POW WOW: RESPECT MY COMMUNITAH.
February 23, 2012

RESPECT MY COMMUNITAH.
Somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.

I could go on about the hundreds of people that ram-packed Fresh Cafe & Loft In Space on the opening night; the artist x artist x artist collaborative art works; the dozens of tee-shirt and charity art pieces & photos from Eugene's photo show that sold; but in the end, none of those were the highlights of the week long ordeal for me. When the dust finally settled in the carpark and the crowds dissipated and as I sit here, 39000 feet above the earth on a lonely plane ride home next to a man who smells suspiciously of weed and vomit, the one thing that I will take with me for the coming year is the community that Pow Wow 2012 blessed us with. The people, the personalities, the weird, wonderful, pretty, ugly, happy, angry individuals that were drawn to this event and everyone else in between. Take over 40 creatives from the art, media, and design realm, cram them into one of the most interesting pieces of architecture I've ever seen in one of the most beautiful locales on the earth, throw in a sprinkling of ADHD, a shit ton of alcoholic beverages, markers and spraycans... and you'd think you're looking at a recipe for complete disaster. But, as we all converged on that final day at the big Lu'au, the only talk was about the amazing stories and experiences we all shared together along the week.

The Utopium estate that housed the.. madhouse? This award-winning building was designed by featured artist & Pow Wow co-ordinator Kamea Hadar and his father, who built the house together from scratch. Kamea's already got the looks, the art skills, and now I find out that he built a whole friggin' house. I give up at being a man. Hell, I have problems putting together lego sets… just thinking about this momentous feat hurts my brain. For a start - every single piece of glass had to be custom cut to shape/size/angles. Now look at that first picture again. It's amazing to think that these men & women created art whilst living in a piece of art. The best part? You can rent it.

(edit: just added this video tour of the house, pieced together by Amy Luu of hobnobcity)

(ps - Happy Birthday bradah!)

The absolutely, incredibly talented team of Pow Wow Event Directors. I still remember Jasper wildly explaining the concept of Pow Wow to me a couple of years ago at some ungodly hour in a restaurant in Hong Kong, in that typical 1000mph Jasper speech with his eyes darting left and right. I thought he was on meth. Turns out it was a good idea, after all. So proud of you and Tiffany brother. You guys inspire me.

Hi Christa. When I first met her, everybody called her Super CW. I think my brain cell count at the end of the trip compared to the start was proof enough. Thank you Christa, for everything. That's Aaron De La Cruz and his artwork on her car, by the way.

Just in case you hadn't noticed, Hawai'i has some phenomenal food. I'm going to apologize to the entire staff at Fresh Cafe for walking in there on the first day and ordering an Acai bowl.. with extra titties. I swear I wasn't being creepy.

You have one Jesus at your event. We get three. Except the last one you'll probably find sleeping half naked on your front porch in the morning. Jesus loves you man. At least that's what he told me, anyways. He might've been drunk.

Canasians, eh.

This is the Garden Snake. I have no idea where he's from, except that he always manages to pop up at the best/worst of times with a long range lens equipped SLR camera and gets extremely creepy when he's drunk. You know the guy that your mother told you to look out for when you were a teenager? This guy is the one that that guy's mother warned him about.

Brandon Shigeta, on the other hand, showed me that instagram is serious business. Very serious.

Hypebeast managing editor Huge-gene Kan and his fiancee Nicole, who were both constantly slipping in and out of food comas all week long. LOML... LOL.

"Why can't I get my bloody iPod going?" Ello Jules! It's the vintage road show!

Ho.

HO.

HO BRAH. IT'S JEFF HAMADA.

Yes, Suitman was as amazed at the female/male ratio at the opening reception as I was. This is his 'extremely excited' face.

Suitman x Eugene Kan. The Korean Justice League.

Suitman x Eddie Colla, also known as the 'voice of reason'.. and also the winner of the "most tweeted/instagrammed piece of art by Hawai'i 5-0/LOST stars" award of Pow Wow 2012.

This is Larry Legend. King of the dance floor. Connoisseur of stretchy pants. Ruler of sobriety. I'm not sure how he ended up locked in the back seat of some random car, but for some reason, I don't really care. Larry rules. Even if his sleeve-less zip up adidas hoodie was kind of weird.

Thank you to Garrett the Kid and Scotty Surprise - team Arkitip & the peanut gallery, for some of the best laughs of the trip. Really, man. Really. Man.

The other half of team New York - Derek Weisberg. Sculptor by day, weirdo-rap fan by night.

Mikey Inouye - video director. He likes to smile. I mean, he really, really, likes to smile.

Noah the Nonchalant, holding it down for team Complex NY. So much swag that he can DJ without vinyl… or needles, for that matter. Towels all round please.

It's TEAM PE$O! Mike, Dave Lin, Tanley, and Rocky. Well, it started off as the Money Team, but slowly degenerated very quickly after that. I saw things on this night I've never seen before… there's a reason why we're covering our eyes. We got scared. Real scared. I don't trust you guys anymore. Don't ever reach me again. Peace.

Thank you Pow Wow 2012; summer camp for vagrant artists and touring writers. I cannot express the amount of gratitude for the level of hospitality and warmness all of you organizers, event co-ordinators, volunteers, and helpers showed us over the entire trip. I can't wait for 2013. Mucho Mahalos.

Look, I even made a teeshirt for it already.

Who wants one?

Photo credits:

Jonas Maon (Non Stop Honolulu)
Jeffrey Gress
Suitman Young Kim
Christa Wittmier
Brandon Shigeta
Eugene Kan

For more (actual) coverage on hypebeast, please see:

POW WOW DAY #1 - THAT'S NOT GAY, IS IT?
POW WOW DAY #2 - OCCUPIED STATE OF MIND.
POW WOW DAY #3 & #4 - WE OUT HERE.
POW WOW FINALE - HO BRAH.