happy holidays all! hope you are having a wonderful time filled with family, friends, and delicious noms!
this week I’ve decide to post a little interview I did for the Shriekfest newsletter. I’m LG and the festival director Denise Gossett is DG.
[start interview] DG: What is your name and company URL?
LG:
My name is Luke Asa Guidici, my production company is yetiesque and my website is www.lukeasa.com.
DG: What is your specialty…filmmaking or screenwriting?
LG:
I write, direct, and edit. I really enjoy all three aspects of filmmaking, both in my own projects and when I collaborate with others. Experience in each one helps inform the others. Since I have experience editing, I know just what moments I’ll need to get on set in order to make a scene work. By having directing experience I’m able to better evaluate writing and examine the feasibility of production. And writing helps ensure that the films I make have the tonal & thematic aspects that I find most compelling.
DG: Impressive! What are you currently working on?
LG:
Right now I’m in the midst of a film festival tour with my short film CERTIFIED and I’m working on several feature film writing projects.
DG: That’s great! Have you been a finalist or winner in any festivals or competitions?
LG:
CERTIFIED has been a finalist at The American Pavilion in Cannes, Dragon*Con, and the HollyShorts Film Festival. It was also the Best Super Short at this year’s Shriekfest.
DG: Yes, if you haven’t seen it guys, you must! Why do you think the horror/scifi genres have such a large following?
LG:
For me sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural tales have also had a huge attraction. There is something very compelling about tales that can take us to strange, far flung lands. The ability to dream and imagine is a unique and special part of being human – and these sorts of films tap into that.
DG: What do you love most about this business?
LG:
The creative process. I love the entire process from the scribbled notes in a sketchbook, to the script, to preproduction, to being on set, and to seeing it all come together in post production. I love talking about film, art, and stories. I love the problem solving that comes with trying to communicate an idea or get a certain shot. I guess you could simply say I love making stuff.
DG: I love your passion! What do you dislike most about this business?
LG:
Waiting! Filmmaking is such a collaborative art form that you inevitably spend a lot of time waiting for other people. Patience and grace go a long ways and I’m getting better at having more of both.
DG: LOL I hear you! Any advice you’d like to give to newbies?
LG:
Don’t worry about what you think others want to see, make work that reflects what you care about. People respond to authenticity and passion, so follow yours.
DG: Thank you! Anything else you’d like to say?
LG:
Check me out at twitter.com/lukeguidici. I talk about what projects I’m working on, films I’m watching, and a bit about snowboarding. Also feel free to say “hi” – I always @reply.
DG: Thank you for taking the time out to chat with me!
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.
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.
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.
here’s the final part of my interview with Lex Halaby! enjoy=)
—–
LG: So what the heck do you do?
LH: I’m a director. I like to think writer/director even though I haven’t directed a feature film. I write the concepts and scripts the both my short films and music videos. When I do commercial work the concept has been hashed out by the agency already so my role is different. I don’t like to say that I’m one kind of director or another. I don’t want to just do music videos, or commercials, or narrative – I like to do it all.
LG: You’ve done some documentary stuff to, right?
LH: Yeah, in fact right now I’m working with a really talented editor, Ryan Brown on a documentary I shot in London. It’s about a performing arts school called “Chickenshed.” They are a really interesting, progressive school that incorporates people from all backgrounds, all ages, and all abilities into one performing arts troupe. The work they do is really amazing and they’ve become a leading example of what you can do by incorporating all types of people.
There’s people that are physically handicapped, mentally handicapped, and completely able bodied all performing on stage together. We interviewed students in the school, the faculty, and the founders. We also filmed their rehearsals and performances and are in the process of creating a short documentary about the message and principles that they are built on.
LG: Is this something that they gave you the script for? Or did they give you a “Thesis statement,” something that said “we want want a piece that communicates these ideas?”
LH: No, actually in the case of “Chickenshed” they were really open to how I wanted to approach the subject. I went out there and for the first week I just took in the school. I sat in on as many classes as I could and got to know people. I got to see them perform and see what they do. And from that I was able to start putting together my ideas for the structure of the piece. Then I developed questions for the interviews that fit into that structure for the film. After shooting 12 hours of interviews I was able to find the right cut-aways and b-roll footage to compliment and exemplify what they were saying.
LG: I think it’s really smart that you spent that week just being there and being in the moment, absorbing it before you started shooting. Do you use a similar technique on your non-documentary projects?
LH: In the creative process, it’s really important for me to be on location as much as possible prior to shooting. I do a lot of my visualization on location. You know that from the “Man-Man” video, when you and I went out and looked at stuff and shot photos. It’s important for me to be in the space so that I can be inspired by it and pre visualize things before production.
LG: I remember on one of your recent projects, the Coheed & Cambria video, you went to the location a couple time before you shot, right?
LH: Yeah I went out to Victorville, CA a few times. The first time was to find locations and make the decision that yes, Victorville was the place to shoot. The second time was to look at the locations more carefully and think more in terms of blocking. We also did some lighting tests with the camera to find out when the best time to shoot certain scenes would be. Victorville is a couple hours away, but I knew I couldn’t show up on the day of production and not have those fundamental decisions made already – cause then it’d just be mass confusion.
LG: So tell me a little bit more about this project.
LH: The record label and band’s management came to me with a creative brief and said “we want to do something very different with this project.” They were open to it being more than a normal music video. The brief included a section from Claudio, the singer, with certain themes that the song’s lyrics touched on. So I those themes and incorporated them into a short film script. I pitched it as a “music video/short film hybrid using the song as the score.” They liked it, and I booked the job.
It was an interesting experiment working dialog in and out of a music video. There are times where you hear the music and lyrics and times where it’s just an instrumental version of the song with dialog from the characters. I think we achieved something unconventional and different which is what we set out to do.
And people have responded to it. G4 did a premiere of it on “Attack of the Show” and a shorter version w/o dialogue went to MTV. It was a great opportunity and I’m glad I got to take advantage of it.
LG: What’s the logline?
LH: It’s about three teenagers who live in a small desert town that’s turned against them. Through the course of the video you slowly discover why.
LH: I’m also developing it as a longer form short film, separate from the music video. Originally I wrote a longer script then I paired the footage down in editorial to work with-in the constraints of a music video. There other scenes and dialog that were too long to air, but will be great in the festival version.
LG: So what stage is the short film in?
LH: The longer form version of the Coheed & Cambria video is currently being edited. Then it will need a new sound mix and score because the timing will have changed. It will be a few weeks before I get into the meat of it, because I’m doing this version out-of-pocket and since requires some favors — I have to work at a “favor pace.”
LG: I think it’d be interesting to tell people what a “favor pace” means. ‘Cause I know what you mean, but I’m not sure all of our readers will.
LH: Sure. When I say a “favor pace” it means that people are going to do the work between their paying gigs and in their spare time as a “favor” to you. So things move slower when you are asking people to work for free.
If you have a little bit of money, it definitely helps, so sometimes I will pay out-of-pocket just to keep things moving.
LG: It’s the whole “better, faster, cheaper” thing.
LH: It’s the triangle: quality, time, and money. If you don’t have much money and you want high quality you gotta give somebody a lot of time with it.
LG: So what other projects are you working on right now?
LH: I just directed a project for Coca-Cola’s new Christmas jingle, a music video for the band Train, and a music video for Kimberly Caldwell from American Idol. It’s been a really busy month and balance all the projects has been a challenge, albeit an enjoyable one. Those should all be released in the coming weeks.
Before that I did a large Latin video for Juanes, international latin rock-star. That was a great experience. He was fantastic to work with, we got along really well, and it’s a beautiful video. I think we hit the themes and tone of the video perfectly.
It takes place all at night, outside on city streets. You don’t see anyone at all, it’s completely empty, but you do see people’s shadows. So Juanes is walking through an empty city with the shadows of a bustling city all around him.
LG: So do you have any writing projects right now?
LH: Well, I’m pitching on quite a few music videos and a couple commercials right now. And in my personal writing I am developing a graphic novel and some short scripts. I think the graphic novel is going to be my next major undertaking. I just met wih my friend Skip Martin who’s just published his graphic novel, “Bizarre New World” and talked with him about the next steps I need to take in order to get it made.
LG: What inspired you to work on a graphic novel?
LH: Graphic novels are very creatively freeing to me. There’s no limitations from a storytelling and budget standpoint. It costs the same amount to draw a character sitting alone on a park bench as it does to draw a character flying a massive spaceship through a black hole. There’s no budget constraints and therefore far fewer creative constraints. Of course the quality of the art and printing all cost money but not in the same way it does in filmmaking.
There’s many stories I’d like to tell that are too expensive for the screen and graphic novels allow me to bring these visual stories to life. It’s still something I’m exploring, but very excited about the possibilities of the medium.
LG: What were the graphic novels that have been inspiring you?
LH: “Scalped” and I’ve also really enjoyed the “Walking Dead” series.
LG: Can you think of any examples where inspiration has come from an unexpected place?
LH: I’m usually inspired when I’m traveling or when I’m somewhere where there’s a lot of visual motion. If I sit and watch cars, or I’m at the airport, or just watching people walk by I’m able to think much better than if I’m starring at a screen.
Usually when I’m writing I just walk around the house in circles. I can’t just sit if I’m trying to break an idea. I think all my ideas come from movement and action.
LG: I like that bit about motion, how it lets you disconnect and hit those other areas of your brain.
LH: Yeah, I didn’t even realize that until a few years ago. Once I realized it, it really helped. It’s really hard for me to just write in front of my computer. That’s why I really need to get my laptop fixed [laughs] so I can be somewhere else. [LG laughs]
The other thing I do, just from a productivity standpoint, is run a program called “Freedom.” It blocks all internet access for a certain amount of time. So if I have a hard deadline and I’m getting distracted with emails and the internet, I’ll run that program and it block my internet access for say “the next two hours.” The only way to get it back is to fully reboot the computer, which is a pain, so I don’t do it. And then I get more writing done.
LG: So I think we’re getting close to being done…if you weren’t filmmaking – what do you think you’d be doing?
LH: I spend a lot of time thinking about that. If I wasn’t in film I’d probably be in either politics or journalism. Like NGO [Non-government organization] style politics. Or psychology. [both laugh] I think they are all related in a way. I think that in writing and filmmaking understanding psychology is really important. Especially for understanding motivation and how characters interact with each other. Also to understand the psychology of the audience. What do they interpret from the characters on screen? Do they connotate it as positive or negative and how do they react to it? I think those are valuable skills.
I’m always involved in politics and I love to travel. I like to be outside of the US, so that’s probably where the NGO side of things comes from. And journalism, that’s from my love of documentary.
I like picking people’s brains…like you’re doing to me right now. [laughs]
LG: Deep into the dark recess of Lex’s mind we will travel…
LH: Super meta right now. [both laugh]
LG: So what’s your favorite episode of The Real Luke?
LH: I think the trailer that you did was ****ing amazing. I love that trailer. It was particularly funny because the other Real Luke stuff is intentionally so lo-fi and has a homemade feeling, but then this is really huge and epic and I like that contrast.
LG: [laughs] Cool. So where can people see your work?
So that wraps it up. Definitely some exciting work on the way from Lex!
I really enjoyed picking his brain and finding out about his creative process…it’s an exciting adventure getting to learn more about how my friends work and I’m glad I can share it with y’all!
Here’s the first part of my interview with good friend and talented filmmaker Lex Halaby [LH]. Once again…I’m [LG].
LG: So how do we know each other?
LH: That’s actually a funny question, cause I was talking about this with our friend Liz recently, cause I’m not actually sure when we first met. I think it was through the Writers’ Group, right?
LG: Yeah, that’s where we really got to know each other. So, tell me a little about the WG, what did we do there?
LH: Well I’d been talking with a lot of friends, most of which were directors about the various stuff they were writing and it seemed like everyone was having a hard time completing projects. So I thought it’d be good to get together every two weeks to read each other’s material and give feedback. Having the schedule of writers’ group would force you to write and you’d get good constructive feedback from people who’s opinions you trusted.
LG: Do you think we were successful in that?
LH: Yeah, I think that the WG helped a lot. And we all became friends through it. So it was nice to have a routine excuse to hang out, crack some beers, read each other’s stuff, and catch up.
LG: Yeah, I thought that was a really cool part of it. Cause I didn’t really know you guys very well before the group.
LG: Were there any writing projects you started writing in the group that you completed? Or projects you later went on to shoot?
LH: There’s no way I would have been able to write that 13 Episode Webseries, tentatively titled [laughs] “Blowers,” without the WG. Having the deadline really forced me to write.
And there’s other things that I wrote that I brought into the group and shot as well, short films and things like that. Sometimes music video concepts.
LG: Like the ‘Man Man’ one, right?
LH: Yeah, exactly. That came into the group a couple times to be refined. It was part short film, part music video and finding the right balance and working on that w/ Ryan, the singer as well. It was good for me to get outside feedback.
LG: He came into WG a couple times after that right, when you guys were working on that short film…
LH: Yeah on “Oh Joy.” We became friends after working on ‘Man Man’ and decided to make another project. Ryan came into the group and we wrote a short script together called “Oh Joy.”
LG: Any plans to work on another project with him?
LH: We’re talking about a few things and we’ll definitely work together on something in the future.
LG: That’s something I wanted to ask you more about, the collaboration process. Because often as a writer/director you’re taking your concept and vision all the way. So what was it like to collaborate with another writer on “Oh Joy?”
LH: It was sort of a new experience for me. Cause coming from a background of music videos: you get the music, you write the concept then you follow it all the way through the production and post.
But with this project, Ryan and I really wanted to collaborate.
First we bounced around ideas for the short film, then when we settled on an idea – we separately wrote our own versions. The tones ended up being very different.
We talked about it and said well “I kind of like this line from yours, but it doesn’t work that well with this section from mine.” So we got together and scrapped the two versions and then started totally fresh on a new one. We sat down in the same room and wrote it over the course of a few hours.
LG: That’s a really interesting way you guys ended up writing. Once you had the script, what was the division of labor? Because you didn’t shared director’s credit, right? Were you co-producers?
LH: My background is in production, so I handled the directing. But Ryan was definitely helping me produce it. He helped get the cast through Charlyne Yi, he got Paul Rust, Anne Gregory, and Martin Starr.
Then we shot it a day or two before he left for Philadelphia.
This is an example where having a deadline makes it all happen. One way or another the short film is happening. If you’re just like “when ever the time is right” you don’t end up shooting it.
LG: Yeah I agree, deadlines are important. How do you set them for yourself? What do you do to keep yourself motivated and inspired?
LH: I usually need external deadlines. I can set deadlines for myself, but the things that take priority are the ones with hard deadlines. Since I’m usually juggling a few projects at any given time, which ever one has a deadline first, get’s done first.
But I keep a fairly lengthy to-do list. I try to knock off more stuff than gets put on. It’s never been completely empty though. [both laugh] Cause there’s a few things on there that are hugely time consuming and I haven’t quite figured out how to do them between other things.
LG: Is this a digital list, a paper list? Where does it live?
LH: It’s a digital list. It’s in my iCal. So I keep my schedule open and the to-do list next to it. I have two monitors and the monitor on the left is just my to-do list and calendar and I work on the one to the right.
LG: That’s interesting, your calendar and to-do list are always up. Schedule is boring, but important for us creative types…so that we actually get things done.
LH: I need to work on more minute time management. Like really managing every hour of the day. But it’s tough cause on any given day my schedule is different. I could plan to spend a whole day writing, then midway thru, new notes come in from a label and I have to make a couple edit changes on something.
All of a sudden my plan to “just write” has be blown cause there is a fire to put out. You have to roll-with-the-punches, but if I have an open day I try to schedule it.
[End Part 1.]
Next week, we’ll learn more about Lex’s creative process and hear about his new videos, shorts, and other projects!
-Luke
p.s. If there are questions you’d like me to ask people in the future, please let me know!
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?
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…
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”?
