What should I name her?

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 – 6:12 pm

It’s a girl! Or at least I think it should be a girl…right. A few weeks ago my father and I started work on a 1966 Honda Scrambler motorcycle. It’s a bike my dad’s had for 20 years just sitting around. We’ve made a few attempts to start it when I was younger, but things never seemed to line up. PLUS, the parts bike was completely useless; a good lesson on how to take apart an engine, what’s inside, and how it all works. (Like my dad syas…it’s FM…fucking magic.:-) This is the bike he learned to ride on, now it will be the bike I learn to ride on…”and the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon…”, but seriously, it’s been a blast and I’ve learned a ton.:-) I’ll keep everyone updated so send in those name suggestions! Thanks dad!!

John

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War of 2012

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 – 11:59 am

It’s that time of year again. Time for the Fence Salon at The Arts Center of the Capital Region. Every year I put some of my latest work together and test it out at this annual juried event. (And renew my membership…a good way to remember.) So far I’ve made it into the the Select part of the show two out of three times. Many of the work has then gone on to be in in other shows like the recent Feast Show and Saratoga Arts Center show. This year’s work? A series I’m starting called War of 2012. It’s photo made to look more like painting. Printed on canvas, each image takes hours of work in Photoshop. They include elements of landscape photography, miniature photography, and good old fashion Photoshop work. They’re on display over at the Arts Center for a month or so. and these images below don’t do them justice. They are only the size of a 5X7 print and surrounded in a large frame…well worth seeing in person.

John

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Saratoga Arts Center Show

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 – 11:57 am

Back in 2008 I got asked to be a part of a two person show at the Saratoga Arts Center in Saratoga Springs. I was excited, I was floored, and I was racking my brain for ideas. They decided to invite me based on a submission of “slides” I sent a few months prior; that submission included a gamut of work I had made from years past. What were they expecting?

I had now idea…what I mean is, I had no idea what to put up in the space. It’s big, and it was going to be in the middle of the summer. Great art real estate, so to speak, but it should be a bit bigger than what I’m used to putting up. Frankly I hoped to have the Motion Portrait project up and running by then, but it wasn’t to be. After looking at Barbara Todd’s work (my partner in the show) I decided the ongoing stump project was the best fit.

Here’s a bit of the description.:

I wouldn’t call it an obsession — just an exercise in observation. I had taken to walking in the
woods as much as possible to find something beautiful in the rotting foundations of the forest.
The stumps were grounding, reminding me of my time and place on this earth. Armed with an
old Speed Graphic 4×5 and a flash at the end of a painter’s pole, I ventured out into the woods to
try to capture that feeling — to showcase the most forgotten, but beautiful part of the forest
ecosystem.

After a bit of thinking on how to make it more involving, and a great crit at school, I decided to bring the stumps to the people. To bring the subjects in and light them to be photographed by the audience. I encourage all visitors to train their own lens on the pre-lit stumps in order to engage me on something that has come to be quite personal. With a bit of help from Mike Potts, Thomas Jack Hilton, and Ben Hillis from Feast Gallery, we were able to bring in two, 300+ lbs stumps into the art center, insects and all. They have been awesome about supporting the idea. If you’re in the area this June and July I encourage you to stop into the arts center, take a look at the work, and shoot me feedback. I live off feedback.:-) Here’s a video I took of the exhibit, and a few of the images you can expect to find.

John

The Space Between from John W. Yost on Vimeo.

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Two years…Two films.

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 – 6:05 pm

So the other day I stopped and realized that in two years or so…I’ve finished two feature films. Crazy. I think back to when I moved up from NYC in 2006; penniless, full of ideas, but I hadn’t made a single thing since Maine Workshops and “Fog”. A good friend of mine, Daniel Swinton, offered me some time with a camera and I jumped in with “Every Good Thing to Rust”. This was a labor of love, shot in order over the entire 06/07 school year. It may not look like much, but I’m extremely proud of it. You can get it off the website, or from IndiePix.

Here’s the trailer:

EVERY GOOD THING to RUST Trailer from John W. Yost on Vimeo.

Then…IndiePix decided to help me make another one right away, no rest. EGTTR was done in November 2007, by February of 2008 I had a finished outline and the go-ahead to make “The Brave and the Kind”. By this time last year the film was in the can. I’d like to stay busy at this pace, BUT will the work suffer. I recently was contacted by a fellow filmmaker in Ireland who works about as feverishly as I do. She hoped to have four features under her belt in just as many years. I am increasingly frustrated with how long things take in the film industry. Equipment has changed, the way we make films has changed; so why has the business end of things stayed the same? It seems like we should be able to make these low/no budget films much quicker. I think we couldhoot s high quality scripts in less time, for less money, and twice as often. It just needs to start with a great script and great pre-production. If the film industry as become anything lately…it’s wasteful. Not to say that every film can be made with only a crew of five, but if things were planned out better, it might take half as much everything. Maybe it’s time for directors and producers to put their “vision” into production as well.

John

Here’s the TBTK trailer:

TBTK Trailer from The Brave and the Kind on Vimeo.

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Feast Gallery and past works.

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 – 5:49 pm

I was recently in a show at Feast Gallery in Saratoga Springs. It was a collection of photography from the past nine or so years. (Hence the name of the show “Nine Years Here”) It was with another great photographer and RIT alum, Laura Glazer. You might know Laura from her photography work, BUT you also may know of her illustrations of birds that are up all over the Capital Region, OR her radio program on RPI radio called “Hello Pretty City”. Needless to say the show was a blast, and it was great to go through all my old work, reedit, and close that chapter. Not that I will never look back and continue to grow from those experiences..it’s just nice to move on to something new. I’m including a selection of the work that was in the show, as well as edited past works in order to have them present on the site. Enjoy…feedback is always welcomed and encouraged.

John


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If I could harness the visual power of a song.

Saturday, June 13th, 2009 – 1:13 am

If I could harness the visual power of a song.

Listen to The Walkmen “Brandy Alexander”
Let the slack just flow over you. The hopelessness becomes less hopeless. It’s really easy. “I’m hoping for you and me”.

Listen to The Walkmen “Bows +Arrows”
“Come on, Come on, let’s get it done.” Lets take it all on at once…together. and we will regret nothing
(A lyric from this song is the title to my next film…this song is my next film.)
Title: “There’s nothing for you here”

Listen to Justice “NY Excuse”
This will be in my iPod as I kill zombies in the apocalypse, or as we stalk  the streets in some sort of uprising.

Listen to Justice “Valentine”
This will be played as we’re getting ready for said zombie apocalypse.

Listen to Joy Division “Love will tear us apart”
Played after we win. OR…hang ourselves in defeat.

Listen to Fuck Buttons “Sweet Love for Planet Earth”
As we rebuild. As we scream out loud for everything we’re a part of and made of.

Listen to Frank Sinatra “Somewhere Beyond the Sea”
As we become bored again and restless and struggle to find the narrative to this blog. Or realize that this list is a bit scattered?

Listen to The Brian Jonestown Massacre “Ballad of Jim Jones”
Where we realize we spend most of our lives trying to live up to something we’re not, or something we may never be.

Listen to Blur “The Universal”
Because we ARE in the next century…and we don’t seem to learn…we just keep dancing because it’s a blast. We always seem to get the words wrong and it’s happening.

Listen to Caribou “Crayon”
Because it’s nice to be reminded how good the world is, and how at any moment it could get really great.

Listen to Caribou “Irene”
Becasue it’s good to be reminded twice…and twice as slow and twice as long.

Listen to Immortal Technique “Bin Laden (Featuring Mos Def)”
To realize things are never what you think they are…AND maybe we shouldn’t let people lead us around by the nose. Maybe there are no pure governments. I’m not saying we’ve been lied to, just selectively talked at.

Listen to The Flaming Lips ‘Do you Realize?”
It’s nice to think of the universe as something bigger than humans. It’s nice to know we’ll all be dead someday and things will be here without you. It’s always comforting to know that no matter how much you think you matter,you don’t…it will go on with out you.

Listen to Nirvana (as much as possible) “Jesus Don’t Want me for a Sunbeam”
To remind you that you’re immortal…I guess. And the thought of living forever with the one’s you love is not only is a great way to keep people in line, but a wonderful thought.

Listen to The Libertines “The Good Old Days”
Because you have a torch for those days…and rightfully so…they were some of the best. And you can easily fall back into the bad old ways. I sat in my truck and cried to this song the day I left RIT…it was worth it. But better times are always on the horizon.

Listen to Modest Mouse “Blame it on the Tetons”
You could use a cold one NOW. And we ARE all buildings burning. Air would certainly help.

Listen to Modest Mouse “The Good Times are Killing Me”
As they should be. Who wants to live a safe, normal life? Let us enjoy every corner of life…and often I say…to hell with the future or consequences. Well…maybe more than often.

Listen to Radiohead (also as much as possible) “Videotape”
Becasue it’s 4Am for me and it’s bedtime. And it’s a wonderful song about sadness and living life to the fullest. Maybe it’s also a way to say goodbye to someone you’ll see…in this life or the next…if you believe in that. I say, let everyone in your life know how much you care now. Let them know today..any day might have been the best day so far.

John

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