Tonight is the night when the superpower of being in many places symultaneously could come in handy.
Portland State University has a program in Japanese theater and tonight workshop students perform Kyogen plays. Kyogen is a form of classical Japanese theater first performed in the 1300's. Often topics are funny parables, think Falstaff. The sound effects are made by voice and part of the play, so for instance there is a vocalization for the sound a saw makes, it sounds nothing like a saw, but it is known to the audiences as the sound of a saw from studying Kyogen in Japanese schools. Often Kyogen was performed between Noh plays to provide a contrast to Noh's formalism. Tonight's performances are The Fortified Beard, Higeyagura and Bosan. The event is at Imago Theater, 17 SE 8th. 7PM Free
Ignite is a series of random short talks, sort of a hipster-geek Toastmaster's elevator pitch originated by O'Reilly, the tech book publisher with the exquisite line drawings of animals on the covers. The 6th Portland instance is tonight. The website details the talks, many surely to be entertaining. At the Bagdad Theater Doors 5:30PM, Program 7. Free
Small and modest is in. That is why the 14 Parcels project is so appealing. An all but completely abandoned and difficult building site in the North part of the South Waterfront will be host to 14 structures, small studios, designed by Portland and international architects. Small and beautiful. Tonight you can hear about it from architect, planner and builder Kevin Cavenaugh, at Design Within Reach. At DWR Portland Studio 1200 NW Everett. 6pm Free
Art Spark is a monthly get together for drinks and networking in the Portland art community. There is a short presentation of 6 minutes by a local art group, but the rest is purely interesting conversation. Tonight for the program filmmaker Andy Blubaugh will set up and film a short scene. The host is the NW Film Center, who are showing a rooftop film, the Marx Brothers 1933 comedy, Duck Soup, later in the same location. On the rooftop of Hotel deLuxe, 729 SW 15th. Art Spark 5pm-7; Film sometime after 8. Free
The PNCA international animation festival, Boundary Crossings, previously noted continues with a discussion of the creative process in animation by an Austin professor of animation and a creative director at LAIKA. At The Lab at Museum of Contemporary Craft, 724 NW Davis 6:30pm Free
Copyright is a sticky wicket. It is becoming increasingly divergent with Disney and others vociferously lobbying for expanded copyright protection, successfully, essentially indefinitely. It is largely ignored by samplers, and viewed askance by China. Meanwhile experts in digital rights management, technical means for controlling copying wonder if it will ever work effectively. In that spirit, "Free Culture: Creating Copyright and Coprighting Creativity" explores copyright and sampling. You, the audience will have the opportunity to remix copyright law in a Twitter mediated cooperative live online editing session. After there will be a discussion led by YACHT and copyright lawyer Peter Shavers. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch Street 6:30pm Free
German printmaker MC Escher has a show at the Portland Art Museum now. In support of the exhibition there is a talk by Richard Taylor, University of Oregon professor of physics, psychology and art. He speaks on fractal patterns in the art of Escher and Jackson Pollock. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM $10, free members