WHYY Listeners scroll down for the Biloxi & Gulfport post

Whyy listeners and Fader readers, scroll down to the Mississippi, "Gulfport and Biloxi" post. Or just click on the above title.

Philadelphia Freedom

Here's a few of my thoughts on the 2005 slide shows.

I am working on making the slide shows into one 1/2 long performance. Next year, it will be continuous- no stopping and starting. I need help to make that work, to move it from powerpoint to a streamlined projection with a 10 second pause between songs, but come hell or highwater it will be done.

Thematically, all of the shows are tied together which each being heavy on one theme. Each show should go seamlessly into the next without such a heavy handed division, allowing a more fluid and organic connection of the central themes in my work.

This is why it's works-in-progress.
Thanks to my gal Paula for her thoughts, she's always on top of her game.

.....................


The first slide show was the most difficult for me because I was determined to constrain it by place. All of the photos were from Philadelphia with the exception of "Las Vegas Court House." "Court House" had to be included for many reasons, the top two being...

1. "Court House" had to follow the photo of the civic center which prompted my arrest earlier this year
2. "Court House" had to be timed to appear at the lyric "piece of mind my daddy never had." My father was from Nevada and lived in Las Vegas until his death in 1976.





Working on the shows this year gave me a surprising amount of insight into my big project that I couldn't have gotten by just ordering the photos for I-95.

My work is best when it's not forced to literally represent place and that's why I felt the first slide show was the weakest of all. The new work from Biloxi and Gulfport is a little different, I haven't thought about each image enough to fit them into the overall 95 project. In the next couple of months I'll find their place in the big scheme.


Some of my photos specifically reference place and that's an essential component of the photo. Like these...


Asbury Park, NJ


Philadelphia, PA


Crystal, NV

For some of my photos, it doesn't matter where it was made. Like these...


Philadelphia, PA


Camden, NJ


King of Prussia, PA

And for some it's not obvious where the photo was made and it's not essential to know, but knowing the location can influence the viewers perception and feel of the photo. Like this...


Las Vegas, NV

see what I'm saying? I can't really articulate it better than this.

Fascinating Analogy

Get ready for this fascinating analogy! I think my work is akin to the poinsettia's christmas representation. You know, the poinsettia, being the #1 christmas flower, fits right in with Santa and the North Pole and snowmen. But the poinsettia is a Central American/Mexican plant (with a Mexican christmas story) and if it's exposed to low temperatures, even for a few minutes, the bracts and leaves can be damaged. So the poinsettia evokes a sense of winter with it's xmas association, even though there's a great disconnect between the literal object and the plant as a symbol.






These poinsettias makes perfect sense with these snowmen, they fit right in with the pine and the holly, but in real life there ain't no way they're going to make it back to the igloo alive! You feel me?

Credit in the Straight World by Hole

Here are the lyrics to the part of "Credit in the Straight World" that I played before the 1st slide show.


Go for credit in the straight world
Look a dealer in the eye
Go for credit in the real world
Won't you try
I got some credit in the straight world
I lost a leg I lost an eye
Go for credit in the real world
You will die
It's the credit in the straight world
Leave your money when you die
Lots of credit in the straight world
Gets you high
I got some credit in the straight world
I lost a leg I lost an eye
Go for credit in the real world
You will die

each year I have a real winner of a photo, one that I really nail. Here's this year's...it was also the door prize at the slide show.



I also have photos that I haven't really shown that make it to the top of my list all of a sudden. This photo was made late 2003 or early 2004 and has become a keystone in the ordering of my photos, but it wasn't included in the 2004 I-95 show.

8 Works-in-Progress Slide Shows Song List

Intro- Credit in the Straight World by Hole

1- Philadelphia Freedom- Written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin Performed by Elton John- 5:23

2. American Girl- by Tom Petty- 3:30
Slide Show revised from 2004 showing

3. You're My Thrill- Written by Jay Gorney and Sidney Clare- Performed by Billie Holiday- 3:24
Slide Show revised from 2004 showing

4. Every Man a King- written by Huey P. Long and Castro Carrazo performed by Randy Newman- 1:02

5. Atlantic City- by Bruce Springsteen- 4:00
Slide Show revised from 2004 showing

6. New Gulf Coast Blues- Bessie Smith- 3:23

7. See You When I See You- by Goodie Mob- 2:29

8. Till Victory- Patti Smith- 2:44

Thanks and acknowledgments from Zoe Strauss

slide show 2005 recap

Well, thank god the slide shows are done. Overall it was a success, but I was extremely disappointed with the endless technical difficulties. If only an AV assistant would emerge in my life...

Now, the 1st show had all of the slide shows shown, but with significant lag.
For the first show images were cut because of the powerpoint lag.

slide show #1 the last image was cut.


slide show #3 the last 2 images were cut.






slide show #6 the last 4 images were cut.









During the second show, power point crashed and I had to reopen everything. which took about 10 minutes and made me think that I would have to kill Bill Gates for forcing this Microsoft crap onto me. Number 5, "Atlantic City," couldn't be played for the 2nd show, but all of the others were timed perfectly.

I have learned many things from the creation of these slide shows and I will be putting out the "what the what" within the week.

Also, I would love to know which photos people took from the walls. Drop me an email at info@zoestrauss.com or just comment at the bottom of this post.

It's 2am and I'm awake because I slept all day except for when I ate some Chinese food a saw a little of that horrendous Eagles game.

Thank you for your help

The slide shows show last night would not have been possible without the help and support of Lynn Bloom.

The slide shows would have been possible, but very, very lame without:

Savannah Roberts
Ilene Baker
Christine Settino
Manny Dominguez, Jr.
John Powell


and introducing...
Jaime Wettlin


also, thank you to my Bro Cosmo Baker...not in attendance but still representing.

SLIDE SHOWS 2005

Hooray for Sheryl Swoopes

Go head Sheryl, you are awesome.

The people have spoken

I use flickr to upload my images to this blog and have noticed something very interesting with the viewing statistics.


This image, which I consider one of my most important and effective photos, has been viewed 23 times




This image, which I took with my cell phone camera of some drunk lady getting her chest out at a Rolling Stones concert, has been viewed 178 times.



Now come on, folks! Mix it up a little! Yes, I know the breasts out photo is very enjoyable. I love it. But look at some other photos, too.

Seriously!

SLIDE SHOW DEMENTIA

FYI, or as someone my lady works with likes to say, "for your FYI", there will be minimal posting as I'm polishing off these slide shows. Remember, these slide shows are works-in-progress and are just a mid-year check in for the 2006 photo placement for the I-95 show.

Creating the 2005 slide shows has been much more difficult than creating the 2004 shows. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest problem I'm facing is letting go of some of my stronger images because they don't work in the slide show format.


I made this photo in February 2005 and included it in 95 this year, but it looks like it's not going to be in any of the slide shows. Don't be fooled, tomorrow I could have it right in midst but as of now...out.



What about this? I love it but I it feels forced everywhere I place it.


This photo could work under 95, but can't in a slide show.


I am also having a problem with the projection. Some of the slower and more complex powerpoint slide transitions aren't working with the projector. They're performing great when I'm just showing it on the computer but the minute I project them they're skipping and stuttering and just fucked up. So this means that I will have to revise the slide transitioning on a few of the shows to a simple fade in/out.

Works-in-Progress Slide show

As of right now, there will be 8 slide shows. 3 shows are revised from last year. These 3 shows will use the same songs as 2004 but new photos have been added to the show, some photos have been removed from these shows and some photos have remained, but been reordered.

Numbers 2, 3 and 5 have been revised for 2005.

1. To Be Announced
2. American Girl- Written and Performed by Tom Petty
3. You're My Thrill- Written by Jay Gorney and Sidney Clare- Performed by Billie Holiday
4. To Be Announced
5.Atlantic City- Written and Performed by Bruce Springsteen
6. To Be Announced
7. To Be Announced
8. To Be Announced



The 1st show is the weakest and I'm hoping I can get it to where I'm comforable showing it as it's own piece before next week.

These slide shows are really just a mid-year check in for me on how the I-95 project is going. They've become a very important tool for helping me see different possibilities for the ordering of the photos under I-95 and for chosing which photos make it for May.

google's very good hidden prank

1- Go to www.google.com
2- Type in "Failure", without the quotes
3- Instead of hitting "Search" hit "I'm feeling Lucky"

or hit search and see what the first listing is.



Thanks to my #1 dagger, P. Cronan

I must amend this...it is not a prank, but rather a google bomb.

Much thanks to Mithras for giving me the google bomb info.
Also, please visit my man's blog, Fables of the Reconstruction. He's a man after my own heart. I read his blog everyday.

7 PM Slide Show- Standing Room Only

All the seating for the 7 pm show is filled, but there's still standing room. As of right now there's plenty of room for the 8:30 show if you're interested in grabing a seat.

Let me know!

Dick Cheney's visit to Gulfport, Mississippi

So many things are right about this. I only wish it had been me.
God Bless Dr. Ben Marble (the man who interrupts Dick's PR video and yells "Go fuck yourself") and the great people of Gulfport, MS.

Watch the video...
Go Fuck Yourself, Mr Cheney

Also, visit Ben Marble's site, Hurricane Katrina Sucked.

more on this next week

Rolling Stones

South Philly, Oct 10th, 2005

MEGAWORDS

I am proud to be included in this issue of Philadelphia's # 1 magazine. I'm talkin about MEGAWORDS.

Megawords is the work of Dan Murphy and Tony Smyrski and is a great project.

Here's what Dan Murphy has to say about Megawords.


"We are megawords magazine!

we are a free magazine from philadelphia with the simple goal of providing a magazine without advertising and/or corporate influence to ALL who are interested.
the magazine consists of images and photos from all different sources that we feel work together to create a common theme. issue #1-fall '05 is available at zoe's storefront among other cultural meccas worldwide or online at
www.megawordsmagazine.com

we are currently creating issue #3 and we are constantly searching for new images-contact us at info@megawordsmagazine.com-thanks"

Here's what I have to say...
"Pick it up"

Dan Murphy is someone who I respect and like. I've known him a long time and will vouch for him any day, any time.

MEGAWORDS

RIP Dynasty Hair Creations

2004- 35mm slr

I waited 3 years to take this photo at the right time. thank god I got this shot on an overcast day.



2005- digital slr

ghettomusick

Although I try to keep this to myself, I am obsessive. I'm working on these slide shows nonstop...however, the last 3 days I have been insanely working on one slide show that is not to be included this year, actually it's probably never to be shown. If I didn't work on it and get it out of my consciousness a little I would be unable to fully focus on the real slide shows and get my work done.

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The accompanying music for this slide show is a grouping of 4 different musical pieces.

The Knife- 0:30- from the Psycho Soundtrack, written by Bernard Herrmann

a section of Ride of the Valkyries from The Ring- 2:30, written by Richard Wagner

Discovery- 0:41-from the Psycho Soundtrack, written by Bernard Herrmann


and then a section of Ghettomusick by Outkast from Speakerboxxx
This section...

"Find a way to get out, wit out, hit out
You dig in, dig out, you get out
Ghettomusick, ghettomusick
Find a way to get in, the fit in the ghetto
You get out, wit out a dime
Ghettomusick, ghettomusick

I just want you to know, how I feel
Feeling good, feeling great
Feeling great, feeling good, how are you?
I just want you to know, how I feel
Feeling good feeling great
Feeling great, feeling good, how are you?"


The whole thing is about 3 minutes 20 seconds.
---------------


The Wagner section had to be an immediately recognizable piece and a real Germanic and real dramatic piece from the Ring of the Nibelung. Siegfried's Funeral Music was in the running for about an hour.


Then the Wagner piece had to be between short staccato pieces written by a Jewish composer. After leaning toward Kurt Weill, I decided on Bernard Herrmann. He scored films from 1941 (Citizen Kane) until his death in 1975 and worked on several with Alfred Hitchcock- including Psycho and Vertigo. I really wanted to use something from Vertigo but I couldn't make it fit.

Then there had to be a direct reference to the 20th century adaptation of the word "ghetto" and the connotations that "ghetto" has come to include. There also had to be electronic sound to the end music- a sound that implied "futuristic." Like Afrika Bambaataa's "Don't Stop...Planet Rock".


You know, history and adaptation and myth and jingoism and fear and struggle and all that.




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Cars by Gary Numan,
Don't You Want Me by The Human League,
Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles,
Puttin' On the Ritz by Taco,
Mr. Roboto by Styx (maybe one of the worst songs ever recorded),
Tainted Love by Soft Cell,
Our House by Madness,
People Are People by Depeche Mode,
and
Rock Me Amadeus by Falco

are all songs I also referenced for this slide show, not because I wanted to use them, but because they have a feeling that I wanted to explore. There's something that I can't quite put my finger on about these 80's songs, something about nostalgia for how the future had once been thought about in America combined with the 80s pop music's electronic sounds that implied that we were already living in that once idealized future. You know, we're going to party like it's 1999.

There's something to how representations of the 1950s were so prominent in the early 1980s and I think there's some connection to nostalgia for a era that many Americans were reaching back to in desperation. Some parts of American culture moved into this time unconsciously and moved a regressive climate forward- Seriously? The 2 term presidency of Ronald Reagan?


Popular culture, particularly films, began to show apocalyptic futures, like Bladerunner, The Warriors, and Road Warrior. This apocalyptic view wasn't anything new, but it was an interesting juxtaposition to the resurgence in "American Pride," the looming fear of the use of nuclear weaponry during the Cold War and the kitch 50's imagery that appeared everywhere during the early 80s.


I'm interested in how some people have a base desire to return to an outmoded ideology, even knowing, consciously or unconsciously, that it's unworkable and oppressive. You have nothing to fear but fear itself. Yeah, right.


-----------------------

Usually I ain't talking that much about meaning or process in my stuff...I prefer to leave it up to the viewer to complete. It's up to the viewer to read my work as it's presented, without any explanation. But, since this slide show's going nowhere as of this year, it's no problem to lay a little of it out there. Plus, it's just shit I'm thinking about, nothing fully formed.

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Here's the Merriam-Webster definition of ghetto.

Main Entry: 1ghet·to
Pronunciation: 'ge-(")tO
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ghettos also ghettoes
Etymology: Italian, from Venetian dialect ghèto island where Jews were forced to live, literally, foundry (located on the island), from ghetàr to cast, from Latin jactare to throw -- more at JET
1 : a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live
2 : a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure
3 a : an isolated group "a geriatric ghetto" b : a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity "stuck in daytime TV's ghetto"

Day Before the Vet Was Imploded

Man's Chest

I made this photo about 2 years ago. I stopped and spoke with this guy for a while at the corner of Broad and Walnut and took a few photos of him. I saw him today for the first time since our initial meeting. He was sitting right where I had first met him, on the northeast corner of Broad and Walnut in front of Wachovia Bank.

Shining

Please watch this genius reinterpreted and re-edited trailer for the Then think about the how Bush and his administration present themselves.

Then watch the real trailer.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 5766! Good Yontif, my friends!

I'm working my fucking ass off on these slide shows.

armageddon

Usual cronyism? Or just the end of the world? Here comes Harriet Miers!