Here’s something I did for Camera, Light and Motion. Featuring MSSRS TJ Miller and D. Leo White.
The Conversation from Christopher Field on Vimeo.
Not to get too crazy with hyperbole, but my band played what was probably the best show my band has ever played on Saturday night (video available here). And not that we’ve ever played that well live, or played that many amazing gigs over the years…but we play well live now, and that’s what’s interesting to me. A cozy atmosphere at the Somerville Arts Armory, which is a cool venue and worth checking out if you are in the Highland Ave area. It looks pretty majestic at night, lit up with flood lights and with flags almost patriotically flying in the midwinter air. And they sell cans of Old Chub.
<Reflection>I felt different playing this show than I used to when I played shows, back in the good old bad days before I moved to LA. I now have more confidence in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Before, when I was confident about my band, it was probably misplaced or unwarranted. I contend that we always had the tunes; it was our execution of them that was lacking. Lately, our presentation and arrangement of our music is finally coming together in the way that we probably always thought it was or would. And it’s nice, because it’s not the only thing going on creatively in my existence. Which is perhaps why I’m so excited about the way it’s going…I don’t feel as much pressure to have it be The Best Thing Ever. But it kind of is now. </Reflection>
How this relates to DMI/Thesis/Anything:
Maybe it’s possible that having another creative outlet besides DMI will conversely make me feel
better/more confident/generally happier with my MFA work just as having DMI has positively affected the way I feel about my band/music.
A quick aside: Joe Liberty keeps telling me that I seem to be into contrast or opposites. As in: when presented with an assignment, I immediately decide to do the opposite of what I perceive the assignment to be. When I tried to explain some of my reasoning, he told me I should write about this. So that’s what this is. To be concise: The most important thing for me in my “design” work, as is the case with pretty much everything in my life, is being interested in the content and/or concept. Thus, I spend a lot of time figuring out what concepts can best be applied to the design problem in such a way that I don’t find myself up to my elbows in a project that I hate (not to imply that other people find themselves in such situations). The idea of contrast(s) is also important in considering design obstructions, especially when the work that we do is so conceptual. To see the contradictions in discrete media and to exploit their respective strengths/weaknesses is a vital part of the “Multimedia” process. To me, it’s arguably the most important part.
And again: it’s not the black and white that makes contrast interesting, but the space in between the poles. I mean, *TWIN PEAKS SPOILER* Cooper ends up being overtaken by Bob. How did it happen? What does it mean? Who/what the fuck is Bob?
Etc.
LI’L BASTARD’S WORDS HE’S TIRED OF HEARING:
Mind Map, Mind Mapping, Interface (as a noun), Haptic, Dynamic