Thanks to so many awesome people for showing up! I know some of you who attended are not pictured here, but you are forever so in my heart. XO.

Dicky Bahto snapped some photos over the many nights we spent together at EPFC during my residency (with me neurotically portending gloom and doom, him patiently talking me down). He sent these two my way, thought I’d share. The first was taken early on, while making “the light that falls upon us is the same light we see” (otherwise known as “LOLgems [crystalz]”). The second is from my arrival the night of the show. Thanks, Dicky!

Premiered this little love poem last night.

I’m planning to ply attendees with wine. Thought you should know.

Films are spliced and we did a run-through of the multiple-projector pieces last night. I’m feeling really excited to share them. Also decided what we’re going to watch, and in what order. Program below.

my sunshine
(2012, 1:30, HD, color, sound)*
A love poem.

ian’s argument
(2006, 1:00, video, color, sound)
Learning to Love You More assignment #38.

who’s afraid?
(2004, 4:00, video, color, sound)
Originally designed as an installation to be projected on four opposing walls of a small room, uses dialog from a scene from the film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

intimations #1
(2012, 12:00, super 8, color, sound)*
Portraits of strangers and their secrets & spaces.

good mourning
(2000, 10:00, 16mm, b&w, sound)
An ex post facto documentary about the first few days after my father’s death.

like falling
(2002, 11:30, 16mm, color, sound)
A companion piece to good mourning, a collage.

landscape quartet
(2008, 12:00, 16mm to video, b&w, silent)
Variations on landscapes. more info…

moths (after brakhage)
(2003/2012, 2:00, 16mm, dual-projection, color, silent)*
A time-based adaptation of an installation made in memoriam of Stan Brakhage.

the light that falls upon us is the same light we see
(2012, 9:30, 16mm, dual-projection, b&w, silent)*
Hand-processed, camera-less photograms and frame-by-frame animations.

*Denotes work made while in residency.

Please excuse the awful quality of these images (they were taken from out-of-focus 9-year-old slides), but I wanted to share the history behind one of my new works. I made the above two pieces (part of my series of “suspended films”) over the course of several months in 2003 in San Francisco, and actually filmed the frames exactly nine years ago today, to the day. These are strips of 16mm film, shot frame-by-frame, installed between thick pieces of acrylic. I made these in honor of Stan Brahkage shortly after his death, and in response to my favorite of his films, “Mothlight.” I was thinking a lot about film and light, which seems to be a recurring theme for me. When I first showed these pieces publicly at the Walter-McBean Gallery at San Francisco Art Institute, they were snatched up by good friends and collectors Robert Mann and Steve Snyder. While I was thrilled they’d found a good home, I felt a little sadness at the fact I’d rarely see them again. I happened to be taking a class with Christian Farrell when I made these, and he asked if I’d projected them before I sealed them in acrylic. I hadn’t, for fear of scratching them, but have always wanted to turn them into a time-based film (which has more than a hint of irony since my “suspended films” were created out a desire to allow viewers to experience the works at their own pace). So with the help of my residency at EPFC, the moths are taking new form in a dual projection film. I’m really excited to see them again, and to breathe new life into a project that’s always been a personal favorite.

After 10 long hours and lots of moral support from Dicky Bahto and Joey Jenkins, I finished hand-processing 330 feet of photogrammed 16mm film, which will end up being half of a new dual projection piece. My wrists are in pain and I’ve inhaled enough toxic fumes to last me a lifetime, but the film is looking good, and I’m really excited about how everything is coming together.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the physical properties of light and film, and the science of how images are made and seen when the two come together. I’ve also always been interested in light and how it’s captured in crystallized or fractured translucent materials, which changes the way we see both the light and the material it’s passing through - the two become somehow more beautiful together than they could ever be on their own (and I suppose this could be said of anything, material or otherwise, that is illuminated). I wanted to explore these things in a new work, and since I enjoy the tactile quality of film (and have worked with camera-less exposures and hand processing on many of my past works), I decided to revisit this handmade approach. Ironically, the process of making this type of work requires the total absence of light. So I’m making a film about light in total darkness. I’m sure there are plenty of readings/metaphors floating around there, but I’ll leave that to the people who see the film.

I have been spending many hours fumbling around in light-tight darkrooms with film, tape, salt, sugar, broken glass, and developing chemicals, and I’m really excited for the results. I also couldn’t have done any of it without the awesome assistance of Culver Glass, Dicky Bahto, Echo Park Film Center, and the nice people who have a darkroom in the basement below, so thanks y’all!

I’m making a film about secrets and special places and I need your help! Are you willing to share a secret or confession in a space that is special/private to you? Your face/name will never be revealed publicly, but the audio of your confession and footage from your chosen space will be used in a work-in-progress. To volunteer or for more information, please email epfcconfessions@gmail.com and I’ll be in touch. Full detais below. Feel free to share with others!

I am looking for approximately six people who would like to share something private (a secret or confession - can be something you did, something you experienced, something you saw, something you felt… good, bad, embarrassing, funny, touching, etc.) in a space that is special/private to them (can be a personal space/where you live, a public space, somewhere connected to the secret, somewhere you like to be, etc.). We will meet at Echo Park Film Center and provided we’re both comfortable moving forward, we will visit the space you selected and you will share the secret with me in that space. I will make a 3-5 minute audio recording of your secret (can be longer if necessary and I can edit down), and I will record details of that space with a super-8 camera and possibly a video camera. Your name and face will not be used at all, but the audio and film/video I capture will be used in a project that will be presented as part of my artist residency at Echo Park Film Center on April 26th (and possibly in future screenings elsewhere when my work is shown), so if this is a concern, please be mindful of that.

I am scheduling daily appointments for Sunday, April 14 through Wednesday, April 18. I am open on time, daylight is better for lighting purposes, but indoor lighting at night is a possibility too.

If you’re still interested and available, please email me at epfcconfessions@gmail.com and let me know some days/times that work for you, and we’ll set something up!

I’m feeling really inspired by this series of recently digitized photographs from the turn of the 20th century by an unknown photographer, from Claremont Colleges Digital Library’s “Boynton Collection of Early Claremont.” My friend Seth Anderson is a Ph.D. student at Claremont, and worked on scanning these photos from glass negatives. I’m not sure how they’ll inform the work I’m making this month, but they’re blowing my mind and I’m now even more excited to start shooting this weekend in the desert.

Residency day one… Spending some QT with my Bolex, brainstorming. YES.