Recap of the 2015 PuSh Festival Program Launch
November 12, 2014
The 2015 PuSh Festival program was officially announced on Wednesday night at the one-night only performance of The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller at The Vogue Theatre. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, legendary indie band Yo La Tengo treated the crowd with a joyful, playful live score the documentary film, live narrated by Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green. The Vogue, the renowned Vancouver venue, filled with over 1,000 enthusiastic patrons, was the perfect setting for such a radical performance and perfectly set the stage for the 11th edition of the PuSh Festival.
This fantastic evening was made possible by Presenting Partners CDm2 LIGHTWORKS. The PuSh Festival is delighted to partner with them and to continue working with this innovative local company committed to investing in our cutting-edge local arts scene. At a lovely intimate pre-show reception hosted by CDm2 LIGHTWORKS, they welcomed many of Vancouver’s architecture and design elite to celebrate the event. Following the pre-show reception, The Vogue began to fill to capacity with an eclectic crowd of indie music lovers, film aficionados, architects, PuSh go-ers, engineers, the young and the old, and everything in between.
The performance was unlike anything else—part documentary film, part concert, and completely electric. The subject of the film, Richard Buckminster Fuller, was a 20th century futurist architect, theorist, author, engineer, and inventor who is credited with popularizing and reinventing the geodesic dome. The performance highlighted Fuller’s deep history to Vancouver—see 1976’s Habitat I, and his geodesic dome at Science World. Bruno Freschi, the architect of Science World when it was built originally for Expo 86, was in attendance.
Green’s charming and engaging narration draws inspiration from old travelogues, the Benshi tradition, and TED talks. Green’s fascination with his subject is contagious and his humour and insights brought the archival footage and images of Fuller to life. Among Green’s many gems for the crowd was his discovery of Fuller’s notorious 42-hour lecture in full on YouTube.
To cap it all off, we were delighted to announce from the stage that structural engineering firm Glotman Simpson has stepped forward to pledge $5,000 to match all donations to the PuSh Festival through the end of the week. That means, until the end of the week, you can double your impact when you make a gift to the PuSh Festival. This support from Glotman Simpson and you is critical in helping the PuSh Festival continue to put the live performing arts at the heart of the city, and to bring boundary-pushing works—like The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller—to Vancouver audiences!
