Pink 6 Video is a Seattle-based company that has been deeply involved with setting up video installations locally and nationally for the past 10 years. Coming up through the underground rave and club scene, Pink 6 has worked parties that have featured artists such as Stacey Pullen, Deep Dish, DJ Dan, Juan Atkins, and Donald Glaude--the list goes on and on. I have been given enough promo material from Pink 6 to start my own electronic-music party archive.
Witnessing Pink 6's video collages is what one might expect from prying into the recesses of one's postmodern, pop-culture-soaked brain. I feel like a voyeur, at one moment pleasured and empowered, the next moment unsettled and disgusted, questioning where I stand. Images of superhuman Shaolin monks playing soccer, pornography, anime, sci-fi, flowers, skateboarding, and pharmaceutical commercials blend and bounce across the screen in a real-time mix.
Kollaps Bacani is the man behind the 2,200-lumen projector and video mixer. Pulling inspiration from Dadaism, the chaotic bliss of noise acts such as Merzbow and Aube, and the voice of opera diva Maria Callas, Bacani uses the video screen to explore ideals of Heaven and Hell in the technological age. "A lot of what I try to convey is purgatory--beauty mixed with emotional tumult," says Bacani. "I try not to personalize any of my work. Confusion, abstract imagery... at times you may not know just what you're looking at, but finding yourself wanting to get there."
In the past, Bacani has been asked by hosts and promoters to tone down his content. I ask if this bothers him.
"It would be like asking a hiphop or R&B DJ to crossfade or mute over any anticipated profanity. The reason someone might react strongly to something that might visually disturb them is that once they see something they may [not] be familiar with--say, bestiality or someone gladly accepting some else's vomit orally--you just can't take that back." NICOLAE WHITE
Witness Pink 6's mortal struggle on resident nights at Contour (807 First Ave, 447-7704) every Fri-Sat, midnight-8 am, and at www.pink6.com
