Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Arts News

B-Grade Horrorfest makes call for entry

The films are horrific, in poor taste and frequently hilarious. Now this year, Heavy Hitting's B-Grade Horrorfest is celebrating its 10 th anniversary. Offer a round of applause, please.

To celebrate, Heavy Hitting is inviting all past winners to take part in a commemorative shootout, which means some of the raunchiest and weirdest films will return for sequels. Another round of applause, please.

"We've got all the champs returning with new flicks so that alone means this year's HorrorFest is going to be utterly kick-ass," says festival cofounder (and much-beloved, occasionally reviled Pique columnist) Feet Banks.

Organizers are also accepting submissions for wildcard slots. Cash and other prizes will be awarded at the end of the night. The guidelines are simple: all films must be under 10 minutes, cannot contain copyright-protected music and must be handed in on time. Other than that, anything goes. Anyone who has attended past Horrorfests will know that anything literally goes. Severed torsos and gratuitous nudity are a given.

The festival was started by Banks and Whistler artist Chili Thom in 2001 as a way for a few of their friends to fart around on camera. It has since blossomed to a 1,200-person-on-average annual event held on or around Halloween.

This year, Horrorfest will take place at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler on Oct. 30. Submissions and inquiries can be made to feet@heavyhitting.com.

Bizarre Bazaar also makes a call for entry

'Tis the season for submission calling. This one's for Bizarre Bazaar, the annual artisan market with a name that makes it sound strange and exotic. It isn't, but it does offer some of the finest, most creative wares from artisans from the Sea to Sky and Metro Vancouver. If you need a pinecone Christmas ornament or a ski bum sock puppet, this is the place to buy it. And much more. So. Much. More.

If you have your own variation of a pinecone Christmas ornament, or other ceramics, clothing, fine art, jewelery, etc., visit www.artwhistler.com for the application form. Deadline for applications is Friday, Oct. 14. The market will take place on Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Whistler Conference Centre.

Bratz ALSO makes a call for entry

So, yeah, get your submissions in, everybody. The final jury for Bratz Biz - a sort of Bizarre Bazaar for youth and taking place on Dec. 3 -is on Oct. 4, which means application forms need to be submitted as soon as possible.

Each year, the Bratz Biz jury reviews each of the submissions made by Whistler and Pemberton's youth and offers spots in the market based on the strength of their product. The kids keep all the money they make, which can be anywhere from $50 to $2,000.

Event organizer Susan Shrimpton says that 12 people have already been confirmed, and that the "fabric arts" category is already full. She says in instances like this, where spots are filled up, applicants should have a back-up plan.

"The objective is to have every kid in there do well," she says, which is why they limit candle holder submissions to two.

There are still spots available for all other categories. For more information and to apply, visit bratzbiz.ca.

Jorgenson to hold outdoor photography workshops

Blake Jorgenson can use a camera. Everyone knows this. If you didn't know this, now you do. His photos are dramatic and daring and inspire in me the urge to jump off the side of a snowy cliff with a set of skis strapped to my feet.

Now Jorgenson is offering to teach you to shoot just like him... or, well, offering some insight into his techniques. That's the best he can do. He's following up the outdoor photography workshops he held last fall and this past May with another round taking place over three days from October 1 to 3.

The workshops will include lessons in pro-mountain biking, alpine hiking, landscape and lifestyle photography and will cover a range of  theoretical and industry knowledge. The workshops costs $600 and reservations will be confirmed once a $300 deposit is made.

In other Jorgenson news, he's closing his gallery in the Westin as of October 1. Sad days, but his collection will continue to be sold in the adjoining Adele Campbell Gallery, as well as other galleries in other cities.

But there will be one final hoorah before the gallery closes for good. On Saturday, Sept. 24, Jorgenson will launch his new fine art photography collection, featuring a selection of images that will be sold in limited edition runs using carefully chosen high-end printing and framing specific to each image and size. So, it'll be expensive but definitely worth a glance. The launch starts at 8 p.m.

For more information or to reserve a spot in his workshop, visit www.blakejorgenson.com