Jul. 05, 2011 - Issue #820: Bestest of Edmonton

Prevue

Streetfest

When the Annual Edmonton International Street Performers Festival began in earnest some 27 years ago, it was, quite obviously, born into a less interconnected world: no Internet, no Facebook, no YouTube. But everyone's got a camera in their pocket these days, as the relentless thrust of technology pushes better recording equipment (literally) into the palms of our hands in more portable, better quality forms, with more digital places to share the spoils. So what's the impact of that on the public art form captured in StreetFest, in a time when that sort of instant spectacle can be found with a few clicks of a keyboard?

"Back in the day, a video camera was something you would never see," says Lee Zimmerman, who becomes Led for his performances, or just The Puppet Guy or The Etch-A-Sketch Guy, both of which will be at this year's StreetFest. "It was just 15 people you knew out of 100 could afford a videocamera. And now, [with] YouTube, I just plug in my name every couple of months just to make sure I haven't missed something. And a lot of people are downloading stuff that I did 20 years ago in Venice beach—those are gems.

In a way, it's relieving to hear that Zimmerman seems more positive than downtrodden about technology's modern reach (he'll also be sharing his craft, teaching Etch-A-Sketch workshops as part of the festival's "Be Your Own Busker" program). His two characters make up a pair of the 36 acts who will be out in Churchill Square over StreetFest's 10-day run, ranging from old local favourites to new acts from all over the globe: The Etch-A-Sketch Guy is the world's fastest, his bio boasts, at etch-a-sketching portraiture, cartoons and more, while The Puppet Guy's tiny marionettes present a miniaturized Rock 'n' Roll Revue of some of the biggest names of music's history.
"I built the puppet show," Zimmerman says, "because I couldn't play the guitar, I loved Jimi Hendrix, and I wanted to pay for my art supplies."

A varied roster is what festival producer Shelly Switzer strives for when selecting artists. She notes things like YouTube have made it easier than ever for artists to give her an impression of their act—while she herself travels, combing other festivals for new talent, a YouTube video is a quick, cost-effective way for her to get a feel for any potential festival artist.

"For me, YouTube is lending itself to both an artist being able to send their stuff to me, and then there's weekends and holidays where I go to YouTube and search around, and see what's coming around. I think that, again, I can't speak in a sense for the artist's experience, but you ultimately, as an artist performing on the street, release your art to the gods, so a lot of people have been filming street performing shows for their own viewing pleasure, or taking that kind of stuff home.
"I was visiting at another festival where the discussion [was] around the artist's rights to those images, but I think it's also part of, if you will, the price that they pay by performing publicly."

 

Fri, Jul 8 – Sun, Jul 17
Streetfest
Churchill Square
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