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Revolving Door

PARTY ON, Chicago Creative Community. The season is upon us.

This year’s annual AICP celebration came to a new venue, The Chicago Cultural Center, promising to refresh the scene with new faces and new places. Thankfully, it delivered the most forward-thinking concept of the year: mini-gyros.

The debut of these little Greek delights officially marked the fact that nothing, indeed, remains to be miniaturized. The long, slow march of the cocktail weinie is complete. Along the way, it converted candy bars into fun size, snack size, party size and bite size while simultaneously fueling the inspiration that produced Smart Cars.

They made a tasty transition to the official presentation, but I noticed little if any response from the crowd as the opening sequence by Protokulture launched the show. Undoubtedly, this was due to the fact that I was not in the theater when it played. Mesmerized by the revolutionary hors dourves, I missed the presentation altogether. An official-looking gentleman explained that the room was full and I should amble up to the “Ice Bar” for a cocktail.

I know what you’re thinking: the word “ice” is an annoyingly ubiquitous adjective that should be relegated to cheap, highly potent alcohol in oversized cans. True; unless, of course, it refers to the actual frozen state of water, which in this case was the case. When you approached the slippery thing, temperatures dropped enough to cool the frustration of realizing that the “Ice Bar” served only the sweet, so-called “martinis” that bear the fruit of tomorrow’s headache.

After the presentation ended and the crowd began to arrive from the theater, praise for Protokulture’s reel made me regret missing it: they “rickrolled” the audience.

“Rickrolling” is an online trick where an unsuspecting web surfer clicks on a link that’s supposed to deliver relevant material, but instead —
    “We’re no strangers to love...”

The video of Rick Astley’s song, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” highjacks the connection with some of the most effeminate honky dance moves of the 80’s. As the hair-sprayed, high-pantsed cast of the original piece awkwardly grooves forward, Protokulture’s customized version incorporated sponsor logos everywhere. On brick walls and club awnings, in chain link fences and street shadows, the graphic subtlety is enough to rickroll unenlightened viewers into believing the video has not been modified whatsoever.

Looking back, I realize that there is a crucial lesson here. If 2009 has taught us anything —
     “Never Gonna Give You Up,
       Never Gonna Let You Down...”

http://www.protokulture.com/aicp.html