The Bluegrass State

Now that the bulk of the Gravity set is up in Kentucky I have been able to get outside long enough to see Kentucky! Yay! First off, everyone is polite. I get the most stunned by the niceness when I go to a hardware store and multiple people want to help me. I feel like how our bandmate Drew felt when we were in Chicago and his comfort with New York invisibility made him say "Why was that guy talking at me?" completely astounded by someone genuinely wanting to have a conversation!

The arts in Louisville are a massive enterprise. A lot of (very lucrative) businesses are at the center of this town so arts funding is a common luxury (in the same way I found in Houston Texas). But, unlike Texas, it seems like a lot of local mini-art cliques have formed down here...judging by conversation they seem to be working together a bit more as of late though which is at least a step in the right direction! Our show, for instance, is being sponsored by Art Without Walls, a non-profit arts organization that specializes in bringing art from outside the city into, around and all over this city, and our show is being constructed at LOT (Land Of Tomorrow), a relatively new, huge gallery space in Louisville (with a thriving space in Lexington as well) that supports a large network of (mostly local and Southern) artists with intense contemporary styles. Joey, the Gallery Director at LOT Louisville is a wonderful person whose curatorial ideas and wide ranging background are going to benefit this space A TON! Not to mention he is a super nice guy, I hope he is fully appreciated by this organization!

Another artist we met while here, Aron, was telling us about a lot of other local community arts initiatives he is involved with that sound great. Nelligan Hall was a vaudeville theater back in the 30s, a democratic headquarters in another era and currently houses an art collective complete with studio spaces, the new incarnation spearheaded by Aron & his wife. Their next artspace project is called The Mammoth and, judging by the building, it is just that! Aron's wife also is a part of The Center for Neighborhoods whose mission statement is a beautiful, utopic vision of how a town should run and how "The vitality of any community depends on the engagement of its residents." P.A.I.N.T seeks to "put art in neighborhoods together," another program focuses on neighborhood beautification through community gardening & landscaping and the next project on their agenda is trying to grow more food resources in areas that are lacking. Programs like this are, of course, important to any community and I hope all of the arts communities in Louisville can find a common ground to work on more of these vital projects together! Back inside for a bit hopefully to emerge from the barely lit set into this beautifully lit Kentucky day, a thing that has been a rarity given these recent days of beautiful (yet deadly) Kentucky storms (pictured)!

Axing, Gathering and Planing

Today I got a really eerie feeling when I realized most of the hardware we have been buying to rebuild the Gravity set is being purchased in the exact town that the real Leonard Wood worked as a hardware store clerk. Even though his house is no longer standing our memorial and story of him is, which is a strange feeling to bring to life.

Each Age is a Dream That is Dying Or One That is Coming to Birth

We made it to Louisville Kentucky five days ago late into the night through thunderstorms, blue skies and a bacon induced fog (I get it, people like bacon. But do we need bacon in every menu item dear truckstop?) My least favorite stop along the way was at a gas station in Ohio whose posters boasted "Fill up on freedom" across images of eagles, American flags and the Statue of Liberty....also available at this location was a fur covered dream catcher (the fur obscuring any web of dream catching abilities!) with the porcelain idea of a Native American glued to the center...what an American dream we are cultivating here! I guess this is all fuel as to why I feel Gravity is so necessary...or why art in general is so necessary right now...

After watching (almost all) of a Max Ernst documentary before embarking on our trip I saw the evolution of dada and surrealism fighting out against WWI and then II, making images to deal with, comment on, and document the nearly unimaginable state of things. I find that I keep looking for a current movement  in art, one that is speaking out against all of the injustices across the globe but I'm not seeing too much of it! When I moved to rural Pennsylvania (pictures seen here) to start Gravity it was definitely because I heard messages in Brent's work that I find to be very important, socially moving and that I had hoped to find in art when I moved to NY. Don't get me wrong, I know a bunch of artists are broadcasting much needed messages (Mel Chin, Karyn Olivier, Jackie Goss, Chris Doyle to name a few) and that graffiti and DIY movements have been going strong for a few decades now taking on some political angst but not nearly enough in the face of the seemingly constant global meltdowns.

I also know that many groups have been coming together in recent days to cause some actual revolutions but where are the artistic ones? Why does it seem so difficult for groups of artists to come together and speak the same message? I know that when I was living in Brooklyn I felt a strong sense of artists being guarded about their ideas due to the competitive nature (and the potential profit) of the Chelsea art scene...I really hope that that palpable sense of tension has dissipated in the post art boom in New York and that the artistic collectives, collaborations and progressive, creative ideas that I was looking for when I moved there are happening and I mean in a genuine, immediate way (looks sideways at recent influx of artistic collectives that are slooowly reacting instead of initiating any sort of change). Now I must get back on the ladder, installing the Gravity set in Louisville, helping to build the messages I feel so strongly about for a whole new audience, one nail at a time! But first: how to get ssssuper glue off of ones fingersss...?

Derby Days

Louisville! Building the Gravity set! So tired! So sore! So tired! What a beautiful space!

Canadian Death Wish (my fictional metal band)

Wow! Canada hates us! It's true! Usually I don't bring up negative Gravity related comments but I am kind of overwhelmed by how much Canada dislikes the film as of late...especially since we've been getting nothing but tears & thank yous for showing the film in South America recently! Gravity will be playing at Hot Docs- the monolithic documentary film fest that takes place annually in Toronto. They held a few press previews and local takes on Gravity include "I would have left but I fell asleep" and "It is art. But bad art." Ouch. But, I realize if you want a straight up documentary then Gravity is definitely not for you. At all. And, that by making the film a public event it is bound to find a few haters!

Hopefully our opening night at the Plastic Paper Festival in Winnipeg will be positive (despite the fact that since we can't send out DVD screeners due to the art world nature of the film there has been some unhappiness)!  Maybe we should just stay away from Canada? Maybe it is just so cold up there their blood needs some warming up to the film? C'mon Spring! Send Canada some love! Here is a picture of Brent trying to keep it positive during our previous ill-fated screening in Canada also, there is Niagara Falls looking...purple? At least the screenings in Ottawa seemed to go well (despite the hesitation over calling the film animated)! O Canada, not my home nor native land...!

Pigeons He Yells Through the Wind

I really like capping our Gravity tours with trips to New York...strolling around, seeing our amazing friends (even running into some of them accidentally on the subway), watching some kind of music/art/movie in the hidden depths of the boroughs, collecting up our band, dropping off our band- it's like a pre & postshow ritual that I really, really enjoy! A return home to my pre-Gravity home!

Brent and I now prepare for a trip to Louisville Kentucky where we will rebuild the set of Gravity again, possibly for the last time? No! I hope not! Despite all of the intense work that goes into it I still love seeing Leonard's house lit up with life...ok, packing up our needs: work gloves, wireless power drill, pants that will be rendered useless, Easter bonnet/Derby hat large enough to be worthy of the South...this is the toughest install packing yet?!

Chicagoland

The Chicago show was wonderful! An awesome assortment of Mike McGinley's entire immediate family, Chicago indie rock dudes, local microcinema pioneers (in the form of the most wonderful people I have ever met!), a stellar animator, old friends and (hopefully) new fans all filed into the creaking pews of a church to watch & listen to Gravity making the thing feel like a strange, well attended mass of sorts! Again, Jim White is an incredible musician drummer and having a new sound in the band really made the performance a bit more exciting for us on stage as both John & Drew improvised their hearts out! Drew even had a new instrument, a harmonium, that he traveled to the deepest parts of Queens to retrieve from the back of a guys truck after a tip from the friendly internet...! While in Chicago we even had plenty of time to hang out with Mike & Holli too whose wonderful home really made us all feel at ease. Highlights included Mike's fabulous cooking, a band viewing of that Metallica documentary where they all cry, and even a mini-tour of Wicker Park from Alan (which brought me to some great places including Reckless Records and the legendary Quimby's where Brent & I did the most touristy thing we could- photo booth fun! YAY!). The trip and show went so well there is some chatter about coming back to Chicago at some point for another screening in the not so distant future and I couldn't be more excited! Thanks for the fun Chicago!

Houses of the (Not So) Holy

The drive to Illinois was pretty rough with traffic, antsy-ness and greasy/nasty roadside food but we made it to Chicago late in the night to be ready for our soundcheck yesterday. We are here as part of the second third annual CIMM Fest (Chicago International Movies & Music Festival) which seriously blends music and music to a Chicago worthy degree- Joan of Arc playing along to The Passion of Joan of Arc , a documentary on Vince Giraldi  (the soundtrack of my Charlie Brown childhood ), panels on the internet murdering the film & music industries and even a festival jury containing such music names as DJ Spooky and Tim Rutili (who Brent has worked with in the past !)...pretty cool!

Our show today, once again & very fittingly, is in a church! A beautiful church! That is actually an arts center  (pictures here)! Next to a place with great sandwiches ! And perfect local roasted coffee! And a delicious pineapple upsidedown cake ! Yay! Chicago! Sound check went well and Jim White is a drum playing god...hope to see you at the show! Also, Alan & Mike will be playing at this show since they are native Chicago-ians! You can listen to an interview that their band The Bitter Tears did on the local NPR branch over here - with a shout out to tonight's show no less!

Gravity Road Trip!

Tomorrow Brent & I head to Brooklyn to pick up Drew, John and a bunch of instruments and then hit the road for Chicago Illinois where we will meet Mike & Alan and our drummer (Jim White!), for a Gravity live show & premier in the fine windy city! The show is late Saturday so you have plenty of time to get there too! Yay!

Now I must pack my foley kit...need to find a new (old) shingle and a new (rusty) hinge...hmmm....Here are two blurry car moving pictures taken on the road home from our last Gravity trip to the midwest, excited!

Home is Where Our Netflix Goes!

So today we leave Troy NY for awhile...we will be back in May but until then we are going to do a live show in Chicago, install the entire Gravity set in Louisville Kentucky, send Brent to Portugal for a film fest (who hasn't announced their line up so I don't know details...?), screen at two other fests (info soon!) and have the opening of the show in Kentucky all while also somehow managing to celebrate my birthday! There better be cake I tell you! Anyway...the project Brent has been working on (the animation contraption?) is not quite ready to be unveiled and really hard to capture the essence of - here is a glimpse but still, not really doing it justice! Tonight there is a screening of Gravity in Salt Lake City,  nice write up can be found here and our screenings at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI!) are going along in the next few days...in fact a friend of mine who lives in Buenos Aires informed me that the screening on Sunday that he will be attending is playing in a theater that used to exclusively show pornography! Yay for...um...cultural progress? Eh? Now we hit the road ending in a few days at home....zzzzzzz....

Master of the Melodic Drumroll

Okok, I'll tell you- our drummer for the Chicago live show (coming up on April 16th) is none other than (drum roll ever so fittingly please).....Jim White! Yay! I remember listening to Dirty Three when I was a teenager and having a sudden musical understanding: "O! Drums ARE instruments! With tones! And textures!" A thing I had never realized before, mostly due to the fact that my drum knowledge consisted of whatever the passing marching bands bombastically played during parades.

Then, suddenly, I could always tell when Jim White was playing in any band! He was an actual musician, with his own style! And musical ideas! This new found realization that the rhythm section of a band is so much more than that had a huge impact on the way I listen & make music...a realization that I think definitley adds to my own (novice) foley/sound work that I have been doing for Gravity! So, yes, I AM a bit nervous to play any kind of percussive instrument in front of my childhood idol of percussive instruments, thanks for asking! (practices hitting tin can...with more passion!)


Here is a video, made by the studio of our friendly acquaintance Braden King, featuring the awe-inspiring Dirty Three including the newest contributor to the Gravity live soundtrack on drums! Also, here is a picture of Troy NY where we will, sadly, be leaving tomorrow after part of an amazing, ongoing residency at EMPAC!

The Cel

Painting cels, painting cels....

I think I am starting to lose it a bit....

 
...officially lost it!

A lot of the tech students here at RPI who have visited Brent's studio (some pics of studio & view from studio seen here) are in disbelief that each frame is hand drawn, insisting a computer must do something!?! I thought of the perfect analogy that I don't think they are going to be too thrilled about: the computer is like the wrist motion in a flip book, just pushing forward each picture like a thumb!...but there is some secret (hand crumbling) technology that is part of this new Brent Green animation thing that is definitely way more than computer turned flip book- more soon as the pieces (literally) weld together!

Chicago! Live Show! (Finally!)

Dear Chicago, You finally got your act together and are bringing Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then to you! You see, the lead actor of Gravity, Michael McGinley (who, by the way, is the chef at one of the bars with the best food your city has to offer), hails from you! Mike also helped arranged the theme song to Gravity, him & bandmate Alan Scalpone (both from the infamous Chicago based band The Bitter Tears) often play an assortment of horns in the live band for Gravity and one of the Gravity cinematographers, Holli Hopkins (turned McGinley! Congrats again!), also lives in your little city (where, by the way, she is a Production Assistant master on many a film set)! 



Also, Chicago, Brent has worked a lot with Califone, one of many fine bands born in you! Brent even made a short, collaborative film with Califone in the very beginning of his animating career (posted here)! He even played piano in the short, a rare & beautiful thing for Brent (which can also be seen in the other vintage video posted here)! And, Chicago, lastly (and slightly unrelated but worth mentioning), when I first met Brent, before he lured me to the woodsy wilderness to make Gravity, I would send him postcards from the spectacular Rar Rar Press who it turns out resides within your concrete wilderness as well! Chicago, we (obviously) love you! Thanks for finally loving us back! With Love, Donna K.



YAY! Chicago! Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then will have it's Chicago premier at the Chicago International Movies & Music (CIMM!) Fest April 16th at 10:30 pm! Brendan won't be able to join us for this show (boo!)...but his secret substitute percussionist is someone we have never played with before, someone who has pretty much played with every band that has influenced me musically since the age of 15 (!). Who could it be.....???