As Time Goes By

I was part of an amazing opportunity about a month ago. I was entered in a 48 hour film competition with some of my best friends in the world.

It was an experience of a lifetime and as I've reflected on the grueling, sleep deprived weekend over which the film process took place I am yet again reminded of how one is never through with looking.What was so wonderful about this experience was probably working with some great people and observing how all of our talents contributed to the overall film-making process.

The guidelines were simple: 1) The film must make a reference to a very famous movie. 2) The film must be between 3 and 5 minutes. 3) The film must end with the line "Don't be a hero."

The plot is about a working girl and a man who is slightly out of his element looking to pick up a working girl for the night. It is almost a reference to the movie "Pretty Woman" with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in the sense that the desire is to save a valuable woman from a dangerous harsh life. So needless to say this man wants to save this woman from her lowly existence and sweep his damsel off of her feet. It is done in the styles of memoir and film noir. The male character gives the audience a sense that this has already happened or that he is reliving the experience of rescuing this woman from her dark life. There is then a twist. We then find out that the man never rescued the woman. He looked back, saw her and drove away. He did not want to interfere with her life, she is living this life because she chose it. He could not rescue her from her own world.

The process involved in creating a film is very meticulous and even with 3 pairs of eyes it proves to be very difficult to see every flaw in the system. Editing is certainly evidence of such a statement. During the editing process we had to pay very close attention to where exactly the actors are in each shot and if it is a split shot where we see several different angles to the shot it is extremely difficult to match every specific position. I know of a few things that (due to time and resources) I know are flaws, even though they are not too apparent.
Film creating is very similar to drawing in the sense that it is a very drawn out process of observation, changing and reworking.
Just as thrilling as a plot twist can be in realizing that the last hour and a half of your movie going experience was all a misleading journey into a beautiful or ghastly truth, life is also just as misleading. We reach inevitable truths that we believe to be permanent but with different insight the perspective might change. We see one side in the film "Don't be a hero- As Time Goes By" that the man is trying to rescue her because he feels that he would not want to live through the same dark and unrelenting pain that he imagines this woman having. From a moral standpoint it presents a very interesting argument. Should he rescue her or allow her to rescue herself if she so desires? Does she want to be rescued in the first place? Does she want someone to rescue her? The truth is is one can never truly decide for someone when one is in the place that this man was in. Don't take an immediate reaction to someone's lifestyle as being something good or bad.
So As time goes by continue to observe, continue to look because you are never done with looking.

Infinite observation

Drawing is a necessary evil in the process of art making. This is usually my initial response to the question of what is drawing?



I have this view mostly because the technical aspects of art sometimes annoy me. I'd hate to say that I'm lazy when it comes to creating art, but that might be the case. I strongly think that measuring and getting every shadow, every line, every angle correct about a still life is monotonous and agonizingly boring. I find beauty in the imperfections that plague most works from the twentieth century. Realism has never made all that much sense to me in the sense that it has a lot to say about something. If I want to look at a basket of fruit, I won't look at a canvas with fruit painted on it, I will look at a basket of ripe, juicy, REAL apples, pears, bananas, etc. Understand that this doesn't necessarily mean that there is no merit what-so-ever in creating art that is a very accurate depiction of reality. I guess part of my problem is that there is no way that you can create a perfect depiction of reality, by any means. Reality is completely arbitrary. I guess this is where I compare drawing, and the process of art making to other subjects, such as philosophy.

Drawing certainly does have value in the sense that it helps to give art an aspect of reality and the replication there-of. I believe that constantly looking at your subject matter is important in discovering all there is to know about the subject both in art in the other applications of one's life. Where artistic expression matters the most is when one observes reality and interprets it in their own way and discovering things only they can understand. This concept should translate into every aspect of learning and understanding the world.

Broken Strings are still strings

My works are usually aimed at unveiling a certain truth I find to be meaningful and evident in my life. My art also tries to depict life the way I see it and all of the beauty and tragedy I've discovered through time.
Over Winter break I made two pieces of art. I gave them both away as a Christmas and a birthday present purely because I don't have all the money in the world. One piece was entitled "Broken strings are still strings." This work was a portrait of one of my best friends. He was playing guitar and one of the E strings was broken. For the strings and part of the body of the guitar I wrote lyrics to a song called "You stay here" by Richard Shindell.





You stay here
And I'll go look for wood
Do not fear
I'll be back soon enough
Do not let the fire die
Neither let it burn too bright

You stay here
And I'll go look for bread
And if I can
Some sugar for the kids
Dry your eyes - I'll be alright
I know where they've laid the mines

You stay here
And I'll go look for coats
There may still be
Some out on the road
We'll wash them clean with melted snow
The kids don't ever have to know

You stay here
And I'll go look for guns
I think I know
Where they've hidden some
Cause if the Tiger comes one night
We won't go without a fight

You stay here
And I'll go look for God
Not so hard
Cause I know where he's not
I will bring him back with me
Make him listen - make him see

You stay here
And I'll go look for wood

This piece represents the everyday trials and the kinds of things that can truly break us and smother our sense of self and understanding. The kinds of things that can stifle our fire. I wanted this gift to be a declaration of not only who my friend is in my eyes but also to be a sentiment and piece of advice to my friend. If ever he feels to the point that he cannot overcome his struggle I want him to persevere and continue playing his guitar even if his string is broken; when everything is bitter and cold I want him to search for things that are sweet and warm; to protect his identity within himself and what he holds dear; to make the most out of his disposition. He believes in being completely truthful with himself and others but when he is broken, it is hard for him to be stable and a source of happiness and inspiration for himself. This piece was to encourage him to continue playing his song even when the fire is almost completely drawn away. It is also a sentiment to allow him to see that entrusting himself with his beliefs is something he must do in order to keep his flame alive. "You stay here, and I'll go look for wood." Even when the struggle seems insurmountable, continue to feed your fire, continue to learn, continue to feel, continue to ignite inspiration. Take the darkness you feel and empower it. Take the darkness and enlighten it. Delve into and find your self and see your struggles as a part of yourself, not something to extinguish, but to embellish and enthrall you.