By Terry McDonald
Splendorous divergence of artistic realms is the intention of the Gallery endeavor.
On Tuesdays at the Mercury Lounge, intoxication will be provided by an altogether different form of spirits -- those being the spirits of the muse -- when more than 14 performers gather for an ambitious brand of genre bending.
Inspired beats by DJs Paulo Filipe and KevKelly will play in the background and lay the groundwork for spontaneous performances by visual artists, dancers, percussionists and poets.
Inversion poet Matt Burton likens the project to the manner in which Beat poets would recite their works over the music of Charlie Parker -- but with the field opened up to more artists.
By his account, Burton and partner Pamela Slinger will be "waiting for a moment that looks right and throwing down poetry over the music."
"The kind of poetry I do is very rhythmic -- it has a lot of tempo changes," explains Burton. "I usually write with drum&bass playing in the background."
He foresees his poetry, and Slinger's sensual spoken word works, acting as another instrument thrown into the multimedia mix.
"It's a fairly free-form kind of night," he says, describing The Gallery's living and breathing "exhibits."
"The thing about improvisation is you never know what form it will take," he notes.
Admission to The Gallery is free. But those with piqued interests who would like to catch Burton beforehand can see him prior to the Gil Scott-Heron show tonight, Thursday, Jan. 14.
The two filmmakers have finished the second installment of their Villains trilogy, which chronicles the travails of anti-hero protagonists.
The Losers, which followed the mild exploits of failed super-villain Crime King, has been joined by Team/Up.
Stafford describes The Losers' characters as "having regular foibles but they just happen to wear costumes." In contrast, the latest foray into comics-inspired cinema is a blacker comedy than its predecessor and traces the professional relationship of three caped, female evil-doers -- played by Marlene Barre, Lisa Hebert and Taesia Scratch -- as they hatch schemes and double-cross each other.
Stafford hopes to use the works as a calling card on the film circuit and, eventually, re-make the flics with big budget effects.
"I like indie films but, unabashedly, I do like the Armegeddon type movies," he says a bit sheepishly. "Our dream is to blatantly sell-out."
Team/Up premiers Sunday, Jan. 24, at Arts Court.