For the past few days, Minneapolis has been host to the American Association of Museums’ Annual Meeting 2012. Some of the Minnesota Historical Society’s work has been honored by AAM in the past and this year was no exception.

The 1968 Exhibit’s Huey Helicopter Vietnam Combat Stories, of which I edited the majority of the video pieces presented within, was honored with a MUSE Award this year by the Association. I’m really proud to have the hard work of myself and my colleagues recognized and showcased.

The 1968 Exhibit is now on view at the Oakland Museum of California, until August 19th.

Still reeling from the Keys screening at the Sonoma International Film Festival, but I’m happy to return home, where three films that I had a hand in editing were selected for the shorts programs in this year’s Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival.

Top left: Chris, directed by Ethan Holbrook, right: Little Wolf, directed by Christopher Peck and bottom: The Well, directed by Christopher Jopp. A trio of Chris.

Ethan’s film played last Monday to a very warm reception and Messrs. Peck and Jopp’s films will be screening tomorrow night at the St. Anthony Main theatre.

I am tremendously excited to see these movies on the big screen and was really privileged to work on all three of them. 

The Sports Show opens tonight at the MIA. It’s been a lot of fun to work on, being the first major install I’ve worked on at the Institute. It’s also proving to be one of the most media-heavy shows they’ve ever exhibited.

Although the bulk of the pieces on display are photographs, there are some really astounding media works that it has been a privilege to work around and with. From Buster Keaton to Zinedine Zidane, the range of work selected by curator David Little really touches on pretty much every aspect dealing with the intersection of sport and art culture.

Above are stills from some of the featured media pieces:

1. Clips from the Buster Keaton film College.
2. Kota Ezawa’s Brawl, a cut-out animation re-contextualizing of the 2004 Pistons-Pacers brawl. Shown on a 16mm film looper.
3. The O. J. Simpson Project by Roger Welch, a multiple projection and monitor setup featuring an interview with the Juice on two synched monitors, along with projections of him on the football field and a double projection of fans in the stands.
4. Paul Pfeiffer’s The Saints, mainly a massive audio installation featuring the sounds of the 1966 World Cup crowd, recreated and pumped through large speakers to fill a mostly empty gallery. Three video elements are also a part of the piece. One, featured above, is focused on a single player of the World Cup game by editing out every other player on the field.
5. Filz-TV by Joseph Beuys. We all love a little Beuys — here he boxes with himself in front of a small television set, among other things.
6. Tim Davis’ triple monitor piece The Upstate New York Olympics, which feature him conceiving and carrying out various fake Olympic events he builds around what he can find driving around the northern part of his state.
7. Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, a dual screen documentary film about the controversial French soccer player, featuring a soundtrack by Mogwai. This piece really works well as a closer, as it ties together so many aspects of the Welch, Ezawa and Pfeiffer pieces. Also the projections are massive and daunting.

This exhibition has been one of the most exciting and challenging events I’ve ever worked on and I’m really looking forward to seeing what visitors make of it. So if you’re in the MSP area in the near future, make sure to swing by and see The Sports Show. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Just learned that Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas will be touring the 1968 Exhibit today. I hope she sits down with the Music Trip I helped put together and has a little fun.

For those who, unlike Martha, cannot get to the exhibit in St. Paul before it closes in February, TPT’s Almanac produced this handy walkthrough.

New Pictures 5, featuring Jason Fulford’s ’The Mushroom Collection’ is now on view at the MIA. This was one of my favorite exhibition promo pieces I’ve worked on, mostly because I think the idea behind the project is so odd and compelling.

From the New Pictures site:

Fulford’s pictures appear to be unremarkable shots of commonplace objects, people, and places. Yet a closer look reveals humorous and subtle oddities. Fulford’s images reveal themselves through repetition, sequences, and relationships between form and shadow, abstraction and reality.

Fulford is giving his talk on the collection next Thursday, December 1st over at the Institute in the Pillsbury Auditorium, so make sure to come check out the ‘shrooms.

My buddy and erstwhile roommate Christopher Jopp is nearing completion on his first non-student short film, The Well. 

During shooting, Chris appointed yours truly as the documentarian of the process, resulting in this piece which I shot and edited. (My voice also crops up in it once and awhile.)

It was really fantastic fun to make and brought me right back to my days of filming Behind The Scenes docs of my high school theatre productions. 

So if anybody needs/wants some BTS action, you now know who to call.

Well, The 1968 Exhibit is up and running. We had a fantastic opening party last Thursday evening, with hundreds of patrons coming through to check out the show. The crowds continued coming all through the weekend, giving all the media pieces I worked on a good work out. 

Pictured above are the introductory lobby, the projections in the Huey helicopter, the Chicago DNC piece, and the 1968 Music Trip quiz show, respectively.

The whole project was a great joy to work on and gave me the chance to meet and produce work alongside a fantastic crew of people. I also learned a thing or two about history, which I suppose is always a plus. 

So if you’re in the area, groove on over to The Minnesota History Center and check out the exhibit. Your vibes will thank you.