Megan and Murray

Tiptoeing Through the Lilies

2009-11-04T13:32:44-05:00

We've been working on this project since the summer, and since we live in our studio, we've gotten quite used to the presence of these flowers. Murray and I have internalized new paths to the front door, zigzagging around all the large yellow obstacles without a second thought. The dog and cat duck through the petals, no trace of their initial wariness. These flowers are just a part of normal life these days.

So it threw things off a bit when we put the lilies on wheels a few days ago and started moving them around. It used to take three people and lots of verbal coordination to move a single lily. Now, one person can do it with ease (and an eye fixed on the sprinkler system nozzles).

The wheels have enabled us to fuss with composition and camera angles on a whole new level. It's been enormously helpful to set up a shot, look through the lens, make an adjustment, take a few shots, load the images up on the computer, make more adjustments. For the next project, though, we're building a scale model.

Re-shoot is scheduled for Nov 15.

Lilies Project: Status Update

2009-09-27T11:42:16-04:00

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Video Still 1

Video Still 2

Video Still 3

Thanks to an excellent cast and crew, we are well on our way with this project. We've now spent some time considering the choreography, lighting and set and are thinking about making some changes and shooting it again with the changes in place. We'll continue to document our process here--including discussing what we're now working to improve:

1) We're considering a new choreography style that has radically less instruction for performers. We want to get the balance right between our interests and our performers (or collaborators) interests.

2) What we're calling "the Living Room Stage" needs to be rebuilt (and with more elements) at an angle to the entire production.

3) The white ramp has to be lowered. Our performer Bill is a champ but we were a little bit too enthusiastic with the incline angle. Further, the white space needs to become pure white, without blemishes.

4) We're considering building a catwalk in the background for Bill to continue his path on (up high in the air--sorry again, Bill).

5) Another Lilly (or lily element) is needed in the background and parts of the foreground lilies need a tad more work.

6) The lighting needs adjustment.

Lilies Project: Lilies Almost Completed

2009-08-24T18:54:45-04:00

Murray McMillan

This Rigid/Steel City Table Saw Can Kill You

2009-08-23T13:17:53-04:00

This Rigid Model R4511 Table Saw from Home Depot recently was recalled. Apparently, in certain situations the blade comes off and can kill you. Here's the link. Also note that Steel City table saws might use the same parts and factory: owners should contact Steel City.

So, that said, what's a good table saw these days? I have three recommendations:

1) For the artists who are accident prone (i.e. those of you who generally go too fast, work too late, take risks to get the job done, ignore safety rules and don't use safety devices with table saws), or if you are purchasing a tool that less experienced users will use (like a school shop) then there is only one brand you should consider: SawStop. They are twice as expensive as anything out there and for good reason: if you accidently touch the blade they stop. Really. See the site and the videos on the site. This is a new tool, but one many professionals and universities are trusting. Brace yourself: these are $1700 - $5000.

2) For the artists who follow safety rules (and who recognize that there are many tools that can hurt/kill you: one safer tool doesn't protect you from the others) then our best recommendation is buying a used cabinet saw like a Delta Unisaw or a Powermatic 66 off of CraigsList. We just picked up a 1952 Unisaw in great shape for $300. The trick about large tools is the older ones are built better. The newer ones are built overseas and are designed to save the company money. Further: when you decide to sell it you can get the same price you paid. Be patient, it took us a couple years to find our Unisaw. Get a RSS fishing line going on your local CraigsList.

I should note that there are 3 kinds of table saws: benchtops, contractor style, and cabinet saws. Benchtops are ultra-portable and ultra hard to use on anything larger than 20" or so. Contractor styles are generally full sized, have more stable fences and are cheaper but they generally have the motor hanging out the back. If the motor hits anything than the saw can easily get off alignment. Since the trunnions (the metal that hold the blade and rotating assembly) are mounted to the table on Contractor style saws, it's generally voodoo to align them. Cabinet saws have cabinet mounted trunnions and internally mounted motors but are more expensive. A used cabinet saw is SO MUCH BETTER than a new contractor style.

3) For artists who appreciate safety, are perhaps scared to death of table saws, or use a lot of plywood sheets and don't like wrestling them on a table saw, or don't have a lot of space for a table saw or need a portable and DUST FREE solution we recommend the Festool Plunge Cut Circular Saw and Track System. This is a totally different way to think about cutting wood. It's a circular saw that fits on a track. Put the aluminum track on your plywood and the saw fits snugly on the track and makes a perfect AND EASY cut. CRAZY SAFE. The saw is a plunge cut saw which means that the blade always retracts into a metal shield. This also means you can easily cut a hole in the middle of a sheet. Work with angles? This is your tool. Hook it up to the Festool vacuum and it's almost dust free cutting, perfect for galleries or if you live in your studio. This system can replace a table saw or be a brilliant compliment to a table saw (if you're using a lot of sheets). Brace yourself: this system starts at about $450 and you'll need/want options (like a 107" track for cutting a sheet lengthwise) that drive the final price up towards $600-$900.

Here's a lower priced competitor to the Festool system that many like as well. It's a $160ish track that works with the circular saw you already own.

Lilies Project: Lily 3

2009-08-14T14:11:41-04:00

Peter Owen, who has performed in two of our previous projects, is helping us construct the lilies. He won't be in front of the camera this time, but his wife Alison will. Peter is standing on our kitchen counter, on top of the newly painted cabinets. Since the kitchen is one of the sets for this project, we decided the cabinets needed to be black to fit the composition.

Our friends often appear in our work. In a way, each piece we do is somewhat autobiographical: our work is a record of the people, places and things in our life.

Lilies Project: Base of a Lily 4

2009-08-12T08:55:33-04:00

We've finished the base of 2 lilies and are now working on the third (and final) one. We also think we have an idea on how to make the petals: think loose geometric.

Axiom in Boston on Sept 11

2009-08-10T10:15:49-04:00

We're pleased to be a part of the Pulling Back the Curtain exhibition at Axiom in Boston from August 17th to September 27th, with a reception on September 11th from 6-9 pm. We're projecting 5 videos in HD.

Which raises the question: how does one show HD video art content? Allow me to nerd out for a moment.

This question has bugged us for the last 6 months. This was one of the main reasons we resisted upgrading to HD. For the last three shows, we've tried the usual solutions to get around this problem and haven't liked anything until now. Here's what we've considered:

1) An SD (standard definition) disc playing on a DVD player. This is by far the worst way to see video art. It's even worse than VHS. At least with VHS you get a authentic older technology feel. The compression (those jagged geometric shapes that live in the dark places) is absolutely horrific (unless the artist is making work about them). HD content on SD discs is much better than SD content on SD discs, but still: the low resolution combined with the high amount of visual artifacts is downright embarrassing.

2) Blue Ray discs. We have several video artists friends who have successfully started to rely on this format. They all have battle scars though. One friend said it took 6 months to resolve a workable solution (his price for always being ahead of the curve). Final Cut Pro (standard pro video editing program we--and everyone we know--use) just came out with a new version that can burn Blue Ray. Sort of. I've talked to the Apple FCP reps and it's not fully supported. It only works through Compressor (part of the FCP suite), not DVD Studio Pro (the program designed to master discs) and is filled with holes. Like for example you can't custom design a menu or a disc without a menu (like for exhibitions).

There are other programs like Toast that people use to burn BR discs, but I'm suspicious: Meg and I use too many funky formats and have such specific needs (being able to burn a disc with no menus that loop, being able to customize a menu, being compatible with 24P, 30P, etc) that I'm wary of investing the money into the software, burning hardware and playing hardware only to discover there is something we need that all this third party stuff mashed together won't do. There are just too many variables.

Further: disc formats, including Blue Ray, seem already dead. Video is already going the way of computers and hard drives (see what has happened so quickly to music).

3) Multimedia hard drives. This is an exciting new development. Brands like Lacie have begun to spend a lot of energy here. Till now, they haven't been able to handle 1080P (without uprezzing smaller files). Lacie just came out with a new one that apparently will. It's a harddrive with a small computer attached that controls playback. You can load your digital movies on it and then plug it into a monitor or projector. It's even got the ability to auto play and loop (heads up artists). It's not out yet but is coming shortly (it's already on Lacie's site so it should be here within weeks/months)

4) Ok so the future looks bright, what do we do now? The Mac Mini. We just picked one up for $634 to drive the Axiom show. We did a lot of research and recommend the cheaper Mini with 2 GB ram (with 2 GB the video card shares 256mb to help with large files--additional ram will not help). This unit plays our intense DVCPRO compressed 1080P HD videos without blinking. Without the additional compression that discs place on work, the images look stunning. Further: uprezzed SD content without disc compression looks SMASHING: better than we've ever exhibited it.

You can easily hook these things up so that when the power comes on, they automatically turn on, open your video and loop it (using Automator--included on all Macs). This means we hand a box to the gallery and all they have to do is turn on and off the power strip to turn on or off a video show.

Lilies Project: Base of a Lily 3

2009-08-07T08:51:47-04:00

The 11' tall lily skeleton is finished. Now we'll either wimp out and make the next lily skeleton or tackle figuring out how to make petals.