Biking and climbing – Two of my passions. This video is a preview of a video in-progress about biking to access climbing around Boulder, Colorado. In this preview, I’m working on my own “project” in Boulder Canyon. The rules: pick a challenging climb near Boulder, bike to it, and “project” it. This video is not about cutting edge “projecting;” Instead, it’s about the visceral human experience of climbing, and accentuating this process and acknowledging the accomplishment by biking to it. As always, I aim to celebrate a sense of place, the human experience, and a passion for art and adventure in this video. As with most of my work, I’ve written and recorded all the music. The final video will include additional footage of my friends working on their own “projects,” and additional original music with found sounds from bicycles, rocks, and climbing gear.

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To learn about the rewards and details of supporting the backyard project, checkout the Kickstarter page!

An interview with a ceramic artist who enjoys firing guns at his work.

High Contrast Review: How did you come up with the idea of incorporating firearms into your work?

Jay Pastorello: Well….I was lil intoxicated and thinking about high speed photography… I was wondering if it was capable to freeze a moment in time permanently with a medium besides photography. I loved working in clay and believed my visions could be brought to light under the right conditions.

HCR: What types of firearms do you use for this process? Do you have a favorite?

JP: I work with a wide array of firearms ranging from pistols to assualt rifles. Choosing a favorite would be very difficult, it’s constantly changing depending on my mood. I most commonly use a shotgun and have begun to work with a ballistics specialist on creating our own ammo.

HCR: What role can these pieces play in other peoples’ lives?

JP:I have been surprised at the roles these pieces play for other people. I have talked with individuals that see so much physical functionality in them (ie, planters, fountains, candle holders, etc.) that I myself totally overlooked. Others love the pure science that goes into the process and always ask the question: “what if you tried….?”. Each piece is the final result of an experiment in their eyes. Then there are some that relate to the work on a more personal level. They see that these pieces have been through quite a struggle and are still standing tall. For them, the pieces become symbols of resilience, beauty and even hope.

HCR: Is it hard (physically and mentally) to shoot your pristine ceramic pieces? How does it make you feel?

JP: For me, definitely not, but for some of my peers in the ceramic community it definitely was. I can’t tell you how many times I heard, ” If I could throw (make work on the potter’s wheel) like you I would never ruin my work like that!” I personally enjoy the process and find it very therapeutic. The concentration and thought that goes into each piece pushes all the lil problems in my life far, far away (at least for a little bit).

HCR: Can you please reveal some history about your relationship with art?

JP: Art and I go way back! When I was little, my mother would wheel me around in a stroller through the many galleries of NYC’s SoHo area. In High School, art classes were the only thing that kept me in that place. I was way more interested in skateboarding and wanted to document the tricks my friends and I were accomplishing. Since then photography and ceramics have been my major creative outlets. I graduated from the Art Institute of Boston with a BFA in Photography while also taking as many clay classes as I could. After college I was directed to further my studies in the ceramic medium at Harvard’s ceramic program where I work/teach today.

HCR: Is there anything you dislike about your work?

JP: Yep, I don’t get to make enough of it.

HCR: What’s in store for the future?

JP: A lot! Get ready for a video game to drop early fall! My brother and I have been working hard to give everyone the chance to shoot at some pottery from the safety of the homes and offices.

HCR: Do you have any dream projects?

JP: Oh Yeah! They’re top secret though…

Jay Pastorello was born New York, raised in New Hampshire, studied in Boston, and currently lives/works in Cambridge, Ma. Since 2005, he has been working off and on out of Harvard’s ceramic program and has recently started teaching undergrads at Dunster House (one of Harvard’s residential houses). You can see more of his art at jaypastorelloceramics.com

La Mama-Loped from Titi Yu on Vimeo.

movie premier tonight at the building stage

412 n. carpenter (in the industrial west loop) chicago, ill

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Brushfield Spots of Portland, OR, should be in your CD player, your record player, tape deck, me-pod, ringtones; your kids shoes should light up in tempo with their drum tracks. They’re that good. I mean it. They’re that good. Their music should consume certain parts of everyone’s day. Their lyrics and melodies go straight to the heart and are too profound to go unobserved by society. The world’s people need their music right now. And yet, they are nobodies in a sea of musical nobodies. But Brushfield Spots has a little bit of everybody in every word and every note and every frequency of their songs. I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the band’s founder and main songwriter, Nathan St. Onge. And this is what he had to say.

AV
I find that listening to your music- I want to cry;  because everything is so sad. Why is your music so sad?

NSO
Happy music depresses me. I think that music should help people feel better about their situation. Happy people don’t need to feel better about their situation. I write sad songs to get the sadness of my life off my chest . . . and hope that listeners can relate to it, and understand that they’re not alone. The songs that stick out most to me throughout my life, as my favorites, do so because they convey a sadness that I already have. This makes me feel better and I set out to do the same for others.

AV
Nathan, what the fuck? What’s your thoughts on love, bitch?

NSO
Can I get a hit of that weed?

AV
Can that go in?

NSO
If you want it to go in.

NSO
I have too much to say about love; but let me give you this . . . ( 30 minutes later) I think Love and hate are so blindly sold and purchased as completely opposing faculties of the mind or sole. It seems to me that if you were to pick a jar of love and a jar of hate off the shelf, at the market, and glanced at the ingredients on each; you would find one to always be the first ingredient in the other [ . . . ] I don’t know, you tell me.

AV
I don’t want to answer that.

NSO
Can we put somewhere in the interview that you were demanding and telling me answers to say.

AV
I don’ want to write that.

AV
I might be making these grand sweeps of your music, touching on themes of love and sadness, but, in your  opinion, what is the overall theme– or the emotional thread that runs through your band’s music and ties everything together?

NSO
I know what that thing is I just have to put it all together. This going to be good . . .

AV
How did your band form?

NSO
I’m still answering the last question.

NSO
Let’s put this on a scale literally, but more precisely . . . metaphorically, let’s put this as a scale. If love and hate are the platforms of the scale– put that, if love and hate are the opposing platforms of the scale, loneliness is the pin in the middle. I think it’s called a fulcrum. Loneliness, that’s the thread that ties it all together.

AV
What’s in the band name? Why Brushfield Spots?

NSO
Brushfield Spots are small discolored marks on the irises of people who suffer from the chromosomal disorder down syndrome. In short, to me, this makes them the twinkle in the eye of the innocent. As a band name this is my ironic gesture over against the truth that my emotive folly could not be further from innocent.

AV
Who keeps texting you?

NSO
Elize

AV
What’s she want?

NSO
[. . .]

AV
[. . .]

AV
If your band became super rockstar, platinum selling, musical rock overlords, from Japan to New Zealand, and all of a sudden the tabloids rocked you of scandal. What scandal do you wonder would overcome your band?

NSO
Infidelity.

AV
Do tell . . .

NSO
Infidelity is the nitroglycerin used to create the explosion that is the lyrical bulk of our material. As we evolve to our sophomoric state I’m sure that that element is replaced by something completely different.

AV
Nathan, how do you sleep at night?

NSO
A combination of narcotics and pure narcissism. ( laughs) If only I were kidding.

AV
I thought you were going to say, on a pile cash surrounded by hot women and burning piles of gold.

NSO
Most of the decor in my bedroom is comprised from things I collected from my grandmother’s estate. Some of the candles burn, but nothing is gold. There is one woman in my life currently and I’ll leave it at that.

AV
How about a couple of women? Can I write that?

NSO
No, make it, there is one woman in my life.

AV
Are you sure? A couple of women would sell issues of High Con’s book.

NSO
My mother still remains very close to my heart. Does that help?

AV
So there are a couple of women  . . .  Alright, last question . . .

NSO
Do you want me to write this question for you?

AV
Could you? What question do you want me to ask you . . . And why?

NSO
I want you to ask me this question because, to answer the second question first, you seem to be struggling to write the question yourself. I want you to ask– I want you to ask me to name one person who I have met in the last fifteen months that has had a great impact on my perception on the world?

AV
Okay, Nathan, name one person you have met in the past year and three months that has had a great impact on your perception on the world.

NSO
David Eastwood.

AV
Thanks for your time. I know your busy. Where are you off to next?

NSO
NEst 91st and Glisan.

AV
Thanks.

NSO
Goodbye.

AV
Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?

NSO
I got to work at one. What did you have in mind?

AV
I have to drive home. I’ll talk to you when I get back.

NSO
Alright.

::

Brushfield Spots performs at Ella Street Social Club in Portland, Tuesday, October 19th, at 9pm.

Ever imagine a film written around you to help you deal with your issues? In which you would be the main character and would be forced to confront pre-calculated situations? As it turns out the zeitgeist is right for this kind of thing to be imagined. Ali Tabibnejad’s Untitled for James has this post-modern fantasy as its premise. “Imagine feeling serene and content and forgetting everything that you remember,” says a character about this virtual reality machine. It isn’t a stoner film, however. There is a dose of Beckett to give it some cosmic resonance; or to upset you for having sullied the sacred.

Ali Tabibnejad is an Iranian-American filmmaker with a philosophy background.  If you want to see a feature version of the film made, take note that this Untitled for James is in OpenFilm.com’s “Get It Made” competition.  Register on OpenFilm.com to give the film a star rating.

Jesse shot this film on a Bolex 16mm camera. He spent many hours experimenting with different chemicals to hand process the film. He then recaptured it on his HD camera, as you will see at the end of the film.  Full screen mode recommended*

Jesse Spaulding is a filmmaker based out of Missoula. He loves climbing and video documentation. He also fights fires and gives snowboarding lessons. View his other pieces here.

photo by Caroline McCarty

Editor’s Note: When Craig and I were discussing whether or not to even run this arguably provocative sound exploration video, he expressed the desire to make the purpose of the video quite clear.  “Two things:  obviously, our lips do touch – but we are not kissing.  I think that’s the key is that we’re not kissing.  Second, I am changing tone and notes, which is easy to hear in the video.  The key is that she isn’t making any of the noise.  Instead, she is moving her lips in a “wha” motion and my voice is entering her mouth and in-turn being transformed by her lips.  She is basically using her mouth as a vessel for transforming my sounds.”

Send your own sound experiments to Craig at cmudy@yahoo.com if you’d like them to be considered for High Contrast Review.  Please include at least a couple sentences, or paragraphs or poems if you like.

Eyes of ZT Nichols and Geovana Adamoli after a wine tasting - SK

Note: As the Western Editor of Transience, Craig Muderlak made some films and mentioned the idea that High Con begin to accept and show very short films. It’s a great idea, it turns out.   The only requirements are that the film is no longer than a couple minutes, and that it is your own original work.  Something from a cheap digital camera is acceptable, you need not rush out and buy a fancy camera just to be on High Con! Send all film submissions to Craig at cmudy@yahoo.com and enjoy the show.

An other of Craig’s sound experiments will run soon, significantly more provocative than the one above, so stay tuned. Neither film was made on the island pictured below.

photo by Bernie Fanelli