Now, for something altogether different. Everyone knows I have a ton of film strip gear. I’ve been promising myself since October that I’d do something with the gear itself. I finally did so and made a sculpture out of one of the projectors. It is fully functional, just much much more attractive (and cleaner inside). The plan is to make a few of these for shows…and make specific film strips for each projector.

Here is what I started with:

The end result is a “steam punk” looking projector and is my first try at hand painting anything since elementary school…much less attaching parts to things (first, I had an aborted “military camo” version, but it was accidental and sucked!).  Here are some shots:

Hopefully, I’ll add some more, smaller detail work to this but I’m just not sure what to add yet. I’d like to make the next ones a little more elaborate. I’ve ordered some neon/LED lighting…and I’d like to replace the inside projection lamp with something a little newer and a little less 500-watts-y. I’m going to be building a modern “sci-fi” one, a gore-covered “zombie” projector, and possibly also an Amanda Fucking Palmer Punk Rock Cabaret Special to give to Amanda. We’ll see.

Family in the SkyOriginally uploaded by Jack Whitsitt

So, while we’re working out the logistics for opening an entire Second Life island for Washington, DC artists, art events, and arts organizations to utilize, I’ve moved some of my own stuff into a small scratch space to test architectural concepts.

There isn’t much there right now that you can’t find on flickr, but I’m building a virtual take on the Ofrenda / Day of the Dead installation Angela, Paivi, and I built at the Art Outlet show. The movie streams into Second Life and is surrounded by some virtual concept art.

You can find the space and the exhibit HERE

Below is a snapshot of me sitting down, watching the movie and getting a feel for what needs to be built next: