August 2010

The show Soundstorm at the Lab Gallery is filled with mystery, power and magic. It has endured the strongest heatwave of the summer and acts as a breathing force in the gallery space on 47th and Lexington. The evolution of the show has been intense. It has channeled massive amounts of energy in its existence and continues to surprise me. On a steamy Friday night in the beginning of its installation a street viewer coming from LQ (a Club on Lex), in a fit of rage with his girlfriend put his fist through the front window. Unfortunately the gentleman lost his arm in the process and created a peculiar dynamic to the development of this installation.

I find the show to be the strongest installation that I have seen in the Lab Gallery in years. The layers of intent behind the show by Daniel Rothbart and Maia Anthea Marinelli go back further than you might realize. On April 24th, 1995 Lisa Paul Streitfeld curated a performance installation in the Lab Gallery where different artist participated in a Meditation / Mediation ceremony where consecutive artists projected their intent on the vessels that are consistent elements in all of Rothbarts installation work. Among the artist who participated were Max Blagg, Anthony Haden Guest, Valery Oisteanu, Bettina Sellmann, L. Brandon Krall, Larry Miller, John Perreault, Francine Hunter McGivern, and Abraham Lubeslki.

Youtube Playlist

These vessels hold the intent of the space and all who have participated along the way. The potency of the experience for me seems to heighten the current experience of Soundstorm making it a charged experience.

Instinctually I tagged different Roger Smith personalities on facebook as represented in different vessels layering the intent and contributing to its charge. As if the walls a being pulled inward by the pulley systems controlled by the weather the amount of energy and tension in that space is fascinating. I believe the show is a conductor of emotions and energy! It has brought much to the surface, not all good, but most certainly necessary. I believe all installations in that space should be marked as an experience. In the context of provocative art, I am thoroughly stimulated.

I look forward to seeing what kind of aftermath is to be experienced. Bravo Daniel Rothbart!

This blog post is a response to an inquiry on The Lab Gallery Facebook Page by Danika Druttman. I encourage anyone who has experienced the Soundstorm Installation at the Lab Gallery to post a response to it. It can be a video, an essay or even a picture post. Lets keep the dialog going. Let me know what you think.

Feedback is always appreciated.

John Knowles

In, “On the rocks”, two dudes are confronted with the task of scoring ice for drinks for their dates. What happens to them on this journey is both destructive and life affirming. The protaganists are faced with a grisly task in order to get the ice cold redemption which they seek. We are faced with the question: Will this experience put their friendship “on the rocks” or will it strengthen their resolve?

Directed by Sean Cunningham

Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival Workshop 2009

Cast: Joe Cummings, Brett Siddell, Dirk Keysser, Jillian Federman, Michal Freier, Brittany Angley, Rafael Pimentel
Crew: Written and Produced by Jonathan Monina & Sean Cunningham – Executive Producers: Brendan Crane and John Knowles – Assistant Director; Jonathan Monina – Production Coordinator: Leah Rose Damour – Production Assistant: Shon McGoy – Music by; Justin Vinokur, Adam Keller, Sean Cunningham, The Foot Clan – Set Design; Leah Rose Damour – Lighting; Jonathan Monina – Sound; Michael Parish – Director of Photography; Sean Cunningham – Editor; Sean Cunningham

Website; http://herostatusfilms.com/

About the Roger Smith Shots
With support from Ghetto Film School, Brooklyn Brewery and the Roger Smith Hotels patronage to the arts, the Roger Smith Shorts 09 (Festival Workshop) was conceived. The concept was envisioned as a collaboration of creativity and ingenuity among visual storytellers and those who form the structure behind it.

Interview with the Director

The Roger Smith Shorts were created to engage an audience. Please share with us any feedback that you have. Be sure to comment, share and engage.

Thanks for watching.

About Roger Smith Shorts

The Roger Smith Shorts is a short narrative film series, that brings together emerging filmmakers to create original works all hosted at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. In August of 2009, 6 filmmakers were hosted at the Roger Smith Hotel to participate in the first biannual film festival workshop of its kind.

Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival 2009.

Fast forward to June 2010 for the second installment of the Roger Smith Shorts that were premiered in front of a sold out audience at the Brooklyn International Film Festival on June 11, 2010. All films were shot in and around the Roger Smith Hotel making it the backdrop for the entire series.

Roger Smith Shorts 2010

Stay tuned for a schedule of screenings for the Roger Smith Shorts.

It was an honor to introduce the Roger Smith Shorts at the venue in which they were created, to an audience of film creators and enthusiasts. In August 2009, 6 films were created as part of the Roger Smith Shorts FIlm Festival Workshop. The Roger Smith Hotel is a perfect venue to bring together creative individuals to explore the film-making process. The 2010 Roger Smith Shorts Directors and collaborators are; John Knowles, Aleks Degtyarev, John Birdsong, Abianne Prince and Melissa Gonzalez.

I think it is important to thank and recognize Paul Farkas and Sally Golan for putting together Social Cinema Week, better known as SoCin. It is a festival style gathering that will create platforms, networks and relationships that will help facilitate the convergence social media and cinema.

About SoCin
Social Media has changed the face of virtually every consumer-related industry. It is now a primary tool for marketing and distribution running the full range from webisodes, TV shows, networks, and major motion pictures alike. In socializing cinema, the very way audiences view and enjoy entertainment itself has changed as co-viewing evolves along new social platforms and added screen involvement. By situating cinema, programs and movies are moving outside beyond the theater and living room in real-time and becoming living media alongside our daily lives. Profound social good and edutainment increasingly results from the global connection and information provided by dramatically lower barriers of entry, user generated content, word or mouth and viralization.
SoCin recognizes the game-changing impact of Social Media and the web on the Film and TV industry. Its Social Cinema Week aims to provide balanced panels of leading experts from both Film and TV as well as those with social expertise. Importantly, SoCins new approach to industry networking parties provide intimate environments to take these conversations further, spark academic debate, and begin building Social Cinema best practices.

In the new world of the Social Internet it is a pleasure to be involved in its evolution. As a creator, an enthusiasts and a facilitator, I am thrilled to see the excitement and momentum happening in Midtown at the Roger Smith Hotel. We dare to follow our dreams and begin to believe that we should expect results. Destined and determined to achieve greatness we are humbled by the community and film-making process. What I have learned is that there is little time to sleep and all the time to dream.

Feedback is very important for our growth and community engagement. Be sure to follow our Roger Smith Short Tumblr account and reach out with comments.

http://therogersmithshorts.tumblr.com/

Thanks for your continued interest.

Panman

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In your opinion which item from the collection do you think should be massed produced? Please comment, share and engage.

Thanks for watching.

Panman