It’s always the freaks that are the most interesting. People on the fringes of what’s possible, pushing the boundaries just to see what’s out there. For the remainder of humanity that isn’t fortunate or brave enough to have the opportunity to occupy such a precarious space, the reports back from the edge serve as a reminder of what it is that we’re all living for.

This issue is particularly representative of that fringe life, what with all the boundary pushers we’ve been able to round up—people like Bob Gorman who have been drowning in fake blood since the 80s, or Heidi Peelen of the new conceptual art collective Watershed Art House who have only been at it a few months. Witness Adar Seligman-McComas who, despite being a professional vocal instructor, pushed her own voice so far that she almost lost it for good. Then there’s the ever-returning phenomenon that is Harrisonburg Rock Lotto, which brings a healthy formal randomness to the fine art of band formation. All freaks, all profoundly valuable for the work they bring to the world.

You’d think that someone steering the ship of a project like Whurk would fall into this category—and you’d be absolutely right. That’s why I’m also overjoyed to participate in the discussion with Vince Kadlubek, CEO and Co-Founder of the Sante Fe art collective Meow Wolf, at this year’s Tom Tom Founders Festival Founders in Charlottesville on Friday, April 13. That’s happening at the Founders Luncheon entitled Art, Fantasy, and Mystery: Meow Wolf, tickets for which are still available at tomtomfest.com. If you haven’t yet seen the mind-blowing expansiveness of their House of Eternal Return or kept up with the artistic opportunities made possible from its success, you are in for a treat. It’s just the kind of back-from-the-edge story that may just turn you into an explorer yourself.

Cheers,
Seth Casana
Editor-In-Chief
seth@whurk.org

Above: The TV Tunnel in the House of Eternal Return. (Photo by Lindsey Kennedy)