One Sane Minute

"In one sane minute,
  I managed to catch glimpse of the ships of sorrow, sinking,
  In a great sea of small hopes, and wine.

  In one sane minute,
  I could see angles, In the skies,
  Above this city. God is not giving up on us, yet.

  So, what now?
  On my knees, close to the ground, far below the heavens,
  Holding you tight.

  For now."

-In One Sane Minute, Natasha's Friends (translated from Hebrew by AD)

Well I know I said I'd try and keep things concise, but there has just been too much going on, last few days, so this one may turn into another long rant... apologies for that.

Hmmm, where to begin...

I have been feeling the early seeds of a cold terror creeping up the back of my neck recently.
This is probably a good thing.

One of the residents here in Sakura Apartment, is a man named Damon.
His Japanese is impeccable, he told me his Japanese name was  友剛 (Tomotake) and we had a long chat about his experience in Japan. 
Damon has been here for a while now, he has arrived originally as a cultural ambassador with the highly prestigious JET program, and later went through many different companies and positions, teaching English, and trying to establish a singing career in Japan. He did succeed for a while, released one album, and has gained a local celebrity status, but things didn't quite work out in the end, and he is getting ready to leave Japan soon, and return to The States. 
I find Damon to be a charming and fascinating person, and his unusual story has intrigued me. I am hoping I can convince him to do a series of interviews with me. I don't know where this project might go, or what it will be a part of, but I want to do it nonetheless.

友剛 - Today is My Day, True to Me, 2009

In other news, please disregard everything I may have wrote in earlier posts about treating other cultures with respect, or basic human courtesy.
We are now on the great plains of the Serengeti, otherwise known as Hanamikoji in Gion district (old Kyoto's traditional entertainment quarter), and we are going on a safari!
The charming wooden shops, decorated with red paper lanterns, and kimono clad ladies strolling down narrow alleyways are all common sites here. Yet, we are not interested in prairie dogs and badgers this fine evening, no.
We are here to hunt down the big cats.
Geisha (or Geiko in regional dialect) & Maiko (apprentice Geisha) are as elusive as they are rare (estimated at less than a thousand in all Japan).
However, I left my moral fibre on the subway, and I may have trampled a baby, but...
I GOT A LIVE ONE!

Other highlights include, a visit to an electronic game arcade.

And an amazing meal at a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi restaurant) where orders are carried off to your table on small shinkansen trains!

That really is just the tip of the iceberg.
And this is the part where that cold terror kicks in.

All of this sensory splendour has left me feeling a bit like a poor boy, who's just inherited the mansion, and now can't decide what he wants for dinner...
See, where I come from, my work was constrained by the audio/visual poverty of my surroundings.
Back in sleepy town, I'd count myself lucky if I was able to get an interesting police siren or boat horn on tape, and as far as big crowds, or city lights went... well, I guess I just had to learn how to be creative and go without.
Desperation would sometimes lead me to wander into random buildings, in hopes of finding a new elevator tone, just so it could add some dimension and colour to my compositions.

As for this place...
Here EVERYTHING hums and buzzes and dings and cranks and sings. It's incredible really.
Kyoto is a small conservative city by Japanese standards, but just spending one evening on Shijodori, the main business/entertainment strip, I got more, and better quality footage than I did in three years, scrambling around the harbour.
Sound-wise I can probably create a whole body of work, using nothing but sounds I recorded on subway platforms here. It's just too easy, feels like I'm cheating almost... Heck, the other day, I recorded interesting audio AT THE BANK, waiting for the clerks to figure out what a traveler's check is.

Keeping in with the maritime imagery, I feel like I've just lost the anchor, chopped down the wheel, and tossed the compass to the waves. I haven't even been here one week yet, haven't left Kyoto once since I got here, and I already have miles and miles of A material that I don't know what I'll do with.
This is really really great, on one hand. I have so many directions I can go.

But it's also rather terrifying, thinking how much more stuff I might end up with, by the time my stay in Japan is over.

Thanks for reading through!

The Residents - Ship's a Going Down, Not Available, 1974








  　

First Impressions

Hello all,

Just a heads up, this is going to be a long post...

It has been an eventful couple of days. I've arrived in Kyoto, and am staying with my girlfriend and 8 other people in a beautiful old house, just a 2 minute walk away from a huge temple complex!

The second I stepped out of the airport, I remembered why I missed this place so much. I'll try and keep the raving down to a minimum, but I just have to point out how beautiful everything here is. The streets, the houses, the trees the sky, I can't describe it, there is something in the air here that just makes me feel happy.

On my way here, I began collecting material for a project I had cooking in my head for a few years now.
Airports have always been places of fascination for me. I like walking around them, getting lost in the crowds of passengers and greeters, soaking in the ambience, atmosphere, random muzak etc. etc.
A while ago I started thinking about recording sounds in different airports and making compositions out of those sounds, trying to capture the in-transit essences of these magical places. I thought the finished pieces could be potentially released as a collection titled "Music from Airports", a wink to Eno's seminal ambient project; "Music for Airports".
In the past, I didn't have the hardware to realize my designs, but now I do. In fact, the Kodak "Play Sport" camera I brought with me, is perfect for recording in an airport because it looks just like a cell phone. I was able to walk around and get great footage and sound, without being buggered by security.
So this is one project that is already on the go. I am trying to decide now, if I want to incorporate the visuals I got with the sounds, or should I stick to the original plan and just have the audio..?
Hmmm, suggestions?

The first location I began exploring once I arrived (well, after the ramen stand that is) is the Kyoto Station building and surrounding area.

This has got to be one of my favourite places in the world. The building itself is a magnificent, 15 story, shiny steel and glass beast. It's ultra modern design stands in stark contradiction to the stereotype, traditional character of Kyoto, Japan's old capital, and the station has been a source of much disapproval, controversy and la-di-da since it's construction.
Personally, while I do love the building for its great formal beauty, I am more interested in the station as a place of transportation and energy. Probably a hundred thousand people pass through here, daily.
As a "warm-up" excursive, I've started shooting a series of quick portrait stills, in and around the station. This is proving to be a lot of fun, and once again, the "Play Sport" is pretty much perfect for the task as it is so inconspicuous. I also love the grainy, washed up and slightly over-saturated quality I get with this delightful gizmo (swear Kodak are not paying me any money).

Other then getting my kicks playing spy with techy-toys, I've also made some important decisions following this short series of studies.
The obvious realization that I am a foreigner in this country has finally dawned on me it seems. I am starting to understand that any type of work I end up creating using material I shot in Japan, is going to be loaded with cultural tension. I feel like from my vantage point of outside spectator, it can be very easy to fall on the path of making work that is driven by bewilderment, difference and exoticism.
This however, is NOT the route I want to take.
I am interested in making work that is more purely experience based. I want it to speak in a language of texture, sound, colour, energy etc. all those things that are universal. I am not really interested in my work carrying a strong critical or theoretical dimension.
This goal I am setting for myself, early on in the process, is going to perhaps be more challenging to achieve, and many might contest the validity of any final product I present, simply because I am from where I am.
However, I hope a successful end result will prove more rewarding to watch/listen to, and would strengthen my skills as a media editor and producer.

Thank you for reading through this lengthy scroll I have dotted down here. I'll try and keep future posts a bit more concise.

Taking Off

Hi everyone,

AD here, I run and manage this blog which is dedicated to my video/audio work and explorations.

So... I am graduating art-school this December, and felt like I am at that turning point where I want to start sharing my work with the world.

I make music videos mostly. The sound for, I create/edit myself.
Basically, I walk around carrying a camera and record my life, places I visit, people I meet etc. Then I edit these sounds and visuals into layered compositions. I will put up some examples of past work, in the near future.
Oh, and I also do collage stuff, a lot of found footage work... I'll post some of that soon enough too.

Next week I will begin my Advanced Studio in Intermedia. This will be the last exciting chapter in my degree studies, and even more exciting as I am going to do all my research/shooting in Japan!

So, I am lifting off in a few days. Still not sure about what I am going to do/see/be when I get there, but I know it will be something new.