Discorder Magazine
Sept-Oct 2021
M
y first thoughts were ‘where has this place been!?’ It’s the kind of idea I wish I had, and I’m immediately glad that someone made it happen. I first heard about Liquidation World through instagram — the name intrigued me, triggering memories of shopping in big-box discount stores growing up. At first it was a bit unclear to me what this Liquidation World was, but luckily their slogan is very straight-to-the-point, “we take everything and everything must go!”
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ne of their instagram videos proclaims, “If it’s just sitting in your studio locked away it’s not doing any good to anyone. Bring it down to Liquidation World, where we turn your art into cold hard cash!’’ Could it be true? An accessible, DIY art consignment, event and gallery space in Vancouver? Turns out it was, and their accessible approach is really what made the place so cool: Truly anyone was invited to bring in the fruit of their artistic labour — regardless of form — to sell in the shop for very reasonable commission rates. When facilitators Katayoon Yousefbigloo, Maya Beaudry and Dave Biddle decided to take on the space, it wasn’t clear what it would be. They were offered a threemonth sublet back in May under the conditions that bulldozers were coming for the building at the end of July, making the space affordable enough to experiment with. ‘Going into this project with ‘no vibe’ was the most important thing,’ said Yousefbigloo, describing the group’s otherwise very open expectations for Liquidation World. The only real intention was to create an opportunity for the art community to shape the space into whatever felt needed. “It started out as a low-stakes space where anyone could show work they’ve been making in isolation over the past couple of years,” Yousefbigloo explained, but it soon turned into a self-sustaining model where both members of the public and participating artists were
buying and selling work of all kinds.
W
alking into Liquidation World, the wide array of work was immediately notable. Part gift shop, part gallery, part community hang out — a large comfy couch invites you to hang out a while. It almost felt like a community garage sale, with a few straightforward policies. You would walk in and see everything from work for sale by artists also exhibiting at the Vancouver Art Gallery, to C.U.M (cool underground music) shirts, to hand-beaded daisy-chains and four foot tall wooden sculptures. The storefront swirled in a kaleidoscope of playful colours, shapes and forms. Alongside the notable diversity of work, the gap between ‘high brow’ and ‘craft’ were beautifully blurred. One of the artists with work for sale was a grade 10 student. This cross exposure is something that Yousefbigloo says they were proud to facilitate. Providing a space where both practicing, and entry-level artists, can co exist in a nonacademic setting is a gap that the organizers feel needs to be addressed. Liquidation World contributes to the fostering of alternative learning and education systems that aren’t always apparent in Vancovuer’s insular art community — one that is often about professionalization rather than community building. The trio behind Liquidation World are no strangers to community organizing
Liquidation World
We Take Everything
