PICA's
5th Annual Dada Ball
1032
NW 14th Ave. (enter on Marshall Street), 242-1419.
9 pm Saturday,
Sept. 16. $35. $30 advance tickets are available at PICA
Box Office, Jackpot Records and Clinton Street Video.
Maybe you've gone. Maybe you've never gone but you've heard
about it. Maybe you've never heard about it at all. Whichever
category you fall into, we still invite you to dig into some
recently uncovered tidbits about the Portland Institute for
Contemporary Art's annual Dada Ball.
Not only is this Bauhaus bacchanalia just about the best
party in town, it's also the only time of year you can see
some of Portland's more proper people without their panties
on.
Yep, for some odd, Dada-esque reason, Portland's elite
think it's neat to "drop trou" and run around the ball with
their balls showing. And we have proof!
In a journalistic effort to get to the bottom of this bizarre
tradition, here are a few, little-known facts about dirty
deeds done in the name of Dada:
Year One: Artist and provocateur Nan B. Curtis delivers
her art donation for the early evening art auction--a shit
sundae. This flycatcher, created exclusively for the ball
by party pooper Curtis over the several days leading up
to the big show, was topped off with whipped cream and a
cherry. It was pulled from the auction table because it
was not holding up well over time. In related news, neighborhood
artists, in a WTO-like attempt to protest the upscale shindig,
try to spark debate with welding torches, but their attempts
at causing a political ruckus fail when thrilled partygoers
dismiss it as just another Dada Ball-sponsored event.
Sex site of choice: Disabled-accessible restroom
stalls.
Year Two: Partygoers dressed as gun-wielding Santas
point their toy pistols at unamused amusement park security
guards at Oaks Park. Let it suffice to say this entertaining
showdown ended with an unscheduled appearance by the police.
Sex site of choice: Oaks Park amusement rides (they
don't call it "The Zipper" for nothing!).
Year Three: One inspired participant, dressed only
in a skimpy loincloth made completely of sod, jumped 30
feet from the rafters to the floor. Along with what was
left of his dignity, said partygoer lost his pouch-covering
sod-piece and suffered impact fractures to his feet.
Sex site of choice: Nan B. Curtis strikes again
(alongside hubby and fellow artist Marty Houston) with a
portable doeskin closet that moved around, depending on
what kind of bumping and grinding was taking place inside
it. Many people got into the act by pushing it around the
room.
Year Four: Non-scheduled artists who ply their way
onto the Dada stage include a band of guerrilla, inter-gender
wrestlers and a woman who performs with one blender and
several packages of chocolate pudding...enough said.
Sex site of choice: In an effort to revive the past,
many Dadaists get it on under the now-demolished Lovejoy
viaduct.
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