Final release poster for After the World Ended. An old school aesthetic to go with the films classical science-fiction roots and themes of history and nostalgia. In final stages of post-production
I did some second unit directing work and a script consult on this; I think it’s out in September, and it has been getting some excited advance press from places like Vibe and LiveForFilms. Facebook page with all the links (and cool photos) is here.
Spent Saturday conducting another round of “The Most Art” at the ICA Boston Art Lab, using the title “Portrait and Performance.” I’d guess around 200 people had their portraits taken.
Strange Horizons has been nominated for a 2012 Hugo Award, one of the two highest honors in SF. My co-editorship only encompassed the last third of the year, but still - it’s my magazine! Getting a pat on the head! The announcement from the editor in chief is here.
Francis Ford Coppola likes my script -
EXT. - PAVILLION - DAY
A woman’s hands use tweezers to skillfully assemble a tiny sandwich. The tiny sandwich is placed in a mousetrap. The trap is placed in a high-priced coffin containing the body of a man in his 60s. The lid of the coffin is closed, and the coffin is lifted by pallbearers.
ANTON
His favorite sandwich.
— An excerpt from the beginning of Ratcatcher, a top 10 finalist in the 2012 American Zoetrope screenplay competition
January 26, I’m conducting a workshop at the ICA Boston, and you can participate even if you’re not there. All you need is a camera. Here’s what you have to do.
First, take a picture of yourself as yourself - a portrait. Give a little bit of thought to this. How do you look when you’re yourself? How do you stand? What kind of expression do you make? Are you holding anything? This is me:
Next: take a picture of yourself as not yourself. Interpret this as you like. Maybe it means you make a facial expression you never make. Maybe instead of being shy, you’re outgoing. Maybe you wear a costume. Maybe you act like you’re a cat taking a bath - and you’re not even a cat person. This step was tricky for me, because among other things I’m an actor, and wearing costumes and acting like other people is something I do as myself. I did what I could to seem like a regular person who just happens to not be me.
Third, take a picture that is halfway in between the photo of yourself and the photo of not yourself. Here’s what I did:
Ok, now this is the important part: Of the three photos you took, which one do you think is the most art? Clearly, some pictures are more art than other pictures, or they’d all be in the museum. Is the picture of yourself as yourself the most art because it’s the most true, or the least art because you might post it as a snapshot on facebook? Is the picture of not yourself the most art because it involved acting, or the least art because it relies on the audience understanding it’s not you, which is external to the picture? Does the halfway-in-between picture make a nice compromise between the constructed nature of art and the truth-seeking mission of art, or is it the worst of all because it looks like a picture that tried to be one thing or the other and failed? Or do you just like the one that looks pretty?
I’m going to cheat and not tell you my answer, although I know what it is for this set of pictures. I’m not sure it’s the answer for all sets of pictures, or that I would give the same answer if I did the experiment again.
Feel free to share these instructions and these photos. If you join in, use the tag #TheMostArt
Shonagh Rae illustrates Romie Stott’s short story “A robot walks into a bar…”
A Robot Walks Into A Bar. . . -
Click through to read the story. May or may not be safe for work, depending on the bots where you work.
“A Robot Walks Into A Bar and Says…” wins our third Arc/Tomorrow Project short story competition. It is a hard story to precis: a tale of robot love, teledildonic sex, Turing tests and the maddening wobbliness of human desire. In the telling, it is anything but predictable: a wholly convincing…
the future will be literary. and sexy.
Arcfinity: Arc's new competition asks, Is the future friendly? -
I’m pleased to announce that my story “A Robot Walks Into A Bar and Says …” will be in Arc 1.4!
Arc and The Tomorrow Project share a common belief: that we can shape the future through fiction. And at our launch, early this year, we teamed up to run a series of unique short story competitions.
We’ve run three so far, highlighting terrific new writing talent in Arc itself and on our…
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