A/V Geeks HQ

Last week I infiltrated the high security compound known as the A/V Geeks Headquarters, home of 16mm film collector Skip Elsheimer and Germaine Fodor in Raleigh, NC. Skip and Germaine live in an eight bedroom boarding house with 18,000 films, misc. film strips, a telecine, assorted projectors, and a whole lot of small objects that *could* choke a toddler like the one pictured here (Gigi). Perhaps in retaliation, Gigi inserted an everything bagel into their VCR.

Every good Aurora-ite knows about Skip's ongoing thematic screenings of educational films, which have screened at Aurora every year since 1999. But did you know that Skip is also in the business of film transferring and stock footage licensing? Among his clients are Wonder Showzen, VH1, The History Channel, and other people he asked me not to mention.

The complete A/V Geeks photographs are on the Aurora Flickr site.

The Yes Men in the News

The Yes Men (Mike and Andy) at Aurora December 2005

The Yes Men have successfully pranked again. This time "Andy" posed as a HUD representative in New Orleans.

Diane Shamash

Diane Shamash, curator, writer, public art presenter, and founder of Minetta Brook, passed away on Sunday, August 13 at her home in New York. I had the privilege of working with Diane on the Floating Cinema in Houston this past June. Diane was a visionary, affable and elegant woman, whose demeanor earned her the ability to produce some of the most challenging large scale public art works. Among her many accomplishments was bringing to fruition The Floating Island by Robert Smithson, 32 years after his death. Diane also was behind Riverrun-- projections on New York's Holland Tunnel ventilation system (a collaboration between Minetta Brook and the Whitney), The Thames and Hudson River Project (a public art collaboration between New York and London) and many others. For someone who could move mountains in the public art realm, Diane was rarely in the spotlight but the impact of her vision is lasting and beautiful. She will be missed.

Seattle Post Intelligencer obituary here.

Floating Cinema

June 10, 2006, fireworks, fried food, jugglers, CCR, live TV coverage, and then quiet, structuralist landscape films. These are professional photos from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership's grand opening of the Sabine-to-Bagby Promenade in downtown Houston. Andrea Grover of Aurora Picture Show and Diane Shamash of Minetta Brook curated the films, which included Peter Hutton's Two Rivers, James Benning's Ten Skies, and Andy Warhol's Sunset. The floating cinema is the creation of artist Jon Rubin.

As you can see, there were thousands of viewers, and we are now considering contacting Guinness Book to see if we broke the world record for attendees to a structuralist landscape film screening.

Top two photos by Jim Caldwell
Bottem photo by Raymond Groscrand
(Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership)

Take Me to Monkeytown

The July 27 show at Monkeytown was chest-poundingly good. I screened the Best of Aurora, Volume 3 (Jona Bechtolt, Tommy Becker, Andre Silva, Gerald Straub, Jim Finn, Skip Elsheimer, Eileen Maxson, Jeff Butterworth, Adad Hannah, Arthur Jones, Matt Hulse, Enid Baxter Blader, Bill Daniel, Andy Mann), and got to reconnect with some top Aurora buddies.

The Monkeytown screening room is a theater in the square, with gi-normous screens on all four walls, a killer sound system, and futons with coffee tables for food service. Initially I thought the four screens would be distracting, but not at all. The brain works miracles when given too much information, and settles into plain old stereo vision. Monkeytown started out in the apartment of Montgomery Knott, and was later underwritten by some investors who thought it a pretty good idea. I agree. The current home of Monkeytown is a storefront on 3rd Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It's more comfy than Alamo Drafthouse, Austin-- the futons and coffee tables invite people to lounge and hang out. I wonder if Montgomery was influenced by Alamo, as he is a former Austinite.

In attendance at the screenings were your friends and mine: Colleen Burke (We Ragazzi), Mary Ellen Carroll, Nick Hallett, Sara Hines (Apex Art), Arthur Jones, Ryan Junell (Slomo Video), Kyle Lapidus (Lovid), Marisa Olson (Rhizome), Caspar Stracke and Gabriela Monroy (Mostra), and Butcher Walsh. There was also a big group from an design agency called Farenheit 212. I read somewhere that Jonas Mekas once said that advertising professionals were some of the biggest clients for film rentals from Filmmakers' Coop.

Stovepipe and Scanner

And another thing... Our neighbor and long time friend Michael Stovall was an animator on the film "A Scanner Darkly." Mike and his wife Miss Anne (Stovepipe Design) have designed the last three Best of Aurora Picture Show program books. And when we built a wheelchair ramp at Aurora, Mike and Chris Lockwood (Aurora's full time volunteer designer for the last 5 years) poured the cement for the landing. Brawn and brains, all in the family.

Speaking of Best of Aurora, Volume 3 in the series will be at Monkeytown, Brooklyn on July 27, 2006. Free admission if you wear cowboy boots. More on that later.

Movie Graham

Graham Reynolds, the Austin-based virtuoso behind the band Golden Arm Trio and alum of many Aurora programs (he played live scores for three shows and GAT was the official band of Carlos and Andrea's unholy union), created the soundtrack for the soon to be released A SCANNER DARKLY, directed by Richard Linklater. The soundtrack is on sale now, and the movie opens July 7.

Though music is not expressly part of our mission, a few interdisciplinary musicians have vibrated the walls of our old church. Who? Calvin Johnson, Khaela Maricich, Phil Elvrum, Jana Hunter, Jody Hughes, Dat Politic, Slump, Childcraft, Loreta Kovacic; and offsite Aurora shows Jona Bechtolt, Extreme Animals, TV Sheriff, My Robot Friend, who am I forgetting? Help?

Delicia Harvey, Come On Down!

No, she's not a contestant on The Price Is Right, she's Aurora's new Associate Director! Aurora is delighted to welcome Delicia Harvey to our staff. Delicia will take her post at Aurora in August 2006. She comes by way of The Alley Theatre, where she was Public Relations Manager, and has formerly worked for Landmark Theatre Corporation and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Film Department. Delicia has an MA in Public Communications from Fordham University, and a BA from University of California, San Diego. Please join us in welcoming her to Aurora.

What Happens at Aurora Stays at Aurora

Aurora spares no expense when it comes to our visiting artists. Here we see Extremely Shorts 9 juror Kevin Jerome Everson receiving a substantial honorarium in $5 bills.

Pictured below are some of the annual picnic attendees, and an unnamed karaoke victim. More pictures can be seen on our Flickr site. Thanks to photographers Marisa Avelar and Steve Patlan!

A Comeback for Allison Wiese

Viewers may remember this former cast member at Aurora, First Mate Allison Wiese. Wiese was the first employee at Aurora beyond Captain Andrea Grover, and was hired in January 2002. Since her departure in 2004, our first mate has been on a Nantucket Sleigh Ride of adventures, with exhibits and artist residencies across the whole US of A!

Hold onto your lifevests, because for a limited two-week engagement, First Mate Wiese will return to the Aurora to batten down the hatches, and work during our 8th Anniversary weekend (Extremely Shorts 9, June 24-25). Come sing some shantees with her at the annual anniverary picnic on Sunday, June 25, 6pm-10pm!

Ethan the Greyhound (1994-2006)

Yesterday, June 1, was Ethan's last day with us. After his companion, Patti, died on May 1, Ethan's health rapidly deteriorated. Like an old married couple, one died right after the other.

Ethan Sleet was his racing name and his racing statistics are still on-line. He was a solid third placer a few times before a hip injury placed him in early retirement--lucky for us, because we adopted Ethan in 1996. Ethan was the first canine resident of Aurora, and is best known for actually being able to say "Aurora." We had visions of Ethan saying Aurora at every screening, but when we actually tried our pet trick before a live audience, Ethan just wandered down the aisle looking for lovin'. Apparently, he didn't like to show off.

Two of the finest pets ever, Ethan and Patti R.I.P.

Miranda July: Aurora Award Honoree 2006

Save the date, friends. On October 5, 2006, Aurora will present the 6th annual Aurora Award to artist Miranda July. The Aurora Award is an honor given to an artist who has exhibited extraordinary originality in the fields of media and multimedia art. Past honorees have been Tony Oursler (2001), William Wegman (2002), Laurie Anderson (2003), Ant Farm (2004), and Isaac Julien (2006).

Miranda July is a filmmaker, performing artist and writer. She grew up in Berkeley, California where she began her career by writing plays and staging them at the local punk club. July's videos, performances, and web-based projects have been presented at sites such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and in the 2002 and 2004 Whitney Biennials. Her short fiction has been published in The Paris Review, The Harvard Review, and Zoetrope All Story, and a collection of stories is forthcoming from Scribner in spring 2007. July created the participatory website learningtoloveyoumore.com with artist Harrell Fletcher and a companion book will be published by Prestel in fall 2007. She wrote, directed and starred in her first feature-length film, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) , which won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. July currently live in Los Angeles.

Photo: Todd Warnock

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aurora

There'sa Tear in My Beer

...But they're not cryin'. We wish an all-to-early farewell to Aurora' Assistant Director, Amy Kweskin Duncan who is moving to London! with her husband Stephen in June. On the other side of the pond Amy will return to management consulting and expand on her Americans for the Arts fellowship with focused research into Leadership Development of staff and boards of arts nonprofits.

Send Amy (pictured above with Scottish hubbie Stephen) your goodbyes before May 31, or join us for a farewell party on that evening, location posted soon.

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aurora

She's Baaaaack

Experience Cherry, the Aurora Mobile Microcinemas provided by Scion, at The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art during Shop Talk on Friday, May 12 from 6-9pm and the Art Car Parade awards brunch on Sunday, May 14 in Sam Houston park.

Houston Press Pick for the Prez

Aurora's Board Prez curated this weekend's show, and the press knows what time it is....

(from this week's Houston Press)

Go "Home" Already

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BY MARY TEMPLETON

What would you do if you found out your entire identity had been fabricated by the CIA? Would you believe it? It happened to one man, and his story is told in It's Not My Memory of It. The short documentary, composed of declassified CIA interviews and footage, will screen as part of the short-film showcase "At Home and Abroad" at Aurora Picture Show. According to curator Mark Yzaguirre, "At Home" will attempt to "capture the diversity of the American experience...from urban to rural and policy to kitsch."

Besides Memory, three other films examine life from sea to shining sea. In Playground, three kids growing up in New York City create a play space from their surrounding concrete jungle. Meanwhile, back in the woods, The Bear Hunter chronicles the story of a man who, following family legacy, has been hunting black bears for 44 years. Finally, The American Nutria reveals the bizarre history of the giant rodent, which populates Houston's own bayous. Factoid: Nutria fur coats were once a sign of prosperity. Ewww. Find out what else you didn't know about our great nation at 3 p.m. today and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Aurora Picture Show, 800 Aurora St. , Houston

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aurora

Patti the Greyhound (1997-2006)

Those of you who have visited Aurora have probably had the pleasure of meeting our two mascot greyhounds, Patti and Ethan. On May 1, 2006 at 2:15pm Patti quietly passed away. She had been suffering the effects of bone cancer (the most common fatal illness among greyhounds) and became unable to walk on Friday. Patti was a former racer, just like her sidekick Ethan. She was born in July 1997, raced for 2 1/2 years in Corpus Christi, and went up for adoption through Greyhound Pets of America in 2000. At the time, our other greyhound Ethan had been living at Aurora and really needed a pal. We brought Ethan to the Houston GPA kennel and asked him which greyhound would make a good playmate. It was Patti all the way.

Greyhounds make exceptional pets. Contrary to popular belief, they are low maintenance and don't want to run around all day. They prefer to sleep or watch movies. Greyhounds crave affection, are easy to train, and eager to please. Adopting a retired athlete is a good thing to do, and the local chapter of GPA can guide you through the process.

We'll miss our Patti, and hope to have Ethan around for a little while longer.

Photo: Kathy Johnston

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

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aurora