The (Art) Auction Turns Up the Chaos at What Lab This Weekend

If you’ve ever been to an art gala and thought, “This could use more smashing, fewer rules and maybe a rogue wrestler,” two things are true: we should hang out, and What Lab heard you. Loudly.

This Friday and Saturday (November 21 and 22), East Van’s creative playground What Lab (1814 Pandora Street) presents The (Art) Auction, a surreal, satirical, slightly feral fundraiser dreamed up by director Santi Henderson, dramaturg Torien Cafferata and production designer Rowan Landaiche. If Santi’s name rings a bell, it’s because we already fell for his gloriously strange brain earlier this year. This time, he’s setting his sights on the gala-industrial complex—and helping keep What Lab alive in the process.

Why This Night Matters

What Lab is not your typical gallery or polished performance venue. It’s giving “I’m not like other moms, I’m a cool mom”—and for once, the mom actually is cool. Founded by artistic director Jarin Schexnider, this independent warehouse project gives artists and the art-curious a safer place to risk failure, experiment and grow. In the past year alone, they’ve paid over $30,000 to artists, premiered 12 new works, offered more than 700 hours of free studio space and hosted 80 external renters—despite having zero operational funding to cover basics like rent or staffing. The (Art) Auction was Schexnider’s solution to “keep the lights on,” quite literally. The goal: raise $15,000 so the doors stay open and the artists stay supported.

What You’re In For

Picture a high-society art auction… then take that picture, try to auction it off, if no one bids, smash it. Get the picture?

Spoiler warning for the chaos lovers who prefer to be surprised: The night unravels like a fever-dream remix of a classic live art auction. Paintings and sculptures go up for sale, only to be obliterated on the spot if no one bites.

Winning bidders are whisked away for private one-to-three-minute micro-performances crafted just for them, while wrestlers disguised as artists crash the action whenever the spirit moves them.

Halfway through, the whole format flips—suddenly the audience becomes a collective funder, pooling money to unlock performances for everyone in the room. The final auction item is a fully participatory piece (think disco line dancing) led by an artist.

Layer in a caricaturist, an “art counter” selling extra micro-performances and improvised piano and cello humming in the background, and the whole thing feels less like a fundraiser and more like a performance-party hybrid where community and chaos happily high-five.

Who’s On Board

A delightfully eclectic mix of more than 23 local artists and creators donating everything from digital files to avant-garde conceptual pieces to what they themselves call “studio trash.”

The Vibe

Think: chaotic glamour with a genuinely soft heart. It’s charity gala energy meets experimental performance art meets fuzzy late-night community gathering, hosted in an East Van warehouse where magic feels inevitable because the people inside care deeply. There will be elegant drinks and food (sponsored by cool hipster beer Pabst Blue Ribbon).

If you’ve seen Henderson’s work before you know he loves taking something familiar (talk shows, country fairs, news broadcasts) and remixing it until it whispers something new. This is him, and the What Lab team, turning a fundraising event into something worth putting on pants for (high praise!) After all, the website states attire is: “East Van Warehouse Black Tie” (but they won’t turn you away for lack of style!).

If You’ve Ever Benefitted from the Arts Here—Or Want to

Maybe you’ve danced, made, rehearsed, loitered, laughed, cried or collapsed dramatically on What Lab’s blue floor. Or maybe you haven’t, but you’re curious. Either way: go. Vancouver’s arts scene—and the people who make it weird, wonderful and vital—will thank you.

When: November 21 and 22 (“cocktail” hour starts at 7 p.m.; Auction starts at 8 pm)
Where: What Lab
Tickets: From $10 (Here)