Farewell to Envy and Cherry

It was a short but lovely affair with the Mobile Microcinemas. Aurora's Street Team became Skip, Melissa and Germaine during the Media Archeology: Software Cinema festival transporting our VIP artists to/from/to airports, venues and the hotel.

Here's Envy at DiverseWorks for festival finale.

Photo: Lorraine Kweskin

True Love at Aurora

Andrea and Carlos snuggle up at DiverseWorks during Media Archeology: Software Cinema.

Photo: Lorraine Kweskin

Festival Finale Gets Pushy

Images of Madeline Minx presenting her one-woman show for the finale of Media Archeology: Software Cinema at DiverseWorks.

Photo: Lorraine Kweskin

Boyce and Bot

Last night the one and only Orange Show was aglow with the mind-blowing, hypnotic, heavy metal imagery of Nate Boyce, and the pyrotechnics and electronic pop sexiness of My Robot Friend.

Top Nate Boyce Photo by Steve Patlan. My Robot Friend Photos contributed by Mister Chris Lockwood.

More photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediaarch

xxoo
aurora

LoVid and Yacht at Aurora's Media Archeology

April 21, 2006. A starry night at Domy Bookstore, Houston. LoVid broke it down family-style with a wearable a/v synthesizer performance for two, followed by YACHT (Jona Bechtolt). Yacht's show included a rare visit from god, who incidentally has a lisp. Program curated by Lauren Cornell, Executive Director of Rhizome.

Yacht photos contributed by Mister Steve Patlan. Nate Boyce in blue satin jacket on right.

Anyone have any LoVid photos to contribute?

xxoo
Aurora

Post-Share Group Hug

You could feel the love last night as Share faciliated a group a/v jam. The participants at Aurora included local musicians Pizo Meyer and Carlos Pozo, A/V Geek Skip Elsheimer, Aurora's Barna Kantor, and many other innovative folks.

Who were you and how can we meet again?

Image courtesy of Chika Iijima, Share, NYC. Pictured left at laptop is Share member Elsa Vieira.

We'll upload photos of the festival daily on our Flckr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediaarch

xxoo
aurora

Pew, What's That Smell?

It's the fragrance of change! The pews at Aurora have been moved around for the first time in 75 years. It's all thanks to Share, appearing tonight at Aurora.

I Have Something to Share With You...

Share is an open jam for audio/video artists with portable gear and kicks off Aurora's Media Archeology: Software Cinema festival. Come to ye olde Aurora Picture Show on Wed. April 19, 8pm, and feel free to walk around the room and observe, or have a seat and enjoy a unique multichannel audio/video improvisation. Plug-in or trip-out.

Participants can download a PDF with technical specs and suggested jam etiquette, or learn how to Share in this week's Houston Press (Diggin' Digital by Mary Templeton.)

Photo by ENUM.

xxoo
aurora

Sampling the Mobile Microcinemas

Have you seen Cherry and Envy, Aurora's Mobile Microcinemas, roaming the streets of Houston? Check out these locations to meet our Street Team and to experience a taste of Aurora. In the spirit of renegade art these visits are unofficial so we'll be there as long as we can - see us in the parking lots.

Added bonus, since I know you like deals as much as I do, get a $2 off coupon for Media Archeology from the Street Team. Taste, experience, enjoy, indulge some more.

xoxo Team Captain Aurora

Friday, April 14
8pm
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center
University of Houston Dudley Recital Hall
UH Fine Arts Bldg, ground floor - Entrance 16 off of Cullen Blvd

Saturday, April 15
9pm
THE NEW HOPE TOUR
Warehouse Live
813 St. Emmanuel Street

Sunday, April 16
8pm
Shade Restaurant
250 West 19th St.

Mobile Microcinemas

Thanks to Scion Aurora has two mobile microcinemas roaming Houston run by our Street Team. Here's your chance to preview the Media Archeology: Software Cinema artists. Equipt with multiple interior screens and projected video on the back window the xB is the ultimate mobile microcinema.

Street Team: Andrea Grover, Guy Harrison, Carlos Lama, Barna Kantor, Amy Kweskin, Melissa Sonzala, Skip Elsheimer, Germaine Fodor, and Jessica and Doyle Odom. Aurora gives a shout out to the promotion team - Melissa and Matt Sonzala of Houston So Real, Chris Lockwood of Lockwood Costa Studios, and Amy Kweskin of The Kweskin Report.

Check this blog regularly for the Mobile Microcinema Street Team locations, out and about April 8-24.

xoxo Aurora

Aunt Aurora Wants You!

All able bodied, stable minded (defined loosely) loyal folks, Aurora Wants You to volunteer! Positions available for Media Archeology: Software Cinema April 19-23, 2006.

Ask not what Aurora can do for you, but what you can do for Aurora. Give us a few hours of your time and we’ll give you Fame, Fortune and Free passes to Media Archeology: Software Cinema and… recognition on the Aurora website and…invitation to our volunteer appreciation event!

Sign now with Aurora’s recruiter Volunteer Coordinator Guy Harrison Harrison@aurorapictureshow.org www.aurorapicturesow.org.

High Level Access Only

Shhh. I have a secret Flickr site. Whatever you do, don't click on this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediaarch/sets/302932/

xxoo aurora

Hosts with the Most

Aurora takes the Show on the Road this spring as we depart from our Dean’s and Clark’s Monday night series. Over the past several years we have been fortunate to have Eileen Maxson, Vinod Hopson and Camille Breaux for our Monday Downtown adventures. Their commitment to Aurora, our artists and audiences has been a cornerstone of our programming and an asset to the organization. Plus, they're fun to drink with.

A round of applause as we raise our glasses to toast the hosts with the most.

Where did I put my glasses?

All my love, Aurora

Kevin Everson to Jury Extremely Shorts 9

Artist and filmmaker Kevin Everson has signed on as the Juror for Aurora's Extremely Shorts 9. Described by Variety as being “Unique among African-American filmmakers as a chronicler-poet of black folk and their everyday lives” Everson’s second feature length film, Cinnamon, screened at the 2006 Sundance and the New York Underground Film Festivals.

Submit your mini masterpiece. Details and entry form online at www.aurorapictureshow.org. Entires of films and videos three minutes or less will be selected by Everson for screening at June 24 & 25, 2006 at Aurora.

Can you believe we're into our nines already? Number Nine. Number Nine.

xoxo Aurora



Photo: A Week in the Hole (2001) film still

Visit My Space

Want to be friends? Visit www.myspace.com/aurorapictureshow and be part of my extended network.

xxoo Aurora

Meet My Robot Friend

My Robot Friend, one of this year’s featured artists in Aurora’s Media Archeology: Software Cinema, April 19-23, takes moving image art personally. In fact, he wears the technology, transforming his body into an blinking marquee.

Hear My Robot friend on http://www.myspace.com/myrobotfriend.
xoxo Aurora

P.S. My Robot Friend you can be my friend anytime.

Photo of My Robot Friend by Alex Wright.

Sleeping Angels at Aurora

At the inaugural Video Feedback session this weekend photographer and video maker Nathalie Latham shared her work with Aurora. In town as an exhibiting FotoFest artist, Nathalie is an Australian living in France. Ever the host, Vinod guided her to Aurora.

Nathalie’s piece Sleeping Angels is a study of residents of Beijing who catch gentle naps during their train commute to and from work. As the sleeping city passes in the background the viewer wonders if these are really the dreams of the sleeping riders. The trance is broken when one woman opens her eyes. Thankfully she falls back to sleep so that the voyeuristic viewer can again watch the Sleeping Angels.

Image from Sleeping Angels, Nathalie Latham

More of Us to Love

Aurora is delighted to welcome Barna Kantor to our growing team. A renowned moving image artist and the founder of several arts nonprofits, Barna is taking on the facility and technology management role at Aurora.

Terra Cognita Cinematexas 10 describes Barna’s work… “Kantor integrates found objects into installations that have the slick feel we’ve come to expect from digital art, but with a difference. Kantor isn’t interested solely in the projected image that is shackled to cinematic media, but also in the machine that makes the projection possible. For the past two years, Kantor has been building projectors. His machines are drawn in part from the history of cinema.”

Meet Barna at Aurora’s Media Archeology: Software Cinema , April 19-23. Details on the website calendar at.

Images of Barna Kantor's work:
Construction Site
Festival 2004

xxoo Aurora

Whose the Houstinist?

Houstonist is a website about Houston, makes sense. Jim Parson posted on March 6 "The best things in life are cheap" and listed Aurora!

We love you too, but darling, I'm expensive, very expensive.

xoxo Aurora

Astria's Mind is on Sex

At last night's premiere of Quantum Leaps at Clark's Astria asked audience members to take a survey. The simple question, "What is sex". Stunned, we had two minutes to write down our response, no name attached. Thank goodness since ol'Aurora gets out there and has some pretty strong feelings about the topic and I wouldn't want to shock anyone into awe.

Astria's compiling the responses on her website. Guess which one's mine.

xoxo Aurora

Image Credit: “I am a Conjuror,” Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby, 8:30, 2004.