Ker-Métal
L’ESPACEMAKER
Pandémonium, 2024
Pandémonium is the annual fundraiser of L'ESPACEMAKER, a community maker space based in Montreal's Centre Sud. This Halloween rave welcomes 1200 people each year and raises upwards of $50k. Each year, artists and collectives take over parts of the maker space to build ephemeral worlds. In 2024, Ker-MESS, the Burning Man camp I founded in 2024, took on the project of transforming the metal shop into a punk circus. I led this project and was amazed by the creativity, resilience and commitment of all 30 members of our team. Each and every one of our carnies put blood, sweat, and tears into this adventure to make it a success. I feel deeply privileged to create with these humans by my side. We laughed a lot and served popcorn; the rest is secondary.
Ker-Métal is the lovechild of Ker-MESS and the ESPACEMAKER metal shop. The setting inspired our team to create a darker, rougher circus. We embraced the cold and industrial character of the room to build an atmosphere anchored in darker, emancipated undertones. Our energy was metal, punk, dark, trash. The team ran with it.
Ker-Métal's set design transpires the essence of a punk circus. We revalorized discarded fences, wood panels, and thrown out pieces of metal to build our decor. It sounds very corny, but it was so sick to see our team find beauty and potential in objects that were headed to l’éco-centre. Ain't no Ker-MESS without Mess. 🫶⛓️