Strong presentation. THIN

The THIN photographic show at the SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM was remarkable. I am still debating the issues of intrusion and exploitation, but somewhere inside i feel that this type of personality disorder illness seeks the kind of attention this artist delivered. Polly is now dead. Her death marks the great importance of the material explored. For any parent with a daughter, this subject matter is a must.

Powerful interview. An honest person.

click here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy-yl5GRtq4

Building my Installation Movie Screen :)

Friday nite. Most people are excited about going to Burger King and "King Size-ing" the fries. I am locked up in my apt. designing, building, glueing, and spray-painting my film installation piece that will premiere at BWAC (Brooklyn, NY) in May. Jane (akame) got the cute lil' tv on EBAY before they booted me off cause I didn't pay some guy $2.99 for a magazine I changed my mind on getting. Oh well. I got my TV. And now, thanks to the wonderful Courtney Love, I have been taught that ETSY.COM is a far betta site to shop from. um, she is WAY right!

enjoy,
luv,
akame
xoxoxo

Sick Contemporary Love Affairs. vroom vroom.

click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvuY1nO27Go

Coco Sumner IS music !

For all those who may not be aware, there is a new talent that is about to be unleashed.
Her name is Coco Sumner.
I highly recommend that anyone with a true interest in the future of music, and voice, check out this raw and young talent !

Scary Article about TWITTER stalkers/hacking.

CLICK HERE:

http://soshable.com/tequila-gibson-twitter/

Awesome Lecture.

It was a great and intimate lecture to go to. Jacqueline Hassink is a true artist. I learned from this talk, and I learned from her "process". What are you talkin about? Be specific please (me talking in my head to myself)...

1) her creative/obsessive use of organizing thoughts into journal pads.
2) her ability to present very cold, clinical and intimidating corporate offices for us inept idiots (myself) to observe carefully and pretend to hang out in (at least that's what I pretended to do).
3) her choice of placing "black" pages on the companies that refused to let her photograph their office spaces.
4) her need to keep taking photographs (analog not digital) and publish books whether she has a broad audience or not. Simply "because".

It's important to go to these type of things (um, yeah you joey). to get out. to expose ourselves to others thought processes and methods. Indirectly something is taken home with us. Something that may be fortunate, or unfortunate. Either way, it becomes our creative company.

akame.
xo

halarious ! YOU GO LINDSAY !!!! i love you more now !

CLICK ON THIS LINK ! :
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0d646e2edb/lindsay-lohan-s-eharmony-profile

Lecture talk tonite.

I have so much to do. And am always looking for excuses to not "do them".
Here's my latest excuse, there's a still photography lecture tonite and I wanna go. As I have been delving more into still photography in my work, and trying to understand the prejudice against the digital form of image capture, I wanna learn as much as possible and expose myself to these dialogues. i'm gonna go to this Hassink artist talk thingy tonite. Hopefully I will get myself a strong coffee after she blabs and shows her slideshow, so that I will have the energy and enthusiasm, to get my own personal artistic stuff done when i get home. i mean, it won't be too too late (i.e. this is me trying to bullcrap myself into an excuse to go).

Car Girls, Jacqueline Hassink
Artist's Talk and Book Signing

WHERE: Aperture Gallery

Dutch artist Jacqueline Hassink discusses her latest book, Car Girls, in the context of her other critically acclaimed books and exhibitions that deal conceptually with issues of power and social relations. Car Girls is a body of photographic work that Hassink created over five years, photographing "car girls" during major car shows in seven different cities on three continents. As she describes it, Hassink uses these sites to reflect on "differing cultural values with regard to their ideal images of beauty and women. The series captures the moments during the women's performances when they become more like dolls or tools than individuals."

Embarrased to admit.

The teeny-bop vampire love story in-a-parking-lot movie, "TWILIGHT" has about million items for sale. I usually glance, disregard and keep struttin', but today a collaged book cover caught my eye. Probably because it looked like my refrigerator, a packed colorful collage. It was a new book on THE MAKING OF TWILIGHT DIRECTORS SKETCHES AND NOTES.

I highly recommend this book for any person interested in film as art, and any artist interested in enjoying the documented "process" of creativity. The book is full of sketches, notes, location scoutings, just such a joy to read and browse through.Wanna know how much I liked it :

1) I paid $20 bucks for it.
2) I am downloading the dumb movie to watch and compare to the books comments and drawing sketches.


What a Life this guy Jane has huh. Yeah, I know. I Know. Whateva. THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE THIS VERY SECOND. YOU ARE ON JANE'S BLOG !!!!!

A big sloppy kiss to you, my greatest fan (which really means ME).



xoxoxo

Inspiring security guarded "moment" .

Yesterday I woulda stayed in my apartment. Quiet. Hidden. Thinking. Trying not to be thinking. A film school friend, and experimental professor, convinced me to get out and catch a ride with him. He wanted company. He had to ride and meet a teacher of his at the NEW SCHOOL OF ART in Manhattan. I had to wait in the lobby due to security reasons (I ain't enrolled in the school). Long story short, wow. I was just so blown away. The elevator I was not allowed to get into was covered in a gigantic color photograph of a beautiful girl typing pensively. Two giant flat monitors flashing upcoming Guest Speakers and Artist Installations. Students swishing in and out of the street glass doors. Thank God I am a member of that race of people. Thank God I am a proud member the the creative community.

Whether they let me ride on the damn elevator or not. Screw it. The security guard was a whole other race anyways. No biggie.

later.
akame.xo

thats enough of a teaser!

How was this done? These were images that I collected and transferred to transparency paper. Projected onto an old white foam core. Took digital stills of. Then "Photoshopped". The result ends up being this Vintage looking collection of people. Fact - the images are all collected and 2008 photographs of contemporary people. These are all teaser images for my new film, "Homewrecka".

more...

SCIENTIFIC STUDY ON CREATIVITY.

Psychologists from the University of Toronto and Harvard University have identified one of the biological bases of creativity.
________________________________________
The study in the September issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology says the brains of creative people appear to be more open to incoming stimuli from the surrounding environment. Other people's brains might shut out this same information through a process called "latent inhibition" - defined as an animal's unconscious capacity to ignore stimuli that experience has shown are irrelevant to its needs. Through psychological testing, the researchers showed that creative individuals are much more likely to have low levels of latent inhibition.
"This means that creative individuals remain in contact with the extra information constantly streaming in from the environment," says co-author and U of T psychology professor Jordan Peterson. "The normal person classifies an object, and then forgets about it, even though that object is much more complex and interesting than he or she thinks. The creative person, by contrast, is always open to new possibilities."
Previously, scientists have associated failure to screen out stimuli with psychosis. However, Peterson and his co-researchers - lead author and psychology lecturer Shelley Carson of Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard PhD candidate Daniel Higgins - hypothesized that it might also contribute to original thinking, especially when combined with high IQ. They administered tests of latent inhibition to Harvard undergraduates. Those classified as eminent creative achievers - participants under age 21 who reported unusually high scores in a single area of creative achievement - were seven times more likely to have low latent inhibition scores.
The authors hypothesize that latent inhibition may be positive when combined with high intelligence and good working memory - the capacity to think about many things at once - but negative otherwise. Peterson states: "If you are open to new information, new ideas, you better be able to intelligently and carefully edit and choose. If you have 50 ideas, only two or three are likely to be good. You have to be able to discriminate or you'll get swamped."
"Scientists have wondered for a long time why madness and creativity seem linked," says Carson. "It appears likely that low levels of latent inhibition and exceptional flexibility in thought might predispose to mental illness under some conditions and to creative accomplishment under others."
For example, during the early stages of diseases such as schizophrenia, which are often accompanied by feelings of deep insight, mystical knowledge and religious experience, chemical changes take place in which latent inhibition disappears.
"We are very excited by the results of these studies," says Peterson. "It appears that we have not only identified one of the biological bases of creativity but have moved towards cracking an age-old mystery: the relationship between genius, madness and the doors of perception."
This research was funded by the Stimson Fund and the Clark Fund at Harvard University and by the Connaught Fund at U of T.

Nature

Today I spent the afternoon in a playground. Wondering, "what do I want to do next?" A nature film? Something simple? Something aesthetically stimulating. Something that would involve travel (as a means of reaching my joyful process stage).


But where? Lake Luise, Canada? Oregon? Some undiscovered ocean shore along Washington State coastline. Maybe all three?

I went to Aperture on 27th street to browse through there vast photography book library. I got my tax refund back, so why not treat myself to a gift. Treat myself to a book. See where my brain goes if stimulated properly.

I looked for something that would hit a nerve. I found something. A large and expensive book on the works of artist Beate Gutschow. Landscapes. The works were very green and rich. I saw places I wished I could be at that very moment. Actually every single moment.

Reading an interview I learned that, like Andreas Gursky, Gutschow takes analog photographs of places. She then creates montage by digitally superimposing elements of the photos she takes, finally creating a very special and personal place that essentially only exists by her creative hands. I like that. First of all, it saves me a lot of money. I DON'T HAVE TO BLOW A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS ON SOME DIGITAL CAMERA THAT WILL BE OUTDATED IN 6 MONTHS TIME. I can use analog. Basically, I want to consider this option. A weekend trip to a special quiet non-touristy place that would allow me the freedom to explore via analog capture. Then, via digital toys, re-create something "other". I may want to include some form of narrative, but I'll see when the time comes. I know that I want GREEN. And I know that I want to layer location sounds.

OK, I blabbed.
You sure are lucky. You get to really dive into my thinking here. You meaning ME (when I re-read my BLOGS).

Thanks. Enjoy the still image from a GUTSCHOW shot. ta ta for now.

always,
me.
xo

Did the Joker Kill Heath Ledger?

One of the more intriguing things bandied about in the days following Heath Ledger’s tragic death last month was that the Joker — the comic book character Ledger plays in the upcoming The Dark Knight — killed him.

By this people didn’t mean that the Joker, a fictional character, literally killed Ledger, but they didn’t exactly mean it in a wholly figurative sense either. Rather, people seemed to be suggesting that Ledger was haunted by the Joker, unable to get him out of his system after playing him, and that this might at least partially explain his untimely death. In the words of John Brackett, “So did the Joker take over his mind and eventually end his life in a horribly ironic twist worthy of his green haired alter-ego?”

As more of the facts surrounding Ledger’s death came to light, the less people suggested that the Joker killed him. Yet, after reading ">Rolling Stone’s recent obituary for/appreciation of Ledger, I’m not entirely convinced it’s frivolous to ask whether the Joker might in some weird way be responsible for Ledger’s death. And if that is indeed the case, what does it say about the psychic power of fictional characters?

The following lines in the Rolling Stone piece seem to reinforce, if only subtly at times, the idea that the Joker killed Ledger:
“He couldn’t seem to disengage; the inexactness bothered him.”
“Ledger had no formal training, and there’s this to be said for acting school: it teaches you to approach a role as foreign, as a language you’ll temporarily speak. Ledger didn’t appear to have that. He needed to dig for (and inhabit) the part of himself that was the character. ‘Performance comes from absolutely believing what you’re doing,’ he said. ‘You convince yourself, and believe in the story with all your heart.’ It didn’t always shut off when a production did, and I think it ground him.”
“As The Joker in next summer’s The Dark Knight, he will appear as a man severed from all connection. A ‘psychopathic, mass-murdering clown with zero empathy,’ is how he described it to the New York Times. On set, Michael Caine said the performance sometimes turned so frightening he forgot his own lines.”
I find these three quotes really provocative.

Interestingly, the article begins by mentioning Daniel Day-Lewis’s heartfelt reaction to the news of Ledger’s death on Oprah.
Most people probably thought that Day-Lewis was simply being classy and emotional, and that he deserved kudos for saying what was really on his mind, for acknowledging something Oprah probably wouldn’t have mentioned otherwise. But maybe Day-Lewis’s reaction had more to do with the fact that both he and Ledger approached acting in the same way, i.e., they both sought to become the characters they played. Maybe Day-Lewis expression of grief had something to do with the kinship he felt with Ledger, not just as a fellow actor, but as someone who knows how hard it is to detach after inhabiting a character body and soul.

Consider, for instance, a recent profile of Day-Lewis in The Guardian which tries halfheartedly to debunk “the popular image of him, namely that, for all his extraordinary talent, he is a tortured genius, living the life of a recluse, reluctantly breaking cover once every few years to inhabit body and soul hugely demanding screen roles,” but in the end simply reinforces this view.
The article notes that for The Last of the Mohicans (1992), “Day-Lewis underwent rigorous weight training during which he added 20lb of muscle to his body. Not content with that, he also learnt to live off the land and forest, as his character would have done, by spending six months learning how to camp, fish and skin animals. By the end of his training he had built himself a canoe. He also carried a Kentucky rifle at all times during filming and learnt how to load and fire it while running.”

Likewise, for In the Name of the Father (1993), “Day-Lewis lived on prison rations to lose 30 lb and spent extended periods in the jail cell on set, while crew hurled abuse and cold water at him.”
For The Crucible (1996), “Day-Lewis went back in time. He stayed on a Massachusetts island in the film set’s replica village — without electricity or running water — planted fields with 17th- century tools, and built his character’s house.”
For The Boxer (1997), Day-Lewis “trained with former world champion Barry McGuigan, who said he could have been a professional: ‘He was in the gym twice a day, seven days a week for nearly three years.’ Injuries included a broken nose and a herniated disc in his lower back.”
For Gangs of New York (2002), “Day-Lewis hired circus performers to teach him how to throw daggers and trained as a butcher. He got pneumonia during shooting, initially refusing to have treatment or trade his coat for a warmer one.”

Stories like these make me think that maybe Ledger couldn’t leave the Joker behind as well as Day-Lewis seems to be able to leave the characters he plays behind. Callous as it may sound, if the Joker really did have something to do with Ledger’s death, it actually makes me even more interested in seeing The Dark Knight.

FERAL HOMELESS HUDSON THING.

After a brief and expensive grocery shopping session at FAIRWAY by the Hudson, I was taken for a peaceful stroll by the dirty river to look for a tree. After visiting the tree, and seeing an assortment of floating garbage and soda bottles, I was directed to observe a makeshift blue-colored plastic milk crate hotel. Inside the crate was a feral orange cat, YES a wild and homeless cat. Bright orange, I could not believe my eyes. It was kinda sad, but also kinda true social commentary right before my eyes. What kind of “character” did this cat have? What kind of “personality” I wondered. I was told that the milk crate houses 3 cats in total, and that they are fed and taken care of by a homeless man. Wow. I wanted to make sure I Blogged something about this, and to show a cellphone pic for you all to see (“you all” meaning Myself, when I go back and re-read my Blogs weekly).

I don’t want to make any profound statements about this cat or this milkcrate, or this entire situation by the Hudson river. I really just wanted to let you see this image, and allow you the liberty to ponder. I will actually let YOU make your own decision on how you want to think about this cat thing entirely. Even if you are not a “cat person”, think about this cat’s potential life, in general.

Goodbye.

Love,
akame.

p.s. the orange cat is on the bottom LEFT corner of the image, sitting on top of its blue crate. Hidden behind the dry river bushes.
xo

RWANDA VERSUS BLAIRSTOWN !

It was Saturday (yesterday). I forced myself to toss on a classy scarf around my neck and go out to take pictures, and look for inspiring things on the "OUTSIDE". I went to view an afternoon Art Opening of a photo show at APERTURE concerning Rwanda Children Born Of Rape. Images were nice in saturated color, but very close to the BORN INTO BROTHELS aesthetic.

www.un.org/preventgenocide/rwanda/visions

I snatched some postcards and their calendar and then joined forces with an old film classmate to go a small town in N.J. called BLAIRSTOWN. The purpose of BLAIRSTOWN was to go with a film school pal to check out the Campsite where the original Friday the 13th film was filmed back in the 1980's. Well, it was Private Property, he chickened out. I was trapped in his car and had to abide. I encouraged him to at least let me explore the historic town. I did. I got great shots (see attached). I was dropped off at home.

I will return to the Blairstown campsite again. BUT NEXT TIME ALONE. You see my Blogger friends, I have learned, over and over again, that in life you can rely on only one single person to get things done correctly. and that is YOURSELF. I will explore the Sand Pond Campsite where they shot that classic nature film, and I WILL NOT "get pinched".

enjoy some pics I took JUST FOR YOU...

Cries and Whispers and how to survive.

I watched an interview with the late INGMAR BERGMAN that was included on the CRIES AND WHISPERS recent DVD release last nite on my bed. Relaxing, and alone, I heard my own experiences being expressed on the screen by this ageing hero of mine. In this rare interview, INGMAR is questioned about how he has handled the losses of loves and relationships in his life at the late age of 81. He said that WORKING, committing himself fully to living his life as an ARTIST, and committing himself fully to a deep sense of Professionalism in the quest to making the best possible films as honest and pure ART, is what has provided to him "healing".

God Bless Him for sharing.
Even now with his death, his work and FILMS breathe on, and continue to inspire the living.
And those, like myself, can relate to these feelings that he had about ART and the power it has to heal our deepest wounds.

First Go.

I tried out a public reading of "CHOWCHILLA" last nite at CORNELIA CAFE.
At Cornelia Cafe a reader is allowed only 3 minutes so I decided to keep it straight foward and simple, to test the waters of my guts. I can do this. I do want to involve a little more "drama" into this. A little bit more of a performance.
I have some ideas up my sleeve and will appear again in 2 weeks at another Open Mike venue with a 7 minute, Performance decorated reading.

I went alone.
I set up the camcorder.
I walked up and read the thing.
I split.

Enjoy.

The origins of "CAMP".

The writer/critic Susan Sontag was teaching at Columbia University when she published her essay, "NOTES ON 'CAMP'". Sontag's analysis of the underground camp sensibility launched this term into mainstream culture (later confused with Pop), and film. Sontag also became popularly identified as the high priestess of camp cult. A March 1965 NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE article on camp by writer Thomas Meehan described Sontag as the person who discovered and defined the already existing phenomenon "CAMP".

In later years, Sontag became one of America's best-known intellectuals, writing frequently in the NEW YORKER, the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, and other journals, published four novels, a book of short stories, and a number of nonfiction books of criticism and cultural analysis, including AGAINST INTERPRETATION, ON PHOTOGRAPHY, ILLNESS AS METAPHOR and REGARDING THE PAIN OF OTHERS. She also directed four feature films. Her novel IN AMERICA won the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2000. Susan Sontag died in December 2004 at the age of 71.

Recent discovery has uncovered that Sontag identified aka joey (aka jane public) as the one and only true relevant figure of the cinematic underground notion of "the Fine Art of Camp". Her living family members have confessed that Susan regrets not having left all of her material belongings to aka joey, but from her grave encourages him to move foward and let others know about her "innermost feelings" via the written blog.


Thank you.
ANONYMOUS

Cant Explain.

I recorded this video installation of YVONNE RAINER at the MoMa museum. This dance excerpt is an example of what inspired me to make the film NICE PEOPLE. And also, what inspires me in general. I cannot explain why I simply love watching this kind of body movement (I.E. dance). When ya think of ballet, you think of tutu's and conservative crowds, BUT there is really something else about the essential art of the idea of how a person can move and express with a body.

Anyways, enjoy.
And give me credit. Your not allowed to take pictures at the MoMa, and I managed to pull this off quietly. The things I do for YOU.

always,
akame.

p.s. if you listen carefully you can hear me and my darling Cassie as I feed her an afternoon of gallery strolling tips :)


xo

Incredible Review

I recently purchased the book, "WORDS IN AIR, The complete coorespondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell". The book is such a masterpiece of simple and blatant letters of two artists to one another. It's the kind of book that makes you hate the laptop computer and wish the old typewriter was still available in places other than EBAY.com (I found my typewriter in a garbage can so there ARE other options).

Here is an incredibly accurate review if this book I hope you consider reading.
CLICK ON THIS LINK ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/books/review/Logan-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

SNAPSHOT poetry study

You look for fire logs all of the time (at least I do). Something to inspire the hands to create something "different". Sickening that we have to KEEP ON doing this as film artists, BUT WE DO, and that's just the way it is. At least there can be a silver lining to New York's snowy clouds and I found my log today. Thank God. I found it in some Warhol book about his portrait films at the WHITNEY MUSEUM. Book's Title: Andy Warhol's Screen Tests. The goal was to see Meredith Monk's FREE musical performance at 2pm at the WHITNEY, BUT the place was way too crowded and I said to myself, "screw this. I got something out of this trip, a book for ideas. Get the hell outta here". I listened.

I am still ambitiously looking for the proper way of shooting my latest quest, a film about poetry and it's author poet that is based on a very simplistic manner of filmmaking. Minimalism with "Narrative" depth. The idea is to touch the inside of a poem by looking at it's outside.

I'll browse through this book and see what strikes my fancy.
I'll jot notes of various ways I could shoot this project (16mm or 8mm).
And, on a different note, please go see the film, "DOUBT". I just saw it. It has incredible performances and is based on a catholic school that I attended and was an altar boy in the Bronx. NO, I was not molested by this priest, but I do recall one priest who enjoyed making me light his candles.


Talk to you soon dearest reader,

love,
akame
xo

The Poetry TESTS

A trial/test reading of a new work that will be read in various OPEN READINGS in NYC.

The poet speaks of silence.

So, here I am again. on the BLOG machine for my faithful loyal readers (i.e. me, myself and i)

Last nite I met a poet at a cinema cafe to discuss making a new film. I witnessed this poet on Open mike nite at the Cornelia Cafe and was inspired and moved by a poem read titled, "Woodcutters'. it immediately made me sad, romantically suicidal, and cinematically moved. it clicked right then and there and one voice inside my head said to another voice inside my head:

"hey joey, you just finished making a film about a ballet dancer. Good job. You made a film about that college girl who went missing. c'mon joey, smell the coffee! You MUST make your next movie about poetry! You MUST try one last time to prove the critics wrong and show everybody just how soft your marshmellow heart can really be. DO IT! introduce yourself to Ms. Woodcutter and put her into your next docu-fessional and give her the privaledge to mimic your own wrestless issues".
"OK. OK". said the other voice. "Stop yelling at me! Damn, you are so domineering. I will. relax. Geez."

So we met. She is into astrology and wanted to know what time I was born, and the month ( i then called my mother in Florida and learned it was at 2am. I hung up my cellphone call and kept talking to the poet lady again) The poet said that she writes alone and at dawn in her quiet kitchen daily with a Virgin Mary candle lit. She explained to me that she healed a cherry tree by the Hudson river by transferring energy into it (and promised me that this river is not as gross as I feel it is). She admires poets Lorca and Wright, and told me Lorca was shot by a firing squad during the Spanish Civil War (hummmm, maybe I will include a shooting in the film, we'll see). She said I reminded her of a woman friend who is NOT a poet. She asked me if she reminded me of anyone, I said yes...MY MOTHER. She said I was funny and called me a "Wild Card". that will stick to me till the day I drop dead. I have never been called a Wild Card. I thought I was a simple person who doesn't go out of the house that much. After she left and we agreed to a second meeting to discuss our film, a film in which she claims should include "silence" (i agree!), I saw another person. A person who has known me for years. I told this person that I was told I was a "Wild Card". This person agreed. Then told me, "has anyone ever told you that you act and talk just like Heath Ledger in that Joker movie thing he just did?" I said, yeah. about 5 times, including my sister who never calls me called me the nite she saw it to tell me that.

Long story short. I am making a film about poetry. I was called a "wild card". I guess Heath Ledger's Joker character was a "wild" card. And now he's DEAD. Wow. and GOLLY. What an interesting way to begin to process of making a movie about poetry. JOKERS WILD. But then this third voice pops up inside my head and reminds me of the embarrassing truth, "JOEY SHUT UP. YOU DON't KNOW HOW TO PLAY CARDS. ONLY MONOPOLY".

lord have mercy on me. And all three of us.

love,
akame

Art Gallery screening

THE NEW VISION CINEMA SERIES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009
6:30PM, ADMISSION: BY CONTRIBUTION

HAVEN ART GALLERY,
50 BRUCKNER BOULEVARD,
BRONX, NEW YORK.

Continuing in the tradition of the Invisible Film Series, the New Vision Cinema Series presents a broad range of film and videos from an equally-diverse selection of cineastes. Founded in 2000 by Jennifer MacMillan as the Invisible Film Series, the New Vision Cinema Series has endeavored to showcase the talents of some of the finest local (and sometimes, not-so- local) independent film and video talents of the Greater New York City area. Since its inception, the series has shown works of such notables as Stan Brakhage, Mike Kuchar, Nick Zedd, Jennifer Reeves, and Bradley Eros. With the departure of Ms. MacMillan from its fold (a hard act to follow), the series has been under the sole curatorship of its former co-curator, Michael Park.

New Vision is now proud to announce the addition of its newest venue, the Haven Art Gallery in the Bronx!

Showing in this installment:

1. OBAR by Taylor Dunne (12.5 min): to this day, there still are ghost towns
generated in america.
2. THE CITY WAS BORN by Drew and the Medicinal Pen (5 min): innovative
music video that explores further our great american countryside.
3. AIRWAVE: THE CIRCLE OF GNOMES by Sophia Peer (2 min): another
music video that cuts across the countryside at an even-more-frenetic pace.
4. DAME DARCY: A FILM PORTRAIT by Joel Schlemowitz (4.5 min): we slow
the pace back down a bit to examine an experimental portrait of this
lovely figure in the world of the avant garde.
5. THE TEAT BEAT OF SEX, EPISODES 1-4 & 8-11 by Signe Baumane (11 min):
another great new woman of the avant garde (this time, an animator), presents
to you her early exploits into the realm of sex.
6. STICKERS by Daniel Maldonado (16.5 min): another exploration into childhood
exploits, this time of a more-sinister nature.
7. NICE PEOPLE by aka Joey (26.5 min): the sinister side of childhood again
explored, this time from the perspective of parental pressures leading to
bulimia and far worse.
8. PAINLESS by Sridar Ranganath (20.5 min): life's pressures in general can
lead to drastic measures, can't they?
9. THE DROWN: HOMAGE by Amy Leonard (4 min): as a relief from all this
glumness, we present to you this film noir romance set to a rock video.
10. MILIEU by Dmitry Torgovitsky (17 min): and to top off our show, a questionable
romance set amidst modern-day yakuza clans.

Directions to the Haven Art Gallery:
Take the 6 train to 3rd Ave./138th St.
Take the staircase marked Alexander Avenue.
Once on the street, take a right (walking south) and go about 3 blocks to Bruckner Blvd.
Once at Bruckner Blvd., cross the street and make a left.
Go half a block.
Gallery will be on your right (south side of street), 50 Bruckner Blvd. Bldg. A

The Ups and Downs of the CROSS

Creating. Making. Being an artist IS a cross to bare. And don't anyone ever try to convince otherwise.

There is absolutely nothing PRETTY about being an artist. I only embraced that "title" (i.e. artist) and that self-definition within the past decade as my only real available option to be able to fit into within some crevice of the human race. Yes, there are moments of creative excitement during the "process" stages of a work, and especially after the completion of a work. But the IN BETWEENS are ruthless. IN BETWEEN WHAT, YOU WONDER? -

1)In Between projects.
2)in Between ideas and idea-vacancy.
3)In Between self-doubt... WHY IS IT THAT I HAVE TO DO THIS? WHY CAN'T I JUST BE A BIT MORE SIMPLE? WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE A JOB AT WALMART AND GO HOME AND SLEEP?

Long story short (or should I say long Blog short) being an artist is a curse.
And a blessing. It is a cross to carry, and a very heavy one I must say.
Trust me, this is a Blog and Blogs are meant to be honest.

aka me.x

A quote for the day from ME.

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.


Elizabeth Bishop

Sample scanned slide images from HOMEWRECKA

These nature images will be combined with the imaginary friends images of the film's narrator's brother...

CHEAP BY THE 35mm DOZEN

3 Blogs in 3 days. I am on a roll huh.

I went to the mall to do a lil Christmas shopping (and to get myself an ICE LATTE) and I walked into BED BATH AND BEYOND department store. There was this table with a 35mm SLIDE to DIGITAL Converter! I was like, HOLY SHIT! Not only do I need this for my slides for HOMEWRECKA, at a ridiculous chain store like this, I can get buy the thing, get my work accomplished, save the receipt, and return the crap to get a FULL REFUND. Hell yeah! $100 it costs. $100 I get back. I will enjoy the process. And I hope I have educated all of those poor and passionate artists put there, where there is a will there is a way. And , God bless stupid, corporate holiday chain department stores and their in-kind refund policies :)

love,
aka refund meister

CRITIQUE from film, "I NEED YOU" viewing...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008


CRITIQUE from film, "I NEED YOU" viewing...

Hey Joey,

I just finished watching your film, "I Need You". I watched it twice because I hadn't watched it all the way through the first time and thought that would be better. A lot of it's tough to watch - it's poingant. But it has more impact the second time. It's much more obvious the second time that the dancing at the beginning is when they're both successfull out-patients. The first time they both seem pretty "crazy" even then. The second time it's also more obvious when the Captian is beginning to go manic - when Ernie is trying to talk him out of his "Bongo" obsession.

I thought the early scene when Ernie is trying to talk Captian out of his Bongo obsession was a little long, and though it's filmed in regular light, which makes it more sane (which is what it's supposed to be), the regular light makes Ernie's wig and teeth more obviously fake.

But the scene shortly after that when Captian Jamaca is explaining how Paul died and why Paul died was great. In fact it was so good that I wished some (or all) of what he was saying was sub-titled so people couldn't miss what he was saying.

Some of the zoo scenes were long, but they did have the effect of showing Paul's manic phase kicking in.

All of the parts with the phone guy were really good. In fact they were perfect and striking. Especially the end, when he smiles at the camera from the end of the pier.

Irronically you start by saying Ernie is our worst fucking nightmare, and end by saying he's probably never going to get better, but in reality he didn't do anything bad in the entire film. He just tried to keep Captain Jamaca from messing up. It was less obvious that he followed Captian Jamaca into not taking his meds.

Maybe you could start with more voice-over during the part showing the psych hospital in the rain talking about the numbers of people on out-patient status. This would make it more obvious that Ernie and Paul are recent out-patients trying to pull it together. Also, the dates help a lot, but they're usually small and I found it difficult to follow their progress, which I think is important so you can see how the two are deteriorating over time.

I'll probably watch it a couple more times. The grainy colored film sequences are great. A lot of texture in sound and picture. I loved the Martin Luther King part too. And I thought it was funny the second time I watched, at the beginning it says the film was "dierected" which seemed to indicate it was already a story, the director merely "erected" it for everyone to see.

Maybe that's more critique than you wanted. You said you were re-working it so I thought more ideas might help you brain storm (but then they might not also). It's too bad you couldn't make them look less crazy at the beginning and establish Paul as Paul so watchers could see the Captain Jamaca transformation as extreme and indicative as it is supposed to be - as an indicator that Paul's starting to go manic.

Anyway, you said this was done in 1995 I thought, but you also said it was done after Len. I didn't know Len was that old. makes it even more impressive.

Now I'm more impatient to see Nice People.

James

To study a BREER

I'm gonna go to ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES and check out the work of filmmaker ROBERT BREER.
I got tip from an experimental friend/professor and checked out the films a bit on YOUTUBE.
Blew me away. I am not into the "animation" breed of filmmakers but this guy is truly amazing. What I saw in the film " 69 " blew me away. Simple line drawings morphing into all kinds of movements and creatures. Very inspiring, and clearly a HANDS ON process.

I'm hesitating to begin shooting my HOMEWRECKA film simply because I want to make sure I tackle it with the same precision as I did the first 2 films of this trilogy series (MISSING GREEN, NICE PEOPLE). I have enrolled into a drawing class and want to see what that experience brings to the new film. Either way, I will begin the film in about 2 weeks by recording the sound interview. Also, shooting the 35mm slide film onto 16mm film with the optical printer.

LINK TO HIS FILM, "69":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlpoppkVeic



6pm.
Anthology Film Archives.
Robert Breer films.

Goodbye.
me.xo

William and the WHITNEY...

I was looking for "NEW" toy to play with, a NEW tool. I have been intrigued by the old PORTAPAC video system used in the late 60's and early 70's. This camera system was used in the documentary "THE POLICE TAPES" and the video image looked gorgeous. Smears of light, unexpected splashes of video-Noise. AHHHHHHHH, LOVE IT! Total unpredictable beauty.

Photographer William Eggleston was being showcased at the WHITNEY MUSEUM so I decided to go check out his "process", listen to the lecture and hear about his use of the Portapac Video system in his exploration of the "moving picture". It "looked" great BUT there was an immediate MAJOR problem. The PORTA PAC was being wheeled out in a WHEELBARROW! Literally! That is how the 75 minute film that he made of the South opens up, a friend with a wheelbarrow lugging what looks like 300 lbs. of video box luggage. CALL ME SPOILED BY SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT AND THE ALMIGHTY HI8mm BUT I AINT GOING ) ORDER ANY DAMN PORTA PAC after seeing that!

Overall, my day at the WHITNEY was inspiring. I saw images that moved me (particularly 5x7 blown up BLACK AND WHITE portraits) and was reminded of the important responsibility that I have to continue to "move foward" as an artist and not get boggled down by any person, or any disappointment.

I am still dealing with the fact that Eggleston was a sophisticated redneck who took some pretty damn good pictures. I did not know that this was possible. Guess I have been working in the Bronx way too long. huh.

love,
akame
x