Two more weekends to go! Then we sit down to edit and finally see if any of this crazy stuff makes sense. I’m really into capturing fascinating images — and building something of a narrative around them. A lot of these scenes just came to me as I was walking, wandering or slumbering in twilight. I’m less interested in a straightforward narrative as I am in a collection of images, sounds and ideas. Yes, there is a story, but I’m more intrigued at how we make people feel as they are observing. Are the images meditative — do they serve to capture some sort of transcendence? I want the viewer to walk away with some kind of experience. It might be discomfort. It might be sexual arousal. It might be frustration. It might be joy. Maybe a little of everything.
The enormity of our planetary crisis weighs heavy. Our species is at a crossroads. We could fuck it all up and watch it come crumbling down. Of course, the planet itself is going to be fine. She’ll survive and keep on spinning. It’s human beings I’m not so sure about. We are not engaged in saving the planet. The environmental movement is really about saving us! And learning how to co-exist in symbiosis with the living systems of the planet — not as rulers over, but more so, as partners with. Major shifts will have to happen for this to transpire — whole systems (economic ,political, familial) will need to adapt or perish. But in addition to our social systems evolving, there must be changes in the interior states of each individual. We must move, as Riane Eisler would argue, from a dominator system to a partnership system. Or as David Korten frames it, from Empire to Earth Community. And as an Integral theoretical model would suggest, these shifts need to happen in nature, society and the individual. And that is really what I am trying to express in this piece. And of course, I see the queer sexual relationship, devoid of gender hiearchies, as a potential key for unlocking this potential in humanity.
I have moments of hope. Hearing Barack Obama accept the nomination certainly inspires. The cynic in me worries that Obama will only pander. That 
really when tempted by power he’ll move the the stagnant center. But to have a man discuss gay issues, reproductive choice, and the environmental crisis in his address certainly gives one hope. Obama isn’t a savior. He won’t be the solution to our problems — that can only come from the bottom, pushing up. A grassroots swelling. We need to make the change happen collectively. But it’s a start. And I think Obama is worthy of our support.
The film contrasts two major forces — life and anti-life. War and love. The truth is that both exist together on a continuum. Each needs the other to identify itself. Violence maintains the boundary of peace. There may be an inevitable copulation of the two. I dunno. Just thoughts in my head — images in my mind. And thanks to Ryan Gass and Dave Newkirk for making some of the crazy images in my mind, reality on screen and in photos.
"You have always been here, waiting for yourself to arrive." Grant Morrison.
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