Thank you to all who have followed this blog, supported me or Danny's work, and inspired us in 2013. It's been an eventful year for us, and we cannot wait to start 2014!
“For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.”
The reading was packed (dare I call it sold out, though it was open to the public?) The writers who shared their work: Celeste Ng, Erin Trahan and Chip Cheek. A diverse, authentic and powerful collection of work! We heard about anything from glacier poetry to a fantastical Twisted Sister anecdote. Definitely check out these writers and their work--
I've commented on the role in space and art before, and the idea of a space shaping a community/performance is so well demonstrated by the Hallway Gallery. Does using a re-purposed space change the relationship between performer and viewer? See photos below (though they aren't the best pictures - I was in the very, very back because I was late!).
Thanks to the organizers and the Hallway gallery for putting together this creative and thought-provoking event!
Check out some mysterious lost super-8 footage in our new video short, Lost Film #6, edited by Daniel Roth. See if you can spot local landmarks or people you may know...
We've been working on re-structuring our Roshi website, so keep coming back to check out new and newly published material!
"Top 13 Film Markets" is one of the articles that is being previewed on the online magazine before the print/ebook is published in early 2014. If you are interested in learning more about film markets and their role in the industry, or already know a lot about the subject and want to contribute something before final print, please feel free to comment.
The book also has a section of Distributor Q and A, which includes interviews with Oscilloscope Laboratories, New Day Films, Drafthouse Films, among others. We'll be publishing a preview Q and A online before the print book is available, so look out for that.
We were super psyched to learn that our film, Color Theory, was selected to be a part of the second annual Young Boston Artists juried competition, yBos2! The opening reception is open to the public. Feel free to drop in and see a diverse and interesting collection of works! Opening Reception Friday, November 15, 5-8 pm Harbor Art Gallery If you can't make it to the reception, the show runs from November 15 - December 13. You can drop by anytime during gallery hours, which are Mon-Thurs, 1-7 PM. Color Theory is the only video piece in the show, so we're very excited to see all the other works in all different media. Here is a list of the artists in the show: Genesis Báez, Molly Blumberg, Lindsay Chapin, Charles Crowell, Leeann Davignon, Corey Dunlap, Jillian Germaine Freyer, Nate Grossman, Suzi Grossman, Shana Harden, Lauren Hayes, Duy Hoang, Daniel Roth, Eileen Ryan, Minhae Shim, Olivia Stanislas, Jessica Tawczynski, and Caterina Urrata.
Danny and I recently screened our film at the Boston Asian American Film Festival, so we've been moving between several types of exhibition spaces recently. This is Color Theory's second gallery exhibition. We were also in the 10,001 hrs gallery exhibition in May 2013. I love producing work that can fit into both art contexts and film contexts. The film world and the art world are very different -- there are quite different values, etiquette and audiences for each. Interestingly, both worlds curate the moving image, but each treats film/video (especially genre-bending types of works) with a different tongue and demeanor. The language of critique is different, the attitude about the works is different. For those who have not seen Color Theory at all, or have already seen the piece in a theater, feel free to visit the Harbor Art Gallery to see the film in a different venue. I'm personally going to compare and contrast my experience. How is showing a short film in a gallery different from showing it in a theatrical/festival setting? And come see the show to support the arts in Boston! For more information, please contact the Harbor Art Gallery.
Poster, designed by Minhae Shim for Indelible Lalita
I've had the pleasure of working with filmmaker Julie
Mallozzi on her poetic documentary Indelible Lalitain several capacities, from graphic/web design to
distribution. For all my NYC readers, colleagues & friends, Indelible Lalita will play at the New York No
Limits Film Series on Friday, December 6, 2013 at 7pm at The Wild Project, 195
East Third Street, New York. For more information about this screening or previous ones, check out the film's website.
Here's the film's description:
Indelible Lalita tells
the story of a beautiful woman whose resilient spirit survives her body’s
transformation by cancer, heart failure, and a dramatic loss of skin pigment.
The film follows Lalita as she migrates from Bombay to Paris to Montréal, and
becomes completely White along the way. Lalita learns to let go of her body as
the sign of her ethnicity and femininity – and ultimately realizes that her
body is just a temporary vessel for her spirit. (71 minutes)
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of viewing Irene Lusztig's latest film, The Motherhood Archives. I worked on this film while it was still in production in Cambridge during Irene's fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute. The film was the first in a series curated by the Schlesinger Library, "Cliffe Connections: Films by Radcliffe Grads and Fellows," which is free and open to the public.
Here is a description of the film: "Archival montage, science fiction, and an homage to 70s
feminist filmmaking are woven together to excavate hidden histories of
childbirth in the twentieth century. Assembling an archive of over 100
educational, industrial, and medical training films, The Motherhood Archives
inventively untangles the complex, sometimes surprising genealogies of maternal
education...Revealing a world of intensive training, rehearsal, and
performative preparation for the unknown that is ultimately incommensurate with
experience, The Motherhood Archives becomes a meditation on the maternal body
as a site of institutional control, ideological surveillance, medical
knowledge, and nationalist state intervention."
To see the trailer, please visit this link: TRAILER
Hey all! Check out the new ROSHI PRODUCTIONS LLC website--our strange and new production company that experiments with and produces new/old writing, art and films.
It's still pretty basic, but we added some updated information so you can keep an eye on what we're doing. We're active, but we're so busy too...
Enjoy and feel free to e-mail us with questions: info@roshiproductions.com
This fall, Danny and I will both be working on a film adaptation of the Shakespeare classic, A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Richard Griffin (Scorpio Film Releasing). We are so excited to be involved in a film like this, and like so many other independent films, we need your support to make it happen! Please check out the project and donate if you can on the film's Indiegogo page. Thanks!
Danny Roth and I are so excited to announce that Color Theory was announced as the winner of the 2013 Short Waves competition during the screening on May 30, 2013 in Boston. Our film will also be screening at the Boston Asian American Film Festival that will take place from October 24-27, 2013. We hope to see a lot of familiar faces there!
Sampan, a bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, wrote a piece about the screening. Check it out here!
COLOR
THEORY (Minhae Shim & Danny Roth, 2013) is an experimental short film that weaves together concepts of memory,
visuality, and racial identity through the lens of one couple’s relationship.
The film emerges from a 33-day cross-country road trip through the United
States, and subsequent aftermath of reconstructing the experience. The film
combines travel footage and stills, archival footage, and performed scenes.
COLOR THEORY is a “stream of consciousness film” that explores the
relationships that people have with one another, with their country, and with
their own psychological processes.
Thanks so much for the support! We really believe in our vision for the film!
I'm happy to announce the opening of the 10,001 hrs art show. The work features a wide array of media, from video to painting. My piece is an experimental film titled Color Theory.
The show is at the Fort Point Art Center (FPAC) Gallery. The reception is on Friday, April 26, 2013, from 7-9 PM. All are invited. I would love to see some familiar faces there!
If you are unable to make it to the reception, you can also see the work from Saturday, April 27, to Wednesday, May 1, from 12-5.
Extending and expanding on themes I've written about in the past is always a pleasure, so I was very excited when artist and blog reader, Karen Polin, contacted me about a graffiti art exhibit she recently saw in Miami.
The Wynwood Walls is a public graffiti art exhibition that was featured as part of Art Basel in Miami. The idea was conceived by community revitalizer Tony Goldman in 2009. He wanted to transform the Wynwood warehouse district in Miami by making the walls giant canvases for street art. Goldman wanted to activate the community by making a centralized location where pedestrians could gravitate to, explore and be inspired. Certainly, the colors, designs and consideration of space & place (and people) into these pieces are mesmerizing.
As a pedestrian and commuter, I'm always delighted to see public works of art while walking or taking the train. I remember seeing The Gates in Central Park in 2005, and I always feel an exciting sense of discovery when I see public art (sculptures, graffiti art, light art) now. Thanks to Karen for photographing and telling me about this great work of public art.
I was so excited to see my piece Video Sassoon featured in the amazing and fun publication Lost At E Minor, an online pop culture/art magazine that I've been a fan of for years. Check it out!
And please show your love for the curious and always fascinating stories that Lost at E Minor covers by following them on twitter (@lostateminor) and liking them on Facebook.
This past Thursday, March 7, 2013, the video for Video Sassoon, my new media installation, premiered on the big screen at the UMB Film Series, playing before the feature film Lemon(Laura Brownson & Beth Levison, 2012).
It was an energizing experience to see our work projected onto the big screen and enjoyed by the large audience! Special thanks to Chico Colvard, filmmaker and curator of the UMB Film Series! If you missed it, you can see it here:
The UMB Film Series features thought-provoking and innovative films, which are often followed by a Q&A with the director(s) and/or subject. Past invitees include Frederick Wiseman, Steve James, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, David Redmon & Ashley Sabine, and Terence Nance.
Like their page on facebook and you could win their raffle at a screening (no kidding...I won an autographed copy of Hoop Dreams). And remember! It's free and open to the public! See the trailer for the film series below:
The UMB Film Series is a great program, organized and executed by visionary, hard-working people. Don't miss the screening of Where Heaven Meets Hell(Sasha Friedlander, 2011)on Thursday, March 28th @ 7 PM. Click here for more info.
My article "How to Talk Experimental Film: A User's Guide" was recently published in The Independent. If you're itching to learn more about experimental film, looking for film suggestions, or just want a fun and informative read, be sure to check it out. Read the article here.
A very special thank you goes out to my editor (and an excellent writer in her own right), Erin Trahan! Make sure you support The Independent by subscribing to the free e-newsletter and reading, reading, reading the great variety of articles. They are also taking on a very important "archive preservation project." Make sure to read about their plan and goals for the project here.
Papergirl Belfast is an awesome
organization based in Northern Ireland that truly embraces the spirits of
community and participation through art. Their mission is simple: to
spread art to the public. And their distribution is streamline: via
bicycles.
Artists, writers and designers can submit
their work to Papergirl Belfast. Then, the organizers exhibit the work in an
"anti-curated exhibition." Finally, the team takes the art out
to the streets and distributes it to the general public.
The organization prides itself on its
commitment to accessibility and inclusion:
"Creativity,
cycling, generosity and our city all rule. Papergirl is a non-commercial,
guerrilla initiative that brings art to the streets in an alternative and
dynamic way by distributing unique rolls of artwork freely and at random to
lucky strangers via bicycle. Drawings, paintings, photographs, illustrations,
prints, textiles, stickers, T-shirts, poems, prose and zines – basically
anything that can be rolled up – will be collected and showcased in an
anti-curated exhibition before being shared with the local community."
I love Papergirl Belfast's
can-do attitude, love of art, and friendliness. Not to mention, their own printmaking-inspired
designs are quite beautiful and catching.
My short story, "The
Bride and the Groom," will be included in this year's collection. If you
don't get a chance to go to Ireland to read the story, you can also read it
here.
Support this awesome
organization's mission! Visit their website,
and make sure to like them on facebook and follow them on twitter.
I am so
excited to release the video for my new media installation, Video Sassoon. Thanks
to Daniel Roth of Roshi Productions, who produced and edited the video.
Artist
Statement:
Video
Sassoon is a
phantasmagorical meditation on media, remediation, and the editing process.
Discarded strips of videotape are repurposed to create a screen through which a
digital video is projected. In the video, newly severed pieces of hair float
across the screen to the tune of a familiar funeral ballad that has been
rendered unrecognizable by the editing process. The work uses the inescapably
human material of hair to comment on the omnipresence of media and its
evolution, and to connect video editing to a familiar, tactile
experience.
***
It was an
illuminating discovery process to create this new media installation. I was
able to engage in a meaningful way with the material of magnetic videotape. I
explored the materiality of this once ubiquitous media form, and also learned
about its historical development. I am looking forward to installing the
work in a different venue, especially taking into consideration the spacial
needs and effects of the piece.
***
Feel free
to contact me about the piece with questions or comments:
minhae.shim@gmail.com
To
contact the video editor, e-mail: daniel@roshiproductions.com
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