Away from the festival, Hamtramck’s teeming nightlife

By Walter Wasacz

Hamtramck was off the hook on Labor Day weekend. The festival and parade — as you’ve no doubt already seen on the front page of the last week’s Review, if you weren’t one of thousands of people in attendance — were filled with live energy and big fun.

What I’d like to do is take you behind those scenes to some other cool stuff that happened in town that weekend, away from the mainstream. Hamtramck is so rich with cultural life (ethnic, creative), it’s hard to keep track or keep up. But that’s one of the reasons we’re here.

I took some photos of a unique event held at the Public Pool art space on Caniff on Friday, Sept. 3. The performance featured Chris Pottinger (Cotton Museum, Slither, Odd Clouds) and Jon Brumit, who created the sight-sound installation called the Quantum Field, which was up at the gallery for the past six weeks.

Incidentally, Brumit, now based in Chicago, purchased the famed “$100 House” on Lawley St. in NoHam and will be moving there in January. We will pick up on his story later.

In the pics, Pottinger is rocking out at a table filled with electronic gear; Brumit is tweaking his installation on a ladder and playing an amplified sewing machine. Pottinger has lots of hair; Brumit doesn’t.

If you like what you see, check out a completely different show opening this Saturday at Public Pool. The group show called “Erasure” features artists Mira Burack, John Corbin, Andrew Davis, Tim Hailey, Scott Hocking, Kathy Rashid, Gilda Snowden and Graem Whyte. The opening reception is 7-11 p.m. at the gallery, 3309 Caniff.

There will be an after-party at Skipper’s (9735 Conant), featuring a complimentary taco bar courtesy of John Lopez (formerly of Union Street, Atlas Global Bistro and other fine Detroit kitchens).