is making the trip from Tainan for the show. My Skin Against Your Skin rounds out the live acts, with DJ Marcus Aurelius manning the decks for the rest of the night.
Featured artists include American surrealist painter Derek Murphy, documentary and lifestyle photographer Garret Clarke, writer and blogger Matt Gibson, graffiti artist Brendan Dempster and fashion designer Jenna Pearce of Rice Society.
“I have actually had a few people mention that they’d feel weird about not seeing any post-party photos,” said Vigar. “If a party takes place in a forest and there are no photographs to capture it, did it really happen?”
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