So...the e-mail interchange on this topic was inconclusive. Time to revive it. My question and thoughts on the subject are as follows. It's important that everybody knows what the status is so we can decide to join the mad rush for Cortez rooms or not.

The question: To sprawl away from the Cortez epicenter or not?

My thoughts: It should be the artist's prerogative. If you set up on 4th Street you'll be away from the main event and therefore ignored by the media (and therefore the crowds) to a certain extent. If you're comfortable with that, you can take advantage of a little more freedom in a little bit crazier part of town. The people who are really into it will make it anyway.

I do understand the idea of having a cohesive body of work in one place. But hey...it's no big deal to put a couple of extra dots on the map, and it contributes greatly to the overall anarchy of the event.

As far as the 4th street scene goes, it's a damn shame the Jazz Club is gone. But we still have Dave Muskin with his photography and kick-ass bar, and Studio on 4th has a lot of potential. And there's plenty of other dive bars, strip clubs, and vacant lots where anybody could make anything happen.

I liked the outlying DaDa Motel events last year. The Vomitorium was one of my favorites. So I guess that shows where my preferences lie. We need to maintain a healthy dose of anarchy.

And your thoughts are???