farewell, florida

I've come to the end of the road--at least as far as the Southern Circuit is concerned (although I've got another 5 1/2 weeks of tour to follow). It's been a busy last few days with little time or opportunity to post, so we'll have to get in the Way-Back Machine in order to fill you in on what you missed. So, turning back the clock:

I pulled into Baton Rouge in the early afternoon & went straight to my hotel. Because of a snafu with hotels.com, my original reservation at La Quinta was cancelled (or actually erased from their memory banks), so I ended up at a slightly dicey Days Inn on an unpromising strip in Port Allen, across the river from downtown Baton Rouge. I thought $70 would buy you at least a functional bathroom, a clean carpet & a fully painted room, but I didn't get any of that at the Days Inn. Considering that I waited to confirm my reservation at the last minute, I guess this is what I should've expected.

Anyway, instead of staying in my hotel room (where I also didn't have internet access), I decided to go wander around downtown. It's another formerly abandoned downtown area where there's been a big recent push to reoccupy the city's center. Right now, it looks like they've definitely got the buildings in place, but there's not quite the hustle & bustle you'd expect from a state capital. The state house grounds are sprawling & nicely manicured & the capitol building itself is interesting, a tall central structure towering above the rest of the downtown. A statue of Huey Long looms in the middle of the garden & his legacy seems to loom over all of the history of the state still today.

Anyway, after killing a little time in the public library, where I struggled with their sluggish wireless, I made my way over to the Manship Theatre, where I was taken out to a dee-luxe meal of gumbo & crawfish etoufee. The show was in a three-tiered theater space & it went as many of the other shows have--a nice crowd with an interesting mix of people, some of whom seemed to have little idea of what awaited them, others of whom knew precisely what they'd be getting. There was a nice little reception afterwards, where I got to talk to a handful of interesting locals before heading back to my hotel room & crashing from exhaustion.

In the a.m., I got up at the crack of dawn to catch my flight to Palm Beach, FL. I got in around 2 & had time to float around the pool for a bit before the clouds rolled in. The landscape here is really astonishingly soulless--everything is shiny & new & most of it seems directly shipped from some corporate HQ hundreds of miles away. It's like one long strip mall stretching from Miami up the coast. The skies were beautiful & floating around the pool was nice, but the terrain was definitely a bit of a shock.

Given my reservations about the landscape, the show was actually great. They really loaded 'em in at the Duncan Theatre (Stage West) & most of the people (with the exception of a couple of seniors) stayed around for a pretty lively Q&A. The crew at the Duncan were all really welcoming & it was a pretty great way to wrap up my tour. A former student of mine led me down I-95 to a hip restaurant afterwards & I filled my stomach with a pork chop & apple-cranberry compote before returning to the hotel to crash.

Overall the Circuit has really exceeded my expectations. With all the new venues on the tour this year, I was worried that they wouldn't have the time to build up an audience. The contrary may have been true--being the first person on a new tour, I may have had the benefit of novelty, so I may have gotten a little extra attention from the local press than I would have if the Circuit were more established here. The audiences were really interesting--definitely more diverse than the ones I've seen on my own tours; often challenging in ways I hadn't anticipated. I'm really heartened to discover the potential that exists in all of these cities that I've never vistied before (and the few that I have), and I just hope that the crowds will keep coming back for the rest of the filmmakers on the Circuit.

Thanks to all of you who had a hand in making this such a great experience.

Until next time...
R.

Mobile, with the road calling

It'll be 11 a.m. shortly, so I'm going to be kicked out of my luxurious (and free) hotel room in Mobile soon. It's too bad, because the room is a dream--gigantic new bed with lots of pillows, a panoramic 12th story view of surprisingly appealing downtown Mobile--so they may have to drag me kicking & screaming.

The visit to Mobile has been great, but too brief. It seems like a city with real promise, with a formerly abandoned downtown that's fighting hard to make a comeback. If the show was any indication, I like their odds. A crowd of about 80 filled a two-tiered theater in the public library building just a few blocks from my hotel. They weren't the most raucous crowd, but many of them stuck around for the Q&A (or was it for the delicious pound cake at the reception?), and I ended up selling out of my tour DVDs after the Q&A was over. There was such a parade of locals who wanted to talk more after the show that I didn't get to eat quite as many of the treats they had at the reception as I would've liked, but I still managed to stuff my pockets on the way out the door. (They even had a threaded 8mm projector as the centerpiece at the reception!) Every show on the tour has really had its own character, but this was definitely another high point.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Charlie Smoke, who seems to be the motor of this Mobile arts renaissance. Not only did he (along with Bob, his boss at the Arts Council) take me out to a local oyster house for another great meal--one of many I've had on the Circuit--but he also gave me a really thoughtful & eloquent introduction, took me out for drinks afterward, and even regaled me with a gift bag including a box of chocolates from a local chocolatier. It's really great to feel such enthusiasm about our visits to these cities & it's even better when you can see that enthusiasm translate to the audiences.

But now time to pack my bags...
R.

an eventful night

This is a strange thing to broadcast to the world, but I woke up in the middle of the night (3 a.m.) with a pain in my crotch & discovered that I'd been bitten by a tick. At least, I think it's a tick. My google image search convinced me that it was, although I don't know if it's a "soft tick" or a deer tick or a brown dog tick (&c.). I guess I'm taking the tick along with me for the rest of the tour just in case I run into an entymologist. After I got bitten, I was freaked out for an hour or so, searching my entire body for more ticks, stripping the bed, and so on. I didn't find any others, so I did eventually fall back asleep.

Where did the tick come from? Was it in the hotel room? The Capri Theatre? Did it get on me when Martin McCaffery took me to see Hank Williams' grave? Or when we walked around the state capitol building in order to look at their massive & slightly scary monument to the Confederate flag? I guess I'll never know.

Other than the tick, my visit to Montgomery was great. I got in relatively early, so Martin & I were able to set up my miniDV camera & to test out their 16mm projector, so that I could show all the work in the best possible format. The theater is great--a big old movie house with about 300 seats. The projection was gigantic & it was really nice to see the films projected at that size. We didn't quite fill the seats--there were 31 people there by the official count--but it was a nice crowd, including some high school kids who hung around to ask questions after the show. They seemed really interested in knowing the tech side of things, so I hope that means they feel like they could go out there & make some films too. I like when people say nice things about the films, but I'm even happier when people feel inspired by their screening to make their own films.

Off to Mobile...
R.

orangeburg (in progress)

I'm sitting down the hall from the Planetarium at South Carolina State, which is where they're presently projecting my films. It's a pretty interesting place to have the stuff shown--everyone's reclined at a 45 degree angle staring up at the ceiling--and I almost wish I was in there with them. (The fact that I'm showing my films about 40 times in two months though is a pretty compelling reason to keep me out of there.) My hosts here have been really accommodating so far & someone (or several people) have conspired to fill the room to capacity. I was so disoriented by the giant planetarium projector in the middle of the room that I didn't get a read for the crowd, so I'm curious to see how the Q&A goes. I'll fill you in when I next get a chance to post, but I don't know when that'll be, because I've got a plane to catch in the a.m. & will be racing back to Columbia tonight to spend a little more time with friends there. (I seem to be using the verb "racing" a lot lately.)

I'm not entirely sure that I've figured out my accommodations for the remaining stops on my tour, so I may start adding an "adopt a filmmaker" spiel to my intro if I can't find a last-minute hotel room. (All the venues actually sent me info ahead of time, but I've just been so busy that I haven't confirmed the reservations yet. Hope that's not a problem...)

Time for me to sign some posters. (Really.)
R.

beaufort (and belatedly columbia)

It's been two days (or three?) since I last had a moment to post (and internet access for posting), and in the interim I've read Eric Patrick's Circuit blog, which was fairly intimidating. In any case, here's what else has transpired since my report from Athens.

The show in Columbia was great. I live in Irmo, SC, a relatively isolated Columbia suburb, for about 10 years. I've rarely gone back to Columbia since leaving 20 years ago, but this visit made me think I was a fool for taking such a long break. The room was full of people--many of them students cajoled/bribed/bullied into coming by Larry Hembree, Andy Smith, and Laura Kissel--and it was definitely nice to see a big crowd (however they were made to come). Andy at the Nickelodeon was the steward of my visit & he couldn't have been a better host. I saw a handful of old friends from high school & got to make another handful of new ones (some of whom, it turns out, I may be seeing again next month in New York). Columbia is really a very different town than it was when I was there--and that's a very good thing.

The next morning--after unexpectedly crashing on Andy's couch--I was supposed to make an appearance on a local Fox-TV morning show, but because of crossed wires with the person who set the appearance up, I ended up showing up too late & got bumped. It's too bad too, because the other guest that morning was Master P (né Percy Miller), the rap impresario who was pushing the new book he's just penned. I would've liked to have talked cinema with the man behind _I Got The Hook Up_ and _I'm Bout It_, but oh well...

From there, I grabbed a quick bite with Andy again (including some memorably great grits) & raced off to Bluffton High School where I was presenting my films to an auditorium full of high school students. Note to self: high school students at 1 p.m. on a Friday are likely to be VERY bored &/or restless--DO NOT FORGET THIS. Anyway, once the films started rolling, they seemed to get into them, with laughter in the right places, &c. I ended up unspooling about 30 feet of TB TX DANCE so they could see what 16mm film looks like & they seemed mostly into that (or at least more into that than they were into my prologue). It was an interesting experience overall, and I'm glad I got to see my work through a different set of eyes.

I then rolled northward to Beaufort, where I was escorted to the amazing guest digs they had set up for me. JW Rone was my guide for this part, but once I got installed there, he handed me off to Jay, another member of the Beaufort arts crowd. Jay led me down to a great free dinner at Panini's Café--consider this a plug, I guess, because the warm chocolate cake was pretty stellar (and more so for being free). We then worked our way over to the show, where JW reappeared to introduce me. The room wasn't full, but I really got nice feedback after the show, and I felt good about the way things went there. I got to go back to my luxurious digs afterwards & managed to get a full night's sleep finally (10 hours!) for the first time since I left Wilmington, NC over a week ago.

I'm in Charleston, SC today, enjoying my day off & getting ready to grill chicken breasts with one of my girlfriend's old friends. Her 2 1/2 year son is presently demanding that I rejoin the fun, so I guess this is where this post ends.

For now,
R.

ending with a whimper....

I had a pretty uneventful screening at Clemson last night. Nice theatre, small crowd, decent projection... I suppose I ran out of things to say, and the audience didn't have much to say either. I just sort of stared out at them, and they stared back at me. I think we all knew it was over. I went out for beers with some of the Clemson people, who are great, then forgot my bag in Amy and Johnathan's car. I suppose if there were ever a time to do something like that, now is the time. I just got Michelle out the door, and I'm waiting for my bag to return. Then, it's off home.

So that's it. It's been an interesting tour of the "new south".... so many people I've met along the way doing these things are transplants from other parts of the country. Plenty of confederate flags, several billboard messages about Armageddon, an endless variety of fried food... all the usual suspects were in place. But in the end, the whole thing seemed much more personal than blogworthy. I'll probably remember the sensations of the trip more than the actual events.

So thanks. Thanks to David and everyone at South Arts who does so much work to make this happen. Thanks to all the sponsors of the various shows, the organizations putting on the shows, the people running the venues, the audiences coming to see my work. You've all been absolutely inspired. And yes, thanks to whoever out there read this blog. I've never experimented with the form before, and I'm sure the omissions are more obvious than the words, but I suppose that's the nature of this sort of tour. Again, thanks. I've met so many great people doing fascinating things, and I do feel like this trip was as much about me becoming aware of what's going on in these towns as it is about me showing my own work. If I've met you along the way, stay in touch!

until then, it seems that Roger Beebe is off and running....

Eric

this tour. (here we go.)

So, night one of the Circuit is under my belt. Athens, GA. I've done two shows in Athens previously & always found it a little bit of a tough nut to crack. There are lots of kids with good haircuts on the streets, but I can't seem to get them to a screening. Last night was no different. A small, but (apparently) appreciative crowd. Some day I'll figure out where all the kool kidz are, but for now, I'm content to keep chipping away at the edges.

Got to show 16mm last night thanks to the heroic efforts of Jeff, the A/V guy at the Museum. The 16mm projector was covered with cobwebs when we got it out, but it ran like it was supposed to & he managed to get the audio patched in quickly so that the folks could see what these things are REALLY supposed to look like.

My biggest problem on the tour so far: finding enough time to blog. I've got friends littered around the Southeast (esp. for these first days of the tour), so I end up hanging out until the wee hours (or have, at least, my first two nights [in ATL & Athens]). I hope my loyal readers aren't too disappointed...

over&out,
Roger

My shifting history....

Asheville was surprisingly uneventful. The only apparent publicity was an email blast and a couple of posters. The contact I had couldn't make the screening and sent someone in her place. He was very nice, but also couldn't stay for the whole screening. I only had 8 people in the audience, but they were a nice group. I sold 2 DVDs. The manager of the theatre was very kind, and Michelle and I had a great talk with a few of the local filmmaking crowd.

Later in the evening, I had a blast with my sister. She informed me that my last name (Patrick) isn't Irish, but rather German... It was originally Fitzpatrick. It was a perfect bomb to drop on me during this increasingly personal journey that Southern Circuit has become. All my life I assumed that it was Irish. Now I feel my lifelong affinity with Saint Patrick, James Joyce, and all things Irish draining away.

Goodbye Jonathan Swift, Hello Goethe. Very weird.

I go to Clemson tonight, then home tomorrow.

Eric

Which statement uses faulty logic?

1. Last night in Jackson, MS, a bartender shook my hand when I arrived at the bar. I’ve never had that happen before.

2. I like Johnny Cash .

3. I picked up a hitchhiker today. Randy. I got him in Birmingham and brought him to Atlanta. He was going to work with a relative in construction.

4. Randy had good teeth and a guitar. Someone once told me that I should only pick up hitchhikers with good teeth. I'm not sure why, but I admit I've never picked up someone with bad teeth.

5. During my almost 10 hour drive today, I drove through 6 or 7 bands of rain that were all torrential. Each band lasted less than ten minutes, then was followed by blue skys.

6. I used 120 minutes of my 350 minute cell phone rate plan today.

7. The cell phone is a bad medium for philosophy.

8. I think the cabin is fantastic. Spacious with a hot tub in back, drinks in the fridge, impeccably decorated: Asheville cozy cabins

9. This is the first time I’ve been in a log cabin.

10. After arriving, I went to a biker bar near my cabin.

11. I had a short conversation with someone I couldn’t see on the other side of a bamboo shade on the back porch of my cabin.

12. The caretaker of the cabin told me not to smoke in the cabin six times in the less than ten minutes she was showing me around.

That’s it. At this point, the tour has taken on a blurry quality. Enigmatic moments are happening almost constantly.. It’s a strange mix of observances, feelings, and serendipity, leading me to believe that I can’t really capture the experience in this format (at least in the time I have to spend on it). Maybe tomorrow will bring some focus. My sister arrives, and I’ll try to find a wireless place to post this. Asheville tomorrow.

Eric

Someone tried to break into my room at 4AM.

Thankfully, I had all the locks in place. I startled awake and said "What the Fuck!!" in the best angry southern accent I have. It had to be someone associated with the hotel because they opened the door a little (which can only be opened with a key). I slept for several more hours, but once I got up, I just wanted to leave. I waited to shower until I had made the three hour drive to Jackson.

That's the great thing about this trip. It's a cascade of images, personal feelings, strange little voodoo moments, and cultural observations.

The other fascinating thing about Southern Circuit is the range of situations. Some people clap between the films, some only clap at the end. Some raise their hands to ask questions, some just shout them out. There are endless variations in how the different crowds create their own social cues. In that way, it's an interesting study in how to work with crowd dynamics.

I've also shown my work to a wide variety of people. I've had conversations with everyone from artists, college students and curators to pipe-fitters, secretaries and even a guy who raises cows. The question and answer period is different in every place. Each crowd focuses on one angle of the films: technique, concept, aesthetics, psychology, etc. It's been a really great way for me to study how to frame my films to different populations. Sometimes stories are good, sometimes it's semiotics, sometimes it's just as simple as describing techniques.


I showed my work to Millsaps College tonight, got rid of two more DVDs and several people came up to look at the art work from Stark Film. I didn't feel that I had much energy going into it, but thankfully the films look relatively the same each time, so on some level, it doesn't matter what I say.

Tomorrow, I'm going to drive all the way to Asheville, NC, where I've rented a little log cabin outside of town for two nights (everything has been one night per stop as of yet). My screening there is Wednesday, then I'll leave Th AM for Clemson, SC. I'm not sure what the internet situation will be, so there may be a break in posts until I'm hooked up again.

Eric

three more shows....

I slept in Baton Rouge at kind of a crummy cheap hotel, and will be driving to Jackson, MS soon. As it turns out, I have Tuesday off since my TN date was canceled. I just looked into mountain cabins in Asheville. If I can get a decent one, I think I may drive all the way to Asheville tomorrow. It would be nice to have two nights in one place... take a little mountain hike, hang around Asheville and catch up on sleep. Two of my last three screenings are at Universities, so I'm interested to see what the students are like.

Eric

The South sets in.

Generally, I don’t have much to say about the last 25 hours. It was intensely personal, and I don’t even know how to articulate it. It would probably be better conveyed by banging rocks together.

The show though, was great. Beautiful place, great people. The woman from the Art and Humanities council drove 60 miles round trip to bring me shrimp gumbo and boudin (knowing I was from here). They sang happy birthday to me, and all was great. The local film group (that co-sponsored the show) was inspired. The Lake Area Film Group are a rag-tag group of filmmakers trying to make something happen in a town where there isn’t an awful lot going on. They’re very gutsy filmmakers and remind me of early Cinemaker Cooperative in Austin.

I came to Port Arthur after the screening, and I’m still here. I’m trying to decide how far I can get so that I don’t have a full day of driving tomorrow. Perhaps New Orleans just isn’t in the cards. I once again feel myself being sucked into the place, and should probably start moving. Then… Milsaps College in Jackson, MS.

Eric

“Boring” as social construct

Last night, I had a good projection and the largest crowd so far. They were pretty silent through most of it, which made me wonder a bit. At the end, I opened it up for questions, and an old guy a few rows back told me that I had mentioned the desert Southwest for “Stark Film” but he didn’t see it in the film. I mentioned that much of the film pieces were shot in the Mojave desert and at Joshua Tree to which he replied “The Mojave isn’t a real desert.” He then proceeded to tell me that I had mentioned that David Echelard was an early music composer, but that the music for “Roothold” was some sort of Jazz (which it is sooo not). I tried to remind him that I had become attracted to a piece of Echelard’s that was different… with him playing the hurdy gurdy.

When he first started talking, many people in the audience started laughing, likely from his obtuse (by his own admission) line of questioning. I must have made him mad by telling him that he had latched onto certain words I said without taking in the overall context of my introductions. He then told me that this work was all about technique and he really found the whole thing quite boring. The statement would seem to suggest that most major art movements of the 20th century are all about technique (at least, if you looked at them without a degree in art history). Leaving aside the fact that I disagree with him about my work being “all about technique,” if we accept this argument, then Cubism would be all about technique, which I’m sure some would argue is exactly the case. But I doubt many of us would question the worth of cubism.

No, actually, the far more interesting thing that he said was that he found it boring. I’m really fascinated by this concept of “boring” because it seems to imply a need to be entertained. I can’t recall having the experience of being bored by a painting, because a painting doesn’t exist in time. It is “one without a second.” We become bored by time…. Television, certain kinds of music, the boring professor, etc. Further, boring is a fascinating state of consciousness. I’m interested in what makes us bored, how to be bored compares to being sleepy, being drunk, being in a trance. Perhaps it’s the inversion of trance. Where one becomes acutely aware of everything surrounding them to the point of it becoming painful.

Of course, I also think it suggests that we are refusing intellectually to engage with what it is we’re experiencing, and unfortunately, I think that was exactly the case with this loveable old curmudgeon.

After that, I had many beautiful and very flattering compliments and sold several DVDs of my work… I hope they didn’t think I took it personally? A great crowd all in all.

Quickly then (the plane is calling): Summerville was a moment, though not a special one. I’m born there, but I’m actually from somewhere else-- a contradiction that I’ve never been able to rectify. Today, my birthday, and off to Lake Charles, then a 45 minute drive to spend the night back with my mom in the place that my ancestors and I are really from-- Port Arthur, TX

Eric

Florida without the beach.

Hollywood Florida has turned out to be a little bit of a break from the traditional South. It's a charming little town with that specific weathered look of this part of the state. I showed at the Art and Culture center, which was a much more sophisticated crowd. It was a small crowd, but they were quite inquisitive and interested, with very nice questions. We had a bit of a melt down with the projection, which threw the rhythm of the whole evening off for me, and I'm sure, for them. There was a point where it seemed that it wasn't going to happen at all..... before any films were actually shown! A 30 minute wait futzing with technology, and they just sat there quite content. It was pretty impressive really. Then there was more waiting between the first and second films because of more problems. We got through it though, and by the end, I felt like we had really experienced something together.

The woman that was running the show took me out for drinks and food after the screening.... I think she felt awful about the whole thing, but then, I suppose thats the way it goes sometimes with screenings. At the bar, we had great conversation about art and life with an enigmatic bartender that literally is always smiling and laughing. It was a bit infectious.

I wish I could stay and walk the beach, but here I go again... off to Charleston. More planes, rental cars, driving directions and the like. I'm going to see if I can go by the house my parents lived in when I was born once I get to Charleston. This was a nice break, but now back to the "other" South.

my life in airports

Last night, I paid $24 for an inedible pizza through room service… this morning, $30 for a big breakfast that I asked to be delivered at 7am (they arrived at 6:45am). I woke up early to give myself plenty of time to get showered, packed, and to the airport, and as it turns out, I needed every second of it. My directions sent me to some lonely National car rental lot with wrecked cars far from the airport. On arriving, my carry on bag was searched and determined to be a threat to airline security because I had a non-solid substance in excess of 3 ounces that wasn’t hermetically sealed inside a 1 quart zip lock sandwich bag. Those sandwich bag makers must be very happy. I’m not. It just goes to show what a ruse these rules are… I carried on the exact same bag on my flight from Chicago and Greensboro. That’s two out of three times that they missed the deadly gel.

I remember right before September 11, I flew from Austin to Los Angeles to work on some puppet animation with a couple of friends. In my bag, I had two ten pound blocks of modeling clay, floral wire, many metal clay sculpting tools, a box of one hundred razors, and various other things that in this climate would look like I was going to spend my time on the plane actually creating a bomb. The poor guy at security who saw all this said into his radio something to the effect of: “I’ve got a Red 476, Red 476!” About 8 security guys came running with hands on their guns. Once I explained what I was doing, they lightened up and just told me to check the bag. If that happened now, I would probably be stripped searched and put on the no-fly list. My how things have changed.

Yesterday I was leaving Greensboro, and logged onto what was apparently a paid wireless network with what was apparently my department head’s T-mobile account (I’m using a borrowed computer from the school). Oops! The Louisville airport doesn’t have free wireless either, which makes the airport in Charlotte all the more appealing with its free wifi. The short of it is I’ll be posting this at some later point when I don’t have pay $9 to do it.

Insert title here...

Because the experiences are happening so fast, I can’t come up with a title for this post. Over the course of the day, I could have posted with the title “A salad every two days is critical on this tour” or “American airports and why a smile goes a long way” or “The lost art of gumbo” or “Colonel Sanders and Hunter Thompson, and why they are the same” or “my broken button” or “hotel soap and the excitement of invisibility.” The truth is, time passes fast, and I would be better off creating an audio diary than trying to reflect on what is REALLY going on.

I had drinks last night with the Greensboro crew. My friend Laurelyn traded me a copy of her new Polecat Creek CD for a DVD of my work. Justin’s book is due out in the Spring… such great people.

Ironically, I found a similar situation in Louisville. There are these amazing, talented and driven transplants working within the South, and doing very interesting things. I sold 3 DVDs tonight and had another surprisingly good crowd. Tamara from the Bluegrass Independent Film Festival introduced my work (along with a charming piece by a local filmmaker), and the people seemed at least open to the ideas I was giving them. The projection was pretty awful (sound and image), but we switched DVDs for the last film (which played much better).

After the show, I went out with Tom and Dan from the Kentucky Center, and with Scott from Pitch magazine. The whole experience left me in the same state I’ve felt about the South in this country-- confused. Being (officially) from the South has always left me with a love/hate relationship for this part of the country. Louisville has a beautiful downtown with thriving art galleries and shops. Talking to these guys reminded me of that contradiction between the new South and the old. These new southerners are somehow superimposed on the old, which has something to do with my internal conflict about the place. I immediately felt how great it would be to live in a place like this (while at the same time knowing that I’m fickle about these southern towns).

There is a familiarity about the town… always in the back of my head I continue to feel drawn back to this part of the country. I’ve moved back multiple times. Every time I don’t feel heartbroken like I used to when I would give the South “one more chance,” but rather I become agitated and restless. All of these guys I drank with tonight make it a habit to take regular outings to other parts of the country. Perhaps that’s my problem? I’m too much of a homebody?

In any case, I’m off to Hollywood, FL tomorrow. It’s a slow move backwards through my own personal history. It gives my films a certain sort of resonance seeing them in this context, as I’ve avoided using literal experiences from my own upbringing in my work. Still, the images somehow seem to imply this space, even if only between the frames. I doubt the audience sees this, and I'm certainly not going to outline the trail of dead and the hidden skeletons. Better to just leave it alone.

Friday, I’m back where I began… I turn 38 on Friday night in Charleston, SC, the town where I was born but haven’t seen since (my family moved away when I was just a few months old and I’ve never been back). The town both holds the promise of seeing a hidden part of me that even I’m not familiar with, but it also reflects back on how this year started: with the murder of filmmaker Helen Hill in New Orleans (Helen was from Columbia, SC). This will be my first trip back to the state since her funeral. More reflections on the loss and that gripping pain that the South always brings. We'll see...

Eric

starting from the beginning...

High Point was a great show. It was a small/moderate sized crowd, but they were very engaged with the work. I just realized that I may be dealing with many people that don't know much about experimental films. I need to make sure I articulate an easy in for them... a way for them to make sense of what they're looking at. It seems much better to show the works individually... to sort of guide them through it. Still, the management and sponsors were great, the crowd was warm and open to the work, and I had several friends from the area show up (which turned the event into a big family reunion afterwards). Luckily enough, I sold 4 DVDs of my work, including one to the sponsor.... really great crowd.

A little sleep before dawn, then Louisville awaits....

Eric

moving backwards

It's amazing how much and how little has changed. I just arrived in Greensboro (where I lived for four years up until June). I had finally felt a little at home here, but coming back I feel like an outsider all over again. The polite distance of the people here always leaves me feeling a little lonely. I drove by my old house to see a fence that the new owner put up. All in all though, it feels very much the same. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my beautiful Greensboro friends and neighbors that give the place such meaning to Jen and I. I'm still not sure who will make it to the screening (or not), but hopefully there will be a couple of pints at McCouls afterwards.
In some way, I'm longing for Saturday.... I arrive in Lake Charles and can forget about the flying. Meanwhile, I fly every day until then, crisscrossing the South as if searching for some relic to give it meaning, or looking for the intangible clues to my own relationship with this part of the country.
I've been looking forward to this trip as a sort of personal journey. Coming to Greensboro so soon after leaving it, then hitting Charleston, SC (where I was born) on my 38th birthday, then off to Lake Charles (the region I grew up in and where my family is from) the next day. It's almost as if I'm moving backwards in time... backwards into my body.... waiting to hit the bone marrow to see what it's made of... a small glimpse of my personal history and a half conscious vision of my ancestry, all in the context of these films that are both a personal history of my subconscious and a fleeting residue of filmic metaphysics.
To that end, I grabbed the novel Ka (about the Hindu gods) on the way out the door as it seemed to be the perfect companion on such a travel through so many ghosts (gone but not forgotten). We'll see how it plays.
The films are screening at 7pm.

Eric

Ritual Etchings: The Experimental Short Films of Eric Patrick on tour Sept. 4 - 13

Tour Schedule
Audio Interview with Eric Patrick (MP3)

Check back here over the next week as Eric posts entries to the blog while on tour.