tiny tba

The large unexpected object

The lil peeps and I are really excited for Sunday and the children’s portion of PICA’s TBA festival, tiny tba. It’s something I’ve participated in for the last three years and it’s been a complete hoot. My friends Belinda and Hova of the most awesome radio program Greasy Kid Stuff host the event which features a kid dance party among other great performance pieces including Anna Oxygen, songs by Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist Elizabeth Mitchell and a performance by the Portland dance company Hot Little Hands there’s a link to the line-up here….

I’ll be showing about a half hour of global independent cinema for children and my friend Lars and I will have a hands on editing workshop. It’s something we’ve done a bunch in the past and features scratching and drawing on found footage and splicing together on the fly. It’s pretty fun and it’s amazing to watch kids “get it” when they realize that the film stock itself can be a medium, something beyond traditional narrative structures. I posted an example of Molly’s finished film on my kidfilmmaker blog. In the past we’ve done this workshop without sound, but a recent walk in the rain with my son inspired me to add another improvisational layer to the creative process.

Xander and I were busy attaching ponies to rings around town (see previous post) when we came across the innards from an old piano in an alley. It was just the back with metal wood and strings but we knew at once it was a real treasure. We plucked, banged and pulled on the strings for about 20 minutes getting the loveliest variations in tone which all complimented the small downpour we endured for our spontaneous art. The piano’s owner was willing to part with it and with only the slightest hesitation my husband and later PICA came to appreciate what was to be know as “the large unexpected object”. Getting it over to Leftbank where tiny tba is being held was a small challenge since it’s fairly large and weighs about 500 lbs. but I think worth the effort. I’m really looking forward to hearing the kids compose on the fly, narrating their experimental films. Lars is going to digitize the final work and my buddy Makayla has come on board as the official videographer for Indiekid Arts, so I’ll post the fruits of our labor soon.

Additionally, I’m helping to coordinate a paint chip poetry project for PNCA’s Continuing Education department.  We’re cutting up and rearranging hardware store samples to create visual and verbal art.  It’s a really cool activity, deserving of it’s own blog post which I’ll get to promptly, promise….