LINDA
KUNJI
Author Archive: Tashme Productions
Collaboration Update #6
LILLIAN
MICHAEL
So, the end always comes.
In the end. Creation is fun and exciting, and at the same time draining and difficult. The end of every creative effort is bittersweet, as it is with this wrapping up of collaborating with Lillian. And I know it’s not really the end, since Lillian will be soldiering forward with her project, trying to animate it to life. It’s also not really the end because of things I’ve learned with this effort. The dynamic with Lillian has been different from my normal, so I’ll be carrying those lessons with me as I continue to work with folks in my semi-retired way, no longer “the boss” but rather the advisor, the guide.
But for now, this chapter closes.
Collaboration Update #6
TEIYA and NORIKO
Collaboration Update #6
SHION
Piecing together the footage that Miya and I have captured for our collaborative film has been really fun so far. I look forward to continuing the video editing process, and exchanging ideas with Miya along the way as we play with various methods of digital experimentation on video.
MIYA
I made new half-masks for Shion and I to work with for our video collaboration, which is fitting for us both since we are similarly half japanese/ half white. And the coolest thing happened- instead of mailing her the masks across Canada, I gave them to her in-person! Shion travelled to Halifax for a dance performance, a one night show of ‘YingYun’ (Wen Wei Dance), and we met for the 1st time! We only had a couple of hours together before her performance but we were able to film ourselves with some masks during our brief visit for our project. It was amazing!
Collaboration Update #6
DAWN
Kayla and I met for a wonderful 2-hour Zoom chat, where we talked about all the different themes that have arisen spontaneously during this journey of collaboration.
One thing that has come up in many forms is the idea of HOME: What is home? What does it mean to leave home? Can we return? What happens when home as we knew it changes, and becomes unrecognizable?
We’ve also been taking photos as part of our process. One day I found myself on Walmer Road, where I lived in 2nd year of university. My first real, rented home-away-from-home. And I could barely recognize it! I’m sure the rent is more than the $122.50 I paid back then…
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot / Four Quartets
KAYLA
home changes.
home is visions of cherry blossoms
dancing in city streets
as i escape snowfall in the east.
it is seeking dim sum and jook
in the plains of saskatchewan
finding solace in a washing machine.
home is a rabbit, eight dogs and a slithering snake
black denim, cold coffee and a superior lake.
home is.
Collaboration Update #6
WILL
Music by Hitoshi: https://soundcloud.com/gozu_mezu/atama
This project gave me so much energy to put into my work, and it all comes from the team. So inspiring, so passionate about their art. Thank you to the Yume group, for creating this opportunity to learn and grow from this experience.
Hitoshi has made so many demo tracks in a short time, and they all had potential to make it into the final movie. We had some cool ideas that didn’t quite fit the story here, but we might use some of them in a future project together.
HITOSHI
Digital vs real life
Throughout this project, there were some synchronicities happened. One day I asked Will if he can draw a sunrise mountain image for our last piece. After a short while, he sent me an image of it. When I saw it, I had to astonish. It looked just like the mountain in my hometown in Japan.
For this project, we both mainly used digital platforms. For the means of communication, we used zoom and social media. We sent tons of data back and forth using Dropbox. Without digital technologies, it would have been really difficult to carry things out to create our pieces. Although we both cherished some sort of real feelings and tried to infuse them to our pieces. In order to do that, we had to connect beyond the digital relationship. I wonder if we were able to do that? Not sure but every time we had those synchronicities, I couldn’t help feeling something.
My brother F – Photo
Will Shintani – Art Image
Collaboration Update #6
BACO
As part of our back and forth exchange of ideas and works, I wrote an audio poem in response to Jon’s drawing, Improvised Kites. Below is the text for that poem.
JON
Collaboration Update #5
KUNJI
LINDA
Collaboration Update #5
SHION
Miya and I linked our movement research by filming short scenes in front of the Pacific and Atlantic ocean in BC and Nova Scotia, respectively. Stills from each of our videos were lined up side by side, aligning the horizon line of the oceans. I’m so grateful to have connected with Miya through this collaboration, and to have made a new lifelong friend.
MIYA
Still images taken from video layered of me and Shion by the ocean, both faraway on opposite coasts of Canada. Our bodies are like echoes, only coming into clear view when overlapped by the other. The sky, waves and beach are layered composites of the Atlantic and Pacific.
Collaboration Update #5
BACO
like a bird, heard is an experiment that I wanted to try, using a Zoom chat with Jon as material for creating a poem. I started out thinking that maybe I’d write a haiku, in response to Jon’s A Freeform Haiku but in the process of working with the Zoom footage, that’s not what surfaced. Instead, the experiment led to this rather quirky poetic play … a one minute video that speaks a bit about our collaborative process of being in conversation, of listening, of responding, and of having some fun.
JON
