"If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society." - Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, January 18, 2005
SEE THE ELEPHANT! (single screen version, starts at 00:00:10) from Ryan Junell on Vimeo.
An immersive four-screen video installation with surround sound audio that features convergent viewpoints during the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC).
The Republican National Convention was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden August 30th through September 2nd. The four video trajectories take place
inside the RNC, outside the venue with the authorities, in the streets with the demonstrators, and at arms-length with mass media. Content for the projected piece
includes natural sound, impromptu interviews, and overlapping content with the intent of creating an intelligible, multi-linear, political narrative.
⇒ WATCH a 2 minute quicktime movie of the installation at the first two shows
⇒ SEE a page of 80 stills from the installation
| DEMONSTRATORS | REPUBLICANS | MASS MEDIA | AUTHORITIES |
|
Street Medics Green Dragon Media March (FAIR) Not In Our Name Mousebloc on Broadway NY Civil Liberties Union Aron Kay (aka Pieman) Code Pink Prometheus Radio Billionaires for Bush Legal Observers Pauline Oliveros Critical Mass Jello Biafra Indymedia noRNC Clearinghouse NY Radical Cheerleaders |
Karl Rove Tommy Franks Mary Matlin Mayor Michael Bloomberg Don King The Texas Delegation Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison VP Richard Cheney and wife "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Triple H Young Republicans Governor Rick Perry Daryl Worley Arnold Schwarzenegger Pat Green Protest Warriors |
Ted Koppell/ABC Larry King/CNN Wolf Blitzer/CNN Bill Schneider/CNN Sean Hannity/FOX & ABC Triumph the Insult Dog/NBC NY1 New York Post ABC7 |
Secret Service Undercover Scooter Cops Everyday Beat Cops Cops from Out-of-Town Union Cops Raging Police Captains Detectives The Elite Bicycle Unit Firemen The Copper Copter (w/ spotlight) The Blimp! |
last edited June 2004
RYAN JUNELL is a San Francisco-based media designer. His video work includes artful non-fiction about travel, politics, media, and society. His music videos and music films have appeared in programming on MTV2, MTV Europe, ResDVD "Resistance", Sonar Festival (Spain), The New York Underground Film Festival, and dozens of galleries and clubs in San Francisco and New York.
He produced and directed a short documentary about Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry on the campaign trail in Iowa last summer. In 1995, Junell interned at the Texas Governor's Office in Washington D.C. His duties included reporting on committee hearings and creating daily news briefs for then-Governor George W. Bush.
Since 2001, Junell has performed live mixes of original non-narrative videos as part of the experimental improv quartet Sagan featuring the audio talent of Prix Ars Electronica recipients J Lesser, Blevin Blectum, and Wobbly. Sagan released "Unseen Forces" - a 40 minute music film on dvd and audio cd in the fall of 2004 on Vague Terrain.
Junell honed his producing and fundraising skills as a primary organizer of The Webzine Event Series, an annual conference in San Francisco (1998/1999/2000) and New York (2001) about independent publishing on the internet and the power of independent media.
see more of Ryan's work here:
⇒ Superbarn.com
| PRODUCTION TEAM | |
| J LESSER AUDIO DESIGNER |
Experimental sound designer and musician from the Bay Area. He has created many immersive audio environments for his solo and collaborative work. He received an Honorable Mention Award for Digital Music at Prix Ars Electronica in 2001 for his record Gearhound (Matador). His music in collaboration with Matmos and Kid606 was featured in the Whitney Museum's Bitstreams Exhibition. He also traveled the world as a special member of Matmos on Bjork's Vespertine tour. Hear J's work at ⇒ http://www.lsr1.com. |
| ERIK WATERMAN VIDEOGRAPHER |
Erik spent his formative years in Washington DC and is no stranger to democracy in action. He spent many weekends on the Capital Mall observing and photographing numerous social demonstrations. After moving to San Francisco in the mid-90s, he continued to involve himself in political movements, while extending his photography skills to web publishing and videography. He has worked with underground volunteer organizations and events, including Whisper Media and the Video Riot, to inspire politically inactive citizens. A collection of his photographs from a demonstration in the Spring of 2003 in San Francisco can be seen at: ⇒ http://www.macroscopic.com/photos/warsigns. |
| NIKA OFFENBAC VIDEOGRAPHER |
Nika OffenBac's work has spanned machine art, video performance, installation and experimental film. Initially trained as a metal smith, she holds a BA in Interactive Design from The California College of Art, with emphasis on visual logic systems for robotics and sensor driven environments. An active member of the San Francisco underground, she has VJ'd and orchestrated elaborate club environments under the auspices of D7. She has worked on documentaries internationally, and with established artist such as composer Pamela Z, emmy winning director Carlos Bolado, and the research group Sponge, as well as performing with artists like Ellen Alien and Ritchie Hawtin,. Currently based in New York, she continues to amass professional experience in the film and broadcast world in addition to co founding C-TRL Labs with Devan Simunovich. View Nika's reel at http://www.c-trl.com. |
| DEVAN SIMUNOVICH VIDEOGRAPHER |
Devan Simunovich is a New York based visual artist with roots in the San Francisco lo-tech community, contributing to early Blasthaus, B.O.L.T. and Omnimedia events with lo bit visuals and vintage machine installations. Devan has built a visual vocabulary spanning web and interactive design, broadcast animation and experimental video. He has shown works at festivals internationally, As a VJ he has performed extensively and held residencies in the SF and NYC. He has VJ'd for Dj Krush, Ritchie Hawtin, Theivery Corporation, Kruder & Dorfmeister and The Crystal Method among others. View Devan's reel at http://www.c-trl.com. |
| MONTGOMERY KNOTT CREATIVE ADVISOR |
Founder and curator of the Monkeytown space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn which presents evenings of simultaneous culinary, video, live sound and art installations. Montgomery sings in a band called Stars Like Fleas. He was born near Chicago and raised near Columbine High School. He spent a long time in Austin, Texas and a short time in Barcelona. ⇒ http://www.monkeytownhq.com |
| DIANA PITTMAN PRODUCER |
A project manager based in New York. She has extensive experience managing people and events for Sun Microsystems. She holds a bachelor's degree from the American Studies department at the University of Texas at Austin. She handles booking and logistics for this video project. |
| EDDIE CODEL PRODUCER |
Eddie Codel is a founding member of the Flexomatic/Indyvoter.org tech collective based in San Francisco. He reaches out to non-profit, activist and community organizations who have an interest in organizing and growing by realizing their real world offline social networks. Eddie also connects with other advocacy and organizing platforms who would like to play nicely with Indyvoter.org. Eddie coproduced the Webzine Event Series (1998-2001) with Ryan and others. He also has also spent time as a systems and networking geek for now defuct dot-coms such as Inktomi, FastForward Networks, and Phoenix Pop Productions. ⇒ http://www.eddie.com |
These websites, texts, and movies help give a big picture view of the convention's political landscape and cultural significance as it stands today.
"See the Elephant!" (aka The RNC Video Project) is sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions to Fractured Atlas may be earmarked for support of The RNC Video Project and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
| TAX-FREE DONATIONS THRU FRACTURED ATLAS | NORMAL DONATIONS | ||
| CHECK | ONLINE | PAYPAL | AMAZON |
|
Fractured Atlas c/o See the Elephant! 812 22nd Street San Francisco, CA 94107 |
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| CONTACT Ryan Junell ryan@junell.net |