Currently I'm working on a feature film with Ken Balys of Beatkamp Inc. providing CGI for his upcoming documentary about the second world war. It is slated to be released in 2010. Check back soon for a link to the trailer on Beatkamp's site. Just to satisfy your curiosity, the render below should give you an idea of what I was working on.
The Perpetuation of Spock
This new piece is a continuation of a series of work which started with a postage stamp. The USPS issued a stamp series honouring movie monster actors including Boris Karloff. I was struck by the image of Boris as "The Mummy". I thought it curious that this image had come so far through time, space and culture. It had traversed meanings and purposes originating in ancient Egypt and survived the irreverent mutations of early Hollywood to earn a place in the pantheon of 20th century pop culture.
Now in its American circumstance, this image of the mummy ventured back to meet the original intent of mummification and the pyramid structure: to preserve and honour the dead. But what sort of monumental tomb might house the preserved bodies of our postmodern experience? There is a great legend about Walt Disney and his cryogenic preservation. I was reminded of something that Jean Baudrillard said about Disneyland: that it is a simulation of America that is more real than the original. It is a hyper-concentrated version that makes the real America seem like a pale impotent ghost in comparison.
The series has now evolved to encompass other personages that warrant a proper homage. In this case, the familiar visage of Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. A hyper-saturated pixelboard-inspired monument that speaks of glossy perfect bubbly excess is required for our big-screen heros. -and it's got to be fun for the whole family. It's curtrently on show at the Schoenherr Gallery In Naperville, IL until January 17th, 2010
