Cycle Wave was an underground art and music event held in Toronto that brought together over 20 collaborators. It was hosted in a bicycle repair shop that doubles as an event space. The event featured various art forms like paintings, illustrations, and photography influenced by skate culture. It began as an art showcase for an hour before transitioning to a dance party with live DJ sets. The event became more crowded and party-like, making it difficult to view the art. While there were some logistical issues, the organizers were pleased with the successful turnout and plan to host another event.

1. 11/18/2015 Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time | CanCulture
http://www.canculture.com/2015/01/18/cycle-wave-art-grime-and-a-good-time/ 1/5
(https://www.facebook.com/canculture) (https://twitter.com/canculturemag)
(http://instagram.com/canculture) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/60641951@N05/)
(http://youtube.com/user/canculture) (mailto:submissions@canculture.com)
(http://www.canculture.com/feed/)
Welcome back, we've missed you.
DISCOVER CANADIAN ARTS AND CULTURE
JANUARY 18, 2015
Photo taken by Kelsey Adams.
Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time
Every now and then, gems can be found by walking down an alley in the clandestine hours of the night.

2. 11/18/2015 Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time | CanCulture
http://www.canculture.com/2015/01/18/cycle-wave-art-grime-and-a-good-time/ 2/5
People waiting outside at 11:30 p.m. Photo taken by Kelsey
Adams
There was nothing stuffy or uptight about Cycle Wave Art and Music Collective, an event created by over 20
collaborators. It was hosted on Jan. 16 at CineCycle, a bicycle repair shop by day and underground event space by
night hidden away down an alley near Spadina Avenue and Richmond Street.
Thanks to the democratization of the art
world, an event doesn’t need the backing of
a pre-established Toronto art institution to
pull in numbers and generate interest. Cycle
Wave is proof of that, with a long line of
people waiting in the bitter cold for a chance
to get inside. The event had reached capacity
and it was only 10 p.m.
“There are galleries that are committed
towards helping promote underground
artists, but there are also a lot of galleries
where you have to do a submission and it’s a
big process,” says Yohei Saka, OCAD student
and initiator of Cycle Wave. “I really support
the people who have a space that they’re
down to rent to anyone.”
Saka and his collective created the event to showcase upcoming Toronto-based artists and musicians with an
emphasis on urban culture. As the ringleader of sorts, Saka conceived the name for the show quite simply: it was
going to be hosted at CineCycle and he saw it as a wave of artists coming together.
The event was set up as an art show for the first hour and later on everyone loosened up and started dancing. “I
wanted a party vibe,” says Saka, “There are a lot of art shows that I’ve gone to where people will just be standing
around and in their own little groups. But no one’s dancing or having a lot of fun.”
To combat this, they mixed an art showcase with multiple DJ and live sets. The crumbling, exposed brick walls and
rusted bicycles suspended from the ceiling were the backdrop for illustrations, paintings, photography and even
skateboard decks.
Ian Afif had the first set of the night, and he played a mix of disco and beat-house as people schmoozed. They looked
at Christian Stearry’s tongue-in-cheek paintings of skateboarders, Maximillian Mueller’s vivid paintings on
skateboard decks, Tavis Lochhead’s flipped architectural photography and many others. Another artist, Evan
Hudson painted decks as well, saying, “I did the paintings on the skateboards because it’s a representation of us, of a
certain generation in Toronto.”
Saka met most of his fellow artists at skateparks and the influence of skate culture permeated throughout the space.
From the art hanging on the walls to the attendees, symbols of this tightknit community were evident: the tell-tale
triangle logo of Palace Skateboards adorning jackets, a sea of scuffed-up skateboarding shoes and beanies
everywhere.
Following Afif, Joe Yates’ DJ set became a catalyst for how the rest of the night would go. It shifted from mellow to
an all-out party. Yates dropped upbeat dance gems like Azealia Banks’ “Soda” and crowd favourites like Hippie

3. 11/18/2015 Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time | CanCulture
http://www.canculture.com/2015/01/18/cycle-wave-art-grime-and-a-good-time/ 3/5
Evan Hudson’s painted skateboard decks.
Photo taken by Kelsey Adams
Sabotage’s “Stay High Flip.”
Changing visuals and retro music video clips projected on a
screen behind the DJs complemented the music. Even with
technical difficulties (people dancing on cables and cutting
off the sound) there was still high energy and a lone crowd
surfer during LilGae’s rap-house-techno hybrid
performance.
As the number of people increased, the art became
secondary to the music. The organizers greatly
underestimated the popularity of the event and once over
capacity, people were crammed from wall to wall. There was
no space between the art and viewers making it impossible to
get a good look. One of Hudson’s decks was vandalised.
“That is an issue that happened because of us making it more
of a party instead of a casual art show,” says Saka.
Most art shows tend to be solitary and it was refreshing to
see so many artists coming together. Despite some technical
difficulties and being a bit rough around the edges, it makes
sense the group is already planning another event for
February. It was a great first effort but one thing’s for sure,
they’ll need a bigger venue the next time around.
Kelsey Adams (mailto:kelsey@canculture.com) is CanCulture’s co-fashion section editor. She is currently studying
journalism at Ryerson University.
by Kelsey Adams
Art Music

4. 11/18/2015 Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time | CanCulture
http://www.canculture.com/2015/01/18/cycle-wave-art-grime-and-a-good-time/ 4/5
Opening for @DIIV, MTL's @nojoy left the audience
w/ an otherworldly feeling at @the_hoxton
canculture.com/2015/11/16/no-…
pic.twitter.com/kd24hSVj5S
CanCulture
@canculturemag
Expand
From @_NARCES to @beaufillefsn, this season's
@WMCFashionWeek foreshadowed Spring '16
trends canculture.com/2015/11/14/tor…
pic.twitter.com/KXydOIMYNV
CanCulture
@canculturemag
9h
15 Nov
Tweets Follow
Tweet to @canculturemag
Meta
Log in
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
WordPress.org

5. 11/18/2015 Cycle Wave: Art, grime and a good time | CanCulture
http://www.canculture.com/2015/01/18/cycle-wave-art-grime-and-a-good-time/ 5/5
Make: A WordPress template by The Theme Foundry
(https://www.facebook.com/canculture) (https://twitter.com/canculturemag)
(http://instagram.com/canculture) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/60641951@N05/)
(http://youtube.com/user/canculture) (mailto:submissions@canculture.com)
(http://www.canculture.com/feed/)