This trailer is about the identities that are existent in the marginalized community on Lafayette college’s community. Due to the 2016 election, man individuals felt that their own identities were being questioned and they did not feel safe in the environment that they are currently situated in. I wanted to construct a piece that would empower and inspire others to continue pushing. Our uniqueness is what makes us such a prospering community. Never forget that . . .
This is the re-worked version of my original performance piece, “No Rest”. I knew going into this second shoot that I would need to focus in on more action; even if only one. I thought a lot about what I could do for the action. Maybe something with pain would work. At first I thought I could pour wax on my self or some sort of physical paining. And then it dawned on me, I would rip up a book. I figured this was good for a couple of reasons. I could progressively get angrier with the ripping. This notion of having a tipping point is certainly something I was trying to execute. The act of reading a book is somewhat frustrating for me. I really don’t like to read, and I get irritated with my lack of desire to read and lesser ability.
I also changed up some things with the lighting and framing. I used a spot light in the shot where I am sleeping to create obvious shadows. I juxtaposed this with the shot of me bare where there are practically no shadows. I did this on purpose because I wanted to create a real sort of contrast. The shadows behind the very well-lit, sleeping me represent the darker side of my personality. It also represents my humanity and physicality, where the more dissolved and bare me has no shadows and seems far more ghostly and unnatural. This is exactly how the frustration feels and I tried to capture that by employing particular film tactics.
Overall the experience was very liberating and enjoyable. The first time I shot and created my rough cut, I felt weird and uncomfortable in front of the camera. What I was doing didn’t seem to make sense and I was worried I would look like a fool. After I presented the first take to the class and received some positive feedback I realized the project does have potential value. During the second shoot I payed much closer attention to detail and I was far more comfortable in front of the camera. In fact, after ripping the book I felt so good I had head rush. It was crazy.
Broadly speaking my idea is to set up a number of statues/sculptures, lights, and built skateable terrain in the Williams Visual Arts Building and then interact with all of it while I skateboard. I want the performance to be more than just a spectacle in which I am seen skateboarding around interesting and unusual terrain, rather I would like to demonstrate skating as an art form. I want the audience to see balance and understand the connection between me, my board, and my surrounding environment. I am absolutely not the first person to try and skate as an artistic performance, nor is my plan to expose balance and draw attention to the board/body relationship original. So, I feel I ought to add in some crucially influential footage of various skaters who have tried to accomplish the same sort of thing through performance skating. Mark Gonzalez is probably the most notable figure in this regard. Mark is one of the most influential skaters of all time, a pioneer in street skating, and a highly talented artist dealing mostly in larger scale installations. In the 90s Mark did a number of performance art shows in museums across Europe. In a music video for the song West Coast by Coconut Records, Mark is filmed during one of his museum performances. He is seen skating all over a modern museum in Germany, skating through and around different modern looking installations. Mark skates in such a way as to demonstrate his connection with his board and his center of gravity rather than performing various difficult tricks in the style of a traditional skateboard edit.
