Larisa Responds to Enid about Ghosts!

Not a theory but random thoughts. My family used to move a lot, most of the time to houses that had a previous owner. When you have a new house its like there are no stories in its walls, well… maybe the walls will 'tell' you that the construction team was awful. Anyway, a new house, it might be like a blank sheet but when you move to an old house, it’s like it has wrinkles, stories attached to it; you might wonder who lived there, about their lives and what happened in what’s your new home. Our “emotional side”, our thoughts, are really powerful and it would be interesting if they left a trace, if our memories or our thoughts would get attached to “past places” or interact with them.

I remembered a documentary done by Alain Resnais, Night and Fog, where he films a concentration camp 10 years after it was occupied; the filming goes along with a narration that comes from testimonies. Imagine if the experiences that took place in the camp and memories were attached to it? I can’t imagine what people went through in concentration camps, the stories that happened there and where they 'stay', if they do, quietly or unknown.

I also remembered some lines from a movie titled, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. They present a different point, but are nonetheless beautiful in their own way:

Husband: After I’m dead, where should my spirit go to look for you?
In Heaven?

Ghost-wife: Heaven is overrated, there is nothing there. Ghosts aren’t attached to places, but to people.

More Enid Baxter Blader and Fort Ord and Ghosts!

Intern Larisa has some questions and Enid has some answers:

DAC: Is this your first experience in a "ghost/spiritual/electromagnetic" search/hunt?

Enid: As a teenager, I had the usual terrifying ouija board experiences, and I was a quick study at reading playing cards with Tarot. This was my first experience buying a ghost hunting kit. I bought it because I thought it would make my crew less skittish. Instead, it made them totally terrified when we kept getting these weird readings! I poured over the Fort Ord yearbooks and archives, trying to understand the residual electromagnetic signals. I haven't made sense of it yet....

DAC: What do you think it is about places like this wake up in us, that we might explain it as "spiritual"?

Enid: I think you have a theory... and I'd love to know it! What do you think?

Photo Contest Continues!

It's not too late to submit your photos of Annie Shaw's Flyerman project! These were sent in by Zachary Katz.

Enid Baxter Blader "Fort Ord" Micro-Interview

Justine interviews Enid Baxter Blader about her video Fort Ord in "Information Economy."


DAC: How did you hear of the military base?

Enid: I work as the chair of the film department at CSU Monterey Bay. CSU Monterey occupies a portion of the repurposed Fort Ord. My office is in what was formerly a Vietnam-War era Army chapel. My classroom is in what was once a Korean War Era mess hall. Our university is dedicated to educating under served populations. Most of my students are the first person in their families to go to college. Many are descendents of the young people drafted to serve on Fort Ord.

DAC: How long were you on be base? Did you stay overnight?

Enid: I am on the base almost every work day and have been for the past 5 years. I live about 20 minutes from the boundary of the former Fort Ord. The other people who worked on the film, including D.P. Nick Kova, lived on the base for several years in repurposed military housing. Currently I am working on a feature film about Fort Ord and a few of the soldiers who painted the murals appear in the film.

DAC: Why do you think people find abandoned buildings and ghost towns so scary?

Enid: Making the film I was only scared of two things: Falling into a pit in the pitch dark or disturbing some angry tweaker. I think people find ghost towns sublime. They testify that we are all temporary and time's passage is heavy. The ghosts in my film are metaphors.

Annie Shaw Photo Contest

As part of the exhibition Information Economy, Annie Shaw presents a series of flyers she collected and reconstructed starting in 2008. She is now returning them to the street, posting them around Dumbo, and along her commute, near the subway stops on the F line between York Street and 14th Street.

Have you seen one? Tweet or email us your photographs of Annie's flyers in their natural habitats. All photos will be posted on the DAC blog. Two prizes will be awarded -- one for discovering the most locations, and one for best capturing how the flyers interact with their surroundings. The winners will receive free admission to DAC's upcoming ExiTrip workshop ($30 value).

Hints to Annie's posting schedule, along with locations are available inside the gallery. Deadline to submit: Friday, Feb 18th at 5PM.

gallery@dumboartscenter.org
Twitter.com/DumboArtsCenter

Micro-Interview: Ecstatic Energy Consultants

Intern Justine Questions Ecstatic Energy Consultants, LLC!

Justine: How long in advance did you begin planning the opening ceremonies?

EEC: We began designing the Space LiftTM experience in December, however a lifetime of observation and intuitive learning went into some of the decisions

Justine: What kind of energies were you trying to bring to DAC and how were they represented or invoked in the ceremony?

EEC: We didn't know in advance. The performance/ceremony was structured as participatory. In the Space LiftTM, we deputized all who were there as a council of visionaries and asked them to set the tone and share their vision for the space. Then we turned to the energies, the vestiges and ghosts in the space, and freed those that would not be supportive of that vision, while enticing the positive ghosts and energies to remain. Good Vibes!

For more images of Ecstatic Energy Consultant's House Blessing, go here.

ExiTrip

Here at DAC we're really excited about Lea Bertucci and Ed Bear's ExiTrip project. So excited we've got them coming to DAC to put on a workshop this month!

Here's a brief description of what Ed and Lea have been doing:

"...we are distributing hacked low power FM transmitters, based on the iTrip Nano, to artists of different creative disciplines and work with them to create artworks using, though not necessarily focusing on, this device. We are documenting the work and will compile everyone’s pieces for a book that will go to print spring of next year."

This project puts obsolete technology to use, saving it from a landfill, and creates a cheap and adaptable resource for musicians and visual artists. Artists already involved with the project have used the hacked iTrip devices in a variety of innovative ways. You can see their work here.

On Monday, February 21, Ed and Lea will be at Dumbo Arts Center with a 3-hour workshop on the hacking process. At the conclusion of the session, every participant will have one hacked iTrip transmitter. Ed and Lea will demonstrate various uses of the device including generating feedback, using the transmitter as a wireless microphone, and altering the range though antenna manipulation. Additionally, they will emphasize the ease and importance of repurposing obsolete electronics for creative/subversive actions. More information and registration is here on DAC's website.

AND, for anyone who would like to be a part of the upcoming ExiTrip book, there is an open call for both papers and artist projects. The deadline is February 15. Spread the word!

Interview with Chuck Jones

We've asked different members of the DAC community to ask the artists in our current show "Information Economy" a question or two. First up, intern Justine interrogates Chuck Jones about his video More Enough is More Enough:

Justine: Where do you think the internet and art intersect?

Chuck: Art is a form of communication and the internet is a tool for communication. That's my short answer. I guess the video is my long answer.

Justine: How was the sound that accompanies the photo montage created?

Chuck: As for the audio. I had a bed of audio that was songs in my mp3 collection that were the exact length of the video, 5 minutes and 54 seconds. There were about 30 and I edited it down to 15 or so. I got rid of the ones that announced their presence too enthusiastically. I thought that would be enough and I was wrong. So I mixed these songs so the volumes jumped up and down a bunch so each one had a time to shine. This was still not enough. So I added all of my stolen synth sounds. While this was more fun it was still bad. Okay.
How about adding the audio from two different videos from Juicy Star on youtube? She's the teenager who talks really fast as she shows you what she bought while shopping or how her room is newly redecorated, or makeup tips. I have a friend for works for Google and he told me that she gets a ton of money from the ads that play during these videos as in tens of thousands of dollars. I put one Juicy Star in each channel. I faded her out, faded the drums in and added a live version of "Slip It In" by Black Flag. Now it's better. At least it's better if you play it really really loud.

THIS THURSDAY AT DAC

At left: image courtesy of Janos Stone. At right: image courtesy of Mary Jeys.

DAC is presenting two great events tomorrow, one at 30 Washington Street and one at our new 111 Front gallery space.

ANY SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
IS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM MAGIC
An Exhibition by Janos Stone

Presented by Dumbo Arts Center
Sponsored by Two Trees Management Co.

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 3, 6 - 8 PM
Exhibition Dates: February 3 - March 27, 2011
Location: 30 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Support the catalog for this amazing show via Kickstarter! Only 11 days left.

BROOKLYN TORCH SWAP
Mary Jeys and Jesse Suchmann

Swap: Thursday, February 3, 6-8:30
Location: 111 Front Street, Suite 212, Brooklyn, NY 11201

In conjunction with the exhibition Information Economy, the Brooklyn Torch will be hosting their very first swap this Thursday, February 3rd at DAC!

Mary Jeys and Jesse Suchmann will have an exchange table to trade your services and/or goods for those that others have left. Vouchers will be available if you cannot find an item that you want, but want to turn something in. Please bring materials and services to trade! Vouchers will also be valid for trade to the Brooklyn Torch denominations once they are printed. Part of the First Thursday gallery walk event.

Check in with the Brooklyn Torch at www.brooklyntorch.org/register