It’s been a good ride. It’s been a good ride with belly dancers, live painting, bicycle limbo, fashion, mobs of faux Chihulys, graffiti, all varieties of burlesque, nuns hitting bongs, painted bodies, an endless variety of styles, dance, music, film, mayhem and carefully crafted madness. If Andy Warhol were still alive and somehow stranded in Tacoma, he’d be sad to hear it. But the rumors are true — this Saturday marks the final Kulture Lab.



From all accounts, it’s going to be legendary.



With 10 surrealist extravaganzas under their belt, the men behind Kulture Lab — who have included James Hume, James Bender, Jim Price, Rob Anderson, Jeff Olson, Ivan Cunningham and Larry Huffines — are ready to pack it in. Better to duck out before it gets stale, says Hume, who is certain that the 11th show is going to be the most amazing thing the crew has ever pulled off.



“It’s one of those shows where you walk through the door and go ‘Whoa!’” says Hume.



With Olson at the helm, this Saturday’s magnum opus — the Penalty for Removal Redux — will include 20 burners from some of the Pacific Northwest’s premier graffiti artists; live performances by Can-U and Josh Rizeberg; a rotating cast of amazing DJs, including Reign, Dragonfish Killswitch, Slantooth and Jackal; and everything else you’ve come to expect from Tacoma’s greatest, long-running live art experiment. Olson has dragged the street inside for this one, with custom-crafted pieces going up on an old, urban-style theater set copped from Annie Wright School. Expect to see works from some of the Northwest’s finest, including Deal, Niles, Clone, J-rats, Yeole, Aural Wonder, Rite, Joeski, Spud and Gimer.



“It’s going to blow some people over,” says Olson.



It’s fitting that the last Kulture Lab will go out on such an ephemeral note. Like graffiti, Kulture Lab’s productions are here one day — injecting color and life into the dull, grey landscape — and gone the next. Only this time, it’s going to be gone for good.



“I think it’s run its course,” says Hume. “The honest to god truth is that we’ll probably do one more show in April. But we can’t top this one. This will be the best show we’ve ever done. There’s no question.” 



Put simply, Kulture Lab was created in response to a growing demand for a good party. No, not what you’re thinking. Like a real party — something Dionysus or Michael Alig might go to. With the underground art scene still in its infancy, the Dead Artist crew — Hume, Bender, Price, Anderson, Olson — took the challenge, creating a series of genre-bending, multi-platform festivals of aesthetic indulgence that would make any SoHo scenester take a step back.



“Tacoma was missing that whole element — that’s what started it,” says Hume.

Kulture Lab also served as a platform for promoting local artists, adds Hume. When Kulture Lab made its debut, the masterminds behind it struggled to find local artists who were willing to put themselves on display. Those who chose to play, says Hume, reaped the rewards. In the end, their rewards became the best reward for Hume and other organizers.



“It’s always been about taking that unknown person — the underground artists — and giving them a platform. You know, exposing them where they’re not going to get exposed,” says Hume, no pun intended. “At our first show after the break (a hiatus that occurred about three years ago), we had six people who had never shown their art publicly. That was half the artists. They were all kind of nervous then. But I’ve seen them since, and they’re all looking for their next show.”



As they sail into the sunset, Hume says the next generation of party pushers should be prepared to sacrifice time and money, and remember to keep their heads up. Keep covers at $5, dig deep, look for new artists, never do the same thing twice, eradicate boundaries — including your own — and always be sure to surprise your audience.



“If there’s any legacy, it would be that people will pick up where we left off — promoting art and film and fashion and music,” says Hume. “And do it kind with a little bit of integrity.”



Yeah, integrity. And lots of wine and body paint.



[The Warehouse, Penalty for Removal Redux, with walls of amazing graffiti, performances by Can-U and Josh Rizeberg, fashion, film, dance and more, Saturday, March 21, 7-11 p.m., 21+, $5, 1114 Court E., Tacoma, myspace.com/culturelabart]