hark the hallows, shannon and shiloe, hangup's and more...

halloween throws open many a door behind which, for the better part of the year, all those all too human inclinations wait to be released. sometimes those inclinations serve only to heighten bad ideas that occur in smaller doses regardless of whether or not there happens to be a holiday to support them. like a huge masked ball where the king becomes an anonymous drunk and the queen sneaks off with her lover (or the other way around), halloween is about how fun honesty can be as long as it appears in costume.

for all these reasons, planning a halloween event is as fun as attending one because the results are always wonderful and more than a bit absurd. on no other night could we have rolled up the doors of the warehouse to welcome in at one point in the evening a guy dressed as a gift-wrapped package with a tag that read "to: Women, from: God" complete with bow. there were pirates, new wave berliners (although I'm not sure that they were in costume), the band shiloe came with their throats slashed and blood running down matching white t-shirts, joy shannon's beauty marks with skull white faces and blacked out eyes surrounded the beautiful girl herself dressed in full victorian regalia. the effect was stunning. mystery hangup gave the impression that they live halloween, representing the idea that any day is a good day to dress up. the atmosphere created by the performers and audience alike transformed occca from the paintings to the traditional black draps that can be seen on any day of the year. still hanging were dana lovell's multi-media paintings created from oil and wax, featuring non-representational forms in dark rusts, black and gold leaf. where as at the last show (ec experimental concert series #14) dana's paintings held all the sophistication that could be found hanging in a urban loft, last night, surrounded by skeletons and gouls his rich shapes picked up the darker forms in the room and became almost akin to the creations of francis bacon. for more information on dana lovell's work, please click on the image to visit occca's website:





a dramatic height was created in a performance by the experimental music and flamenco dance duo, etereum. with josue meneses on percussion created by pipes, water barrels and medival long handle axes (no joke) and claudia de la cruz experimenting with the traditional art of flamenco dance the result is a new arena of performance art and music. the couple is a strong and active presence in the santa ana artist village and it is always a pleasure to work with and watch them.

one of the most successful aspects of the evening was an experiment of sorts in our idea to have people bring in crafts and artwork to be hung in the gallery for the night of the event only. another wonderful way to boost the atmosphere as well as give the audience something to do while the bands are shifting places, the idea was inspired by other very successful efforts by other organizations like ISM magazine and the local Girrl Fair. we wanted to add another way for the community of artists present in santa ana to participate and feel welcome. occca has been up to this point such an under-appreciated venue in the arts community, if our events had one focus only it would be to create awareness and interest in the space and the artists that show there. our thoughts are always bent towards bringing artists and creatively minded people of all kinds into the gallery. it is a warehouse after all and who doesn't appreciate an art warehouse...anyone?

new ideas are on the way as the eclectic company moves into a time of rest with a break in the concert season. we will continue to show first friday films with next month's showing of "the secret."

check out the eclectic company website by clicking on the image below for videos and pictures from last nights show as well as links to the individual websites of all the performers and artists.