Mike: Room of Silence

What are you ambitions for this trimester
For this trimester I would like to make progress on my main project “Rolling Coal.” I have currently resigned myself to to the fact that the screening at the EYE will not be the final piece but instead a work in progress. I will attempt to approach this as a test screening, where I can see what works, gauge audience reactions and afterwards take time to reflect on the the project and recalibrate. I expect to purse another round of research related to the project and then incorporate the findings in the second phase of the project.

Additionally I would like to take on a few smaller projects, with hopefully more immediate results. This may involve creating a series of prints.
What orders your life
The way that I order my life has shifted a couple times in the last few years. Currently the requirements of the institutions that I am a part of play a major role in the way I order my life. The requirements of teaching and studying are the two major factors in the way that I structure my time. The through line through this is the fact that I have to commute from Amsterdam, so train schedules provide a basic structure. I try to use to the commuting time for reflection, but also for catching up on reading, films, podcasts, and work.

My main driver has always to been to work as much as possible on my own projects while not neglecting my girlfriend and my cat.
What are you working on Now (what, why, how)

I am currently in the middle of working on a 3d animation called “Rolling Coal” which will be screened as a party of the Utopia/Dystopia research program at the EYE museum.

Rolling Coal is a phenomenon where people modify their trucks to take in more fuel than needed and consequently emit massive clouds of black sooty exhaust as a gesture of aggression, dominance and a conservative form of protest against environmentalists, cyclists ore anyone else the trucker may disagree with. The animation is surreal take on this phenomenon.

This topic interests me because I find it both fascinating and repellant in equal measure. It is a theatrically aggressive gesture. Special effects as a form of protest.

The animation uses complex smoke simulations from VFX software, and high resolution truck models.
What choices did you make recently related to your work
With this most recent project I made the choice to consider the subject matter before embarking on the project and have the subject matter reference something happening in the real world that has a political and social edge to it.

My work in the past has mostly focused in a self-reflexive about the qualities of the medium in which it is made. This means animations about animation, animations about animation technology, animations about technology. While I don’t think I’ve totally exhausted that line of inquiry, I felt it useful (especially in the context of this study program) to experiment and engage with more subject matter.

In the past I have struggled to talk and write about the ideas behind my works, with this project I tried to impose some concrete subject matter to make it easier to talk and write about my work when the project is finished.

I also made the decision to adjust the formal qualities of the work. Earlier works almost always used static cameras and locked-off shots, extreme color palettes and solid color backdrops. I decided to explore a more photo-realistic approach, a muted color palette and more dynamic camera movements. I chose this approach in part to break out of old habits, but also because it did not suit the subject matter. If the overall color palette was too bright and colourful it might limit the emotional impact of the piece.
What non-fiction have you read recently.
I read an excerpt of Michael Wolfe’s book Fire and Fury in New York Magazine. The excerpt of the book focuses on Donald Trump’s election and the people who surrounded him in the early days of his presidency.

The central thesis of the excerpt is that Trump had no real intention of winning the presidency. Instead he wanted to use the election as a platform to expand his media empire and become the most famous person in the world. Neither he, or the people around him in his team expected to win the presidency, and after winning pretty much everyone in his administration felt that he was unfit and incapable of leading the country.
How does it relate to your work
While not directly related to my work, it would be pretty safe to assume that most of the people would modify their trucks to roll coal would be Trump supporters and Trump voters. Both the Wofle book and my animation speak to the current moment in American culture and American politics. The act of rolling coal performs the same function as one trumps tweets, a blast of noxious hot air that signals two different meanings depending on your side of the political spectrum.
Who is on your Art Radar
In doing research for this current project I have been revisiting the work of Matthew Barney after not directly engaging with his work for over a decade. I was specifically interested in the way that special effects and automobiles play into his work.

In Cremaster 3 this an extended scene set in a recreation in the lobby of the Chrysler building where several cars back into an older black 1920’s car in a ritualistic fashion until the black car is compressed an obliterated.
What media are you consuming
Games - I don’t play games very often, usually only about one every other year. I recently purchased Wolfenstein II because I was interested on how it would approach its subject matter. The game is set an alternate version of the 60’s where Nazis have won the war, and a band of rebels (which includes a continent of Black Panther types) attempt to start a revolution in America against the Nazis. The game has loads of long cut scenes, clunky dialogue and bad acting. But some if the images of New York after a Nuclear bomb are quite compelling.

The only real relation to work work is just to see what the look and feel is of contemporary AAA games.

Black Mirror - Unease with technology

Wormwood - The series doesn’t totally work, but it is an interesting combination of Documentary, Journalism, True Crime and dramatic recreation.

Longform Podcast - Behind the scenes interviews with journalists. Interesting to see how journalistic stories are made.

The Good Place- Works firmly within the limits of the standard American network sitcom, but still somehow is appealing. Set in a supposed Utopia, and deals with moral philosophy.

The Room and The Disaster Artist - All about making things, but making them wrong.