Alpha Game

harDCore

I had an interview a couple of nights ago with some folks at Union Docs as part of the application process for their collaborative residency program. The program is intriguing in that it’s a self-admitted experiment in education and the exchange of ideas in documentary art. I think I had always unconsciously defined documentary to be within the confines of the traditional medium of film, but the Jesse Shapins and Kara Oehler, the two mentors who are shepherding the program, have done some interesting work that defies easy categorization.

After the interview, I came home and spent a good hour making my way through several short videos they produced cataloging places of historic importance within DC’s hardcore scene as part of their Capitol of Punk project. They managed to snag some great interview footy of Ian MacKaye, Ian Svenonius and other DC heads from back in the day. The pieces got me thinking about the first time I saw Fugazi play, in Fort Reno, back in what must have been ’98 or ’99. It still amazes me to this day that they were able to draw what seemed to be an unending sea of people to the gig, all built on the basis of a DIY ethic that had benefited from no radio play, no MTV–nothing but the sweat and tears needed to build a scene brick by brick. Around the same time, Ravi had taken me to a Fugazi benefit show at the 9:30 Club, where before the show we saw Brendan Canty unloading his own kit from a beat up old white van. And this was probably around the height of Fugazi’s popularity. The memories spurred me to dig up some old footage I had of my friend Son of Nun murdering tracks at Ft. Reno in ’05 in some July heat that would have killed a camel. My boy ripped it, lacing heads with endless bars for at least 40 minutes straight in humidity that would have rendered a lesser emcee unconscious.

In my efforts to learn how to make films, I’ve always been struck by how most of the educational material out there is designed to appeal to people who are attempting to “break into” the established commercial vein of film work, be it in screenwriting, directing, production or what have you. There is scant attention paid to those who want to learn filmmaking for the sake of expressing themselves artistically. The web has drastically changed avenues of distribution for all kinds of media, and catering one’s art to a anachronistic film studio seems like a bad idea for a whole host of reasons, most of which revolve around the simple fact that studios suck and will inevitably poison your ideas and intents. We do it better ourselves.

Blueshifted Archive #5: Traveling With the Circus

Rahul,

Circus is in town here in Minneapolis, they have replaced the elephants with wolves and cops who hand out vegetarian meals. Already been caught in a wolf attack, for asking a question. Its sad that nothing will be achieved here, and what needs to be done is always ambiguous. Looking forward to getting home, I just need to keep my mouth shut for the next 3 days. There are a lot of crazy people, and some of the most beautiful crazy people too! Talk to you when back in the city. Hope all is well.

Ravi

[originally published September 24, 2008]