Takeshi Murata live in Chicago

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One of my favorite video artists is coming to Chicago on March 4th. Takeshi Murata is screening some of his videos and performing live with musician Robert Beatty as part of the Gene Siskel Film Center's Conversations at the Edge lecture series (which is fantastic). Here's the writeup from the Gene Siskel website:

Takeshi Murata & Robert Beatty
2003-10, Takeshi Murata and Robert Beatty, USA, ca. 90 min.

For the last six years, artist Takeshi Murata and musician Robert Beatty (Hair Police, Three Legged Race) have collaborated on a series of visceral, glitch-based animations, setting Murata’s psychedelic imagery to Beatty’s hypnotic compositions. Murata’s videos range from hand-drawn animations of fluidly morphing shapes to painterly abstractions of meticulously hijacked digital code. Beatty employs hacked electronics and thrift-store cast-offs to craft otherworldly sonic narratives. Together, the duo’s electronic alchemy transforms the detritus of consumer culture into dazzling tapestries of sound and color. This evening, CATE teams up with experimental music and intermedia series Lampo to bring you Murata and Beatty in a special screening and performance. The two will present their work in three sets: a solo performance by Beatty, a screening of videos by Murata, and a new audio-visual performance, created especially for this show, by both. Co-presented by Lampo. Visit www.lampo.org. Multiple formats. (Amy Beste)

Tell U.S. what you think of copyright laws

Victoria Espinel, Barack Obama's newly appointed Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, has put out a call for public input on the subject of intellectual property enforcement: "My office is asking the public to give us information about the costs and the risks – and then give us suggestions for what we could be doing better as a government." The full statement, and a pdf detailing specific requests, can be found here.

Please tell Victoria how you feel the U.S. government should approach copyright violations. Let her know that this is not what the public wants. Send comments and suggestions to: intellectualproperty@omb.eop.gov

Interview with Nadav Assor on Vague Terrain

My first piece of writing for Vague Terrain has been posted. It's an interview with video artist Nadav Assor.

http://vagueterrain.net/content/2010/01/nadav-assor-interview

100 Hours of Solitude

This is probably the longest video on Vimeo.

I think the appropriate way to view this is to project on a full white wall in an otherwise empty room. A couch, cot, or bare mattress are acceptable, along with bare necessities like a few gallons of water and a box of saltines.

Go ahead and watch it straight through, I dare you.

100 Hours of Bliss from Benjamin Baker-Smith on Vimeo.

Our Country

At long last, I present to you Our Country. Enjoy.

Our Country from Benjamin Baker-Smith on Vimeo.

First Final Cut Project EVER

I just found this online, on Seth Samuel's YouTube channel to be exact. This is the very first video editing I ever did, done on Final Cut Pro in the fall of 2005.

It is titled Green Dreams, and by far the best part is Seth's score.

OhMyGl!tch

OhMyGl!tch from Benjamin Baker-Smith on Vimeo.