Megan and Murray: <i>Sea Shovel</i>

Idaho: Sea Shovel Process

For the show that's currently up at NNU's Friesen galleries, we were given both spaces: one for each video, Sea Shovel and The Stepping Up and Going Under Method. As a companion piece to the videos we made a 25 foot long collage in each gallery that documented the process of making that video. We used handcut photos, text from blog posts written while making the videos, and a conceptual "time-line" connecting it all, with handwritten notes which opened the process up even further.

At the opening, we found that audience members kept going back to see the video again after spending time with the collage. They were looking for particular details described in the process — like the fact that the ship was designed to just fit inside our studio and the sweepers had to step onto the ship at the end while the garbage throwers lowered the lights to make the ship seem to continue moving away. There was a lot of movement back and forth between the video and the wall. We thought the work was so successful that we're considering incorporating the process collage into other shows in the future.

Both videos and collages are on view at the Friesen galleries until March 9.

Posted by Megan McMillan on February 11, 2007 at 11:55 AM in Sea Shovel | Permalink | Comments (0)

Idaho Installation Complete

Here are images from the opening last night. We'll post details tomorrow.

Posted by Megan McMillan on February 07, 2007 at 12:16 PM in Sea Shovel, The Stepping Up and Going Under Method | Permalink | Comments (0)

Idaho: Opening Tonight

Seasworkerside

We have a two-gallery opening featuring Sea Shovel and The Stepping Up and Going Under Method at NNU in Boise tonight. For the last two days, we've been working on two wall collages that document the process of making both videos (images coming soon).

Posted by Megan McMillan on February 06, 2007 at 03:24 PM in Sea Shovel, The Stepping Up and Going Under Method | Permalink | Comments (0)

Opening in Idaho on Feb. 5

We're going to Boise this week to install a show that opens next Tuesday. The exhibition at NNU will feature two video and audio pieces, Sea Shovel and The Stepping Up and Going Under Method, along with a large-scale wall collage of the process documentation exploring the making of each video. The collage will span the range from step-by-step photos of the building of each of the video's sets to writings addressing the metaphorical underpinnings of the work.

Sea Shovel is a video in which a man carrying a shovel pulls a ship behind him; he is oblivious to his burden. On the ship are two groups of characters: the sleepers and the workers. As the ship moves along, the workers dump barrels of trash over the side while three soldiers follow behind, sweeping up in trash that scatters in the ship’s wake. The soundtrack of rustling trash mimics the sound of a boat out at sea.

In The Stepping Up and Going Under Method, a boat traveling along a metal track carries two characters: a woman crouched at the prow like a figurehead, and the mariner who guides the boat down the track. As the boat approaches an obstacle blocking its path, the travelers must make a choice: what will they do with the obstacle in front of them? The soundtrack is derived from a NASA recording of a rocket booster disengaging in space, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and crashing into the ocean.

Posted by Megan McMillan on January 30, 2007 at 01:46 PM in Sea Shovel, The Stepping Up and Going Under Method, Announcements, Studio Practice | Permalink | Comments (2)