You can read more about the festival program, including full lists of speakers and awards judges HERE.

I am totally excited to be attending, I totally was not expecting to until a free pass magically appeared in my inbox last Thursday. And to top it off, I get to spend more time with the very charming Philip Bloom, who I met just last week along with other talented Vimeans Karen Abad and Rob Imbs. Check em out – these three are folks worth following. Anyway, I hope to see lots of great and innovative work, as well as meet other fellow mover-shakers behind the digital media revolution. I definitely plan on shooting a little bit while I’m there, or at the very least Tweeting about all the coolness as it happens.

That said, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite videos up for awards by sharing them here. If you’re a Vimeo user, you can vote for your favorites in each category – the winners of the Community Choice Awards (the actual winners are chosen by the official Vimeo Judges). If you’re interested in voting, you should go to the Vimeo Awards site and watch all the videos in a particular category before casting your vote.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the vidz and more soon!

If you’re not already, you might like to follow these Twitter feeds:

@natlhq
@mostmodernist

THE PAST
NHQ recently produced a live event – WITHOUT WAX: 14 Years of Derek Erdman in Chicago.
Many people attended, and it was quite a success. Thanks!

THE PRESENT
Events are very much at the core of our company. Live experiences of the cultural kind are exactly what led us to starting an Internet company. Many of the challenges that producers and promoters of events face are known to us as well. Many of them will be mediated by the Internet. Many already are. Using the Internet the right way saves production money–on promotion and marketing, especially. This is no secret.

For most of 2010, we here at NHQ have been working on two major projects, sort of behind the scenes: One is very related to events, websites, and social promotion for producer organizations. The other is an Internet video which we hope will take the medium to a new level, by incorporating some edgy tech…

THE SOFTWARE
Depending what you know about the Internet, you may or not understand the role of software in the making of it all. If you do, you know we are in an early age of something… If you don’t care about software, but care about how the Internet can help you and your company promote shows and events, well then we’ve got what you need (coming soon). We’re developing software designed to turn the challenges of the Internet into benefits, for the types of people who already use the web socially, but don’t want to spend valuable creative and productive time tending to a website. This software is being built with the help of a grant from the Arts Work Fund. The flagship users of the software will be the recipients of that award: 500 CLOWN, a Chicago based, inter/national performance group (and friends of NHQ).

MAN V. CANDY MACHINE in-progress. Click to view fullscreen (it’s prettier that way)!

THE VIDEO
The video is a 15 minute narrative duel between a man and machine. It’s more than a video, friends. It will also be that which is come to be known as an “app”-lication. It will be doing more than your average video. But like all elements of an event–lights, sounds, design–it’s best for the audience if their attention is not overdrawn by any one effect. We are working on a seamless design which incorporates entertainment and interactivity, without the activity becoming too game-like. It’s easier than it sounds, because we are not making a game. We just want to allow the viewer some exploration, without sending them off the course. Speaking of course: it’s still the story. You’ll have to watch the video for that.

THE FUTURE
Our company is undergoing a metamorphosis. We will emerge soon with the products of the year, a new website, new business. All of the incredibly skilled people who have worked or are currently working with us on our current projects will be named and credited in due time. They know who they are, and we are humbled they agreed to collaborate with us.

We have parted ways with a couple of associates, for now. We wish the best of luck to Gretta and Julia, both of whom persevere their respective crafts. We hope to exploit and promote their good work again in future NHQ productions. Thanks for everything, ladies!

We would like to wish a good voyage to Derek Erdman. West Coast be on the look out. Thanks to all the following for helping make WITHOUT WAX possible:

High Concept Laboratories
Printers’ Row Wine Shop
Odd Obsession DJs
Julia Miller
Sarah Miller
Matt Gawryk
Aaron Brown
Christian Doll
Griffin Sharps
Aaron Wickenden

STAY TUNED…

Derek tells a lot of stories. Nobody knows which are the jokes, which are the lies, and which are true. It’s the same with his many paintings: who is to say if one is funny or ugly or beautiful? Therein lies the reality: nobody knows for sure. And this is why Derek and his paintings (and his raps, and his blog, and his fortune-telling hotline, and his mail-order hamburgers, and his comics, and his Facebook posts, and his eBay items, and his Craigslist ads) are so appealing to so many different people. Each one is like an inside joke. Or lie. Or revelation.

But Derek is not concerned with our interpretation. He’s too busy pumping out paintings, packing and shipping eBay items, illustrating record and magazine covers, grooming his websites, documenting his work, processing invoices, and accounting receipts. For Derek, being an artist isn’t just about making art.

WITHOUT WAX installation. Front room. Photo © NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, 2010.

“I’d be just as happy making sweaters as I am making paintings.”

This is Derek at his most effacing. But so what if Derek traces pictures of Nell Carter topless and sells them on the cheap? His entire oeuvre is comprised of quickly and cheaply yet thoughtfully composed products, each one bearing Derek’s trademark sense of humor and empathy. He mastered the craft of a simple style, one that is recyclable and sustainable. Yet there is another layer to his work, one which many artists would dismiss as necessarily compromising, unless that artist is a rapper (and so he is).

“I’ve always been very financially responsible, even as a youngster.”

OK… Rappers aren’t known for financial responsibility.

Maybe Jay-Z put it best: I’m not a businessman / I’m a business, MAN.

WITHOUT WAX opening night. Front room. Photo © NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, 2010.

“I grew up in poverty. My mother was a drug addict. I had to save up enough money to pay the electric bill every month. I’ve always been good with money. I like to have stability. I was a real weirdo as a teenager, Gragz.”

Derek told me a couple weeks ago, over spicy marinated rib eye at San Soo Gab San.

“I like to see it as a big game. Some people might call me an Entrepreneur, you [Angeline] might call me a Hustler, but I like to think of myself as just…knowing how to play the game. I like to have fun.”

I continued to listen intently, as Derek does not make a habit of talking seriously about anything.

“I’ve got to take this to the next level, Gragz. I’ve got to work harder. When I get to Seattle, I’m going to lay low for two years, do good work, and then get noticed.”

WITHOUT WAX opening night. Main room. Photo © NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, 2010.

In a “game” where so many fail to make a name, let alone a profit, the mass reception to a successful artist/entrepreneur might otherwise be feigned disinterest, or jealous disregard, and often petty disgust. But in the age of D-I-Y, Derek’s attitude is irresistible.

Before Derek became a purveyor of paintings, raps, advice, and all the rest, he bought a failing record store in Hyde Park. In what must have been early proof of his creativity and market cunning, he gave it a makeover, curated a better selection, and two years later sold it for a substantial profit. This was not only the impetus for becoming a professional painter, it was the fiscal foundation. Doing what you want is always a risk. It never hurts to be prepared.

It wasn’t “dreaming about becoming an artist”. It was a much simpler: how to stay independent. How to make money.

Most artists would cringe at the thought of “making art for money.” There is an expression for this type of ideological compromise, it is called:

“Selling Out.”

But if you go to Derek’s Facebook profile, you’ll read four little words in the box below his avatar:

“Just give me money.”

You might, if you like, think that’s a joke.

WITHOUT WAX installation. Front room. Photo © NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, 2010.

Although he’s primarily known for his paintings, it’s not the medium that matters: each of Derek’s creations is a little piece of the thing which normally he keeps off display: himself. It’s his wit, his ideas, his take on the state of affairs. And you can have your piece, for as little as $5.00, if you ask Rap Master Maurice.

His success is self-made, just like his website: www.derekerdman.com. In the business of art, Derek’s work ethic gives him a decidedly competitive edge. In the art of business, hard work has never been a secret.

So if he’s so successful, why is he clearing out, and leaving Chicago? Rest assured, it’s not a matter of giving up on art, painting, or anything else.

“I was getting too comfortable, Gragz. I wasn’t as productive as I was when I first started painting. It was becoming too easy.”

Just when you think he’s all business… come words spoken like a true artist.

Derek Erdman at WITHOUT WAX. Photo © NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, 2010.

Derek Erdman is moving to Seattle to continue to refine his style, to cultivate new ideas, to write, to host a radio show, to withdraw from society a little bit and to do without some of the comforts he’s been able to enjoy as an established artist in Chicago. Eventually, he wants to buy a house. “I’m a nest-er, Gragz.”

New risks = new rewards, for Derek and his fans. But he’s not as capricious as his art would make you believe. He won’t be discontinuing his most popular products. He’s still gotta think about that bottom line.

“If some chubby white guy from the suburbs wants a painting of Ice Cube in an Orioles Cap, that’s great! I’m more than happy to make it for him.”

WITHOUT WAX: 14 Years of Derek Erdman in Chicago took place Saturday, August 14, 2010. Nearly all of the 238 paintings on display were sold on opening night. More photos on Flickr. Visit derekerdman.com to keep abreast of All Things Erdman (ATE). Friend him on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter.

On display will be every item in the artist’s possession that can possibly be sold, including but not limited to: paintings (canvas, glass, wood), drawings, sculptures, CDs, DVDs, records, posters, prints, books, clothing, furniture, and more. Most items will be made by the artist, but many will be from his own personal collection–the value of which is not to be underestimated, as Erdman himself is a notoriously obsessive collector of rare and/or useful memorabilia. Items in the exhibition catalogue, which may be purchased online at the event, will amount in the hundreds with prices ranging from $0.01 to $1000. Opening Night will feature a special presentation of Erdman’s collected video works (Rap Master Maurice, Juggalo Documentary Series), collected audio works (Kathy Mcginty & other prank CDs, excerpts from his Advice Masters & Free Psychic Hotline telephone conversations), live DJ sets by Odd Obsession, and hamburgers for everyone. WITHOUT WAX will be a fun, fond farewell to Chicago’s most prolific artist of all time.

This exhibition is curated by Angeline Gragasin in collaboration with Derek Erdman.

Derek Erdman paintings c. 2007. Screengrab at www.derekerdman.com © Derek Erdman 2010

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Derek Erdman (b. 1973 Cleveland, Ohio) is regularly called a Pop Artist, and this is understandable given that his tactics appear to intensify the preoccupations of the Factory tradition. Over the last decade Erdman has developed an increasingly efficient method for producing batches of art that he can make quickly, duplicate easily, and sell cheaply. According to this method his energy is concentrated in the plan (selecting source materials from which he will ‘borrow’ imagery), and the execution of each piece becomes semi-automatic, a series of choreographed tasks that he can carry out much like an assembly liner or a tap dancer might perform his job. The subjects of his paintings (second-tier celebrities, flash-in-the-pan current events, obsolete advertisements) are almost always borrowed from the moving spotlight of popular attention, and so the pieces themselves take on the form of commercial debris, relics of the recent surface-past. Occasionally they even turn up in thrift stores. In displaying and distributing his work (paintings, but also magazines, CDs, and pranks of all kinds), Erdman has demonstrated an unwavering preference for the banal and the widespread, favoring newsstands, restaurants, building sides, and balloons over galleries. And he has become an expert at harnessing the special hype-magic of the Internet (along with the party and various other spectacle-events that will circulate later in other people’s stories), which he uses not only as a mass-marketplace, but also to cultivate his own semi-celebrity, which carries his work, infusing it with everyday myth.

Unlike his Pop predecessors, Erdman’s paintings are not meditations on the shiny coldness of market interactions, nor are they clever declarations about the end of art. Instead, they are exercises in turning commercial surfaces back into a folk tradition, a truly popular lexicon, which we can playfully control. If his paintings are flat and bright—and they are incredibly, stubbornly so—it is because they are the coins in this constant exchange, the tokens of an unfolding common language of serious puns and half-jokes being shot back and forth between Erdman and his fans. The fan is the single constant, the only truly necessary piece in Erdman’s game, and to play it, the artist himself becomes a super-fan of the constantly shifting popular landscape, faithfully reproducing how it delights and disgusts. What results is a collapsing of the personal and the public in Erdman’s work, and in his life—a collapse that Erdman has embraced perhaps more than any other artist. Just as he re-frames the seemingly impersonal stuff of mass-publicity (celebrities, news events, commercials) as the shared familiars in our common biography, so too do the workings of Erdman’s private life become his material for public entertainment. No detail, no matter how mundane or potentially damaging to himself or his audience, is spared from consideration (the examples are endless, but see for instance the fallout of his recent appearance at Pecha Kucha in Chicago). All this may seem quite megalomaniacal. It is. But in the end it is also the opposite. In a way Warhol would never have tolerated, Erdman perpetually offers his fans absolute artistic control of his fate (gleefully handing over his Myspace password, for instance, so that anybody might tinker with his brand). In doing so he illuminates his own celebrity, like all the others, as the people’s creation.

- Hannah Woodroofe
February 2009 Ohio

WITHOUT WAX: 14 Years of Derek Erdman in Chicago
Saturday, August 14, 2010
6pm – 11pm
Location: High Concept Laboratories – Chicago, IL
RSVP derek(at)nationalheadquarters.org for address

Media Release (online)

Read more HERE.

Gretta is devising the piece in collaboration with Julia Miller, and in it, they explore themes of creation, destruction, recreation, and nurturing. The scenic design is somewhere between an old widow’s cabin in the woods and a teenage girl’s bedroom. The sole character (played by Gretta) is a sort of garden-dwelling creature, a “sluggy cocooned lady,” content with solitude and the companionship of her plants.  She surrounds herself with collages of humans made to look like plants and plants that take on human characteristics. Her way of life is far removed from yet still connected to everyday hyperstimuli with which we normally surround ourselves. Check out the images below and feast your eyes on what promises to be a truly odd and unique new video from NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS. More to come!

Character Sketch for GARDEN APARTMENT by Gretta Johnson.

Character Sketch for GARDEN APARTMENT by Gretta Johnson.

Slug Lady taking shape… Beet-and-Legs Collage by Gretta Johnson. Costume and Wig by Gretta Johnson and Julia Miller. Photos by Julia Miller. Collage by Angeline Gragasin.

Join us as we celebrate the birthdays of NHQ’s Angeline Gragasin and Daniel Postilnik this Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the Archer Ballroom. Featuring live entertainment by ANTIBODY DANCE, VALIS, and DJs BITFUNK and BODYWALLET! All we wanna do is zooma zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom, ya hurr?

@ the ARCHER BALLROOM
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Doors 8:30PM

With special guests:

9:30pm: ANTIBODY DANCE
performing the Chicago debut of VACA SACRA

VACA SACRA a performance by ANTIBODY DANCE
Choreographed by Adam Rose in collaboration with Silvita Diaz Brown and Craig Donavin. Sound design by Adam Rose.

Characters:
La Monja (the Nun): Silvita Diaz Brown
El Vaquero (the Cowboy): Craig Donavin
El Hombre de Negocios (the Businessman): Adam Rose

“Vaca Sacra” is a work for three dancers who embody a nun, a cowboy, and a businessman. The sound design and choreography steal elements from Mexican and American culture to describe neither, instead creating a separate world from distorted fragments of each. The result is something like a southwest noir. The Antibody mirrors processes of cultural exchange and fragementation initiated by the global market, devouring cultures in order to feed itself. In this destructive and creative process, occult connections emerge, between Hollywood and Bollywood, Christianity and cannibalism, Baroque master/slave relationships and contemporary politics. The climax of the work is an invocation of Kali danced by the figure of a nun holding a skull.

10pm: VALIS
ftg. members of Clique Talk
Dark ‘n Sticky Synthpop

11:30pm: DJ sets by BITFUNK
and BODYWALLET
Dance Party!

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Beer and refreshments will be served. Please also BYOB!

Attire: Festive, danceable

RSVP

by March 11
Please let us know if you are bringing a guest. This is a private event.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Please bring the gift of goodwill toward all men and women.

We’re going to let you guys in on our secret next project that’s been in the works for a few years now. It’s MAN V. CANDY MACHINE, something we are calling an “Internet Tele-Play,” currently in development to be released later this spring. OK, so we may not have James Cameron’s Stereoscopic 3-D cameras or millions of dollars to throw into this production, but what we do have is a highly original and well-written screenplay, a top-notch production staff, and we damn well know how to use a green screen.

Now you might be wondering, what is MAN V. CANDY MACHINE?

And what is, for that matter, an “Internet Tele-Play?”

It’s something I’ve wanted to produce and direct from the moment the writer first shared it with me over two years ago. It’s the story of the conflict between an archetypical (Middle) man and (Omni) machine who he consults for his everyday / everyneeds. We are employing new technologies, as well as developing new applications for those technologies to provoke the audience to consider the question, “Is man destined to be controlled by machines?” The footage was shot from 3 perspectives – Man’s, Candy Machine’s, and the third person. We are working with a Flash developer–the great and powerful Alec Oliver–to present the video in a way that allows the viewer to toggle between these different perspectives, sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure video. We’re also hoping to further customize the experience for users by integrating GPS and IP address metadata into the action of the narrative, sort of like how ads are targeted and therefore remarkably relevant (or not) on Google or Facebook. The idea is that the user has an unique, interactive experience with his or her computer vis-a-vis an original online interface that allows the user to participate in the storytelling in a way that is not possible on popular Internet video sites such as YouTube or Vimeo.

Character design for MAN by Gretta Johnson, © NHQ 2010

Gretta Johnson illustrating storyboards for MAN V. CANDY MACHINE

Storyboards for MAN V. CANDY MACHINE by Gretta Johnson, © NHQ 2010

The aesthetic is a robust mix of equal parts vintage and contemporary Sci-Fi and Western styles. This includes all aspects of production, from cinematography to sound design to acting to editing. The author has often likened the character of MAN to a “Futuristic Frontiersman.” This image has all sorts of salient references in popular culture, from the Revisionist westerns of Sergio Leone (Spaghetti) and Alejandro Jodorowsky (Acid), to dystopian Sci-Fi films like Blade Runner (action thriller) and Brazil (satire)

The production will bear many similarities to a video game. We are proposing a new way of participating with and thinking about media. We are activating the user by giving him or her the ability to control certain elements of the production, certain parts of the story that make up the whole. We are inviting the user to reconstruct the experience of watching a video based on their own personal value system (choose-your-own-adventure) instead of what we, the producer/distributor, decide is important. The user is invited to interpret their experience as they are having it. The action of interpreting media, of analyzing it in realtime and making choices and performing actions that cause that media to change—this type of user behavior is commonly found in the realm of the gamer, but it is also most often associated with the behavior and practice of the game designer.

MAN through the viewfinder of the 5D, photo by Daniel Postilnik © NHQ 2010

Extreme Close-Up on MAN’s mustache, photo by Caleb Condit © NHQ 2010

“I’m a settler, ain’t you never heard of it? I’m living on a quicksand nature urban development.” -MAN

Stills from security camera footage, © NHQ 2010

There is some thrill in manipulating media that we consume, that we did not create. That is the thrill of the artist-interpreter. By giving the user the ability to edit his or her experience (the chance to determine the outcome) not once, but multiple times, we are inviting our audience to experience a limited but not insignificant degree of that thrill. An important goal to identify, then, is the desire to “thrill” the audience, or for the experience to be “thrilling.” Perhaps a more precise name, instead of Internet Tele-Play, is Internet Thriller? Are we reinventing a genre, or simply contributing to the one first discovered upon clicking an unassuming link to the screaming monster, the Rickroll, the Leekspin, the meme du jour?

“Settle down there Organ Machine. Tuesday morning is too early in the work week to see your short– To see your short– To see your short and curly circuitry!” -CANDY MACHINE

We wrapped just last week on principal photography, and you can see more photos on our Flickr page. The work was long and hard but tons of fun and totally worth it. We have our very talented and professional production team to thank for this. They include Production Manager Daniel Postilnik, actors Eddie Jordan and Rico M. Benzito, Production Designer Gretta Johnson, Wigmaster Mark Botelho, Sound Op Brian Sulpizio, Assistant Camera Robert Cauble, Director of Photography Caleb Condit, and Writer Jonathon Anthony. We’d also like to thank Joe and Leo at Zacuto and Ben at Kolakvideo for hooking us up with lots of high-quality professional gear for very reasonable prices. Now all that’s left is several weeks of postproduction–editing, sound, motion graphics, software development: the works. Stay tuned here for updates on production and release–we’re currently planning a series of related events featuring this and other works for Spring/Summer 2010. Let us know if you’d like to learn more or are interested in getting involved, we’re having a blast! Till then…

FOOSHED SMACES is a playful exploration of the intersection between the beautiful and the grotesque; of how easily the human face in its natural form can be manipulated by outside forces to convey unintended expressions, how the line between expression and disfigurement can be blurred by the direct interaction with an object as simple as a windowpane. This installation is conceived and created by Julia Miller with assistance from Kolakvideo.

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