Am back in Chicago after a five-show run with Andrew and the boys. Living on the tourbus is how I imagine it would be to go camping while hurtling through space. It’s a constant battle between hot and cold air, extreme light vs. blinding dark. Then absolute inactivity with wild, frantic bursts of action once we hit the ground. We don’t stop working until way after the show is over. Can’t say I mind it in short doses.

This was culmination of a project I’ve been working on since Spring: visual projections for Andrew’s live performances. This batch features the beauty and glory of work by Arthur Ganson, Britta Johnson, and Bill Brown.

Arthur Ganson’s machines are spectacular. I’m thrilled he allowed us to include his films in a recent blitz of Film Brigade shows AND trusted me enough to chop them up for projections. Working the editor Amanda Dunlap, I built a light storyline out of Ganson’s handmade gears, the little yellow walking chair, mysterious clapping eggs, and unforgettable flying paper wings.

These were selected from Arthur’s films (which he shot and edited) of his original sculptures and feature “Thinking Chair”, “Machine With Eggshells”, “Machine With 23 Scraps of Paper” and a few spare parts from others. An excellent fit for Andrew’s “Opposite Day”.

I first saw Britta Johnson’s short film “Post Nasal Drift” in 2002 and it knocked my pants off. PND is a compelling, gorgeous, astonishing myopic stop-motion animated microbe adventure. After matching Britta with Andrew for his first-ever music video (Imitosis), it was easy to see how PND would live on stage.

With a bit of nudging (editor, Angelo Valencia) to reduce it from the original 11-minute length, PND fits flawlessly with “Simple X” and the brand-new “Anonanimal”. Andrew played the latter song for the first time (outside of our house) at the music video premiere we hosted at the Hideout in August. The visuals were an unmistakable match.

After countless viewings, Bill Brown’s short film “Roswell” STILL manages to be haunting, amusing, epic, and intimate – all in about 17 minutes.

In describing the kind of visuals he envisioned for “Armchairs”, Andrew told me that he wrote parts of this song alone in his van on the road in Kansas – with wheat fields out the window. As I understand it, “Armchairs” also came about during a time when Andrew realized how far away from everything solo touring had taken him. Family crises occurred without him as he satellited further out into the touring atmosphere.

What better a match than this beautiful film (16mm color) about vast highways, big lonely sunsets, and the idea that each day on the road is part of an amnesiac starboy’s dream? Whenever I correspond with Bill he’s either on his way out on the road or just getting back from weeks and months away. In a mad hustle to finish projections, I asked Bill if he’d let us use “Roswell”. He was game. We are very lucky he had time to hit a FedEx before leaving town again.

Big thanks to Britta, Arthur, & Bill for sharing their work. ALSO, for their assistance and/or advice: Mike Bulington, Chicago’s own James Bond, Amanda Dunlap, Angelo Valencia, Whitehouse Post, and Roger Beebe.

Show photos via Flickr, courtesy of Brianne Karabetsos (2nd, 3rd, 5th from top), and Aubrey Dunnick (#6).

Britta continues to make amazing works of film art. I see her in Seattle as much as possible, never get tired of that brain.