Living in the Brownfield - RJD2 at Artsquest Center

So I’m sure you’ve heard that we designed this sick room with a view and incredible acoustics that just happens to be in the heart of the brownfield we call home…and every once in a while I get to drop in and see some live music – woot!  Welcome to the Musikfest Cafe at Steelstacks - photo by Paul Warchol

 So this month, March 31^st, I get to drop in and see RJD2 light up the room as the headliner for the Nowadays Indie Rock Fest (a great diverse lineup for this, see more here http://www.artsquest.org/festivals/nowadays/ ). 

  You may already know RJD2’s music (his real name is Ramble John Krohn and he lives in Philly), he laid down the opening sequence track for the hit show “Mad Men”, probably his most widely heard track.

 We’ve got our fingers crossed that “commissioner crotchbuttons” opens the gig in full welding mask persona, can you think of anything more perfect for this venue with a view of the blast furnaces.  Hope to see you there!

Living in the Brownfield – Page67 by Lynette Jackson

Social media, image creation, photography and software are converging at an unforeseen rate that even Steve Jobs would have been awestruck by.  Exploiting this rich seam of convergence, one creative genius has caught our eye on Instagram.  Lynette Jackson, aka "p67_bylynettejackson", is photographing, designing, publishing, and distributing the 21C architectural monograph, all via her iphone.    

Her work is published in series, we call it a quad, the series introduces the subject, tells the viewer what to look at, points out the detail of construction, and directs us to notice the craft and skill that are commonly overlooked in the built environment.  Her work is parallel to the process of creating construction documents, each image changing scale, viewpoint and stressing the vital information for the viewer to  construct a new world, in that sense Lynette Jackson is an architect of the highest caliber.

Lynette creates architecture out of the world found all around us.  Her critical eye captures the essence of a structure and clinically remixes it, examining and dissecting the subject through a series of visual critiques that rely on her mastery of photography, connoisseurship, graphics, and architecture.

Architecture resides at the fertile intersection of site, system, material, and detail.  Lynette exploits all of these vital components in the creation of her images, which are distributed globally through her bi-weekly feed.  The sheer joy of seeing her posts is similar to that nostalgic moment when the quarterly subscription arrived in the post with architectural imagery of exotic projects & locales.

You can see and learn more about Lynette and her work through the following links - as always we advocate supporting the arts and the artist by becoming a patron!  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/p67/

http://lifeinlofi.com/2012/01/18/iphoneography-spotlight-lynette-jackson/

Living in the Brownfield - Independent Film

Guest Blog by Clint Newton - Spade of Reason

OK, so while not exactly the star, our office was used as a set for a soon to premier film by local author Jim Cowan. The Spade of Reason was filmed in the early months of 2011 on location in Bethlehem at the NCC South-side Campus, Spillman Farmer's office and other places around the Valley.

The film which is set in Texas in 1996 is a SciFi drama about a  brilliant but quirky young man Cax6ton who looks for messages in randomness, scattered tiles from a Scrabble game, simple computer programs he writes with a friend, white noise from an old TV, and finally government IT systems he subverts for his own ends. His journey takes him from dark places that none of us want to go but in some part have been.

In the early days of 2011 we began an intensive Social Marketing campaign to help position ourselves in a fiercely competitive market. As part of that effort I reluctantly embraced Facebook and was soon up to my digits in social media. While catching up with old friends rediscovered through this new to me media, I stumbled onto a link to ACE, the Arts Community of Easton, where I learned of a local author Jim Cowan's efforts to bring his screenplay to life using local independent talent. The screenplay intrigued me and so I thought maybe I could do something to lend a hand. As a set builder and designer I was looking for new challenges. While reading through the location log I was struck with an overwhelming almost eerie sense of familiarity. The scene he described was only feet from my desk at work. I sent him a brief email to tell him that I had his location and a few weeks later we had a shooting schedule. In addition to hosting, I was also able to find some vintage props to set the scene.
The location uses the brownfield as a backdrop stand-in for the Cold War era Pantex nuclear bom disposal facility. Unlike the intentionally desolate and bleary backdrop of the story, our brownfield is becoming greener and more vibrant every day. Learn more about The Spade of reason at  www.spadeofreason.com. Look for the Spade of reason to show at this summers South-Side Film Festival. Come out and see what Living in the Brownfield is like in person and on the silver screen!

And talking about stars: One of the local actors in the film, Reese Sebastian Diaz, is currently playing Michael Banks in Mary Poppins on Broadway.  After acting as the young Caxton in The Spade of Reason Reese went on to play roles in the national tour of Beauty and the Beast, produced by Disney, and then the national tour of Mary Poppins, also a Disney production, before continuing with his role on Broadway this spring,,

Your are invited to attend the premier for the Spade of Reason on March 24th 6-9PM at  Lipken Theater, Northampton Community College.   A trailer for the film and more details about the film and the premier are at www.spadeofreason.com

Please RSVP to: Karentrionfo@rcn.com  by March 14^th if you want to see the film, meet the cast and crew, and get some free food.

Living in the Brownfield - Architectural Digest Home Design Show for Vicki DaSilva

Well that's certainly my longest post title!  Huge applause for Vicki DaSilva, she'll be featured at the prestigious Architectural Digest Home Design Show this March 22-25th.   We love the work she does and hope that you'll go out and support her efforts. Stop by her booth and have her tell you about the time she was accused of "signaling to offshore boats"...a great story!

Light painting time exposure photographs made at night live on location using fluorescent lamps. Commissions welcome for your chosen location. Vicki DaSilva is a pioneer of light painting and light graffiti photography. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally. Meet Vicki in person at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show March 22-25, 2012 in NYC.

Stop in and see Vicki at MADE: Booth M54

More of her work can be seen at www.vickidasilva.com

hope to see you at the show, congrats Vicki !

http://www.archdigesthomeshow.com/