10:15 With that we’ll close.   Thanks to everyone who came out, and of course, particular thanks to the artists this evening: Angela Crafton, Dr. Niama Williams and Rev. Massey, Jose Cedillos, and the filmmakers Barry Vacker, Olivia Antsis and Brett Sroka.  See you on April 8th for the next one!

9:56 All three filmmakers are here with us.  Great discussion about media, narrative, metaphor, naivete.  Vacker is asking us to examine our media environment.  A commenter suggests a unifying theme for the night: ethics.  Is the filmmaker bound by an ethical responsibility to force us to examine these questions.  Thought provoking discussion.  In particular, I’m curious about the fate of Jose Cedillos’ “feral creativity” in a totalizing media sphere.  The source of our salvation?

9:28 Next up is Space Times Square:

9:20 First comment comes from Dr. Ni, saying this takes her back to life in South Central LA. The fascination with the scavenged, the found. Cedillos is suggesting this is a Darwinian model of artistry–variation not by intent, but by accident. Wow, one commenter just called Jose Cedillos “The Beatles” of visual artists.

9:17  Love this, he’s describing a “value inversion process” that new scavengers go through.  Just the taking of something from the trash or gutter gives it values.  (This guy would love Davy Rothbart, or maybe he already does!) Cedillos keeps referring to a 60s poster: “God Don’t Make No Junk”

9:12  On bricolage–celebration of variety, working with whatever is at hand.  This approach is clear in the range of his work on display in the lobby tonight.  He’s really talking about building a narrative in the creation of the piece.   Respecting the work in the objects he’s drawing from.  He preserves that kind of child-like inventiveness ‘gleaned’ from the outskirts of Guadalupe in his continuing work as an artist.  He’s the real deal.  Taking a highly democratic approach to arts instruction. Formerly a felon, he’s now a professor.  A lot of great stories of redemption tonight.

9:08  “Talk about lean and mean”  This is an extraordinary story–he’s suggesting that the kind of searching required of gleaners instilled an entrepreneurial, inventive and creative approach to the most unpleasant environments.  These are “tricks of the body”  … “by being on the move, everything is open to discovery” …I have to admit that, as an inveterate trash picker, the joy of discovery he’s describing really resonates with me.  “The image of our feral glee”  <–what a fabulous line.

9:05  And here’s Jose Cedillos…describing life in an immigrant community in Guadalupe, CA.  He turned to gleaning with his extended family in dumps and ravines outside of town.  “We slipped into a dream of watchfulness”

9:00: Dan’s giving a tour of the First Person Arts universe and talking about the Philadelphia vs. Chicago StorySlam at the Free Library Festival on April 18th.  The theme is “Mortified” … There’s so much going on that I keep forgetting Davy Rothbart will be back with us for his new Found book–Requiem for a Paper Bag–on May 5th.

8:45 Oops! Had some technical difficulties in the first half, so I missed liveblogging Dr. Ni and Angela Crafton, but there were some great discussions for both, and now we’ll start in on the second half with Jose Cedillos followed by the filmmaking team of Barry Vacker, Olivia Antsis and Brett Sroka who will screen Space Times Square.