Shopping Around for... Props & Mall Locations!

Let's take a look back at how we prepared for this exciting project - oRaNgEdReAmS (with photos from Kell Riches our amazing and upbeat photographer). From finding the perfect wardrobe to reflect what was in style in the early 2000s, dressing Jessy's bedroom and a little bit on our greatest hurdles.  

Scouting with the "naked eye" aka iphone 4 ooo technology!~

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BTS on the shoot, J. is working hard :] - photo by @kellriches 

J. Graciano, my producer and I took on a crazy amount of tasks in pre-production! One of our biggest challenges was securing the shopping mall location. We went location scouting early in the year and kept visiting different malls in the OC area to get a feel for the atmosphere and more importantly how populated it was on any given day! Our DP - one of the very first on board the project and to fully understand the greatness of bringing back this time period, Mike Mcmillin told us that it would definitely be a challenge. We agreed but I knew that I needed to have the mall as a meeting place for the middle schoolers. For better or for worse, I was definitely a "mall rat" growing up and I think many suburban kids would say the same. With not much to do and a very limited range of transportation, the mall was a place to shop and to just hang around or "post up" and work on your budding self image. Fortunately, we were able to get permission to shoot at a shopping mall and did not have to compromise the vision. Wooo! (Fast forward through months of paper-work, back and forth with insurance and all that juicy stuff) 

Making use of this empty Hot Dog on a Stick food court stall

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It was the perfect addition to add realism to the food court scene.

In terms of finding all the props and wardrobe for the cast I had a few gold mine resources - my own childhood stuff  - call it fate or serendipity but my mom was moving and all my old stuff had to either be collected by me or thrown away! There was no way I was going to let all my old "tween" stuff and Beanie Baby collection become a nesting grown for flies and disintegrate for another few decades - especially when companies have been churning out "90s" nostalgia for the past few years! So I drove up to the Bay Area and got all my old things, including the coveted, Gelly-Roll-filled diary that I wrote in from when I was 9 years old till 8th grade. 

This orange couch provides a perfect backdrop for the scene

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Jordan Franco "Maven" the goofball & his orange couch

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Before the 2000s - girly room take over! 

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After set design - "Jessy's" room designed by yours truly. 

Beyond digging through my closet, other places I used to find the exact styles that I was looking for were buying from people on Poshmark, dePop and of course the all-mighty thrift stores! Jessy's mall outfit would reflect the "prep" style that was big in the day, with her abercrombie shearling collar jacket (why clothing from a store that once sold hunting gear and is probably racist was so popular? Beats me. All I knew was I was guilty of buying into it too). Felicia's department store style shirt with that infamous dip collar (does anyone know what that's called really!?) was also crucial. Without question, all the girls in the film wore flared jeans and white sneakers. The white sneaker obsession seems to be coming back - with adidas superstars for Jessy - which I'm fine with. I(n fact where is the k-swiss revival?) But let's just all forget about sketchers and nip that in the bud.

Stevey's outfit was really exciting as well. I knew exactly what we needed - puffy, "bubble" jacket, saggy jeans and of course air force ones! It was a bit of a challenge finding the jacket within our budget but the ingenious solution of buying the vest version saved us not only on our pocketbooks but on Reilly (Stevey)'s comfort. It would've been scorching wearing the full version! Maven's wardrobe was a bit easier to find. I got a quicksilver long-sleeve shirt for him to wear under a short-sleeve button up. His shoes were the world-famous heelys! Yet another shoe brand that seems to be slowly creeping back in style. The key piece that tied the boys together were their pucca shell necklaces!

Jennifer Y aka "Perfect Hair" had the represent the popularity of the zip-up hoodie. This piece was often but not always worn with a matching sweat pant. People of the 2000s seemed to love to be comfortable and casual even when they were dressed up. She had the vital spaghetti strap tank top underneath and of a rhinestone Playboy necklace. Andrew Lutheran's character (Popular Dude aka "Justin") wore a Big Dog shirt, backwards baseball cap and of course cargo pants that zipped off into shorts. The only piece that could rival those pants was his beloved razor scooter with light-up wheels.

In terms of location - I was able to rent a master bedroom in an Airbnb location to give optimal amount of room for our crew and talent. The room before hand needed a lot of changes to get it to the look that I was going for - teen girl's bedroom! I spent hours overnight decorating it with posters of celebrities, glow-in-the-dark stickers, Sailor Moon cards and of course the vintage iMac g3. It was so fun getting to have the time decorating the set exactly how I wanted it.  

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Dressing the set the night before and prepping 

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Almost finished - another snippet of Jessy's room 

Dressing the set of Jessy's room required as many small trinkets and decorations that I could find. Almost all the items, except for the bed frame, side tables, desk and computer, were all my old items! It was amazing to see everything be used one more time in all it's glory. The final location was the dining room. This took a completely different approach. We went from cutely-cluttered to minimal and with a sense of a first-generation Chinese American household, or more specifically what I can recall from my upbringing. I borrowed tassels and silverware from my relatives and had the assistance of Leslie Yen, my cousin as the Art PA for the day! She did a great job to the finest detail and we had a good chuckle over the humorous lines in the scene. 

A before picture is always necessary  

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Snippet - BTS of the shoot!  Photo by: @kellriches

Stay tuned for more posts about the project! My next post will introduce our amazing cast and the characters they embody in this millennial film, oRaNgEdReAmS ~ ! 

On the Verge of Greatness - 2000s Short Film about Middle Schoolers

I've been living in Los Angeles for a little over one and a half years now and gotten a great amount of experience in the media and film industry. I've worked full-time post production positions, managed and created social media content for large institutions and non-profits. While this time has been invaluable for me, I've always known that I wanted to do more. I needed to be able to have full creative control and fully cultivate my creative mind. 

Over the past eight months I've been on a personal sabbatical from a lot of aspects of my life - friends, family, social media - but one thing for sure; I've been going full force and working my tail off to create my largest, most defining and challenging project of my career so far, oRaNgEdReAmS. 

Also a time when 'Pop' was very.. eclectic! 

In short, oRaNgEdReAms, is set in 2002 and focused on a middle school girl who spends the majority of her time exploring pop culture through her internet connection and talking to her friends on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). She receives a reality check when she meets up with some friends, including her crush, at the mall.

I believe this will not only be an epic blast-from-the past for Millennials, but will also provide teens with a look into early Internet culture and life before being constantly plugged in - not to mention a look at the fashion mishaps of the 2000s - but provide a much needed teen / tween outlet. Old TV shows like Lizzie Mcguire, As Told by Ginger, (old) Degrassi, often focused on the 'average' kid and the importance of their lives. Then in the late 2000s we had shows that focused on 'superstar' kids who already achieved their dreams and simply wanted to be normal (Hannah Montana, Victorious). Now I think there has been a big shift in that these days teen / tween media has been pretty scarce and almost eliminated. 

Recently, I came across an article shared by a friend on Facebook about how people in their 20s are finding it harder and harder to feel like "adults". The reasons behind this notion were not being able to be financially independent (student loans, still living at home with parents, etc). The article talked about how people tended to enjoy reverting back to childhood TV shows and media. This point is definitely something that I have struggled with and that I have witnessed people around me deal with too. I think that "oRaNgEdReAmS" really could be more than a distraction or comfort to people. At it's core I hope that it can re-inspire people to take more chances and to be more excited about life and put themselves in uncomfortable situations, like we tended to do more when we were younger, because that's is really the best way to grow and change. 

The story was inspired by my time in middle school in the early 2000s. I feel that this time period was such a perfect one to encapsulate that of a budding, young teenager. The early use of Internet pre-social media and invasion of privacy is so vital to self-expression. From my experience, young people would rush home from school just to talk to their friends on AIM and potentially a crush whom they were too shy to talk to in person. People would post lyrics from their favorite songs to express how they felt - just got dumped? Your profile would express that. Going to take a shower? Put it in your away message! Yes, we do that on twitter now, but there's one important difference - the messages were primarily for people you already knew and to build more of a bond. Many social sites today are about quantity of people who see your content (number of followers, likes, etc) and about reaching a wider audience and then maybe achieving online fame. Personal online journals were also popular - Xanga, Upsaid, Live Journal - and I'm talking full on diaries here with actual paragraphs of texts, not the micro blogs we see today! The charming nature of these blogs were that people would customize them - try to learn HTML by copy and pasting codes to get blinkies and change your cursor to a sparkly hamburger. The importance of this for our pre-teen specifically is that you get to see a pure, unguarded side of her when she talks online and has conversations that express so much more than she does in person. 

Anyway, as you can probably tell I absolutely loved reveling in that time and wanted to remind people of how things were. What sparked my journey to the past was finding my childhood diary. What ignited the fire to choose this topic was the fact that Xanga had DELETED my old blog with years worth of posts [UGHHH SRSLY? THAT WAS A GOLD MINE]
 Upon my dismay I realized the impermanence of our own histories. How often do you reflect on your middle school years beyond cringing at your yearbook picture? I mean I think we should embrace them. Sure styles change but how much do we really change in terms of what we strive for in life? 

The main character - Jessy , is admittedly an over-dramatized, fictionalized version of my middle school self. She is very moody, shy, obsessed with outlandish dreams of being a Pop icon and having a boyfriend / and of course being popular! As trivial as these things may sound, don't they just break down to what we all strive for in life - acceptance, friendship, love and to work towards whatever our passion is. 

We will be going in to production this week and I thought it would be a great time to look into the 8 months of intense preparation my cast, crew and I have experienced! So please join me in this exciting time, as we reflect on the behind the scenes of the movie - and prepare for the revival of the 2000s! 

Write About What You Know - "Casey" addiction, hip hop & hope Interview

Interviewed by: J. Graciano

We had the pleasure of catching the short film "Casey", directed by Miguel Duran and written by Violeta Reina at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film immediately stood out with its raw portrayal of a teenager's struggle to find her own identity while carrying the burden of her mother's alcoholism. Casey expresses her frustrations and dreams to become more than her surroundings through her lyricism.

"Casey" has screened in numerous film festivals including Dances with Films, Portland Film Festival, Sunscreen Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival.

We're excited to have caught up with the creators behind the film, Miguel and Violeta: 

What inspired you to create this film? 

Violeta - I’ve often heard the phrase, write about what you know.  And for me, what I knew was my own family’s experience with alcoholism and addiction.  I knew what it looked like to see someone struggle with that, to love them dearly but hate what they were doing to themselves, and to see them be at the utter mercy of their addiction with little control over their own emotions.  I tried to show this in the character of the mother.

Yvette Monreal (as "Casey") Dir. Miguel Duran & Writer Violeta Reina

What is your background in filmmaking? Please elaborate on the uphill battle of DIY filmmaking, and also the merit you may see in it?

Miguel – I graduated with a degree in Film Studies, but didn’t have much formal production experience from school. I gained that through working on sets – working as a production assistant on a couple of smaller projects and then working my way up to production coordinator and production manager on some larger projects and music videos. Then I ventured out to making my own projects, directing a few short films and several web series episodes. I think learning by doing, trial and error, is the best way to learn. Learning how to shoot with limited resources and no budget forces you to be more creative with your storytelling and while the first attempts may not always be successful, you are going to be able to add a little more each time you create something new.

Violeta - I didn't really become interested in film until much later. I started by just helping Miguel where I could. I had dabbled in things like makeup and set design, but really out of necessity only. But at a certain point I realized I wanted more than just helping out occasionally. I thought really hard about what I could learn fairly quickly that would contribute the most and I though makeup was a good fit. So I studied on my own, focusing more on the fx side, although I didn't use that skill for this particular film. I tend to focus on this particular skill now, but since I do have the experience with other areas, I will still do them for our own projects. I try to have a very can do attitude, and anything I don’t know, I can learn. But it does make it difficult sometimes, to wear that many hats on set.

Still from the short film, "Casey" 

Your film focuses on hip-hop as a positive force. What are your thoughts of hip hop as a whole, taking in the mainstream form which references sex, money, drugs, and violence? 

Violeta - I am not actually that into hip hop myself, for the very reasons you mentioned. But my brother was. But he was into underground hip-hop. When I would go see him perform, I was always struck by what a deep and raw form of expression this was. It was never anything glamorous, but I know that he put all of his fears, his frustrations, his disappointments, his regrets into this writing.

But he also put his hope and dreams in them too. He was a true artists and he left all of that on the stage every time he went up there. And it wasn’t just him, this was true of everyone I saw take the stage. No one was there for the fame or the glory; they were there to share a story. And it didn’t matter if you liked it or that you could relate. What mattered was their need to share it, and in that way I came to see what he was doing with hip hop as no different than what I was doing with filmmaking.

Hip-hop, like any other art form, allows people to express themselves. And while the subject matter is often dark or morbid, I think in the sharing of it, there exists clarity, there exists peace.

Since the main character, Casey, is based off of your brother why did you choose a female lead? How do you think this impacted or changed the film and how people view it?

Violeta - I tried to write it as a male lead at first. I knew I had to start the story in the middle, right when the two characters were fighting.  But when I envisioned this in my head as a male lead, it kept turning into a physical altercation between the boy and his father.  But I didn’t want that. I thought it would be more powerful, to have the same scene play out in a more subdued way, and layered with tension rather than an overly dramatic shouting scene. And when I made the choice to make it subtler, the lead in my head turned into a female and I knew it was going to be a story about a young girl and her mother.

Lead Yvette Monreal on set of MTV's "Faking It" 

What do you think about the lack of imagery on screen of brown people and their daily stories? And how do you go about portraying that with less of an established blueprint?

Miguel - In general, I think it’s frustrating because it’s hard to break stereotypes, so it’s a constant uphill battle both to get Latinos cast in roles that aren’t stereotypical, and to tell stories that will resonate with that audience. I think a little of both would go a long way in seeing positive portrayals.

I think another factor is getting community support at the box office. A lot of people like to bemoan the lack of diversity in films, but don’t show up when a diverse movie is released. However, there’s also a responsibility to the filmmakers. You need to make something well executed and compelling enough for people to want to see. A diverse cast alone isn’t enough.

Miguel & Violeta with some of the cast / crew of "Casey"

Were there any notable resources you used to move your film from script to reality? 

Miguel – The two biggest factors to making Casey a reality were Violet’s brother Victor David and our amazing crew. I had worked with our DP, Alex Simon, on a previous project and having that experience together really made us in sync to move quickly. We only had the club for four hours to shoot the performance, arrival, and exit scenes so everyone had to be on top of their job to pull it off.

Violeta - We knew the most difficult location to find would be the club, but luckily since my brother was a rapper himself, he was able to put us in contact with a club he frequently performed at.

What're some aspects of your film that you were really happy with, such as a certain shot, specific scene from an actor, or specific location?

Miguel – I think I am most proud of Yvette’s performance. This was one of her first lead roles and she had never rapped before. I was so impressed with her professionalism and determination throughout the process and I love how she brought the character to life. I’m also really happy with how the club performance came out. As I mentioned earlier, we had the club for such a small amount of time and yet we were able to shoot everything we needed, and thanks to planning between my DP, Alex and me. We were able to get some great shots.

And finally, our two supporting characters, played by Eddie Ruiz and Marisilda Garcia really delivered. Their relationships with Casey, and the delicate balance between who they appeared to be and who they really were was so important for the film to work. Their presence was vital I was really happy with what they brought.

What is next up in your film production?

Miguel – Right now, I am focused on directing my first feature film, from a script I wrote. It’s been a long journey to get this feature off the ground, so we’re really excited that it’s finally going into production this Fall. In the meantime, we also completed a dark comedy short film at the beginning of the year that is currently in post-production. I am also developing a short thriller to shoot at the end of the summer. 

From Mexico to the SF Bay Area - Finding Identity in Video, Edgar Garcia

Edgar Garcia made a tough transition moving from Mexico to the United States when he was a young teenager. Facing the challenge of communication barriers and identity, Garcia was able to rise above and find himself thanks to his strong will and with a little help from his community nonprofit groups. From being involved with various groups that helped him build confidence and pursue his interest in video-making with a cause, Garcia is now working in the nonprofit scene by creating videos and assisting young people similar to himself. A recent graduate from Ai San Francisco, his debut short film, "Dad, God and Time", touching upon the topic of his sexual orientation, premiered at the Ai Film Festival this past Winter 2014. 

Tell us how you got interested in pursuing video making and specifically videos that focus on non-profit organizations? 

I was born in Mexico and I had recently arrived to America along with my family. My English was extremely limited. All I knew what to say at that time was “no speak English” and I would say it with a thick accent and really fast, because I was embarrassed. Because it was difficult for me to communicate, I had to find an outlet and I did so in an after school program called Jamestown Community Center. At the time, they offered a story writing class called Story City. My English writing skills were worse than my speech, so initially all my stories were written in Spanish. Once i was brave enough to write one in Spanish, the Enrichment teacher approached me and read it. Instead of passing on to the next student, she sat next to me, and together, we made my story cohesive. So I believe my caring for non profits began at an early stage in my life and it only fostered from there. 

The various nonprofit groups Edgar took part in helped shape his career today.

What traits or skills do you have that help you create such emotionally captivating videos for businesses and organizations that if not done properly could result in stale content? 

In High School, I was involved with another organization — Summer Search and each week, we had to do check-in, at the same day, at the same time. And if I missed a day, and went on without checking-in, I’d better have a good explanation. What this taught me was, what it actually meant to be accountable for my own actions. If I said I was going to call at 12PM on a Wednesday, my mentor was expecting that call. So one of the skills that I posses that is vital when working with a client is communication. The more communication there is between the client and yourself, the better the relationship is, and the better the video will turn out. 

At a young age Edgar made a tough transition across borders 

You seem to be involved with a lot of great organizations that help young people and do good things for the community. Tell us about that. 

All the programs that I’ve been a part of I’ve heard about through people that wanted to see me succeed. People that wanted to see my family, not just me, prevail. I believe I’ve been fortunate to have access to some amazing organizations here in San Francisco because of the amazing and down to earth people that I’ve met along my journey. I am extremely thankful to have them in my life. 

My advice is to always challenge yourself. These challenges have to be realistic and manageable. When I wanted to improve my public speaking skills, I volunteered to lead a work related team building activity. Initially, I was a nervous-wreck and wanted to run out of that room as fast as I could. But I managed to pull through and not only did I feel accomplished, but I am learning to become a better public speaker by doing the things I dread the most. So In finding  resources, I say go up to that DP you admire and see what projects they’re up to, spark a conversation with that audio engineer you secretly wish would work on your project. Challenge yourself by learning and understanding what is going on around you. 
 

Edgar Garcia premiering his short film at the Ai Film Festival in San Francisco

Your film "Dad, God and Time" is a very personal piece that is with out a doubt autobiographical and took courage to create and show to the world. Did you always know you would create an autobiographical short film and what were your hopes, fears and surprises from it? 

No, actually. My intention was to make a short documentary on after school programs. The idea was to focus on three different organizations — BAYCAT, Jamestown, and was still deciding on the last one. I went into production with Jamestown first. I had done so much research and had the students I wanted to focus on. Unfortunately, documentaries are so difficult to produce and its during post production where your story shapes up. And mine was not shaping up. So I decided to create something that was easier for me to manage with everything else that was happening (meeting deadlines, work; it’s a balancing act). My intention was never to make my short film this personal and I was definitely scared.

The first time I saw the completed piece was after my last session with Ian Sharp — Audio Engineer. It was close to midnight the Friday before the big debut over at The Art Institute. He had just mastered the final audio and sound design. The security guard walked in to give us our final warning to save and shut down and Ian asked him if he wanted to watch a short video. He said yeah without knowing anything about the film. Six minutes later, he looks at me with a reassuring smile and said that my father loves me no matter what. And that I almost made him cry. Secretly, I almost cried too because there was my film playing with audio, my visuals, my life, and I had never felt so vulnerable until that moment and it was well received. It was a good feeling and that reassured me that I made the right choice by going this route. 

Edgar's younger sister who makes appearances in the film 

Tell us about the experience shooting scenes of the film at your parents' home. Did you explain beforehand the content of what you were doing and in particular how did your Dad react - to the process of production? 

No one other than my instructors knew what I was up to. For all they knew, I was still working on a short film about my relationship with my younger sister — Nataly. When I finally realized that what I was saying in my film was deeper and not the root of what I wanted to say, I was able to latch on to something concrete and run with it. It was like a rant at first, and within that rant, I had to pull those strong statements and leave all the BS out. Get straight to the point. I didn’t have time to tell every person that I had been telling about my project that I changed my mind about my film. Some still thought I was working on a documentary. It was actually a nice surprise when I finally debuted my film because many people underestimated me. They were right, but that’s because in my process of figuring out exactly what I was trying to tell in film, I was working out some inner demons of my own. This is why I just kept everyone in the dark.

The scenes are very personal, and are raw. I was rushing to get everything out on time, so I did not worry about color grading, overexposure, and all that good stuff. But I honestly feel that this is what made my film authentic. Let’s be honest, I’m not going to win an Oscar over it, but I do feel like I achieved what a film is supposed to do, and that is to connect with their audience. I realized when the security guard first watched the film. 

When I showed the finished film to my father, we had one of the longest discussions I can remember having with him. I cried. He cried. But we didn’t come a resolution. I think was a breakthrough in our father and son relationship; a step closer towards closure. Had he known what the concept of this video was about, he would probably not cooperate. So I kept him in the dark too and just told him I was making a film about him. That’s all he knew.

VHS footage still from the short film "Dad, God and Time"

Can you tell us briefly about the whole process of putting together this short documentary film? How did you go about pre-production, assembling your crew and how important was it that the crew connected with the subject matter? Did you want to keep the crew members small as the material was personal? How did you feel editing your own voice and image? 

It was a blur, the postproduction phase. I remember having to record my ‘lines’ more than once, up into the last weekend before the entire film was to be screened. My story kept taking a different shape and form each week. My shitty first cut is basically me ranting and letting my frustration out. It was badly paced and was not cohesive. It’s like I was reading a page off my journal, and all this ranting was too much to cramped into a 6 minute film.

After many gut-wrenching panel reviews of my film, I worked some of the critiques into the film (like taking out this scene and extending or adding another scene). Other things I could not do (for example. someone from the panel suggested I add more feeling into my lines. I understood this concept, but I couldn’t do it. So I moved on). 

My crew was essentially just me. I shot all the scenes (obviously I asked a friend to handle the camera when I’m in front of the camera). I wrote everything that is being said. I edited the entire piece. The only crew members I had were Ian Sharp, Forest Jett, and Andrew Clark — All for audio. I mean, just take a look at my end credits, it’s a very short list and it’s mainly just me thanking instructors and important people that supported me.  

Today Edgar extends his video knowledge to youth in the Bay Area through BAYCAT. 

What advice and insight can you give independent filmmakers who would like to create their own small-scale shorts? 

My advice to independent filmmakers who want to film their own small-scale shorts is to first find a story you want to tell and if you get goosebumps and start freaking out a little, then you’re doing everything right! Next, connect with people you feel comfortable working with and that support your vision. It does not have have to be a huge crew. Make friends with an audio engineer (preferably, one that can manage sound design as well). Become buddies with a really awesome DP you admire and you know (they will make your project come alive and you’ll feel that much invested because it;s turning out so great). If you’re not the editing type, connect with an editor that understands pacing (you gotta let your audience breath for a little when you just revealed that your son is gay, for example). And always feed your cast and crew (no pizza or fast food; use this time to bond over a BBQ or Carne Asada). And always network (you never know who you’ll be bumping into). Lately, tell people what you’re working on, het the word out. But only do this if you have done the above (don’t promise something that you will not show; I know). 

Constantly involved with projects for nonprofit groups and the community, Edgar enjoys some time off. 

What's next for you? What're you currently working on and do you have any other shorts or creative projects planned in the horizon?

I just finished recording all the voice over in Spanish for Dad, God, and Time which will be great to reach the Latino community. The film Papa, Dios, y Tiempo will be up on my website soon. I recently became a member of Summer Search’s Bay Area Alumni Board, which happens to also be Summer Search 25th Anniversary and I have every intention to help out with promo videos. I also just finished helping out the Hayward Unified School District with one of their after school programs — YEP. I took a few pictures for them that will be used for their brochure. And I have other video projects with other organizations planned out for this year. As far as short films, I have so much left over material from when I was filming Remember, which I already have a very rough assembly, but it’s not ready for a debut yet. I’m experimenting with a few techniques (lessons from YouTube) and I have bigger plans for this film. 

Besides working on these projects, I am blessed to be working with BAYCAT as Program Coordinator where I get to interact with youth and young adults. I love it here!

Check out some of Edgar Garcia's work here: http://edgargarciasite.com

Recycle, Critique, and Pray to a Digital God; ROBIN BIRDD

Interview by guest writer: Sarah Kim 

Robin David (aka Robin Birdd) is a Bay Area illustrator, painter and craftswoman. Her 2014 show Mythological Bird at the Incline Gallery was featured in  SF Gate’s Top Arts Pick of the Week. Through her sociopolitical paintings, paper dress collection and upcoming 2015 show at the Tenderloin National Forest, David is known as one who works with recycled materials and indeed a very interesting, rising young artist. 

 

How did you get started as an artist?

In the Third grade, I looked up at the charcoal sketches of a cabin in the woods on a snowy day art work that hung on the walls of our classroom trying to find the one I made. I pointed to one with the most realistic renderings and said to my friend very arrogantly “that one's mine”. When suddenly the class bitch said behind me, “no thats my drawing!” As I was caught off guard I realized she was right. I then began to look frantically for what was truly made by me discovering mine was really the ugly one at the bottom. This is when I realized that it didn’t matter. Yes I was sad, but this sadness opened me up to a whole new type of art, art that is more than a realistic depiction of a photo but art with thought, art that is done freely and art that explores other ways of creating.

A lot of your work has sociopolitical undertones. What are some of your topics?

My upcoming mythology, “Babies Making Babies” sarcastically criticizes our society for all of the fucked up shit we do to each other, such as war, manipulation and greed.This commentary explores the nature of our society, expanding the reality of adults as childish beings. An adults becomes the grown up they are by the grownups that raised them, who also were once babies. In reality, adults know as much as they are told. Whether the racist serial killer on channel 7, the rapist who lives next door or the womanizing boyfriend of your daughter, we typically ignore the fact that we all began life as a baby with no motives, whatsoever. 

"Babies Making Babies Praying to the God of the Digital Age" by Robin Birdd

One piece that caught our eye was the illustration titled Babies Making Babies Praying to the God of The Digital Age. Can you explain the concept behind this one? 

As part of the “Babies Making Babies” series, the “Praying to the God of The Digital Age” piece focuses more on society’s influence on the development of a child. The piece focuses on my “Babies Making Babies” concept (description above) while drawing inspiration from the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam. Many photos of Mecca show thousands of people praying to the Kaaba, a rectangular, black and gold building that stands in the center of the largest mosque in the world. I chose this image not to poke fun of a religious act or place, but rather I chose this image because images of Mecca can be very powerful. Thousands of people all praying in one direction, with very similar thoughts and beliefs is an amazing and interesting concept, especially when you take that same attitude of group mentality and direct that focus on something else. In this paintings case, that focus brings it’s attention to “technology”. The babies, all in the same attire, bowing down to a giant microchip in the center of the painting worshiping the god of the digital age.
 

I have a friend who believes all works of art have some autobiographical nature to them. Do any of your works reflect instances or experiences you’ve had in your life?

Definitely. I grew up in a dysfunctional family. As a kid, I was always stuck in my head thinking of why things are the way they are, and over analyzing my the adults around me. As a young adult, I began working as an after-school Teachers Aid. Working with kids eventually lead to my interest in child development, and finally things from my childhood  started to make sense.  Over analyzing became very important  as I discovered conceptual ways of sharing my past and my thoughts of the world through art.

I checked out your gallery show Mythological Bird last summer, the one where you collaborate with fellow artist Jeffrey Yip.  Could you tell us about this exhibition?

At the time, my works were inspired by death, extinction and storytelling through scientific literature. Through my discovery of the death of earthly birds, I explored the human need to discover life and all its questions. I wanted to tell the story of these birds in the form of folklores, but twisting what people commonly think of mythology with science, in the same way scientist write about their discoveries of past dinosaurs. After coming up with the concept, I proposed a collaborative effort to Jeffrey Yip, a fellow artist and friend that I met at San Francisco State University, ultimately working on the creation of Mythological Bird.

Robin standing next to her piece at her show "Mythological Bird" August 2014.

What is your opinion on the statement that art is powerful only to the extent of raising awareness?

I agree that art can be very powerful when raising awareness, but I don’t think that this concept is as black and white as it sounds. When I was a young naive artist, I strongly believed that “art for art sake” was stupid, but now I don’t agree with this at all. All art has purpose, even art that has no obvious strong concept or message. The chronological time of which the art was created, the act of creating and what was going on historically when the art was made are all important details giving context to the piece of work. Sometimes doodling with no ideas or thoughts in your head can become a form of meditation and healing, which is just as powerful as a piece of art that stands for something.   

"Mythological Hotpot" by Robin Birdd.

How would you describe your work?
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Folkloric, sci-fi storytelling that humorously critiques the world we live in through paintings and installations.

Find out  more about Robin and her upcoming shows here.