IN:SITE Web Documentaries for "On and Off Capital," Milwaukee Public Art Project

     Last winter, I spent several months working on a series of web documentaries for an amazing Milwaukee Public Art organization called IN:SITE. The artists and the projects were really amazing, and I was glad to have been a part of such a great experience. These shorts were entirely shot, directed, and produced by me, so it was also an amazing experience in D.I.Y. style film making. My personal favorites were probably Colin Matthes' projects, but they were all really incredible pieces that demonstrated how artists can get involved in the community at large.

IN:SITE Project Overview video



IN:SITE Individual Projects: (artists interview, process, concept)
 "MARLA SANVICK"


"COLIN MATTHES"


"SARAH LUTHER"


"PAULA SCHULZE"


"MARLEY GISSER"

Promotional Video for My Friend, Photographer ROBB QUINN

Here's a piece I wrote, shot, directed, and edited in 48 hours (without sleep obviously). I did it for a good friend of mine, Robb Quinn. He's traveled around the world doing photography, and learning under some of the greats, and his body of work is most definitely compelling.
If you need some video work done, holla' at me, and maybe we can work something out. 

Joseph R. Reeves: Art at a Glance (interview for "C E N T E R" gallery opening)

THE LAST GREAT american NOVEL

I feel like a pretentious bastard to say this, but I am writing THE LAST GREAT american NOVEL. Really now though, I am. I will be leaving on the 22nd of SEPT, and will be going on a one year trip to CALIFORNIA. Me and my two partners in crime, DYLAN ZYLEWSKI, and BRIAN OLSEN- are leaving Milwaukee with an enormous van, my parents pop-up camper, about a thousand bucks, and all the necessary implements of destruction we will need to survive and create art along the way.
It is sure to be the adventure of a lifetime, and along with the intent of moving to California and fleeing from the Milwaukee winter time- is the intent to write a novel based on the experiences we have along the way. We have a few people in a few states that we will visit, but for the most part, the journey is entirely improvisational. We most certainly do not have enough money, and part of the adventure will be having to find random jobs along the way.
A blogspot much like this one, has been created to detail EVERY aspect of the trip as it unfolds. This is including a list of our materials along the way, random thoughts or observations, character profiles of people we meet on the road, future/current plans, updated financial details, excerpts of the in process novel as well as various other photography, writing, sculpture, drawing- basically, the blog will serve as an interactive format for others to monitor our travels, our adventure, and our thoughts at the time. PLEASE CHECK THIS BLOG OUT! I PROMISE WE WILL KEEP IT UPDATED ALMOST DAILY! ALSO, I have already posted the first draft of the PREFACE on this site. It can be seen at: www.THELASTGREATamericanJOURNEY.blogspot.com


BRIAN OLSEN a.k.a. "B.O."
DYLAN ZYLEWSKI a.k.a. "D- MONEY"

Joseph R. Reeves a.k.a "Joseph R. Reeves Esq."

DONT FORGET TO FOLLOW AND MARK THIS BLOG! ONCE AGAIN, THE SITE IS:
www.THELASTGREATamericanJOURNEY.blogspot.com

Spatial Boundaries

This is an ongoing piece that explores some of my literal fascination with boundaries in particular, but also space, and interaction. What is especially fascinating, is that I used this strangely delicate lace/plaster boundary in the context of an art school, a place where people are expected to interact with pieces of art. When confronted this aggressively, without time to think or react- most people immediately look for someone around them to confirm that either they can move it, or that they should go under it. So far reactions have been nearly 70/30 with 30 % of the people actually getting down on their knees and crawling under the surreal hurdle! at least its good to know that so many people respect art, right? Wait- is that what this is? Nevermind...What is really amazing about this piece is the video footage of the actual reactions taking place- I will post some of the footage as I compile more and more, and in different locations with different context. (I just need to learn how to post video footage, thats all)

My Vote Performs

For the November 4 2008 elections, a highly ambitious, non-partisan, performance art organization called "My Vote Performs" (co-produced by Pegi Taylor, and John Loscuito), put together performance art pieces at 11 different polling places in the city of Milwaukee. The artists involved represent three decades of Milwaukee's finest performance artists. I was lucky enough to have been honored by Pegi and John, with the task of creating a doucmentary of the project in its entirety to be shown on the My Vote Performs website, as well as an open forum held at MIAD. The documentary is about 45 minutes, and catalogs the individual projects of all 11 artists, as well as our conversations concerning them. Thank you so much to John and Pegi for giving me this wonderful opportunity, as well as each artist for sharing their time and wisdom with me. I cannot express how wonderful and inspiring of a task this documentary has been for me, and how exciting it has been to work so closely with a project that I truely feel represents the importance of celebrating the democratic process, and our privelaged right to vote. The documentary can be found on the My Vote Performs official website, and is in the process of being sent out to various film festivals. I will keep updates about future screenings. http://www.myvoteperforms.com/index.html I encourage everyone to look into the amazing artists that were involved in the project, Renato Umali, Ted Brusabardis, Jill Sebastian, Steve Wetzel, John Schneider, Dasha Kelly, Raoul Deal, Miachael Pettit, Thewhiteboxpainters (Brent Budsberg, Shana McCaw, Mark Escribano, Harvey Opgenorth), and Debra Loewen.