First Fridays @ Ong King Arts Center

Article by George D’range

(Published, abridged November issue, The 808 Scene Zine)

It’s a scene not to missed; worth the price of admission to see some of the most unusual and talented acts in town. This last First Friday hosted a very interesting group of performers, including the house act, the band “Quadraphonix”, among many other eye-popping and thought provoking arts and artists.
First Fridays at Ong King, not unlike any of the other galleries in town —save the fact that it’s not mostly landscapes and nudes— is a fest for the eyes; This month the walls of my favorite venue boasted the art of Ryan Greenly, and Eugene Kristopher “Ukarest” Menor. These two artists both clashed and complimented each other in a way that is classic Ong King, and I myself saw many pieces by both artists I would love to own, were I not such a broke suckah! It was a feast of color and imagery on media both familiar and unlikely. From a hip-hop crucifixion picture in black ink and gold paint on corrugated cardboard (framed, of course) to a full wall graffiti mural, Ukarest has mad skills, and offers a prolific and wide collection. Ryan Greenly’s work is almost beyond description, so an example of my personal favorite will be offered in addition to what I can tell you. Ryan seems to like to take pieces of scrap wood, nail odd pieces together, and give glimpses into an odd and interesting imagination, reminiscent of the pop art of the early seventies with a twenty-first century flare that I find irresistible.
But then again, I have kind of weird tastes, and as I sat smoking a cig on the back porch, one Ong King regular remarked, “We’re all weird!” So I paraphrased Frank Zappa and Fred Frith, and responded to her, “Yeah, but we don’t think what we do is weird, and that’s the difference.” And that really is the defining difference of this special place. It actually is all good. I later remarked, while shooting a film of the guest book, ‘This is a free-though zone, not a thought-free zone. Many others have tried and failed.” This elicited an agreeable chuckle from DJ Joulz, so I knew it would have to go in the article.
But I’d like to give the M.C. and co-owner, See of Ong King the opportunity to say it for himself:
oNG KIng ARTs CeNtER’s is Chinatown’s art nurturing,
soul clapping, heart blossoming space. Its mission is
to make a sustainable art community. It is a space for
creative risk taking, and artistic mastery.... ...This
is a place of expression, a place to reveal, a freedom
to grow, to create and thrive. Every SuNDay night
9pm-1am the stage is OPEN. You have a something to
say? Music? Say it, sing it, share, listen, inspire
and be inspired. First Fridays is the big one night of
the month that is just all out. FFriday begins at
5pm-9pm with a new art opening, then from 9pm-2am is a
bang out, all out, show of theatre, music, dance, sLam
poetry, acrobatics, all happing on the same stage.
Live, happening, get in and bust out.
MOnday - ThUrsDay classes begin at 7pm. These classes
include, Qi-Gong, Bellydance, Ecstatic Dance, and
Swing Dance. Try something. Rent the space for your
own show, or celebration. KAVA Bar, MAte Bar, BYOB…
And that’s Ong King in a nutshell. A place for the different, those who look at a mainstream art gallery or coffeehouse and sigh, those who wish they could simply meet more folks like themselves.
And on the topic of the unusual, the mixture of entertainment at Ong King also leaves no stone unturned. Although you most likely won’t run across many punk acts at Ong King, that won’t stop you from meeting punks, performance artists, and against-the-grain folk singers, poetry slammers and the like. This First Friday had a wild mix of stage talent, J.P. & WuT were scheduled to be up first, but J.P couldn’t make it so WuT went on first, after a warm-up spin by D.J. Joulz. Delivering his unique style of guitar accompanied by sequenced rhythms controlled by pedal, what then strapped on a harmonica, and went old school with a bit of blues. Followed by WuT was Ari the Clown, a juggler and contortionist. After a humorous juggling act, proceeded to pass his entire body, head to toe, through a squash racquet. We were then treated to Flamenco Spanish dancing by Jamie (or Jaime?) of De La Isla Flamenco, a treat of pure culture and extreme beauty. Giinko Marischino then brought on their interesting variety of performance art and interpretive dance, accented by their impeccable sense of costuming. The ever present, aesthetically pleasing sound of Quadraphinix, who always get the dance floor moving —a band so dedicated, Jonathan, the drummer, and co-owner of Ong King temporarily checked himself out of the hospital to rejoin the fray— kept the groove of the evening moving. Then it was time for some very hip and always sensible rhymes of MC iNTREPiD, one of the players in the recent performance of Hip-hopalypse.
And then came the coup de tat of the evening, a teaser from Tui Scanlan’s up and coming play, Shel Silverstein’s The Devil and Billy Markham. This particular teaser was from the second chapter of this bawdy poem, entitled Billy Markham and the Fly, and it really looks to be a promising play, but as previously hinted at, this is no play for children. This is not The Giving Tree. Tui’s portrayal of the Devil seems as if it were written just for him, and he jests that he was indeed possessed to do this. As in literally. He had actually submitted this play as his thesis in college, (Chapman University, City of Orange, California) which they rejected. However, Tui was undaunted, and the public felt differently when he placed second in national competition. I asked Tui for a brief statement on his new play, and I suspect he was already in character when he exclaimed: “I will crucify you all!”
Well! Sounds like fun to me! I will be covering more on this play in a future article, solely dedicated to that topic.
Other inviting aspects of First Fridays at Ong King include the beautiful women across the road at Bad Sushi, and the presence of Licensed Massage Therapists like Daisy Maltese from the Orchid Room, working the knots out of tired muscles for the bargain rate of one dollar a minute.
Before I had to cut out and catch a bus around midnight, I was very fortunate indeed to catch the words and verse of the notorious Lee Knight, Jr! Now this was a slam poet I could feel from the gut. His poems, more bard-like self-explorations, hit me like a punch, and elicited real emotion. I now know I have to get a hold of this man’s works in print, and it should also be noted that he is a member of Caligula 6.

Lee Knight, Jr. can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/leeknightjr —or— www.myspace.com/caligula6
Ginko Marischino can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/maliama —or— groups.myspace.com/giinko
iTREPiD is at: http://www.myspace.com/soulkitchenrecords
WuT is at: http://www.myspace.com/wut
For other references, links and contacts, try the following URLs:
http://www.myspace.com/ongking
http://www.myspace.com/honestpuck
info or bookings: 306-7823, or 428-3233
—or— online @
http://www.ongking.com/