Friends and I went to Ira Springs Trail. It lead to a crater esque lake. Surrounded by a ridge, hidden away as if waiting for idyllic picnickers to come and get swallowed up by its beauty.
I love the way trees look when they are kaleidescoped. An ornate ceiling of stained glass only the metal has been replaced by wood and the glass the magnificence of the sky.
The audio
Recorded on a 3Dio Freespace Pro Binaural Microphone: soft spoken words, the breeze, friendly chatter, breathing, water and dirt
A walk through the cemetary on the way home. I was pleased with all the little features of this place. Several water fountains and sweet tree groves. Architecture in the kaleidescope is really effective.
That night, my housemate (and muse) Melanie was feeling a little sad. I channeled that into some sweet and perhaps too intimate words of soothing. I find that when I speak from the heart, there’s no pause to find the words. It’s like I’m just reading what’s already written.
I really enjoyed the end of the video where there’s a pool of water that the point of view turns to as if the flourish at the end of a beautiful name.
The audio
Recorded on a 3Dio Freespace Pro Binaural Microphone: Soft spoken words, clarinet, and whispered gibberish
I asked James to read for me. He did a great job. I feel a little awkward when I ask people to read for me. Are they worried that I would do something weird with the clip? Credit them with the wrong name? What are these hesitant collaborators afraid of? I nag to the point of annoyance for all parties, but I know deep within my creative soul that I’d rather be that person who will get the real life stuff that no one wants to be that person.
I think creating from real life (not just synthesizing sounds) gives a limit and a depth. When I have a guest star in something, willingly, creatively, there’s a radiance of shared creation. We made something together with our molecules in the same room at the same time. We both said, this idea might not be the best, but it’s what we have presently and we have the capacity.
If you haven’t recorded with me and you are in the Seattle area, I implore you to get in touch. I’m always on the prowl for new voices, different sounds and aural surprises that will make the stuff strong in its unique perspective.
It felt like a time to reflect. I saw a transformation in my videos. A kid of the 90s. I appreciated the television season’s end because of the fun montages of the season. Sharing moments again in a collage of nostalgia.
It’s always weird to look back and think that I’m a different person now, but I guess I am. Videos are a wonderful way to capture a moment, real or staged because there’s a bit more authenticity-feel to it. The voice, the vision, it feels like a memory. I think about this a lot. Video is so accessible for me as a reflective machine.
I intend to put them on thrift store bought shirts and sell them as “greeting shirts” (like greeting cards only in shirt form). A twist on the classic graphic tee because the shirt can complement or clash the statement painted on top.
In this case of the Thank You shirt (one of a kind, see below), there’s a sweetness to it. The original design underneath, the flowers peeking through the wall of “thank yous” gives the design depth and more than just text to look at.
Before and after. I should have documented this better. I love my hair. In all its phases. I really want to do a documentary on it. Hair’s really weird because it’s this dead thing that grows out of you and immediately becomes fashion’s plaything. Ever since the blond thing and even a little before that (it was a notable amount of black curls dominating my presence– see below for reference), it was remarkable. People feel like they can approach me and say things about my hair which is cool, but also really weird. I’m not used to that kind of attention. I like the way it looks and that’s my reason for doing the things that I do to my hair, but it’s interesting when others want to weigh in on it.
Hair of Summer 2013
I was at a party the other day and saw a woman with similar hair coloring (shoulder length, bleached-platinum blonde) but it was already growing out. I saw that it looked like some black fell on her otherwise platinum head. I didn’t want my growing roots to make my hair look like an accident, so I tried to even the score (black vs. bleach blonde). This is my first time trying to record myself giving myself a haircut (should have used the front facing camera). I was definitely guessing where I was in the frame.
Anyways, a post, mostly about my hair. It’s very soft. I welcome any of my friends and acquaintances to pet it, if they’d like. Ask first, or gesture non-threateningly.
The above picture was grabbed from a video project I did a couple days after the hair cut. I have to say I really like this length. Later that weekend, I went to a haircutting professional and had it evened out. Imperfections became too distracting whenever I looked in the mirror. I’d like to note that there was a sweet lock of hair keeping the nape of my neck warm that I would like to make sure finds its way back.
The audio
Recorded on a 3Dio Freespace Pro Binaural Microphone: layers of poetry, talk of neuroscience, box tapping and a brook somewhere in there. A few tracks are slowed down, creating a weird otherwise unidentifiable noise.
Results of some scrapings. I twirled in my lab with my favorite shawl and my favorite red dress for some visuals. Water textures, trees, the view from the passengerside of a car driving by a sweet blue sky.
The audio
Recorded on a 3Dio Freespace Pro Binaural Microphone: A lecture recorded in a noisy bookstore with snippets of another conversation where Echo and Slick are a little non-sequitor and an excerpt from Alan Lightman’s “The Accidental Universe”
I attended the Seattle Interactive Conference the last two days. The second session I went to was “The Language of Digital Content: Why Mobile and Video are Changing the Conversation.”
Anne Gherini (@AnnieG) of StumbleUpon was a great follow up to The Revolution Of TV Online. She discussed different formats of Digital Content and highlighted the creativity of some upcoming technologists (What Is A Technologist?) and I’ll just briefly link to them at some point below.
She talked about how social media platforms are like renting. You are a slave to Facebook’s algorithms. (How does Facebook decide what to show in my news feed? | Technology | The Guardian.) So, consider owning by directing your users to your website where you can put on better analytics (for data) and control the presentation of your content (your designers will love you for it).
With Mobile and in general, digital media, it’s important to choose the right brand ambassador who will speak to your niche audience. Internet engagement comes in all varieties (here’s where I link to commerically successful creative new media artists)
anthony spears @LOHANTHONY | Engaging through tweets. Consistency, authenticity, energy? What makes this figure so compelling? Look at how many followers (real followers, he has!)
Meagan Cignoli @MeaganCignoli This is her twitter summary “I create videos for the world’s leading brands, largely on Vine and Instagram. Cannes Lion winner, named Digital Entrepreneur of the Year.” Engaging through stop-motion creativity using social media platforms to tell branded stories. Nicely done.
Takeaways: creatively engage your audience on social media, pay attention to upcoming media generators (read: social media with a formatting tools, stuff like vine and instagram)
Kismet Arts Tangent 
