justin nathanson

Justin Nathanson romances the Holy City with multimedia show

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:10:52 -0400

Justin Nathanson romances the Holy City with multimedia show:

Local filmmaker Justin Nathanson has been thinking about love as a concept lately. That’s a claim that most creative people can probably make at any given time, but this guy has an interesting way of expressing his emotions. For his wedding to Erin Glaze Nathanson last fall, the couple hosted a public reception-cum-benefit art show in the now-defunct Eye Level Art gallery. Now for Piccolo Spoleto, he’s crafted Charleston, a love letter.

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“Being a lover of going out and photographing and videotaping Charleston, I have amassed this really fun, diverse bunch of clips of Charleston, so I just thought: How do I make this something more substantial and unique and do it in a way that would excite people?” he says. “And that’s how this was born.”

Piccolo audiences have been treated to Nathanson’s work in the past. Last year, he participated in the multimedia show You Are Safe, and in 2008, his documentary Bin Yah: There’s No Place Like Home received an impressive A- from City Paper critics. This time around, he admits it’s possible the Academy Award winner The Artist crept into his subconscious, because Charleston, a love letter, is a silent film. And not even silent in the same way as the 2012 Best Picture, which has a pre-recorded soundtrack. Charleston, a love letter doesn’t have a single recorded sound. Instead, the film’s music will be performed live during its two shows at the Hippodrome.

“I think of film as music — when I edit and make film, I’m hearing music in my head. Ultimately, I think music is probably the purest form of expression,” Nathanson explains. He didn’t have to look far for musical inspiration: He’d already been at work on a documentary about Entropy Ensemble, a Charleston instrumental quartet that plays interpretations of Radiohead songs. That documentary should take another two or three years, but in the meantime, the ensemble’s founder and pianist, Andrew Walker, has taken on the task of scoring Charleston, a love letter. Nathanson knew he wanted Walker to do it, and he knew he wanted Walker to do it live. There will be plenty of room for improvisation. “When you see the actions on screen, there’s all sorts of stuff going on, so I wanted to give musicians a chance to do something different and interpret actions with their musical instruments.”

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When Nathanson spoke to the City Paper a few weeks ago, the project was still in the process of coming together, with the crew taking the last month before Spoleto to edit, write music, and rehearse. The filmmaker sighs when he says how many hours he’s had to edit down: Hundreds. He takes all the footage, cuts out the fat, and compartmentalizes similar bits into particular sequences. But that’s the fun of it. “I love editing,” Nathanson says. “It’s literally like you have a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle and you’re putting all of the edges together, all of the colors of one kind of blue, and you’re not really sure how they’re going to go together in the end.”

The approach was to make Charleston, a love letter like one of those day-in-the-life books, where time is spent in some picturesque locale for a 24-hour period. You’ll see last-call crowds pouring out of bars early in the morning, the beach’s first surfers, and what’s happening in the marsh, continuing on through the day and into the night. Nathanson’s captured the obvious beauty of Charleston — and what happens when nobody’s looking.

While the Piccolo performances are confined to a single night at the Hippodrome, Nathanson sees a possible future for the project at film festivals or on a college tour, and on DVD and CD as well. He hopes his love letter will inspire its audience to look at Charleston differently. “The cream on top is that people get to come see this and come see how hard I’ve worked and come see this thing we’ve put together,” he says. “It’s so special.”

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"I doubt whether a doctor can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs..."

Tue, 01 May 2012 08:52:00 -0400

“

I doubt whether a doctor can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: “Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?” There is simply no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one’s opponent. The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.

As each situation in life represents a challenge to man and presents a problem for him to solve, the question of the meaning of any life may actually be reversed. Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

”

- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

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Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:49:53 -0400

Happiness....we deserve it

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:24:30 -0400

I’ve realized lately, that I love my life. I have actually heard myself say that to myself, in my inner dialogue voice, more and more lately. I understand my past, am experiencing the present, and am so excited about what the future holds. I am still eager, still learning, evolving, and still growing. Many things contribute to this feeling. For one thing….I like getting older. I feel more confident. I know more. I tolerate less. Also - this past year I got married to Erin, the love of my life. We just had our 6th month anniversary, and this has been just the greatest thing, ever. I don’t know if I believe in fate or destiny, but I will say that I think there might be a path that the Universe reacts best when you find it. I’ve been walking down that path lately, and man, I feel lucky. The flood of wonderful people, the happiness, the ability to live for today, the sheer joy of living with and for someone you love and trust can’t be beat. I still make a lot of mistakes, yes, but I am trying so hard not to make them twice. I have a family that supports me and encourages me, and all of the sudden I am that adult I’ve always wanted to be. I remember being 7 years old, and wondering where the heck I’d be right about now. I think I’ve made the 7 year old me pretty proud. I never stop to pat myself on the back, I never do that. I’ve never felt that I deserved it, even though maybe I had. But I am doing that now. I give myself a big fat pat on the back for finding my little piece of solace that is in my heart right now. There is so much living left to do - I literally have half of my life in front of me. That is frightening and exciting and everything all rolled into one, as it should be. This ride of life can be impossibly difficult, and it can be effortless. I am so thankful for the difficulty - because the beauty is right there on the other side.
At the risk of sounding trite, you deserve to be happy, if that is what you want. That is the one sometimes elusive, fleeting emotion that you absolutely, 100% deserve.
One secret - to turning around a life that feels like a struggle to a life that is less efforty, I think begins with service. I remember feeling like life was an obstacle course, and somehow some very smart people showed me how to give. If you are stuck, give. If your hurt, give. If you have nothing, give. Give in any way you can. Make someones life easier. Brighten someones day. Surprise someone. Volunteer - that’s a big one. And keep doing it. And know that you are one lucky SOB. Think about it!

WHAT’S IN YOUR JUNK DRAWER?

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:40:22 -0400

stink bombs

nose flute

80's sunglasses (radical)

dirty soap

dollar pull

fake doody

fake scratchers

googly eye glasses

horsies

mask

WHAT’S IN YOUR JUNK DRAWER?

I didn’t run the Cooper River Bridge Run race this year...

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:10:11 -0400

I didn’t run the Cooper River Bridge Run race this year (or any year), but I made a video…That’s SOME exercise…right?!

On a flight from Aruba back to the States last week, we found...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:18:00 -0500

On a flight from Aruba back to the States last week, we found this gem: a piece of gen-you-wine Barf Bag art. Or, shall I say, an ‘air sickness receptacle’ poem. After some research, there I found that there are myriad collectors of this kind of stuff, and even… a museum. Ferrealz.

I kinda wish the poem made sense, the ramblings of a mad genius. However, it is sans genius, and only just, well….mad. And super drunk crazy. In fact we were wondering who bogarted the mini Rum bottles.

Either way, I’m framin’ this, and it will become part of my ‘art by the insane’ collection.

Meanwhile, check out this dude:

Now, if you really wanna waste some time on his Geocities site, go here: Air Sickness Bag Virtual Museum

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