9:00am | A little over a year ago, Evan Kelly facilitated the last event to be held at his Exhibit [A] space at 517 N. Pine Ave. before he turned it over for use as a yoga studio.1
If you weren’t there, you really missed out. Dave Wrathall’s Psychedelic Ping Pong Art Show combined painting — on canvases and bodies — ping-pong, strobe lights and black lights, with a couple of DJs bringing it all home right. (Have a gander here.)
The evening unfolded perfectly, and by 11 p.m. the dancing was in full effect, the festivities winding toward an upbeat conclusion.
Until the crash.
The sound of shattering glass produces an almost instinctual freeze response. We all became statues, then looked toward the front of large, open room. It took me a few moments to locate the fellow leaning against a windowpane in such a way that for a second it seemed he was going to fall all the way through.
Fortunately, the glass held, and the fellow sustained only a few lacerations. “Sorry, everybody, for bringing the party down,” he called out to the concerned room just before friends escorted him away.
Needless to say, for most of us the party was over.
But from the perspective of party’s facilitator, not quite.
***
What happened is evident from Wrathall’s video. Right at the 2:00 mark, the fellow — we’ll call him “U.” — is playing doubles ping-pong, and while trotting off to retrieve a ball that got past him he trips over a small display riser built into the concrete floor at the front window.
While the area near the window was not brightly lit, it was easy to see your way around (the floor riser is clearly discernible); and U. chose to play ping-pong there of his own free will. As happens with people sometimes, U. failed to take proper care with regard to his surroundings. And he broke a window. No malice, no wanton recklessness; it was an honest misstep.
Kelly says he learned that U. severed a pinkie tendon. Fortunately, Kelly had the proper insurance for such an event, and so U.’s medical expenses were covered.
What was not insured was the window, which would end up costing $300 to replace. Kelly came up with what he felt was an equitable solution: Kelly and Wrathall would pay $100 each, and U. would pay the remaining $100.
Though Kelly is no Pollyanna, since it was U. who had actually broken the window, Kelly was surprised to find U. not only balking at the idea of covering his share of the damage, but trying to profit the situation.
“I talked to him maybe a week after the event,” Kelly recounts. “I was like, ‘I just want to make sure you’re okay.’ And he seemed very nice about it all. … But as soon as it got to the [idea of payment], he was like, ‘Well, I can’t work, and I don’t have any money,’ and all this stuff. … ‘[Plus,] you’re going to have to pay for my medical bills.’ … I had insurance that covered $10,000 in medical bills regardless of who’s at fault. … But he got a lawyer, trying to sue my insurance company. … He was saying he’s a musician, and now he can’t play music. “
More than that, Kelly says, it seems U. tried sponge money from acquaintances for bills he had no intention of paying. “His girlfriend was out collecting donations, but he wouldn’t pay his share of the window. I [said to myself], ‘Why is your girlfriend out collecting donations when my insurance is going to cover your medical bills?'”
Kelly, who estimates he has helped put on approximately 20 events around town (not including his involvement with the East Village Arts District Second Saturdays and LBCreative!’s monthly mixers), says that the incident with U. isn’t that uncommon, at least in spirit.
“In doing events, I’ve seen the people who come out. [These events] always attract a certain amount of people that are there to find a situation they can benefit from,” Kelly says. “There used to be this guy that would come in a wheelchair, and he would cruise around the place literally looking for a scenario where the event made something not wheelchair accessible, then would complain to the city. … Whether he was doing it for a good reason or a bad one, I don’t know, but that’s the only reason he was there — not to enjoy the event, not to be a part of the community. And then there are people who come just for the free food or free wine. [The situation with U.] wasn’t too far off that mentality. Something happened that was bad, and this guy tried to shift blame off of himself, and also tried to gain from it.”
Nonetheless, Kelly claims the experience has not dampened his enthusiasm for being involved in community events. “It doesn’t bother me too much,” Kelly says, “because I know there are people like that out there.”
Good thing for the rest of us, because if people eschew the ethos of “You broke it, you bought it” in favor of “Let’s see if I can profit from the damage I do,” we could easily find ourselves with less to do around town.
Footnote
1Exhibit [A] is now located at 555 N. Pine Ave. The space at 517 N. Pine Ave. is now vacant.