Thursday, January 20, 2011

pecha kucha

Pecha Kucha. Say it. I dare you.

Or watch this video to learn how to say it and get a little Muppet-ditty stuck in your head. Seriously, all night. In my head. Right now. In my head. Hopefully it will be gone by morning. 

But what is Pecha Kucha you ask? You can go look up the Japanese origins yourself (I think it means "chit chat"), but all you need to know is that it's a presentation format: 20slides x 20seconds each = 6minute 40second presentation.

I attended Waterville's 2nd Pecha Kucha Night tonight, and it was... a mixed bag. I like the idea of a community gathering in which people present their craft. This ranged from Contra dancing to graphic design to painting to organic farming to poetry to photography to woodworking to masks for theater to Easter bonnets. And some of the presentations were great in that the speakers were actually sharing their work with us. But others were awkward whether it be from frantically reading a script in the limited time allotted or trying to self-promote their work rather than just sharing it.

My favorite? The woodworker. Among other things he make coffins. Coffins that you can use as other pieces until it is needed as... well... a coffin. Need a coffee table? Here's a coffin. Need a wardrobe? Here's a coffin. Need a bookcase? Bam, coffin. It's just all so practical! And economical! If not a little morbid.

But anyway... pecha kucha, do dooo do do do, pecha kucha.

3 comments:

  1. The little ditty is actually pretty old--I remember it as background music from years ago. Of course, the video doesn't look all that recent, unless pecha kucha is a recent phenomenon.

    I like the idea of my coffin becoming a household item until it's needed--multi-purpose and money-saving as well. Quite inventive.

    How was the theatre mask pecha kucha?

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  2. The masks? Interesting as art pieces, which she admitted they primarily were, but I'm not sure I would have enjoyed them as part of a production. Most of the productions she referenced were done entirely in masks with little to no lines. Plus masks can sometimes just be scary.

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  3. I remember when I did Trojan Women--do you remember this production? We used blank masks for the Greeks (mostly soldiers and Menelaus) and the voidless face looking out at you was quite effective, especially when a character who was Trojan (Helen of Troy) defected to the other side and donned the Greek mask, erasing her personality as seen in her face. Pretty good stuff, even if I do say so!

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