Portland is ready for a fringe festival. Meanwhile, it's possible to create your own fringe experience right now. Turn to the culture listings, pick a few interesting-sounding events and take a cha nce. I've just returned from a two-week engagement at the Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival where Liminal, my performance and media ensemble, premiered a new interactive media performance called Objects for the Emancipated Consumer . Despite the logistical fiasco of organizing a tour for 13 artists on a budget smaller than a day's sweatshop wages, we decided that the experience of joining 450 nonstop performances in Seattle was well worth the effort.
Fringe festivals defy all rules of survival logic in the cultural milieu of American cities.
They're big, cumbersome, messy and dependent on large-scale audiences. In a time of homogenous artistry and declining audiences, fringe festivals still encourage the masses to accept imperfections and search for sparks of inspiration. Those who have experienced one of the festivals on the world's circuit know that each piece is a crap shoot. One day you'll feast on a performance that skillfully lodges itself in your cerebral cortex. The next day you'll endure 90 minutes of schlock that forces you to contemplate your shoes' color.