A Natural Selection
2009, 60 minutes
commissioned by the Northwest Film Forum
curated by Vanessa Renwick
Portland Filmmaker and visual artist Vanessa Renwick presents some hopping films from
Portland's finest artists. Lions! Bicycles! Melting Polar opposites! Rabbits! Record Stores! Beluga Whales! Tears! Mind bending! and MORE!
That's Fine, You're Doing Perfectly by Karl Lind
Performance by Robin Moore
Lion Roars by Melody Owen
Moonbabies, part 1 of “you Were a Perfect Gentleman” and part 2 “ New World” by Zak Margolis
Pain Is Fear Leaving Your Body by Alicia McDaid
storm studies 1 by Liz Haley
Kayavak by Melody Owen
Portrait #3: House of Sound by Vanessa Renwick
A Vertiginous One by Zach Margolis
Psychic City by Judah Switzer
That's Fine, You're Doing Perfectly by Karl Lind 2009 3 min 28 sec
music by Party Killer
The mind always moves in the direction of its dominant thoughts.
Karl Lind is a filmmaker, videographer and curator living in Portland Oregon.
Performance by Robin Moore 2009 2 min 50 sec
The film"Performance" was inspired by the wonderfully colorful Portland bike scene. Pump up your tires and lube your chain.
Robin Moore is a 25 year old filmmaker and musician. He currently lives in Portland Oregon, but grew up in Santa Cruz, CA.
Lion Roars by Melody Owen 2009 1min 7 sec
Lion filmed at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The ambient noise is remarkable in that it is invisible, yet crushing. For a moment, it is drowned out by the lion’s own voice.
Melody Owen is a visual artist and curator living in Portland, Oregon. Currently, she is working at the Gästeatelier Krone Residency in Switzerland. She has also done residencies in Iceland, Paris, Quebec and Eastern Oregon. She is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland and has also shown at the Portland Art Museum, PDX Gallery, PICA, The Fugitive Art Center in Nashville, The Contemporary Arts Center in Massachusetts, The Cooley Gallery at Reed College, Maryhill Museum of Art, The Bellevue Art Museum and others. Her video work has been shown at The National Gallery of Art in DC as well as theaters and festivals in New York, Portland, Egypt, Ireland, London, Germany and Seattle.
Moonbabies, part 1 of “you Were a Perfect Gentleman” and part 2 “ New World”
By Zak Margolis 2009 14 min
First somebody is flying. Also, the man in the building might be the father of the flying man. But if the wolf woman is the love child of the broken hearted woman and the winged skeleton, then the sexual encounter that occurs when the world is new again is a manifestation of forbidden fruit.
Zak Margolis, bio
Recently, I had a dream in which enormous giraffes are destroying the cities of the world.
But even worse, there is an evil voice in my head, and a corn cob emerges from a tangle of dried weeds.
Also, not dream related, I've made some music videos and went to school and stuff.
Pain Is Fear Leaving Your Body by Alicia McDaid 2009 7 min
is a celebration of the light within the dark and the wonderful absurdity that can be actualized and enjoyed when we stop running from our demons and embrace them as ourselves.
Alicia McDaid sucked her thumb until 3rd grade and watched The Breakfast Club and Desperately Seeking Susan at least 50 times each between the ages of 9 and 10. She believes these are her main
relationship and style influences to this day.She earns money as a set painter for theater and film and currently performs with Greg Arden in the musical comedy performance art group Rush-N-Disco. The duo performed in the 2009 On the Boards' Northwest New Works festival in Seattle and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art's 2009 Time Based Art festival.
storm studies 1 by Liz Haley 2009 2 min
part of a series of videos exploring the links between meteorological systems of organic energy and patterns of human emotional experience.
Liz Haley utilizes video, photography, installation and performance to investigate links of natural connectivity. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
Kayavak By Melody Owen 20074min 14sec
Beluga whale filmed at the Chicago Aquarium during a significant moment of inter-species communication.
Portrait #3: House of Sound by Vanessa Renwick 2009 11 min score by Jef Brown
Offering an homage to a now sorely-missed fixture, recently erased from Portland’s traditionally Black neighborhood.Vanessa Renwick is the Founder and janitor of the Oregon Department of Kick Ass
A filmmaker by nature, not by stress of research. She puts scholars to rout by solving through Nature's teaching problems that have fretted their trained minds. Her iconoclastic work reflects an interest in place, relationships between bodies and landscapes, and all sorts of borders. Working in experimental and poetic documentary forms, she produces films, videos and installations that explore the possibility of hope in contemporary society.
A Vertiginous One by Zach Margolis 2009 3min 15 sec.
Song by Tara Jane O'Neil
Discontinuation of ____________, also known as _______-______syndrome can result in a wide variety of withdrawal symptoms. ______ is a frequently found symptom, along with brain shivers, insomnia, nausea, confusion, imbalance, sweating, and many more as withdrawal symptoms are different for each individual.
Psychic City by Judah Switzer 2009 5min 21 sec
"Psychic City" is the second in a three part series of music video projects produced with the band YACHT entitled TRIADS. The video began as a dream vision in which earthly balance is maintained by mutually violent and erotic realities between Dark and Light energies. The final project ascribes and references to the Panic Movement co-founded by the Chilean filmmaker and theosophist Alejandro Jodorowsky, the teachings and philosophies of the English mystic Aleister Crowley and acts as homage to the late performer Michael Jackson, himself having been an active proponent for unconventional explorations between music and film. The opening quotation is a direct attribution to that which appears at the beginning of the M. Jackson video Thriller.
Judah Switzer is a film director and artist living in Portland, Oregon, working under the moniker JUDESAYS. His projects come into fruition in the form of short films, music videos, and installation pieces, and delve into interests of psychogeography, political and social dissension, and environmental relationships. His work has been screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin, and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as well as on MTV, New York Noise, Pitchfork Media, and the DVD compilation "Music Video: Another Body".