The final day of the Northside Festival shook it’s hot head in disapproval at my neglect of its eclectic variety. I had spent the past three nights staining my right hand with stamps of approval from a blur of venues – Musical Hall of Cameo Spike Public Knitting Hill Gallery Assembly Bowl. My right wrist was raw with pulling off multiple colored bands all at once, while my fingertips were cut up from digging for my ID every thirty minutes or so. No more music. Not for now.
It was time to expand my horizons, quite literally, as I followed Bedford Avenue down to Broadway, where I found Pandemic Gallery. Pandemic, which is mainly devoted to street-art, was hosting a live silk screening event – BYO-Tee. The DIY punk-rocker within just had to, while the consumer in me wanted to get something out of the only gallery visit I had time for during, and have it be worth the 20 minute walk it took for me to get there.
Many of the screens were variations of the works on display for Pandemic’s current exhibit, Shock Therapy. The screens certainly lived up to this name, and for a moment I thought I may forgo the screening on account of how disturbing they were. One was a distorted close up of a fish-head, and another a cracked out cat head with huge fangs. Finally in a more remote corner of the shop, I spotted a sweet Piggly-Wiggly logo, which had been slightly altered by Thomas Buildmore. I was prepared to have my own tote bag screened, but then spotted an awesome short sleeved hoodie on their rack, and with the help of gallery founder Keely Brandon, selected a bright pink for the paint. Within minutes, I had an original work of wearable art for the modest price of $20. Brilliant! It was well worth the walk indeed.
