Krampus: Day of the Return of the Jedi King!

Picture this, a cold night at Neon's, some tasty craft beers, and a roaring fire. A perfect setting for an epic conversation sprawling across the eons covering art, music, film and the city going to hell in a handbasket with Ghost Empire's Tank Mansfield. For anyone who doesn't know him, Tank is a busy guy, creating posters for bands like Ohio Knife and original artwork for Madtree. Keeping two galleries supplied, Art on the Levee and ZaPow! in Ashville NC, Tank always has an iron or three in the fire. And as if he didn't have enough on his plate, he is also trying to plan and get the word out about Ghost Empire's next show KRAMPUS THE ART OF WAR III: Day of the Return of the Jedi King!
LOL that’s a mouthful. Krampus takes place Nov 30th at Mainstay in downtown Cincinnati.
Krampus won't be all art; downstairs at Mainstay, Black Signal will be headlining a four-band lineup. Black Signal played at the Maser show back in March if you happened to have caught them there. Tank tells me Matt of Black Signal is a wizard and created the unique LED helmets they wear onstage. Ghost Empire is trying to concentrate on heavier bands because there are already a bunch of indie type bands, they like heavy bands with a good sound.

Krampus will also feature a popup market. Ghost Empire has been doing this two years now and they want it to be an annual event. 12-13 booths will feature artists bringing whatever they want. Everything from prints to posters to Krampus (Christmas) cards and the like.
Audience-wise the highlight of the evening I believe is going to be the Art Battle, a tournament that is one part freestyle rap battle and one part Pictionary with eight artists competing elimination style.

We are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theaters, concerts, and exhibitions . . . but all this is but the smallest part of the art by which we communicate with each other in life. ~ Leo Tolstoy

The raison d'être of Ghost Empire, which is a collective of eight artist, was to break down the barriers between regular people and art. Tank feels that art gets a bad rap, people think it’s all wine and cheese and they fear not understanding it. “We want to show people art is accessible” he says. “People are afraid to approach art because they worry they aren't dressed right or they're not gonna get it and they don't want to look like a dumbass.”
One of the reasons Tank helped found Ghost Empire is because he wanted control over what he showed and where he displayed it. He also wanted to add some competition and push boundaries in art. Artists tend to be lone wolves doing their own thing, being with people and around people forces an artist to be better. "I'd really like to grow with Ghost Empire" he says, "Have it become something bigger."
"I don't like the wine and cheese crowd, I want to party and hang out and listen to bands and DJs".
Tank closed with, "I just want everyone to come out and have fun”.

So there you go, let Ghost Empire challenge your preconceptions of what art is, head to Mainstay on Nov 30th and check out KRAMPUS THE ART OF WAR III: Day of the Return of the Jedi King!
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