30 April 2009

Pecha Kucha Melbourne

Volume nine of Melbourne's Pecha Kucha night was delivered to a full house at the Toff on Tuesday 28 April.

For the uninitiated, Pecha Kucha is a time and place for people to showcase their work to a regimented program of six minutes and 40 seconds per presenter.

The particular drawcard of the event is the mandate of a 20 second per slide rule for visual aids. This arrangement of the presenter having no control over the visuals can often result in unplanned comedic timing.

Melbourne’s Pecha Kucha is one of 180 cities around the world to host this unique model of speed-presentation. It’s become a word-of-mouth global phenomenon and a welcomed reprieve for creative types to share their work and ideas.

“It’s also a chance to draw inspiration from other people’s work,” says Elida De Felice who runs Melbourne’s Pecha Kucha with Kylie Fitt.

With eight speakers from areas as diverse as jewellery, industrial design, makeup and styling, acting and art, it became apparent that all the speakers were multi-talented with two or more specialisations.

This was evidenced in designer/artist representative/publisher, Jeremy Wortsman, who regaled with amusing stories through hypertext transfer protocols.

The evening’s topics ranged from Star Wars and ice hotels to gashapon and exquisite pirates. Floodslicer’s presentation on the nascent industry of 3D visualisation was insightful while Sally Smart’s piratical brief engaged culturally.

However it was industrial designer Marc Pascal’s illuminating talk of floral lights and architect Stuart Harrison’s obsession with arches that were crowd-pleasers.

The night’s featured speakers suggest that Melbourne’s design scene has taken a fresh turn in recent years with an influx of creatives adopting a more multidisciplinary approach.

pecha-kucha.org/cities/melbourne

By Lieu Pham.