Video, Web and Multimedia Production for the Cultural Good

There’s a lot of fudging room right now. [op-ed by artist Joshua Rizer]

Chandler — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:41:51 +0000

artist Joshua Rizer on Conceptual art and the degradation of visual language
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October 25, 2009, Kansas City, MO – Thirty-six stories above eye level on the penthouse terrace at 909 Walnut, Joshua Rizer was graciously hosting a celebration for all of the Featured Artists in the 2009 Paint The District public art exhibition in the Power & Light District, which had featured his work “Feat Of Ignorance.”

The backdrop of shimmering lights hints at the type of environment in which you may stumble upon Mr. Rizer in the real world: in a dimly-lit corner of a room filled with people, a deliberate vantage point to consolidate his thoughts about the world around him without obscuring his visibility of it.

A goal of this talk was to present Rizer’s articulate opinions on Conceptual art. Rizer’s personality shines through, and I might describe his as a keenly observant, critical character full of thoughtful opinions but not lacking a sense of humor.

Taboo and the modern male conundrum. [interview with artist Joshua Rizer]

Chandler — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:36:48 +0000

During my undergraduate years at Boston College, I had the opportunity to study a most fascinating topic: gender role socialization in Western culture.

What we know:
The modern male is prone to stress stemming from pressure to conform to the traditional societal expectations of what being male signifies and entails. Psychology coined the struggle as gender role strain, or gender role conflict. In the wake of the post-feminist era that spanned the last century, a vacuum of research on masculine issues developed. The notion of femininity underwent a major overhaul, in that the barriers and ideologies of women’s role in society shifted to provide for more rights, freedoms, and privileges to them – and rightly so. Gender scholars focused their attention on the facets and effects of “femininity nouveaux,” holding masculinity as the control. The problem with this approach is that it does not recognize the interrelation of the duality of gender relations. All things are relative, and in a quid pro quo world, if femininity shifted to a new societal position, then so has masculinity.

Rizer explores the implications and results of such gender role shifts, highlighting how the new generations of men and their ability to adapt to gender role flux, has been outpaced by progress realized by the female gender at large.

A new partnership.

Chandler — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:37:18 +0000

Waiting For Superman [by Jr.canest]

Chandler — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:06:37 +0000

Dare to say, then say twice: Afterthoughts of conversations Joshua Rizer.

Chandler — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:17:48 +0000

I wrote the text below following a conversation with Joshua Rizer. We discussed ways to improve his video feature in the Itzu Sketchbook Series. The thoughts are germane as concerns about dumb luck and deliberate choice saturate my subconscious at this time in my life. As a result, I feel compelled to perform arduous re-edits on the Sean Kelley, Hannah Hurrle and Ryan Haralson artist interview videos. I choose to publish these thoughts because in many ways, they reflect the core mission of this project. It hints at the immense potential for the video series to be a springboard for future talks about things that, in my opinion, really matter.

This isn’t a matter of bashing individuals with malicious intent. But by exposing some individual artists who are the sources of Rizer’s disagreements, the Kansas City arts community should be affected by the production in a way such that we can reasonably expect whole-hearted responses from them. The point is not to make others feel bad. My understanding of it all is that if an artist has stayed in the business long enough to be considered as a topic for discourse on the type of art they purport to create, then they likely have stood on the firing line before, defending their manifestations, and have developed thick skins in so doing. It is also my assumption that, in the art world, criticism is expected as it is welcomed. It is important too that these video documentaries communicate serious critical statements about the state of things in the art community today, and what’s on people’s minds. It is unclear whether such critical statements can be achieved without identifying definitive points of reference on a local scale to which our audience can relate. There are potential political ramifications and we could get ourselves into irreversible trouble.

Standard Artists Agency Launch Presented by vitaminwater zero

Chandler — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:19:47 +0000

Standard Style is to launch their new Artists Agency tonight at OfficePort KC. To pull a quote from the facebook event page, I gather that the fledgling program seeks to “represent the best of Kansas City’s artists for commercial, editorial, advertising, and fashion work.” Sounds a lot like RVCA’s artist program, although Standard Style’s Artist Agency concept seems to have a more clearly defined intention.

Tonight’s event features music by The Oxfords, and is sponsored by vitaminwater zero, OfficePort, StagePort, Clear 10 Vodka, and Ink magazine.

8 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Admission is FREE.

Art Opening Tonight: Labors of Geniusness

Chandler — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:48:38 +0000

Tonight kicks-off what is allegedly a holiday weekend. As an entrepreneur, I personally don’t get the pleasure of recieving memos from the front desk attendant, reporting the impending three-day weekend, typed in comic sans, decorated with low res clip art. Such thoughtful memo designs would be rendered utterly meaningless, though, if one were to find themselves absent from Zac Eubank’s latest art opening, entitled “Labors of Geniusness.”
6-11 p.m. The Slap And Tickle Gallery.

Nike Music Shoe

Chandler — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:37:08 +0000

Stumbled across this video during a non-specific Interweb commute. We likey.

Dare I say, ‘progress in all areas…’

Chandler — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:31:21 +0000

After two weeks of Luminopolis coding, we presented the v4 Studio 33 website to the client team at Nelson-Atkins. Hicks’ video features for the American Indian Galleries have been approved. And on Sunday, we ran a second artist interview of Joshua Rizer for a Sketchbook Series feature. Eubank’s lens was precise as ever.

We now are jumping right into shooting a Pre-Visit video for the Nelson crew. Thursday is a full day of playing the proverbial “fly on the wall” as we film in full HD the components of a field trip to the Nelson. Our task is to create a video that shows school teachers and students how their museum field trip would look and feel. I’m particularly interested in showing the value of social objects as educational tools, and the variety of them found at the museum.

The schedule remains full. I am perpetually awestruck with the Team’s ability to combine technical specialty with creative wit, and the quality media pieces that result.

Sending Overdue Thanks

Chandler — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:23:43 +0000

Itzu would like to say thanks Moving Brands in the UK. Having developed many websites for clients using Wordpress as the CMS, we know the amount of hard work and time that goes into the development of a custom WP theme. And that the development team generously provided the unhooked code proved to be a powerful convenience for a small company working on a $0 internal budget.