New Installation Page on Site

We've just added a new section to my website with information about the art installations I've begun making in the last year and a half. My first work of public art, 60.30.1 (pictured above in a photo by Matt Stacey), was set at 11 sites on Harvard University's campus in December 2008. In the summer of 2009, I took a great installation course from Felipe Dulzaides at San Francisco Art Institute and further explored this avenue of work. I see it as an interesting way to develop and present my ideas about the intersections between cultures, histories, and time.

MassArt Class Screening December 17, 7pm

This semester I taught a Continuing Education course at MassArt modeled after the second semester of an intro film course I taught twice at Harvard. It's called "Group Documentary," and (as you might guess) involves all of the students collaborating on one film. By working together, students are able to learn from each other and to create a more ambitious project than they could individually. And it's a great opportunity to learn about collaboration in one of the most collaborative of art forms.

My class had only three students, which made it quite a heavy workload for them. They chose a compelling subject (though one which - by total coincidence - was for me uncomfortably similar to that of my last feature doc, Monkey Dance): the Gund Kwok Asian Women Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe based in Boston's Chinatown. They chose to focus on three dancers. What emerges is an interesting story about how this traditionally male dance form helps its members balance work, motherhood, and their own passions.

Please join us for our class screening on Thursday, December 17 at 7pm in Film Screening Room 1 at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Ave., Boston. Refreshments will be served.


Monkey Dance in Amherst November 15

My film Monkey Dance will be showing at University of Massachusetts, Amherst together with a performance by Angkor Dance Troupe on Sunday, November 15 at 3pm. I will be there to do a Q&A, along with one or two of the subjects of the film. Click here for info and tickets.

Han Bennink Inspires

I had an inspiring evening on October 27, seeing Dutch percussionist Han Bennink - a legend in European free jazz / improvised music circles. I've heard Han play before, introduced by my husband (saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra), but he certainly impressed me anew. A lanky, white-haired man in his late 60s playing with such a high level of energy, intensity, and humor... it convinces me again that half of being a good artist is remaining committed to one's ideas, carrying them through as purely and consistently as possible.

Dynamic Report on After School Time

I was just looking at the website of one of my clients - the Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time - and noticed that they had done a great job integrating the several videos I made for them in an interactive report. The report includes data, anecdotal evidence, and videos about the importance of after school activities for the state's children. I produced video interviews with the Commission co-chairs, portraits of three strong after school programs, and a montage of testimonies from several hearings across the state.

Very satisfying to see the media I produced being put to good use, in an accessible way.