well I’m back from Dragon*Con in Atlanta! wow, what a rad event. so many cool panels, interesting people, and amazing costumes…not to mention a boat load of great genre films. extremely happy that CERTIFIED could be a part of it. it was one of our best screenings to date. we were part of a Horror-Comedy block and people were HOWLING with laughter…and not just at our film, the entire program was amazingly funny. I’ll post more on the festival in the coming weeks, but today I want to share something from my past.

recently my Mom came across some drawings and a story that I had done…in 1988. it’s interesting to see not only what interested me thematically then (I’m joking a little) but also to look at them from a more critical “adult” perspective. here was an 8 year old boy that was writing sci-fi about WWIII. obviously I was concerned a bit about the Cold War and the possibilities of a Nuclear Holocaust.

I don’t actually remember writing this story, but I do remember that a year later I listened The Tiananmen Square Massacre happen LIVE on the radio… and then later that year to the the fall of the Berlin Wall. the events of the end of the Cold War are some of the first news items I remember and they shaped my childhood as much as the events of 9/11 shaped my adulthood. I wonder if in another 10 years I’ll look back at the stories I’m writing now and see the reflections of that event?

heh, well I really didn’t mean to get that deep of a tangent – but nonetheless I think it’s an important thing to consider. how will the events & the circumstances of today affect the work we create? is it something that’s only apparent with hindsight, or is it something that doesn’t exist until we apply significance to it later?

in the case of my short story “Space Martian” it’s pretty obvious what the “young Luke” is concerned about. but will something like CERTIFIED reflect the feelings written by a man living in a post 9/11 America? I guess we’ll just have to wait 10 years to find out.

until then…please enjoy some original drawings by myself and my bff Drew Pickard. (ha! I said “bff.”)

Space Martians – Pen on Paper, by Luke Asa Guidici & Andrew M. Pickard 4/10/88
(click image to embiggen)

Space Martian – by Luke 4/10/88
(click image to embiggen)

and here’s the transcript of the story…

Space Martian
by Luke 4/10/88

Once in space there was a Martian he had eight heads, one neck & five feet, twenty two tows, one leg, ten eyes, there fingers. He was very strang. But. He was very important to the Unitied States because he know how to make forsfeilds. The United States needed forsfeilds to beet the U.S.S.R. Not that the U.S.S.R. was ang stronger than the United States but equally machted. So the war could go on forever, so the martian gave the United States the stuff to make the forsfeilds and the United States won the war.
The End.

next week I’ll have a couple of new festival announcements, so stay tuned!

-Luke

here’s my first blog from SDCC…

a big part of Comic Con the last few years has been the EPIC Hall H panels. for those of you that don’t know, “Hall H” is the largest room at the Convention Center. it can fit probably 6,000 people and it is the location for the biggest panels for the biggest movies. this is the place where the Twilight fans lined up the night before in order to guarantee their spot for a panel the following afternoon.

the line got to be so crazy, that if you wanted to see something at ANY point during the day, it was better to line up in the morning and spend the entire day in the Hall. and last year I did just that. there were several days that I didn’t leave until the afternoon or evening.

but this year was different…I’m not really sure why. I just didn’t have the desire to do it again. maybe I wasn’t as excited about the movies that were showing? maybe it was that some of my “Hall H friends” from last year weren’t at the Con? but for whatever the reason, I ended up seeing a lot of smaller panels.

one of the first I went to was on “Epic Story Telling.” I didn’t really know exactly what the panel was on, but the headline interested me. there is a large guide with detailed descriptions of the panels, but I throw that away pretty quickly. first, it is BIG and I don’t want to carry it around. and second, part of what I like about SDCC is being exposed to different mediums and different types of creators. if I’m a little loose about the panels I go to, I figure I’ll be exposed to a greater variety of subjects & people.

“Epic Story Telling” ended up being about epic, “Lord of The Rings” style novels. I didn’t know any of the authors – or any of their books. although it turned out that the author of “Game of Thrones,” George Martin was a panel member. but they never referred directly to that title… I guess they just figured those in the audience would “know” who he was.

the question was raised, “why epic stories?” throughout mankind’s history, we’ve told our tales in this format. from the Illiad, to the Bible, to Star Wars – we are drawn to these types of stories. several of the authors had insight to this. one remarked about “actions of consequence” things that move beyond our “daily lives.” another spoke on the idea of “immersion” that a longer, and bigger story could pull the reader into the world more.

both of the points strike true to me. the immersion helps pull us into the large and fantastic worlds, where things matter. actions have meaning. the fate of the hero (ourselves) and their loved ones (our families) hangs in the balance. maybe even the entire world is at stake. we relate to these stories AND get to dream about bigger and extraordinary things.

the is obviously a HUGE subject, and not something that a 1 hour panel can fully answer, but it was nice to hear other writer’s talk about it.

it was also great to hear about their creative process. it really varied from person to person. one author didn’t outline at all. another had a 90 page outline for his book. some started with characters, some started with worlds, some started with ideas/themes. each one had found a technique which suited their personal creative process the best. there was no “right” way to go about writing.

Tolkien and his process of starting with “language” were often mentioned. in fact, I’ve never heard one single influence mentioned SO much at a panel. you’d think that the genre would not even exist if not for him. but weren’t their dragons and knights and orcs and dwarves and other magical kingdoms and realms before him?

a few also mentioned the “beautiful accidents” part of writing. when you think you know what you want to write, but for whatever reason, something changes while you are working..inspiration hits and you come across something new and unexpected. occasionally this will be JUST the thing that you are looking for. sometimes, it ends up being nothing, but it is an interesting part of the process.

this is something that I’ve experienced in my own work and it was nice to hear that I’m not the only one…

ok, that’s enough for now. my render is almost done and I need to get back to editing.

tonight is the Red Carpet for the HollyShort Film Festival. I’ll try and tweet some pics later at http://twitter.com/lukeguidici

-Luke

this week we conclude the interview with the amazing & talented Daisy Solis. you can read part 1 here.

—–

“Garden of Eden”

LG: So are you doing some paintings now, or just the large collages?

DS: Yes, I’m working on some paintings.

After looking at my last series of paintings, I thought that I held back on them with the paint. I was very “safe” with it. Which I think comes along with learning how to use the paint.

With the paintings that I’m doing now, I decided that I want to make these large paintings – I don’t want to be any restrictions with size.

I really enjoy painting now, I feel like I’m a lot more confident and that I can take a lot more risks with the paint than even a year ago.

Not second guessing myself, just attacking the canvas and doing whatever I want.

LG: You’ve mentioned a couple times “safe” and “taking risks,” is there something you do to tap into that more open mindset? Like, “I just got home from work and now I need to tap into this artistic mode.”

DS: For me, even when I’m at work – painting, is all I think about. I don’t think there’s ever a time at work where I’m not thinking about it, it’s not the first thing in my mind, but I’m always thinking about it.

I can’t wait to get off of work to make work. To do what I really want to do.

I don’t let anything stand in the way of me being in that studio and doing what I really love to do.

But it is challenging, once you are in there and you are in front of a blank canvas it is difficult to get back that energy that you had when you were at work thinking about it.

What I normally do is refer to the collection of images found in my notebooks that have inspired me. Reread jotted down notes, and reconnect to that energy.

Maybe I have a little glass of wine or two, you know.

[LG laughs]

Those notebooks are a very important part of the process. I’m attached to the images that I’ve collected and they inspire me.

So I get my motivation back and start making work.

LG: So what’s the next thing you are going to work on?

DS: Well, I haven’t made very many large paintings. It goes back to my fear of ruining a large piece of canvas. Besides my sketches and collections of books that I’ve set aside I have a set of collages that I’ve built that are going to be paintings.

So my goal is to go in and make these paintings. I want large, maybe twelve foot paintings. So they will require a lot out of me physically, while I stand on a ladder and paint section by section. I feel that this will be a really big challenge ahead..

I want to focus on these images. I feel like I’ve made these collages with the intention of painting them, then I put them aside cause I’m afraid of painting them.

But that’s my goal for the end of the year, to make these large paintings. To trust myself and trust what I’m doing with the paint. The image is there, I just need to paint it.

I think every artist second guesses themselves. And I think it’s very important for me, and something I’ve learned with past work is that is to just start it and just do it. Do what’s natural, what feels natural and it will turn out fine.

LG: Trust your instincts?

DS: Yeah, if you want to make that brush stroke, do it. Don’t think “is that going to be a good brush stroke?” or not.

“Grape Woman”

“Leopard Woman”

LG: If you weren’t making art, what do you think you would do?

DS: You know I ask myself that all the time, cause it’s such a hard way to make a living and there’s really nothing else I’d want to do. There really isn’t.

And I don’t think there’s anything I’d be good at either. And it’s partly because I don’t want to be good at anything else – I just want to be good at what I want to do. And this is what I want to do and I’m going to stick by it.

LG: That’s a great answer.

LG: So what’s your favorite episode of The Real Luke? Or a favorite Real Luke moment from “real” life.

[DS laughs]

DS: Well, let’s see….hmmm…I don’t know if you do it in the episodes, cause I haven’t seen them all. But you kind of state the obvious all the time. [LG laughs] It’s so obvious that it’s obvious, but I like that about you. I don’t know if that makes any sense.

LG: It’s good enough.

DS: But I liked the last project you did.

LG: Certified?

DS: Yeah, I loved that one. The Real Luke…you know. I don’t really get the sense of humor.

[LG laughs]

LG: Not a fan, not a fan of the Real Luke apparently. [DS laughs]

So where can people go to see more of your work?

DS: You can see more of my work at www.DaisySolis.com.

LG: Great, thanks so much!

[End interview.]

well, as a friend and fan of Daisy’s – I’ve been excited to see her work progress and grow over the years. ever since that first show I saw at Cal Arts, it’s been clear that she has a very strong voice and distinct style. I look forward to seeing it displayed in the large paintings & collages she will be creating.

make sure to check out her site to see more of her work.

-Luke

recently I had the chance to interview the talented artist, and my good friend Daisy Solis about her work and artistic process. she’s DS and once again I’m LG. here’s the first part.

—–

LG: So Daisy, how do we know each other?

DS: I think we met at a newsstand, when you were working there.

LG: And what were you doing there?

DS: Getting a snack after a hard day at work.

LG: What sort of work were you doing at the time?

DS: You know, some airbrushing and hand painting. It was kinda like a sweatshop.

[LG & DS laugh]

DS: I’m just kidding.

LG: No you’re not.

[DS laughs]

LG: Well that’s not the most interesting meeting story… do you remember when we first started talking about art. Did we go to a gallery opening or something?

DS: I think it was at my Thesis Show at Cal Arts.

LG: That’s right. All your work at that show had a very defined style. How did you go about developing it?

DS: Well even before college, I was collecting images that I liked. I felt very comfortable with this technique. And I enjoyed it, so I kept doing it.

Then at Cal Arts, I showed it to my Mentor and she thought it was a very interesting way of putting ideas together. So she encouraged me to continue doing it but to also be more aware of the types of images I was collecting.

To focus on specific images instead of just collecting random ones. Animals, patterns and faces were my main focal point.
 
And I filled up a couple books doing this.

LG: Collage plays a big part in your style. What else contributed?

DS: In my time at Cal Arts, during my Art History classes I became very interested in the nude. Like Velázquez’s “Venus at Her Mirror” is a good example. I found that I really enjoyed drawing the nude female form.

“Venus at Her Mirror”

LG: So on one hand you have these collections of images, and on the other hand you have your drawing of the nude female figure. When did you start marrying those two ideas together?

DS: When I was on exchange at the Glasgow School of Art I had enough time to reflect and digest the various projects I had been working on over the last three years at Cal Arts.

I was doing research on “masks” and the history of masks. And I became very interested in the rituals or the spiritual aspects of the mask.

So I started making these collages where I was doing a nude and collaging a face.

And for that I settled on birds, it’s a natural fit with the head and beak and eyes.

That style I developed in Glasgow was the work in the Thesis show that you saw.

a sketch for “Side Kick”

“Side Kick”

LG: Great. Why don’t you tell me a little about what you are working on now?

DS: For the last six months or so I’ve been working on new collages. They’re a lot different than what I’ve done before cause I’ve incorporated a lot of new objects and landscapes.

With these, I’ve taken a lot more chances and lost a lot of fear about how things are “supposed” to look. I’ve found that I’ve been able to let go and let the paper be.

It’s become more about the paper. Like I have a piece of paper and it’s an odd shape and I try to make something of it. And see where I can place it in the collage. It’s more fun that way.

LG: What’s the scale like on these new collages?

DS: They are a lot larger. Six feet by two feet.

LG: Very cinematic.

DS: And I like the interaction that the viewer has with them. I feel that it draws in the viewer and makes them ask questions or interact with the work. And I don’t think my work had that before.

LG: Is it because there is more room for the eye to travel, or because you are using more “loaded” imagery?

DS: I think it’s a little bit of both.

LG: When you are placing these images, do you have a story or emotion that you want your viewer to come away with?

DS: Well I’m very interested in the emotions that make us different than animals, like greed, power, lust, envy and I try to include those in the work. But I’m not sure if the collages tell a specific story.

I never really know what the collage will look like at the end, I don’t allow myself to go that far. Because I want to be surprised, and I want to push myself.

“The Battle” [this really needs to be seen larger...click to embiggen]

[end part one.]

next week we’ll chat about motivation, current projects, and of course…her favorite episode of The Real Luke.

-Luke

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

— Ira Glass (via NPR Fresh Air)

I really like this quote… often people expect genius right away. sometimes in themselves, sometimes in others – but the reality is it take a LOT OF WORK. sure there are the rare few with innate gifts who just automatically get it. but those people are few and far between. for everyone else, even those with “talent” it takes time.

you have to DO THE WORK.

keep writing, keep practicing, keep making short films, keep drawing, keep riding. whatever your professional or creative output is you need to dedicate yourself for the long haul.

it’s a similar line of thought to Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hour” theory. that in order to achieve success in any field, you must spend 10,000 hours practicing that task. in his book Outliers he talks about the Beatles. but you don’t have to think about pop stars. think about craftsmen and artisans that spend their early life as apprentices BEFORE taking on their roles.

it took them time and practice and dedication to achieve mastery.

so it would behoove us to expect our ventures to require the same. (imho of course =)

—-

what about you all – have you seen this in your own work? maybe in the work of your friends & peers?

-Luke

a month or so ago, Angel and I were talking about Werner Herzog’s amazing film “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans” . it’s arguably Nic Cage’s best performance. ever. and I think an under appreciated film. after viewing the film, Angel sent me this little video, also from Mr. Herzog.

there’s many things I like about it:

1.) I used to spend hours looking at “Where’s Waldo” books

2.) there are some Waldo’s I never found

3.) part of the joy of adulthood is being able to look back at the things that intrigued you from your youth with new eyes. this silly and farcical take on the Waldo books plays with the notion that sometimes we read a little too much into that look back. sometimes there isn’t a meta message or an insidious goal or themes within themes. sometimes there’s just fun.

-Luke

Last week we were talking with Clovis about his new series of work where he’s doing studies on Mushroom Clouds.

“untitled” | 11×14 | chinamarker on paper | 2010

LG: I’m curious as to why you picked the Mushroom Cloud and not say the “Robot Apocalypse” or the “Zombie Apocalypse” or the “Monkey Plague Apocalypse”?

CB: And there’s the Religious Apocalypse. [helicopter interruption]

CB: It’s because I grew up in the late Cold War when the threat of nuclear war was still very real, yet there was a cynicism about it. Since I was very young it was filtered through toys and movies which made it kind of glamorous. It wasn’t very frightening to me. You know the story that I like to tell people, I grew up with this G.I. Joe toy called “Rolling Thunder” and it was a mobile ICBM launcher. It actually had these toy missiles that raised up. For that to be a toy is pretty remarkable.

I don’t ever remember being afraid of bombs falling, yet I knew that was part of the background of my life. In fact that’s why it’s alluring to me, there was never any fear of the actual apocalypse it was always a gateway to these Hero stories that were part of my fantasy while growing up.

LG: How do you balance art, business, creativity, chores, how do you manage all those things, being artistic AND being a functioning adult?

CB: You know I’m still figuring that out. For the last 3 years I was in a grad program and when you’re in school you have an extrinsic driver. You’ve got someone who’s watching over you and keeps you going. The trouble is when you get out and you don’t have that anymore, how do you keep it going? And of course I had a baby boy right after graduating. So I was a little worried that life would interfere. But I’m really excited that in this period I’ve started a new body of work. I’m really compelled, really excited about doing it.

But I have to try hard to find studio time because I’ve got a baby boy, a job, and I’m going to start teaching pretty soon. Trying to manage all that is really tough and I’m still trying to figure out what will work best. Is it getting work done at night after people go to sleep? Or trying to carve out certain times? I think what is really helpful is finding people to keep you accountable. I’ve joined a critique group with people I went to school with and am doing that once a month. It’s still a process though, there are so many life things. This boy is amazing [laughs] but is really tiring too. So I’m still figuring that out. That’s the phase of life I’m in right now. It’s really exciting but it’s also a challenge. It’s a trial.

LG: It is a trial.

CB: There could be some transformation there.

LG: Hopefully no nuclear apocalypse…

CB: No apocalypses

LG: At least not until the boy can pick up a Carbine.

CB: Yeah, he has to be available to help out. Carry a backpack at least.

LG: So if you weren’t doing art, what do you think you’d be doing?

CB: I would have been an astronaut.

LG: That’s probably the best possible answer.

CB: I mean it, I had these two life paths getting out of high school. To be fair, I chose the art path in High School. I took art classes instead of physics, but if I wasn’t doing art I definitely would have been an astronaut. You know in high school I was voted “Most Likely to live on the moon.” And “Most Artistic” so…there it is.

LG: There you go. Are you reading or watching anything right now?

CB: If I read during the day, Xavier will try and eat the book. So that’s kind of challenging. Mostly I’m reading a lot of comics. I’m reading “Walking Dead,” “Chew,” “Unwritten,” “Day Tripper,” and some Marvel Universe stuff, “Uncanny X-men” and “Avengers.” I just watched “The Road” which does not portray the post-apocalyptic life as very appealing, although there is still this kind of glimmer of hope. It’s really dim but, the Father talks to the Son about “carrying the fire.” And how do you carry that fire? But the son still does even when there is no hope. There’s nothing, no plant life at all, you’re just surviving on what’s left. Contrast that film with “The Book of Eli” which is more in-line with the view of the post-apocalypse that I was thinking of growing up. There’s a badass hero with a quest. This hero is on a journey and he struggles to survive and bring light and truth. It’s really appealing.

Also, recently played the “Fallout” video game. This post-apocalyptic thing continues even today.

And I watch a lot of crappy sci-fi, horror, and action movies. Yeah, a lot of really bad stuff.

LG: One last question, what’s your favorite episode of The Real Luke?

CB: I like the Japan one a lot, but I’d have to go with the Bigfoot. I think the survival-horror episode with the Bigfoot was probably my favorite.

LG: Cool. Where can people see more of your work?

CB: They can check out my website, www.clovisblackwell.com and, pending the Dean’s approval, take my screenprinting class at Azusa Pacific University starting in the Fall.

[/END]

Thanks for checking out my first artist interview! And a big thanks to Clovis for being my space monkey. Any questions you’d like me to ask in the next one?

-Luke

Here’s my first “artist profile” with my good friend Clovis Blackwell [CB].

LG: How do we know each other?

CB: We go way back Luke, we go back to San Francisco, to the Upper Room that Church group thing that we were doing. But what kinda cemented the friendship was us being able to talk about art ideas and stuff. You were working on your short film for school it was…

LG: “Coming To”

CB: That’s it. The conversation that really strikes me was about the main character’s transformation in “Coming To.” It came when someone dropped a piece of fruit in his bag and he tried it. We were talking about what that fruit might be conveying. That was a really great rapport that we developed. Being able to discus things has been a really fun part of our friendship, being able to bounce ideas off of each other.

LG: Yeah Totally. When we met, what sort of art were you making?

CB: When we met, I had just graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and I was making “box art,” kind of Joseph Cornell-style. After graduating I started working on an installation that I came to think of as a large “Cornell Box.” I think I titled that show Cedars. I was collecting a bunch of different materials and putting them in jars and bottles.

CB: I made one small box out of those objects and the rest of the show was those objects filling the gallery space like the space was a box. That was a nice progression for me to move out of small objects into a larger space. I think that led to some of my more recent work.

LG: So what is your more recent work? What have you been working on?

CB: I’ll go back to my last show, my show for my Master of Fine Arts. I made an installation where I hand-cast 200 action figures and set them up in battles on miniature terrain that I made. I had 4 tables that filled the gallery space; they looked like model train or war gaming landscapes. The figures were fighting on that. It was a sort of transition from my previous work.

LG: Because that work was installation based?

CB: Yeah, it hasn’t all been installation based, I do tend to play around with a lot of different media. The media that I choose needs to incorporate whatever theme that I’m thinking of in my work. It was important that they were action figures because it was thinking of the role of the Hero and taking it down to a toy, a commodity, a throw-away thing. Sort of parodying the idea of what a Hero is, but also moving past that idea and it was a lot about just having fun and playing, being playful.

LG: What was that show called?

The name of the show was Time of Trial and that came from a couple of things, from Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” which identifies The Road of Trials as the part of the heroic cycle where the Hero is in struggle, where it looks like he might not make it. Where he suffers. It’s in that moment where he learns something important. That’s where the transformation takes place.

LG: Like where Luke learns to trust The Force?

CB: Exactly where Luke learns to trust The Force. Down in that cave on Dagobah.

LG: Actually he’s in the Trench…

CB: I’m thinking of “Empire.” [The Empire Strikes Back] Let’s all just go to “Empire,” cause “Empire” is The Road of Trials. The whole movie is The Road of Trials. That’s where all the struggles happen; that’s where Han gets frozen, where you don’t know if they are going to make it. That’s where Luke learns the truth about his father, where he learns to actually become a Jedi, where Han and Leia began to fall in love. Everything happens in “Empire.” And the resolution comes in “Return [of the Jedi].”

LG: Let’s bring that back to Time of Trials.

CB: First, I should say what the action figures were, there were 100 Super Clovis action figures and 100 Anti Clovis action figures. The Hero and the Villain. It’s in their struggle and their fight, in MY struggle and my fight within myself that I found transformation. Part of that has to do with my experience with Rheumatoid Arthritis and learning to understand my own weakness. It also gets pretty Jungian dealing with the psyche and how one comes to terms with who one is. Which is exactly what that Heroic Journey is all about.

LG: So did Time of Trials somehow inform or set you on the course for your current work?

CB: I’d gotten really fascinated with the apocalypse and trying to understand why I have felt an allure towards the “end of the world” and towards a post-apocalyptic future. I was starting to think about those things while I was working on Time of Trial. I was thinking about how I was influenced by movies, how these Hero stories filtered into my life and my way of thinking when I was a child. A lot of those were these post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies and I was thinking about the glamorous Hero, the survivor Hero. So the Hero is the connection.

I’ve been working on these Mushroom Cloud drawings and screen prints and thinking of making a series of miniature sculptures. I’m trying to take away the power and the fear from the Mushroom Clouds. I’m trying to make them pretty and seductive and kind of harmless. I want to make them really attractive because of what comes after the destruction, what comes after the death and suffering is this moment of new life, this moment of rebirth. You have death then you have life and resurrection. You have this transformation. You have the apocalypse, then you have the post-apocalypse. You have the survivors and society and the world rebuilding.

“untitled” | 11×14 | chinamarker on paper | 2010

That’s the fascination for me, that’s the connection to Time of Trial. Now I’m using the Mushroom Cloud as the moment of struggle in the Hero’s journey. I guess it’s kind of the same thing as what I was doing. I’m looking at the same thing, that moment of struggle but through a different lens. [laughs] It’s not a self portrait. [LG laughs] Most of my work has been self portrait for the last 8 or 10 years. I kind of wanted to get away from that and I am, but I guess it’s the same thing. It’s learning the importance of struggle in my life and how that’s transformative and the beautiful things that come after that.

LG: I like that. I hadn’t made that connection either.

CB: That was new for me [laughs] I hadn’t made that connection to Time of Trial, that solidified things for me. So thank you.

LG: You’re welcome.

CB: That’s why I like these conversations. We do this.

LG: Things come out.

CB: Yeah.

—{END Part 1]—

Stay tuned next week when I ask Clovis questions like:

LG: I’m curious as to why you picked the Mushroom Cloud and not say the “Robot Apocalypse” or the “Zombie Apocalypse” or the “Monkey Plague Apocalypse”?

-Luke

Luke & Clovis at the AEM art show, circa 2006

We were there to see photographer David Maisel give a lecture about his work entitled “Black Maps.”

When the lecture started, I was confused. Why was he showing pictures of oil paintings? I expected to see some of his work. It took me a while to realize that those WERE photographs.

In the simplest terms, David does high altitude aerial photography of the interaction between man and the environment. Scenes of mines, clear cuts, drained lakes, and expansive urban environments were the primary focus of his lecture that evening.

The confusion on the origin of the first images is actually something to be expected with his work. One of the reasons that he uses aerial photography is so that “nothing will tell you where you are.” By eliminating perspective and context, he forces the viewer to examine the image for the sake of the image.

This unearthly perspective also adds tension, chaos and a sense of “the lack of control” to the images. The best art marries theory and practice by having the themes of the work represented in medium. And these photos exemplify that, because in many cases they feature massive environmental calamities. The pieces from his “Lake Project” details the destruction caused by the draining of Owens Lake. The lake was drained to provide water to Los Angeles. In providing life to the city, the water department created an environment that produced toxic dust storms in the Owens Valley.

Is the environmental impact apparent from the photos or do we need to learn more about the circumstances that created what we are seeing? This is an element of the duality of Maisel’s work. On one hand there is a aesthetic beauty to the images, there is no denying the brilliant colors and stunning compositions. On the other hand they represent a wanton pillaging of the Earth and, in many cases, highly toxic and dangerous spaces.

But this is not immediately apparent as the forced perspective renders the photos abstract. Are we to judge the image alone, or the image in context? Do we see the beauty or the horror? David would argue that there is no need to separate the elements, they can exist together at the same time.

While his photographs seem to be an indictment against the practices of logging firms and mining companies, David strongly avoids this. He points out that many of the chemicals he uses in photography come from these mines. He is complicit in what is happening. And by viewing the photographs and by buying his book of photography, we too, as the audience become complicit. It’s a challenging concept and a bold statement that doesn’t limit itself to his photography.

“The audience completes the work” he stated. It seems like a given, but if photography is a form of perception, what makes it different from actually seeing something is the ability to share that perception with someone. And it raises the question without an audience would there even be art at all?

-Luke

All images © David Maisel. More can be found at his site, http://www.davidmaisel.com/

hope the New Year has been good to you so far. so far, the majority of my creative output this year has been writing. and the lion’s share of that has been on a ZOMBIE feature screenplay. stay tuned for more details on that.

in the meantime, here’s one of my non-film creative projects from last year. for my birthday, my good friend Troy got me a vintage Nikishi frame and fork set. over the next several months I built a custom bike…see if you can guess the “theme” I was going for.

first up was spoking the rims (you can see the silver frame behind Johnny)

next I got the frame and forks powered coated, then many trips to Echo Park Cycles for parts.

because I was using a vintage frame, I had to find a vintage stem. at Coco’s Variety Shop I found an old Schwinn stem.

but I didn’t want any chrome parts…so I took the stem and seat post back to the powder coaters.

and that was pretty much it. some hammering was required to get the handlebars to fit in the stem…and later I changed my grips. but the bike was finally rideable!

here’s the finished, fully assembled bike on its maiden voyage.

looking forward to warm summer days where I can get some good rides in!

-Luke