Monday, December 18, 2000

Digital Resource Launch/Celebration

Holiday parties lined up like children waiting for pictures with
Santa Claus. Monday, December 18th, was a night of new media
celebrations. The Manhattan Theater Source on MacDougal Street is
traditionally a place where artists can go for support, supplies
and help producing independent pieces. After producer Jennifer
Gibbs and co-producer Robyn Hussa got together and produced the
Digital Source Cinema, however, this collective also became a place
where artists who are experimenting and creating with digital media
can garner support and showcase their creations. Among the artists
involved were Wayne Ashley, who is also the first director of new
media at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Todd Stewart told me about
his pieces - one an experiment in lighting and focus. It uses a
digital video camera and a "cinema roman," in which a series of still
photos were taken through Photoshop to Imovie to Final Cut Pro. John
Sullivan of Naked Emperor Productions told me about his
PSA for Big Brother Big Sister, his "Spreading the News" piece on
the Dialo Rally in NYC and his first short film on homelessness
called "The Buddha Hood," which one the Foil Film Festival two
years ago and is up for an Academy Award nomination this year.
Upoc's Luis Castro came by with some monitors (to help with one of
the pieces), and I also chatted with AtNewYork's Paul Zakrzewski
and Boston-bound Carol Peters. ThousandWordProductions.com was
filming the entire evening. The crew captured some of the
theatrical antics and other installations - like a spray-painted,
white motherboard cube with psychedelic colors swirling inside and
trippy sounds coming over a headset. Before leaving, Jennifer
pointed out a lo-fi video showcase of Belgrade, Yugoslavia,
filmmakers being held upstairs. This was the first
time these pieces, showing Serbia during the bombings, were being
shown outside their country. Such poignant work and so many deeper,
thoughtful elements to think about during the typical flash-and
dash of the holiday season!
Theatersource.org
Thousandwordpictures.com