The third video made with the same set of images, but closer to what I actually want. We live in surreal times. Maybe all times are surreal.
Laura Talking at Yavapai College
I decided the first version of Laura talking didn’t go far enough. So I went farther, utilizing geometric fragments of the Yavapai College landscape.
Laura Talking
Laura is my wife, and a willing and readily available model for my work. I’ve decided it’s time to expand from just doing videos of myself to working with other people. Over the past weekend I photographed several of my friends, and already have a tentative design for a video incorporating them.
The Escape Artist
Obviously I mean escape metaphorically, right? And ending with dominance. I think of escape artists, like Houdini, as a peculiarly 19th century sort of entertainment, and thus the antique frame and sepia coloring.
The Anaheim Trip
This past summer we had to take my father to a heart clinic in Anaheim, California, supposedly to have a heart valve replaced. It was a tense experience. Adding to the surrealism was the fact that Anaheim is Disneyland country, and we spent the night in a Disneyland-oriented hotel, replete with evening fireworks, while my parents were in the ICU.
Talking
A kineograph of facial expressions while talking to the camera. Speaking as a card-carrying old guy, the sepia faux-antique look seems appropriate. People say my work is humorous. Of course it is, but there’s a lot more than that going on.
Watching the News
I’m old enough that my father served in WW2, a war we fought to destroy fascism. And now I’m watching the rebirth of totalitarianism in my own country, the USA. I am horrified by the things our Dear President is saying, that any disagreement with him is tantamount to treason. I remember when they used “Love it or Leave it” during the Vietnam war, but we aren’t fighting a war now. This is all about Trump. Either support everything he says and does, or leave the country. That isn’t patriotism. That’s insanity. Now I know how the Nazi’s rose in 1930’s Germany. It’s actually easy to create a Cult of the Supreme Leader. We are in big trouble.
