See Magazine spoke to our Vicky Wong about 53 Ways to Leave Your Lover—and their preview is out today:
But as anyone who’s attended past instalments will tell you, 53 Ways is much more than your average fundraiser; it’s a wild dance party, which this year will incorporate video projections from local artists, fine food from local favourites Elm Cafe, the Sugar Bowl, and Viphalay Laos and Thai Restaurant, and abundant cocktails of all sorts.
Vicky Wong, Development Coordinator for the gallery, happily defends those without plans on what has become known as V-Day.
“The events have been going on since we first moved into our new space, in 2003,” Wong says. “The event originally was to help cover the cost of the move. We wanted to create an event that runs counter to the commercialism of Valentine’s Day, and all these expectations that people have about it: that they should be with somebody, that they should spend it with a partner, but that leads to people acting desperately and making poor choices. This event is long enough away from Valentine’s that you can reflect on your decisions.”
Most of all, though, people want people to drop their inhibitions and dance.
The article isn't all fun and games: it also talks about why 53 Ways is important, and why artists Josh Holinaty and Shane Golby donated work to support Latitude 53 at the event. The story they tell has a bitter undertone, which our writer-in-residence Fish explored in yesterday's post. But See's Alistair Henning doesn't lose sight of what it all comes down to on Saturday:
On a similar note, Bob Prodor, who has participated in a few shows at Latitude over the years, is especially excited about this event because “Latitude 53 puts the Fun in Fundraiser! You get to feel good about getting decked out in your finest turtlenecks and scarves, looking at art and feeling intellectual while getting smashed on red wine!”
