Cut and Paste, the Old-Fashioned Way

The event is called "CUT 'N TASTE." Invites were sent out and several Instant Video friends show up at our house ready to make a collage and eat birthday cake. My birthday.

We have boxes of old magazines, glue, and a bucket full of scissors. Right away, guests want to get busy; they are quiet. Everyone gets into a flow. And I promise everyone that I will use these collages in an upcoming Instant Video.

Then: SEVEN WHOLE MONTHS GO BY...in a flash!

And I'm just finally getting to it. I wanted to get this done before the end of the year. And, it's been so long, I've already started to forget who did what! All this time I've kept these "works of art" in a folder on my desk, unlabeled.

I know there's work here by Julia Fenn, Brian Mitolo, and Michael Martyn... There's work by Ray Barker, Hartley Stephenson, Marly Francoeur, Dave Stewart, Wayne Elliott, and Jay Plouffe. And Michael Fredrickson... Maybe someone else I'm forgetting. Thank you for your brilliant cut-ups.

By the end of the night, we have over twenty works. Cut and paste, the old-fashioned way. Using patience in selection with intuition in placement, a pair of scissors and some glue.

No real idea for the video yet. No particular song in mind. No theme. But I'm sure we can do something...

One idea is to plaster an entire wall with the collages and have Tammy perform in front of them. But I feel strongly about doing service to the artfulness of these creations. I want to see them CLOSE-UP.

Maybe I'll do it with a hand-held camera; CLOSE-UP. Maybe I'll use a tripod or maybe I'll just scan them...EXTREME CLOSE-UP.

I have to focus on this now to make it happen. Thursday's the day to shoot. Friday to 'pload. Instant Video style, I have to include one live unedited take. Maybe I'll project a slide-show on top of Tammy, shoot that, and then, graft the shot back into the slide-show in the editing. We'll have to see what images randomly match up with words.

I know I'll have to steal some time to prep. Shoot it late. Then, render it overnight. And who knows if it'll actually work. But I've got to try it. Friday morning... I'll wake up and see.

Late! It's been seven months in the making. I guess another few hours won't hurt.



Houdini Style
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I can't come yet I'm still underwater
Houdini-style, Denial's daughter
trying to undo all these knots I have tied
hands busy on the inside

Charlie you know that I love you
our eyes are like mirrors and our souls are like two
birds of a feather we talk together
and we fly so high

And you're in my heart like the stars and the moon
are in the night sky and I'll be there soon
as these maiden's hands of mine unravel this fear
until then I am here

So I can't come yet I'm still underwater
Houdini-style, Denial's daughter
trying to undo all these knots I have tied
hands busy on the inside