Last Saturday was a strange night. Jonny died on his way to Berkley. His body was smashed into the beams of the bay bridge when he fell asleep at the wheel of his uncles honda prelude. He didn’t realize he was dead. He showed up a bit late, and it was a little awkward for a little while because Skye didn’t know if Jonny knew that he was dead or not, and didn’t want to say anything to suggest anything out of the ordinary. Alex was a little freaked out, so I made up a reason for why we should all leave. Since we had been drinking before jonny showed up none of us were in any condition to drive his wreck of a car back to SF. As it turned out Jonny drove me back to SF. While heading over the bridge I saw jonny’s body being lifted in to an ambulance. I would not have known who it was on the gurney since the body was so disfigured, but I haven’t seen anyone else wear those particular blue pants with reflective silver stripes besides the now disembodied jonny.

Sunday Jonny and I drove from SF to LA. We recorded a great deal of video for the Making Of. None, sadly, as entertaining as Keturah and Carol-Anne’s. But we did stop at Wal-Mart and eat at Popeye’s.

Monday we had a very productive day. We wound down the evening watching Tristram Shandy. Films about filmmaking make up a great deal of my current viewing. Not surprising, I suppose. I’ve three documentaries waiting for me right now.

Before that we made a flow chart, summed up below by Jonny:

on the life of a tape

* cinematographer records footage with camera, & logs on paper as she shoots
* cinematographer logs footage into FCP at logging/capture station
* cinematographer batches capture footage to her external shuttle hard drive (each cinematographer has her own shuttle hd) & cinematographer returns to recording footage & logging
* shuttle hd is picked up by editor
* editor copies footage from shuttle drive
* editor returns drive to capture station
* editor edits and creates dailies (by end of each day)
* editor copies dailies (as rendered DV) to internet pusher’s hd unit and at that time copies confessional files from pusher’s hd unit
* internet pusher re-encodes dailies for web and uploads to Internet Archive during evening
* basic meta data (such as title) is added to archive
* dailies get shown (each morning)
* meta data re-visited
Later on Lee captures all of the tapes and loads the dv files on to the archive.org

We also got the webcams working and the time lapse and sent a few stills off from a crappy cam (for the build we’ll be using much higher res cams) to Skye who made a short time lapse for us.



An ad in two sizes (half and full page) was sent off to Susan, who is running ads for a show for the first time, which is very exciting. There was a good deal of discussion about the ad. Jonny and Erin and I belabored different designs for quite some time, debating the efficacy of including some in-jokes in quotes, as if they were reviewer or critic commentary. In the end we dropped them from the ad. As well, Skye and I spoke at length about the ads, which he felt were rather slick compared with what the production will actually look like. I suspect he is right on that account. But they are not so far from the look I envisioned for them, nor from the feel I wanted to aim for, recognizing that some, perhaps all, elements of the production would fall short. And that in so doing, might turn out far more exciting than anything I could intentionally create.

Jonny made a list of things that scare him on Monday, as well:

DSL modem at gallery denying inbound traffic; video stretching at Archive; uncompressed time lapse images being unimportable into FCP; the confession booth switch.

And a list of to do while here:

upload to archive, and get it looking slick; get the wiki encyclopedia up and running; get the catalogue conceived.

I added getting a flowchart for the confessional.

We visited Fringe Monday; ended up spending about 3 hours there. The upload and download speeds were poor. But Susan is upgrading, and at worst what we encountered was still doable. It’ll just take Jonny longer to get files up. The streaming of 4 webcams however, was going to be a problem. We cut back to two webcams, both upstairs capturing the wall going up. And once we get into the gallery on July 8th we’ll tackle the question of the modem/router, which may simply refuse to accommodate any webcams. Which won’t be the end of the world.

We established that the wireless router I had hoped to use is unusable. So, I’ll need to get a wireless router from somewhere.

Oh! Interruption! Marcella just informed me that my Odd Nerdrum book sold on ebay for $115, so, that means that the $120.50 over budget we went this morning after getting Keturah’s latest materials list, is almost negated.

Crap! This is a long blog. Bad form.

Tuesday Jonny and I went to Sun Valley. And an overwhelming electronics part shop, Apex Surplus. We picked up several proximity switches each. And were simply overwhelmed.

We spent the evening working on the confessional switch. Jonny has a proximity switch triggering a laptop to record from a Digital8 DV camera. And we’ll have a little “recording” sign when recording is happening. And hopefully a small monitor so people can see themselves in the booth. The switch took a bit to work out, but it is mostly working right now. Jonny needs to take it home and work out a bug that stops the capture in the computer program if the switch is engaged and then disengaged too quickly.

This morning I spoke with Susan. I think she is going to put a half page ad in Artillery. Which is super cool. Just having an ad is pretty hilarious. Once again, this is the sort of thing I didn’t really expect. I keep being surprised when people give me what I want rather than telling me I’m ridiculous.

As well, she put me in touch with Jake, who may make our architectural model. If I have any budget for it. Eeek.

We’re meeting up with Amy today to talk about investments and craft services donations.

On Thursday the 14th, Marcella and I attended an alumni gathering at California College of the Arts for MFA Media Studies. Due to email troubles, it was very poorly attended. As well, Lynn, one of CCA’s finest faculty, wanted to try something new and so instead of the traditional party, she set it up as a salon, with everyone who desired showing work. I asked Marcella to present Disembody.

That worked out really well. It’s always surprising to see what elements of the project others are focussed on. M, for her part began at the blog, and focussed a great deal on the collaborative nature of the project, and the disappointment therein. She also talked about how hopeful she was about the project, because of what she feels it represents. I videotaped the whole thing, and can’t wait to get the footage up. Maybe later this week I’ll have a chance. I know Skye and elise will love it, because it shows such a different side of the project from what I always talk about.

The next day I met Lynn at her studio and we talked about some of her upcoming projects. She’s a working on some really nice new works. She’s also in discussion with Susan about showing at Fringe, which is nice. Lynn supplied me with a slew of alumni names to look up in LA. I’m hoping ot get contact info from her in the coming days. A number of the folks she suggested I speak with might be able to advise on PR. In the original plan for Disembody, I was going to be completely focussed on PR at this stage. HAH! That didn’t work out, did it?

Later that day I met with Hanif and we discussed art. He’s considering applying to MIT for a PhD, eventually.

Which brings me back to the beginning of last week, when Jonny and Erin and I had our first teleconference. It was over an hour. And quite fun, despite initial technical problems. We covered a lot of ground. I need to follow up tomorrow. Erin is about to start a new slew of pieces for us. She’s slated to create ads, postcards, posters, the ephemera page, two print catalogues and a newsprint one sheet schedule for the theater. LOL. Yeah, like she’ll have the time for all of that…

Jonny also has his hands full. I may try and get him out here in June. We need to work on the confessional; streaming multiple webcams; timelapsing multiple webcams; uploading to the internet archive; getting the ephemera page functioning; building a wiki of references and influences to sell as an encyclopedia on a usb stick; and getting a hard drive catalogue up and running.

Heavens.

Bill Viola, Sweet Light, 1977


Jason Rhoades

Just a quick note, I’m very tired.

Two more good leads about possible investors arose on Friday. I spent the day following those up.

Saturday I had a build meeting with Carson and Ted. They had some great ideas, and it looks like we may have resolved two of our biggest concerns - temperature/air flow in the theater and securing the false ceiling.

The theater will be an enclosed space in a gallery with no air conditioning. In L.A. in July. HOT. Probably unbearable without some form of air conditioning, or at least air circulation. So we’ve developed a plan to create a flow of air through the gallery, from back to door to front door, using fans, wall grills, venting, and an air conditioner.

As for the false ceiling, Ted came up with a great idea for installing and securing the tiles on the ceiling. He and Carson made some drawings of the method we envision. I’ll post those on the ephemera page in the next week or so.

After that meeting I flew to a meeting with Skye and Elise to discuss the aesthetic feel of the film, and some of their ideas. Just from the tensions that arise in our discussions, the radically different obsessions and tastes we all have, I feel certain the film will be entertaining. The stresses we’ll bring to the process should make it lean and energetic.

So, all good news. Though I am pretty worn out, I must admit. I profoundly underestimated the amount of time that it would take to manage a crew this large. And how stressful the budgeting would be. Marketing, promotions, sales, I forgot how stressful and time consuming that all is. And being well behind in all those areas is also pretty disconcerting.

Fortunately for me, I really do have the most amazing group of people working with me. Their ability to imagine the project and envision solutions is phenomenal. Especially as any power I had for those areas is pretty well burned out of me right now.

Finally, I just need to add in this post that I spoke with Susan on Friday. And if an artist has ever had a better gallerist/curator to work with, I would be surprised. Her support is unwavering. She’s not only the gallerist for this project, but also my best therapist, advisor and supporter. Without her unwavering and almost unconditional* backing we could never be attempting a project on this scale.

*Her conditions? That we not screw ourselves over financially or feel too much pressure. See, how could you imagine a better gallerist?

Well, it’s confirmed, The MVM is coming to Hollywood. We’re founding a movie studio (23E Studios, natch). We’re building a production facility. We’re building a theater. We’re shooting a film. And we’re premiering that film in LA’s chinatown.

I spoke with Susan at Fringe today and we agreed on July 2008 for the show. The tentative date for the show’s opening is July 12, but that may shift by a week or so.

Susan is very excited and, as always, unbelievably supportive.

I, too, am excited.

I will meet with Ted Rzad and David Gurman next week to begin budgeting the build. And I need to get a start on the model with Ted. That could take awhile I suspect.
Then next Sunday I am holding a full crew meeting. I want to introduce everyone to each other. And do a presentation on the project. Answer questions and take ideas. And then collect head shots and bios. I also want to have meetings with the different crew units to get a sense of their needs, for budgeting purposes.

As well, today I ran into a friend and alumni of CCA’s Visual and Critical Studies department, Hanif O’Neil. Hanif is amazing. He is insanely insightful on media and theory issues, as well as video and audio art. I broached the subject of bringing him on board to work with me on the press and other written materials for the show. He’s interested, and hopefully we can meet next week to nail some things down. I’m hoping he’ll agree to be my conceptual personal trainer.

This is going to be a wild ride. We are going to take Hollywood by storm!
And I’ll be living with my parents.