Tenure Dossier: Research Creative Production

Evidence of
CREATIVE
PRODUCTION
TABLE OF CONTENT
3.1
Introductory Essay: About My Creative Process.............................. 4

Multimedia - Intermedia ......................................................................... 7
Learning & Teaching Digital Art ............................................................. 6
Chicago Art Scenes ............................................................................... 9
Collaboration ......................................................................................... 11
3.2
3.3
LIST OF EXHIBITIONS ........................................................................ 12

MOST RECENT & IMPORTANT PROJECTS ...................................... 26
OBJECTS .............................................................................................. 28

Torn from Britannica
30
Film & Video Paintings
48
Video Art-Cade
56
Video Suitcase
60
Truck-Jector
64
Video Printmaker
68
Video Clothes
70
TV-Stick
72
Jigsaw Loop
74
PERFORMANCE .................................................................................. 76
ABOUT THIS BOOK

Due to the nature of time-based and site-specific art many of my projects cannot be viewed in
their original form. With this in mind, I chose to create a document that includes still images,
text descriptions and a short collection of videos in order to provide a simulacrum with the appropriate contextual information.
Most of the descriptions in this document do not revolve around style or arrangement of
content but rather how the artworks came about. I want to demonstrate how my extensive
personal research, creative collaborations and various art scenes create the environment into
which an extensive collection of artworks in many media and multiple formats are born.
Rook - TV
78
Rook @ CMGF
84
Lollapalooza
88
Earth Day / Earth Night
90
Fashion Shows
92
Transamoeba
94
Super-Fun Movie House
96
Musical Performance
98
Travel Show
102
DIRECTORIAL ......................................................................................
112

LOOPTOPIA
114
PRDF@MCA
124
Montana Artist Residency
128
Red Cabinet Theater
130
Workshift
134
Fear of Falling
136
Privacy
140
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
3.1
INTRODUCTORY
ESSAY
ABOUT MY
CREATIVE
PROCESS
MULTIMEDIA & INTERMEDIA
An important distinction necessary to discuss the types of
Multimedia is the combination of digital media; intermedia
artworks in this book is the difference between intermedia
is the creation of new media. It is far easier to teach multi-
and multimedia. Multimedia is commonly understood as the
media because it involves teaching techniques. Techniques
combination of several digital art making processes. Most of
can be practiced and mastered. The intermedia approach re-
my classes are multimedia in nature. Students explore and
quires the student to have studied many media before they
mix photography, video, sound, animation and interactivity
are able to understand how or why to merge them.
in different ways in every class. Most of my artworks are

also multimedia. One example is the DVD that accompanies
Through intermedia research and experimentation I have
this book. DVD is a popular multimedia art-form combining
explored a wide range of art forms, learning only one or two
interactivity, video and sound.
techniques in some media and mastering others. Multimedia

is the area that I have studied the most and is the area that
Intermedia can be defined as the mixture of art making
I feel the most comfortable teaching. Many of the artworks
process with the intention of creating a new hybrid medium.
in this book are examples of intermedia but every project in
There is an added focus on generating a new repeatable
this book uses multimedia techniques.
technique. This crossbreed employs the most necessary

elements of the parent media. This often requires as much
IN THIS BOOK
invention in designing the process as the product. In many
MULTIMEDIA
cases I either created a machine or a group of people that
Rook-TV - video-interactivity
page 78
allowed me to produce additional artworks or performances
Lollapalooza - video-sound-interactivity
page 88
using the same new media.
Musical Performance - sound - video
page 98
Montana Artist Refuge - animation, video page 130

There are two distinct approaches to intermedia. One is
collaboration the other is research and experimentation. If I
NTERMEDIA
was composing a multimedia performance, and decide that
Video Suitcase - video-chat-sculpture
page 60
I want a viola, I have to either call a violist or buy a viola
History Whistle - Video-printmaking
page 68
and start practicing. In many cases I begin looking for a
Video-clothes - annimatied-garments
page 70
specialist, to either collaborate or teach me. On more than
Red Cabinet - tele-puppetry
page 128
one occasion I have collaborated with acrobats, surgeons,
Fear of falling - video-trapeze-viola-dj
page 136
drummers, or fashion designers. I have, on other occasions,

taught myself how to sew, silkscreen, solder, or rock, (dancing while playing the guitar and singing loud and fast).
6
CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay
Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PRODUCTION
LEARNING & TEACHING DIGITAL ART
CHICAGO ART SCENES
Unlike other professional artists that keep their style or
I was specifically interested in pursuing a graduate degree
I moved to Chicago in 2001 to take a position teaching com-
as the Grunge style became popular. They helped estab-
techniques tightly guarded as their trade secrets, I open up
for two reasons. First, I wanted to continue my creative
puter graphics and web design at Saint Xavier University. I
lish a stylized rock scene in Chicago that both reflected the
my bag of tricks for my students every day in class. Most of
research in the mixing of art media. I didnt want to just
was teaching only half time and was spending the rest trying
style in other American cities and evolved it. Their success
these tricks are framed in lessons that teach my students
study music or painting. I wanted to find a place where the
to figure out the complex workings of Chicagos many art
helped import other bands of similar style to Chicago such
how to learn. My approach is designed to offer basic prin-
instructors encouraged, or required, students to mix media.
scenes. I had spent the majority of the preceding years in
as Pearl Jam and Nirvana who were also just starting up.
ciples and digital fundamentals that encourage my students
Second, I wanted to follow in Janes artist / academic foot-
small rural Midwestern cities. I traveled to this hub several
Eventually, they outgrew The Metro and moved on to larger
to pursue a more sophisticated knowledge through personal
prints.
times for field trips and vacations. Each time I visited, the
venues like the United Center, Lollapalooza and compa-
depth of possible entertainment options afforded a Chica-
rable sized venues in other cities, thus opening the door
research. This allows my students to learn while discovering

how to learn. Students are then expected to teach the rest
The University of Iowa offered me an expansive set of tools
goan blew me away. Every night, it seemed, the museum,
for new talent to occupy The Metro stage. The fact that the
of us what they have discovered.
but still relatively little technical training. The Intermedia
gallery and theater options were endless. I was sure that
venues constantly open up in Chicago is indicative of this
program was founded on the principle of exploring hybrid-art
breaking into this creative scene was possible, but until I
scene. Ralph told me that, Every Chicago stage can be
When I graduated from Mount Mercy College in 1997,
forms through conceptual works of art. Media theory and
moved here I had no idea how inviting it really was.
yours sooner or later. The really interesting people eventu-
digital art & design was in its infancy. Although the tools
critical analysis occupied most of the classes. While I was
were available to create basic 2D digital compositions, there
there, I taught myself how to animate 2D images in time
When I arrived in Chicago, I knew two people. Jayne Hile-
artist to have a chance. This is not necessarily the case in
was little or no technical training being offered. I taught
and I discovered the basic principles of web development
man and Ralph Barton. Jayne and I had worked on a sculp-
places like New York or Los Angeles, where stars can oc-
myself how to employ the theories of color and composi-
through an extensive period of trial and error. I shared my
ture selection committee at Mount Mercy College in Cedar
cupy the same stage for twenty or thirty years.
tion discussed in class on the few Macintosh computers
research and technical knowledge with my colleagues nearly
Rapids, Iowa in 1999. When I began teaching at Saint
equipped with early imaging software. While studying these
every evening in the studio as we took turns directing major
Xavier, we carpooled for two years and she introduced me to
Regardless of whether it is style driven, media defined or
digital visual tools, I was also exploring a wide range of
collaborative projects. These collaborative and self-taught
both the inter-workings of Saint Xaviers academic structure
venue specific, I cannot understate the value of the art
other approaches to art including music, sculpture, painting
lessons became my digital art courses and are the founda-
and the history of Chicagos creative neighborhoods. Ralph
scenes of Chicago to my development as an artist and art
and theater. I discovered early on that I was uninterested
tion for the classes that I teach at Saint Xavier.
and I studied together for several years at the University of
instructor. The scene functions as creator, audience, teach-
Iowa. He introduced me to his art scene. On the day that
er and student. This is even more valuable in the case of
in studying these disciplines independent of one another. I

often created images, printed them out and combined them
After graduation, I have continued to study, experiment and
I arrived in Chicago, he hosted an exhibition of my work at
digital art. First, and foremost, digital art is an ever-changing
with paint and sculpture to create unique digital / analog
create artworks in many media. With every breakthrough in
his Red Door Gallery in Bucktown. On that first day, I met
art form. The digital art scene offers a regular opportunity to
artworks. I had a unique roll model in this arena in a profes-
my studio, a new lesson is formed for my classroom. Each
dozens of artist with whom I still collaborate regularly.
not only see this evolution but also to discuss the technical
sor named Jane Gilmor. Her artworks often mixed sculpture
new lesson offers another distinct opportunity to evolve
with video and audience participation. She was also quite
that knowledge through the individual explorations of my
Ralph also introduced me to the revolving door principle that
at SXU came straight out of conversations with digital artists
interesting because she was a successful artist and instruc-
students. As they use my new knowledge, they find new
defines many Chicago scenes. An example of this can be
at these scene driven exhibitions.
tor simultaneously. She taught us how to mix the structure
directions in which that knowledge can be used and in turn
seen in the history of one Chicago rock band, the Smashing
of the academy with the improvisation that working with an
instigate further research.
Pumpkins. In the early 90s, The Pumpkins held a residency
A scene might begin as a niche clique of media or style
at The Metro, a north side rock club. During their reign of
specific artists, but through exhibition and critical evaluation,
weekly rock shows, they played to larger and larger crowds
these groups sometimes grow into scenes as other like-
audience or other artists requires.
ally move up to somewhere else making room for the next
process with the artist. Many of the techniques that I teach
COLLABORATION
-minded artists join in. One example of this is PRDF, The
on TV. The photography in the advertisements that fill most
As I mentioned several times already, collaboration is a key
while improvising. One example was the famous Midrange
PRDF (Peoples Republic of Delicious Food). was both
mainstream print publications differs in both function and
component of my art. Perhaps, I learned this growing up in
Traffic Jam. At five-o-clock on a roof twenty yards from
a multimedia arts organization and a scene in itself. On
intent from the photography in galleries and museums.
a small house with lots of siblings or maybe in the front yard
the freeway, ten to twelve musicians ranging in skill from
one hand, PRDF functioned literally as a list-serve, (An art
This difference is the divide between popular commercial
with a baseball. With only one person a baseball is ter-
bedroom-rocker to members of the Chicago symphony or-
exhibition opportunity would be fed in and 5 50 people
digital design and contemporary experimental digital
ribly inert. If somebody else joins you, a game of catch can
chestra collaborated to entertain stranded passengers. This
would turn out to present artworks) but on the other hand,
art. As an instructor at Saint Xavier, I teach digital founda-
ensue. As more and more neighbor kids pour into the yard,
particular session taught me that the most skilled musician
there were dozens of situations in which PRDFs events
tions that can be employed in either of these arenas, and I
a full baseball game can occur, and regularly did.
is not always the best collaborator, the ability to share the
would function as recruitment opprotunities. These events
know distinctly different groups of artists that meet to exhibit
fueled an internal appreciation for the collective conscious
and discuss the nuances of each. It is quite necessary to
I enjoy painting by myself and making music with one or
of the group. By making art together, showing art together,
look at and discuss each slightly differently. Without an art-
two other people, but if I intend to create a live performance
Learning how to collaborate and the ability to identify good
critically analyzing the artworks within a stylistic standard,
ist community as robust as the one here in Chicago, these
dozens of collaborators are often necessary. With the addi-
potential collaborators are lessons I want my students to
PRDF established a style of improvisational multi-media per-
conversations often get muddled in value judgments, as to
tion of each new artist, it becomes increasingly necessary to
know. As many of my students intend to pursue digital
formance happening, in which, audience members became
which is more pure, or more valuable. Both approaches
compromise. Not every body can play pitcher, for instance.
design careers, they should understand that most profes-
participants and eventually members. On one occasion,
exist for important reasons and must be discussed on their
A good team, with a good coach (director) will choose the
sional multimedia projects require dozens if not hundreds of
described later in this book, PRDF put out a call to action
individual merit. I depend on two different groups of artists
best pitcher to play this role. Over the years, I have had the
artists to work in union with their egos in check. After years
that drew over one hundred creative participants - including
to help me stay abreast of contemporary issues in both of
opportunity to play many different positions in my collabora-
in theater and multimedia events, the director / sub-director
many first-timers.
these categories.
tions. Sometimes, I am the star, sometimes I am building
method for producing large-scale productions is not only ef-
the stage, and sometimes I am the director. In each project,
fective, it is often absolutely necessary.
collaborative experience is equally important.
The PRDF scene was critical to my creative development
I also rely on these artists as collaborators. As an artist with
I look for the necessary balance between the scale of the
by providing me with several of my most successful early ex-
a background in theater, music and art, I thrive on artist and
project and my creative contribution.
hibitions, but the VJ scene has given me the most useable
audience interaction. I often refer to it as creative gasoline
technical insights. A VJ is a live digital video artist. I have
that fuels my production. The scenes described here are
I have discovered in my studio that collaborators are not
learned more about digital art, both theoretically and techni-
only a few of the many artists and audiences that refuel me.
only necessary to create large-scale productions. Some-
cally, from this scene than any other educational experience
times, it is simply the merger of expertise that makes a
that I have had. I see at least one new video performance
I must appreciate that not all artists or students have this
collaboration beneficial. I have experienced this quite often
every month. Each show promises an oprotunity to view
type of relationship with their audience, but for those who
with music. Many times the person with the best rhythm
both new approaches to the media as well as each artists
do, I have both experiences and venues to share. During
plays the drums in order to keep time, regardless of whether
unique techniques and style. I know that I will also get a brief
the time that I have been at SXU I have learned how to use
that person is a drummer or not. A simple beat is sufficient
tutorial if I ask.
these scenes and have taken every opprotunity to first intro-
to drive the music. When a real drummer enters the scene,
duce my artowrks into these venues and creative circles and
suddenly his range of skills with the instrument can dramati-
then introduce them to my students.
cally alter the options available to the band.
The artists and designers that make up the VJ scene are

very important to one another for reasons beyond theory
10
and technical discourse. All of us are familiar with com-
This principle is often the driving force behind my atten-
mercial digital art. It surrounds us in the grocery store and
dance at jam sessions. I can audition many musicians
Sometimes you
have to create
the collaborative
situation where
fire spinners &
Baptist choirs
can meet and
enhance each
others art.
Earthday
2006
page 72
11
3.2a
CHRONOLOGICAL
LIST OF
EXHIBITIONS
12
13
Video Performance - Chicago Motion Graphics Festival - Society for the Arts
Video Installation - Version 03: Rook vs. Rotten - MCA
Video Installation - Looptopia: Living the River Green - Wabash & Wacker
Video Performance - Persistence of Vision - Buddy
Director - Looptopia: Underground Art School - Palmer House Hotel
8
8
2003
Video Performance - The Last Analog - Galapagos Art Space - New York City
Video Performance - ROOK vs. LOOL - Emory University - Atlanta, GA
2008
Photo Exhibit - Photo Frames - Chicago Art Department
8
8
Video Performance - Chicago Motion Graphics Festival - Daily Planet - NBC Tower
Video Screened - Philly from Philly (Her Coma Soars) - Philladelphia PA

Performance - Summer Solstice - MCA
Video Performance - Summer Media Jam - Helena, MT
Video Performance - Track Side - Billings, MT
Video Performance - Codes and Secrets - Basin, MT
Video Installation - Wander Lust - Cell Space - San Francisco, CA
Video Installation - Vision of Labor - SXU
Video Installation - Dressing Light - 1 North Wacker
Video Performance - Broken Clown Interlude - Buddy - Chicago / Atlanta
Video Performance - Earth Night - with DJ Spooky - Hot House
8
8
Video Performance - Zoo Station - Slims - San Francisco, CA
2007
Video Screening - A+ Videos - Hyde Park Art Center
2002
Painting Exhibition - Around the Coyote - Flat Iron Building - Wicker Park
8
8
Video Performance - Version 02: PRDF vs. Mercaba - MCA

Video Performance - Workshift - Farmstead - Cedar Rapids, IA
Video Installation - SOFA - Navy Pier
Video Performance - Spundae - Vision
Video Premier - Privacy - DePaul University

Painting Exhibition - Faculty Show - Chicago Art Department
Video Performance - Earth Day: Edge of the Earth - Edgewater
Video Exhibition - Introducing ROOK - Red Door Gallery
Solo Exhibition - Analog Boy Meets Digital Girl - Mount Mercy College, IA
Video Performance - BER-SETZUNG - Dortmund Germany
Video Screening - SAIC MFA Fashion Show 2006 - Marshal Fields

Video Exhibition - Dressing Light - Chicago Cultural Center
8
8
Video Performance - Gross Anatomy - Transamoeba / 4Arts Inc
2006
Video Installation - Hostel Audience - Florence, Italy
2001
Video Performance - Flavor for Fashion - Chicago Cultural Center
8
8
MFA Exhibition - The Sexton at Irish Valley - Museum of Art - Iowa City, IA
Video Performance - Lenny Dee show - Old Brick Church - Iowa City, IA
Painting Exhibition - Area Faculty Show - Cornell College - Mt. Vernon, IA
Video Composition - Reasons To Dream - Fred Woodard - Bucharest, Romania

Exhibition - BER-SETZUNG - Museum of Art - Iowa City, IA
Video Performance - Zoo Station - Folsom Dance Hall - Folsom, CA
Video Performance - Zoo Station - Slims - San Francisco, CA
8
8
2000
Video Performance - Gross Anatomy - 4Arts
CD ROM - Catalog - Science Fair Exhibition - Museum of Art - Iowa City, IA
2005
Video Performance - Zoo Station - 21st Amendment - San Francisco, CA
8
8
Performance - For the Earth - music by Misha Burstein - Studiolo - Iowa City, IA
Video Screened - Drive Thru Fly Thru, Thassaloniki, Greece
Installation - 2 Rooms - Bridge Space, U of I (main art building)
14
CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS

BY NATHAN PECK
8
8
2004
Sculpture Exhibition - Faculty Show - SXU
1990s
Video Performance - Fear Show - Links Hall

Video Performance - UnderShorts Festival - Congress Theatre
Installation - Composite - The Checkered Space - Iowa City, IA
Installation - Temple of Rites/ Rights - Iowa City, IA
International Electronic Arts Festival - Skopia, Macedonia
Video Performance - Equalize the Arts - Wicker Park
Exhibition - Adjunct Faculty Show - Mount Mercy College - Cedar Rapids, IA
Installation - 5 Ways to Exhibit Hanging Bricks - Bridge Space - Iowa City, IA
8
8
Painting Exhibition - Jurors Choice - Purchase Prize - Perpetual Bank - Cedar Rapids, IA
Installation Exhibition - Jurors Choice - Davenport Museum of Art - Davenport, IA
Solo Painting Exhibition - Introducing Nathan Peck - Live Wire - Tipton, IA
Performance - close open close - Mount Mercy College - Cedar Rapids, IA
Exhibition - Regional College Art Show - Cedar Rapids Museum of Art - Cedar Rapids, IA
Solo Sculpture Exhibition - DOORS - Mount Mercy College - Cedar Rapids, IA
15
3.2b
GEOGRAPHY OF
SIGNIFICANT
EXHIBITIONS
16
17
CHICAGO VENUES
GEOGRAPHY OF
SIGNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS
BY NATHAN PECK
10) WICKER PARK / BUCKTOWN

- Rodan
- Flat Iron
- Smart Bar
- Sonotheque
- Subterranean
- Society for the Arts
11) HUMBOLDT PARK

- Catalyst
12) LOGAN SQUARE
- Congress Theatre
- Logan Square Auditorium
16) EDGEWATER
- St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church
8) WEST LOOP
- Fulton Market
3) BRIDGEPORT
-Texas Ballroom
- Zhou Brothers
1) BEVERLY
- Saint Xavier University
4) PILSEN
- Chicago Art Department
- Drive Thru
- Pilsen Lumalive
11
12
10
2) HYDE PARK
- Old Hyde Park Art Center
- New Hyde Park Art Center
13
8
4
7
3
6
1
5
2
6) SOUTH LOOP
- Transamoeba
- Hot House
14
15
16
15) SHERIDAN PARK / UPTOWN
- Loyola University
14) LAKEVIEW / WRIGLEYVILLE

- Lake Shore Theatre
- Links Hall
13) LINCOLN PARK
- Chicago Historical Society
- Park West
9) NORTHLOOP
- Kaleidoscope
- Le Passage
-Funky Buddha
7) DOWNTOWN - LOOP
- Grant Park
- NBC Tower
- Palmer House
- Marshall Fields
- Wacker & Wabash
- Chicago Cultural Center
- Museum of Contemporary Arts
5) BRONZEVILLE
- Illinois Institute of Technology
VENUES WHERE I HAVE CURATED,

EXHIBITED OR PERFORMED
VENUES WHERE MY STUDENTS HAVE
ALSO EXHIBITED OR PERFORMED
18
NOTE: In many cases we have performed

in the named venue multiple times.
19
lower
upper
1608
STUDIOS
600 SQ. FT.
lower
CATALYST STUDIOS
HUMBOLT PARK
STUDIO / RESIDENCE / GALLERY / THEATER
1608 STUDIOS
upper
WEST PILSEN - STUDIO / RESIDENCE
studio
CHICAGO ART
DEPARTMENT
1,000 SQ. FT.
lower
Established 2007
aprox. 12,000 SQUARE FEET
6 STUDIOS - 4 RESIDENCES
MAX. CAP. - 1000
Established 2003
aprox. 600 SQUARE FEET
3 STUDIOS - 3 RESIDENCES
MAX. CAP. - 30
upper
TRANSAMOEBA
STUDIOS
4,000 SQ. FT.
lower
TRANSAMOEBA STUDIOS
SOUTH LOOP
STUDIO / RESIDENCE / GALLERY / THEATER
upper
CHICAGO ART DEPARTMENT
Established 2000
aprox. 4,000 SQUARE FEET
5 STUDIOS - 4 RESIDENCES - 3 GALLERIES
MAX. CAP. - 300
EAST PILSEN - GALLERY / STUDIO
BACK
GALLERY
Established 2004
aprox. 1200 SQUARE FEET
3 GALLERIES - 2 STUDIOS
MAX. CAP. - 150
MY CHICAGO STUDIOS
CATALYST
STUDIOS
12,000 SQ. FT.
20
XL
GEOGRAPHY OF
BY NATHAN PECK
21
IOWA CITY, IA
CALIFORNIA
FOLSOM
Zoo Station - Folsom Dance Hall
SAN FRANCISCO
Zoo Station - 21st Amendment
Zoo Station - Slims
Wander Lust - Cell Space
MONTANA
BASIN
Montana Artist Refuge
Codes & Secrets - Basin Cafe
HELENA
Helena Summer Media Jam - Helena Quarry
BILLINGS
Track Side - Billings Rail-A
rts Compound
IOWA
CEDAR RAPIDS
Workshift - Frmstead Meatpacking Plant
Analog Boy Meets Digital Girl - Mount Mercy College
Area College Faculty Show - Cornel College
Art About Town - Jurors Choice - Perpetual Bank
close open close - Mount Mercy College
Regional College Art Show - C.R. Museum of Art
DOORS - Mount Mercy College
IOWA CITY
BER-SETZUNG - Museum of Art
The Sexton at Irish Valley - Museum of Art
Lenny Dee show - Old Brick Church
Science Fair Exhibition - Museum of Art
Installation - Composite - The Checkered Space
Elements - Studiolo & International Center
Temple of Rites/ Rights - International Co-op House
For the Earth - music by Misha Burstein - Studiolo
2 Rooms - Bridge Space
5 Ways to Exhibit Hanging Bricks - Bridge Space
DAVENPORT
Installation Exhibition - Jurors Choice
Davenport Museum of Art
WISCONSIN
OSH KOSH
Even Further - Osh Kosh Grand Opera House
22
ILLINOIS
CHICAGO
Chicago Motion Graphics Festival - Society for the Arts
Looptopia: Living the River Green - Wabash & Wacker
Looptopia: Underground Art School - Palmer House Hotel
Photo Frames - Chicago Art Department
Chicago Motion Graphics Festival - NBC Tower
Wander Lust - Cell Space - San Francisco, CA
Dressing Light - 1 North Wacker
Earth Night - with DJ Spooky - Hot House
Around the Coyote - Flat Iron Building - Wicker Park
A+ Videos - Hyde Park Art Center
Privacy - DePaul University
Faculty Show - Chicago Art Department
Earth Day: Edge of the Earth - Edgewater
Flavor for Fashion - Chicago Cultural Center
SAIC MFA Fashion Show 2006 - Marshal Fields
Dressing Light - Chicago Cultural Center
Gross Anatomy - Transamoeba / 4Arts Inc
Version 02: PRDF vs. Mercaba - MCA
SOFA - Navy Pier
Spundae - Vision
Fear Show - Links Hall
Equalize the Arts - Wicker Park
UnderShorts Festival - Congress Theatre
Faculty Show - SXU
Version 03: Rook vs. Rotten - MCA
Persistence of Vision - Buddy
Summer Solstice - MCA
Vision of Labor - SXU
Broken Clown Interlude - Buddy - Chicago / Atlanta
BASIN, MT
NEW YORK, NY
HELENA, MT
OSHKOSH, WI
PHILADELPHIA, PA
BILLINGS, MT
DAVENPORT, IA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
FOLSOM, CA
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
CHICAGO, IL
LOUISVILLE, KY
ATLANTA, GA
KENTUCKY
LOUISVILLE
PRDF vs the Chef - Lower Louie Loft
PENSYLVANIA
VILLANOVA
Philly in Philly - Villanova University
NEW YORK
NEW YORK CITY

The Last Analog - Galapagos Art Space
GEORGIA
ATLANTA
Broken Clown Monologues - Red Cabinet Theater
ROOK vs. LOOL - Emory University
AMERICAN GIGS
GEOGRAPHY OF
BY NATHAN PECK
23
EUROPEAN GIGS
GEOGRAPHY OF
BY NATHAN PECK
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Reasons to Dream - 2000
Video Composition for Fred Woodard, Chair of the

African American Studeis Program at The University
of Iowa. The video / annimation accompanied his
poetry in a performance in Bucharest. I was unable
to attend.
DORTMUND, GERMANY
BER-SETZUNG
2001
DORTMUND, GERMANY
BER-SETZUNG - 2001
Video Composition created for BER-SETZUNG

(german word for translation) exhibition in Iowa.
The exhibition, including work by Iowa and Dortmund
artists was presented in both cities. I attended this
screening and worked at the Universitat Dortmund
for one month during the summer..
FLORENCE. ITALY
Hostel Audience
2006
SCOPIA, MACEDONIA
International Electronic Arts Festival - 2004
Several videos from the gallery that I co-currated

were selected for inclusion in this eastern European
media festival. Several members of the gallery
attended this event, although my wo
rk was shown, I did not.
(see IEAF - Research book page 108)
THASSALONIKI, GREECE
Drive Thru - Fly Thru - 2004
While attending the International Electronic Arts

Festival in Skopia, our gallery members were invited
to guest curate a night of video in a Greek performance space. Several of my videos were among
those shown.
(see Drive Thru - Fly Thru - Research book pg 108)
SKOPIA, MACEDONIA
International Electronic Arts Festival
2004
FLORENCE. ITALY
Hostel Audience - 2006
THASSALONIKI, GREECE
Drive Thru - Fly Thru
2004
Three 45-minute improvisational Video performances in Florence, Italy.

(see Hostel Audience - Research book page 106)
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Reasons to Dream
2000
24
25
3.3
MOST RECENT &
IMPORTANT
PROJECTS
26
27
OBJECTS
Torn from Britannica ................ 30
Film & Video Paintings ............. 48
Video Art-Cade ......................... 56
Video Suitcase ......................... 60
Truck-Jector ............................ 64
Video Printmaker ..................... 68
Video Clothes ........................... 70
TV-Stick .................................. 72
Jigsaw Loop ............................. 74
28
29
TORN
From Britannica
A giant stack of picture frames and encyclopedias
inspired me to create the largest series of painting
/ collages that I have made in over ten years. The
series that has driven this increased production is
called TORN from Britannica.
All of the content in these works are derived in one
form or another from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Text and image are glued to canvas or wood and
stained with a rich brown and blue. In some, the
information from the encyclopedia is very readable and ironically interesting and in other cases,
the data seems to be of little or no importance
as your eye is drawn over the scaled surface that
gets its pattern from the books architecture.
(columns, binding, page numbers).
Recycled messages and scraps of paper

form the textured surface of these oil-collages.
Each one is a unique Intermedia Encyclopedia Remix
Take a Number
2008
30
CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Objects

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
Essay - CREATIVE PRODUCTION
31
32
Timed Eyes 2006
32

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
33
Solo Exhibit: Chicago Art Department 2007
I was invited by my friend, Justine to show paintings in her

studio during the annual Wicker Park Art Festival, Around The
Coyote at the famous Flat Iron building. I decided to use this as
an opportunity to test drive this new TORN series. Thousands
of painting enthusiasts visit the Coyote festival every year. I
had hundreds of conversations, sold most of the paintings and
was interviewed for a television show.
34
CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Geography
Over the past three years, I have created over one hundred paintings in this series. I decided that I would pursue this series as long as I still had raw material from this
one particular 1968 volume of encyclopedias. I have
experimented with variations in size, subject, matter and
have developed 5 distinct sub-series.
One of the key factors in the evolution of this series was a
I have exhibited these paintings extensively. They have been
studio change. I shared a 1200 square foot SouthLoop
shown at Catalyst (Humbolt Park), Flat Iron Building (Wicker
loft with 6 artists for several years. In the past year, I moved
Park), Park West (Lincoln Park), Transamoeba (South Loop),
into a much larger space on the north side of Chicago, in
some cool little coffee shop downtown that closed up and
which I have approximately the same amount of space all
turned into a Starbucks, and finally a solo exhibit at the Chi-
to myself. The paintings have grown. The first paintings
cago Art Department (Pilsen). Many of my colleagues and
were small 5 inch by 5 inch squares. And the most recent
students came out to join the regular 300+ Second Friday
are 5 foot by 5 foot monster canvases.
crowd.
Geography - CREATIVE PRODUCTION
35
36
Series One: Small Squares

THE SURFACE SERIES
Series Two: Little MenTHE SOLDIER SERIES
These were the first studies for the Torn from
The uniform and medical illustrations were
Britannica Series. These paintings rely heavily on the use of the drilled binding holes, text
36
always my favorite part of my old encyclopedias. I decided that I had to at least
columns and page numbers.
experiment with them.
These paintings are 5 x 5 inches.
These paintings are about 4 x 6 inches.
37
Turn Learn
Window Series
2007
38
39
Knob Creek 2006

Mike Portal 2006
Series Three: The Abstracts

THE WINDOW SERIES
These were the first large paintings from the
Torn from Britannica Series. I started each
painting by choosing a frame and working backwards to the painting. My primary
agenda with this series was to explore positive and negative space. I wanted it to seem
like you were in a brown room looking out a
window into a blue world.
40
41
Tabloid Part One - Microphone

Super Size Series
2007
42

Introductory Essay
Tabloid Part Two - Microscope

Super Size Series
2007
IntroductoryObjects
43
Internet Part One

Telephone 2007
Thirty Year Cockburn 2007
Series Four: Zoom

SUPER SIZE SERIES
Series Five: Irony

REMIX & TWIST
This series involved blowing up some of the
This series also started with the frames.
images from the encyclopedia. My large

drawing overlaid a surface composed with
much smaller text. This created an effect
of readability from very different viewing
distances.
Each of the paintings uses page titles and

illustrations from the encyclopedia to create
an ironic or sarcastic twist. This was also
the first series to include a couple of electronic paintings, one that employed sound
and the other video.
44
Objects - CREATIVE PRODUCTION
45
Superrnaturalism Supply & Demand

Remix & Twist Series
2007
High Court of Hundreds

Remix & Twist Series
2007
46

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
47
FILM & VIDEO PAINTINGS

For several years, my friend Trevor Arnholt has hosted the Chicago UnderSHORTS Film Festival at the Congress Theater. The call for artist
asked for short underground films. Trevor was very familiar with the
video paintings that I did in Montana, (see TRACKSIDE BILLINGS) and
asked me to design something with a similar sensibility for this festival.
I decided to play with the idea of duration. In Montana, the idea was to
Series: Short Round Films
Title: VERY DIGITAL
(on a scale of analog to digital)
2006
48

Introductory Essay
present videos like paintings, projecting very short video loops onto the
ten little gallery walls designed for paintings. For the UnderSHORTS
Festival, I decided to flip it. This time, I showed paintings fashioned out
of film and video paraphernalia on the walls at a film festival.
IntroductoryObjects
49
Each painting in the Short Film Series

started with a still frame from a video in my
collection. I cut the image to fit the center
of the round canister and then attached a
dial that gave the image a score on a scale
from analog to electric to digital. I found
one image to fit each score. My intention
was for this series of paintings to show the
range of artistic approaches in my videos.
So, in addition to being a series of paintings, they were also a series of documents
of my videos.
The Short Video Series was a little bit
different because the paintings could be
presented in two very different ways. In
some exhibitions, I present them open
on a wall like a painting. In other shows I
have them closed and shelved like a video
collection. Each one has a printed insert
like movies at a video store and when the
case is opened the viewer sees the videoa two page spread, like a book, made of a
combination of photos and paintings.
Short Video: MISS NG HISTORY - 2006
After the Undershorts film festival, I was invited to my Alma Matter to exhibit my work
during their annual Reunions Weekend. I
presented the same series of paintings
and photos packaged in video cases and
film canisters and called the series 9 Short
Round Films and 11 Short Videos. This
time I also include a few new ones, including several electronic paintings. One had
a video screen mounted inside and several
others had little USB keys that I painted
and glazed. These USB keys had the
video from which the still image had been
taken and inferred another level of interaction. Several computers in the gallery
allowed the viewer to plug in and see the
rest of the painting.
Short Video: GRIME - 2006

50

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
51
NTERACTIVE
2005
5252 CREATIVE
CREATIVE
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION
- Objects
- Introductory Essay
Introductory
Objects
Essay
- CREATIVE
- CREATIVE
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION 5353
55
ge
e
l
l
o
C
rcy
e
M
t
n
Mou
bition
i
h
x
E
Solo
Analog Boy Meets Digital Girl Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids
54

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
55
57
56
First live video

software research
with Matthew Butler
@ University of Iowa
- 1998
First performance
using live video software
@ Old Brown Church in Iowa City
with DJ LennyDee
- 1999
Move to Chicago
connect with several
video artists & sculptures
- 2000
First MIDI research

using piano keyboard
with VJ MINDTRAP
aka Myles Fagan
- 2001
Several performances
using MIDI and live video
First research with
Arkaos VJ (software)
- 2002
Artist residency
@ Drive Thru Studios
Video-Art-Cade - VERSION 1.0
Debut @ SOFA - Navy Pier
- 2003
Video-Art-Cade
@ SXU, AVIT
Equalize the Arts
& Undershorts
- 2004
Video-Art-Cade
@Transamoeba Studios
for dozens of events
including ResFest
- 2005

redesign using
much smaller
Mac Mini
- 2006
Video- Art-Cade is part of

Analog Boy Digital Girl @
Mount Mercy College
in Cedar Rapids
- 2007

redesign using
Mixman (hardware)
- 2008
Video-Art-Cade is
not really a game
it is more like a fun
story telling device.
VIDEO-ART-CADE
2003 - 2008
his sculptures interactivity is the
result of years of investigation, starting in
MINDTRAP, (Myles Fagan) who had
I designed a program that would let a user call up
City. His system used MIDI, a hardware
high powered computer. Each key had a different
assigning sounds to piano keys. The
user typed.
the doors to a wider range of interface
1998 at the University of Iowa. Matthew Butler and
56
56
When I arrived in Chicago, I met VJ
been doing similar research in New York
videos from a library using the letter buttons on a
language usually used by musicians for
video and the videos changed as rapidly as the
advantage of MIDI is that it opened up
CREATIVE
Essay
CREATIVEPRODUCTION
PRODUCTION- -Introductory
Objects
devices.
Introductory Objects
Essay - -CREATIVE
CREATIVEPRODUCTION
PRODUCTION
57
Version
1.0
The Video-Art-Cade is made

of two principle parts:
the exterior - cabinet
and the interior - electronics
The cabinet was constructed by sculptors, Eric Medine
and John Dae, using wood, plastic and metal. It was built
from scratch using blueprints downloaded from the web.
I designed the interior. I connected a TV to a computer
via a scan converter. I then connected a small piano keyboard & Phatboy knob box to the system by using a MIDI
switch.
The Video-Art-Cade has

seen 3 distinct versions.
Version
3.0
Each offers more user control

and requires less hardware.
This sculpture debuted at SOFA, the Navy
Pier sculpture show as part of the ART BOAT ex-
hibition that took viewers on a 3 hour yacht cruise onto

Lake Michigan.
In the fall of 2003, I was invited to be a resident
artist at a Pilsen gallery called Drive Thru.
I created a regular monthly VIDEO JAM featuring local video artists and electronic musicians. I also had a solo exhibition of my paintings and videos at the January Pilsen Gallery
Opening.
58
Introductory Essay
Another product of the Drive Thru Studios residency was a collaborative video sculpture project undertaken with the studios Artistic Director, Eric Medine. Video Art-Cade is an interactive video art game that
allows the viewer to perform and modify a series of video clips that
I prepared. Designed to imitate a 1980s video arcade game, this
sculpture entices the viewer to interact because it is an icon for play.
Art-cade has also been a part of several other sculpture

and digital art exhibits including Persistence of Vision, the
UnderSHORTS Film Festival, AVIT, The Chicago International Video Performance conference, SXU Faculty Art
Show and Analog Boy Digital Girl at Mount Mercy College
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
IntroductoryObjects
59
LANGUAGE
of
TRAVEL
had just purchased
two tickets for a Smashing Pumpkins

concert in San Francisco, (they had just
monitor and a telephone handset into

the suitcases and began testing consistency of communication from different locations in
reformed the band after 5 years off), when I was
my house to different locations in the city. I arrived
reminded that I had agreed to contribute to the
at a suitable solution and then installed one in the
Language of Travel exhibition at CAD. I decided
CAD gallery on 18th street in Chicago and got on
to capitalize on the conceptual twist that I would be
an airplane.
in a San Francisco on the evening of the Chicago

travel exhibit.
In San Francisco, I contacted a friend of mine in

The Mission District. She arranged an exhibition at
I immediately began exploring video, software and
the arts education gallery called Cell Space (which
network systems. I wanted to find an efficient and
coincidentally is also on 18th street). All evening,
portable way to create an interactive communica-
audience members in Chicago got live reports from
tion sculpture. I chose to use old suitcases as an
my vacation. from 1500 miles away two 18th street
obvious icon for travel. I installed a computer, video
educational art galleries were connected via travel

sculpture.
60

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
61
mac
)))
(( 1500 MILES
THE VIDEO SUITCASE

62
Telecommunication Sculpture
ma
IntroductoryObjects
63
truck-jector
recycled sculptures
Living the River Green - Looptopia

64
Introducing a multi-media inter-agency recycling program

live performers
crowds
Chicago River - Wacker & Wabash

May 2nd 2008
65
them, and we would tell everybody about
TRUCK-JECTOR
it. We made a simple change that created a

functioning loop, and we wanted to celebrate
Living The River Green LOOPTOPIA, Wacker & Wabash
it communicate it and encourage it.

We would demonstrate the process by having
UPS drop off the first loads of recyclables to be
turned into sculptures by artists and architects
on the riverfront for the Looptopia event. The
sights and the sounds of artists celebrating the
natural beauty of the city would surround the
sculptures. My contribution was a hybrid UPS
Truck-jector (interactive video trucks). UPS
provided the big brown trucks and we covered
the back gate with projection material and
hid a video projector in the cab. I contracted
several local video artists to compose content
for the vehicles. I also asked students from my
classes at Saint Xavier University to contribute.
Two trucks were installed outside on the corner
of Wacker and Wabash. Inside one of the
trucks was Chuck Prysbl, a local VJ and video
artist, the other, a group of UIC grad students.
The video in the rear of the trucks flashed in
time with the music and performances going
on around it. Although it rained that evening,
hundred of people braved the elements to view
our sculptures and the accompanying fire and
music performances.
66
This was a very ambitious project and its potential lies
the Mayors Office for Special Events and the artistic direc-
deep within its conceptual construct. Tom Laport, with the
tors of the annual Looptopia all-night downtown art event.
City of Chicago Water Department proposed a large-scale
We were trying to hatch a plan in which, we would create
multi-arts celebration of the natural elements in the city,
an artwork about recycling that kicked off a functioning
specifically the Chicago River.
recycling partnership.
He contacted me (a video artist and art professor), Dominic
By the end of the meeting, we came up with a very simple
Johnson (an orchestra leader), Koko Pauli (a clothing de-
plan. UPS would use its trucks to pick up recyclables
signer), and Steven Kishmohr (an architect and chairman
from Loop Alliance businesses (that they already drop off
of Chicagos AIA, American Institute of Architecture). We
packages to) and deliver them to a nearby blue bin. Loop
met with the Chicago Loop Alliance, United Parcel Service,
businesses would prepare the returns, UPS would deliver

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
67
VIDEO
PRINTMAKING
I refer to this process as video-printmaking because

it incorporates the multiple plates often necessary to
create a complex printed image and the dimension of
duration, intrinsic to the video medium.
Many printmaking techniques involve the use of several individual plates, often one for each different color.
When these plates are each inked and their individual
parts are brought together on the paper, you see the
completed image. In video printmaking, the different
layers function a bit differently. Instead of each plate
offering a different color, each plate offers a different
plane of focus. As the cameras auto-focus jumps from
layer to layer, the viewer sees each plane for a moment and their mind completes the image.
How it Works
In order to create the focus shifting effect, two things

are necessary. First, it is necessary for the plates to
be at different distances from the camera. Second, a
strobe is necessary to trigger the cameras focus jump.
I designed several different versions of an apparatus
that would accomplish this. The first was little more
than a CD rack and television with bad vertical hold.
The plates were CD JEWEL cases with parts of the
image printed on transparency. The TVs scrolling vertical lines created a throbbing light that made the camera reconsider which layer to focus on, and did so to a
consistent beat. By adjusting the V-hold knob on the
TV I could reset the speed of the throb and therefore
the tempo of the video. I have since fabricated a 5
foot wooden version and have assisted in the creation
of a clear three-foot table top model made from plexiglass.
History Whistle and Beyond
The first video I created using the video-printmaking

technique was titled History Whistle. The image was
dissected into many layers. When brought together, it
resembled a dial or clock. It was originally a painting
that I made for Ralph Barton for Easter. I chose to
translate that one because he had made the strange
statement that it would make a really great video. I
decided to take the challenge. I have since made
several videos using this strategy and the throbbing
focus shift has become a trademark style of Rook-TV
(see ROOK-TV). I have also taught this process to
several other artists and have seen it utilized in both
gallery and commercial applications.
68

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
69
The most interesting of those collaborations was Video

Clothes, wearable art that included LED screens
VIDEO CLOTHES
Dressing Light Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago
For several years, I have collaborated on art and design projects with Belgium Fashion Designer and School of the Art
Institute Fashion Instructor Anke Loh.
She initially contacted me after seeing my video at the Chicago Cultural Centers Flavors of Fashion Exhibition (see Food
& Fashion). She asked me to help her catalog her students projects in my VJ style for a fashion show at Macys at the
end of the semester. I designed 3 videos that played between each of the runway projects. The videos received very favorable reviews from her colleagues, students and families instigating several conversations about future collaborations.
70
Introductory Essay
sewn into shear black evening dresses. She made the

dresses and I composed a series of animations about
Chicagos Red line train.
As the models moved around the room, red lines and
text streamed across their bodies. The show premiered
at ONE NORTH WACKER a downtown office building with a 3-story glass atrium. Our models moved
from one sculpture stand to another while large videos
projected a city montage. The show then moved to the
Chicago Cultural Center in downtown for a month long
exhibition. Routers covered the show and stories appeared on NPR and in Chicago Magazine.
IntroductoryObjects
71
TV-STICK
Performance Sculpture
REVIVAL OF DIGITAL FAITH was the PRDF contribution

and it used the TV STICK in a different way. This time, it
became a spiritual video offering to the revival crowd, (see
Monk. In the performance, video cameras were located

all over the stage and performers. Some were in the ac-
PRDF@MCA).
tors mouth, others on the tips of pencils. All of the video
carrying it. I have carried it in parades, displayed it in galler-
Later that year, the TV STICK was re-purposed once again
back out to a large screen. The technology was new
ies, and choreographed it for dancers.
for involvement in a site-specific video installation / perfor-
The TV-STICK is a puppet or a mask or a staff or a weapon

depending on what image is on the screen and how you are
mance at Wilson Farmstead Meat Packing Plant in Cedar
was then transmitted backstage mixed and projected

and unpredictable but over the course of the production,
I learned many tricks and strategies for the best use of
video transmission within performance.
It originated in a series of sketches leading up to a perfor-
Rapids, Iowa. In this piece, the TV STICK operated as a
mance, in which we were mixing tribal drummers with danc-
mask, or puppet displaying the faces of past workers as
ers and video projection. The TV STICK mirrored a weapon,
they told stories of their trials and tribulations.
Other plans for the TV STICK include A TV FAMILY with
The video transmitter is the most effective strategy and the
a dinner table. And THE TV SOLDIER, a project that
torch or tribal staff.
72
featured two art legends Ann Hamilton and Meredith
Three months later, PRDF took part in the Museum of Con-
research was the direct result of working as a stage techni-
temporary Arts Version>03 Digital Arts Festival. PEOPLES
cian on a large multimedia production called MERCY, which

Introductory Essay
different sticks of different heights conversing around
This is How it Works

The TV-STICK is a very simple sculpture. A small
television is fixed to a wooden pole via simple pipe
joints. The TV is battery powered and the video
feed can come from several different sources.
Video Transmitter
Wireless video input from DVD, laptop, or VCR
Portable Video Device
Cable from the performers belt or pocket
Small Live Camera
Battery Powered & Fixed to the top
would include several TV STICKS in a gun rack or

marching with soldier faces on the screens.
IntroductoryObjects
73
I was asked to attend a class that Mike Nourse was offering at CAD, designed around creative presentation of
photography. This was a departure from our usual theme
driven classes so I decided to see what he was up to. The
exhibition requirement for the class stayed the same. We
had 4 weeks to workshop our projects before the regular
Second Friday gallery open-house.
I wanted to explore interactive output of photography. I
decided to try printing photos as jigsaw puzzles so that
people could assemble them during the exhibition. My
first impulse was to photograph some of my newest paintings because the way I assemble them is very similar to
the process of assembling a jigsaw puzzle. I wanted the
viewer to have the same experience with the puzzles that
I had creating the paintings.
During the weekly critiques, I had a difficult time communicating that idea and most of the students in the class
than the Britannica paintings. I photographed the painting
thought I was trying to stretch a concept that most viewers
above from several angles and utilized an online jigsaw
would miss. I thought back to a project that I had done
service to print them. The final pieces were called Jigsaw
several years back. I assembled a jigsaw puzzle, flipped
Loop: a puzzle of a photo of a painting on a puzzle.
it over, did a painting on the backside, broke the puzzle
JIGSAW
LOOP
into several quadrants and fixed them to masonite. Most
Interesting true fact: A group of 5 women, all teachers from
of these puzzle paintings were distributed to friends but
different neighborhoods in Chicago, met for the first time
one remained on my wall. I decided that this painting was
at the puzzle table that evening and spent an hour and a
far more appropriate subject matter for this photo series
half completing one of my puzzles.
Puzzles made from

photos of paintings
made from puzzles
74

Introductory Essay
IntroductoryObjects
75
PERFORMANCE
Rook - TV .................................. 78
Rook @ CMGF ........................... 84
Lollapalooza .............................. 88
Earth Day / Earth Night ............. 90
Fashion Shows ........................... 92
Transamoeba ............................. 94
Super-Fun Movie House ............... 96
Musical Performance .................. 98
Travel Shows
............................ 102
76
CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Performance
Performance - CREATIVE PRODUCTION
77
79
ROOK-TV
LIVE VIDEO PERFORMANCE
I create artworks in many formats. My most prolific

media are painting, video and song writing. I have
composed nearly one hundred paintings this year and
have sold many. I am currently finishing an album of
15 new rock songs and have performed them live at
galleries and open mics all over Chicago. Yet, I am
still known best in my community and am afforded the
most travel opportunities as a VJ. A VJ is an artist that
performs (remixing, recomposing and effecting) video
in real time with live musicians (often DJs).
This type of artwork happens to be an interesting combination of music and painting. A VJ is responsible for
composing in length and width like a painter, and in
time like a musician. The reactionary editing of the VJ
makes their art form different from that of a filmmaker,
it is much more improvisational.
This system can be set

up in about 5 minutes in
nearly any venue with
electricity and an empty
wall or screen.
78
I have used the tools and techniques of the VJ to create

either massive immersive video environments that fill the
viewers entire periphery or simple contextual backdrops
for multimedia performances. This art form changes
dramatically based on the venue. When I am composing for a theater, fashion show or rock stage, I might be
in charge of delivering important plot points or in some
cases, the entire narrative versus when composing for
a nightclub / party environment, I must consider my artwork moving dcor for the room.
My video content and the software technology that I
teach in Computer Graphics and Multimedia become
very portable when driven by a laptop, Oxygen8 (a small
2 octave MIDI- USB keyboard), and a video projector.
This system can be set up in about 5 minutes in nearly
any venue with electricity and an empty wall or screen.
This style of fast cutting video mixes very nicely with
many different types of music provided by the venues
DJ or band. During the past years, I have performed in
countless venues, bringing this unique (though recently
widely accepted) art-form to the public. I do shows ranging from the high paying corporate gig, to the pro bono
fund-raiser.
The name ROOKTV began as a name associated with

my strictly commercial projects, in order to differentiate
between projects where I had complete creative control
and those where I am just designing somebody elses
idea. However, since being hired full time at SXU, I do
my best to receive as much creative liberty on every
project that I take, ROOK-TV and Nathan Peck are now
essentially synonymous in my creative circles.
Two recurring themes in my classrooms are collaboration and the mixing of analog and digital art forms.
Both of these elements also appear in my personal research and creative development. I have worked, in
the past year, with singers, dancers, acrobats, graphic
designers, programmers, cameramen, art historians,
surgeons, violinists, fire spinners, djs, models, curators,
gallerists, ceramicists and more.
This marks the end of my 7th year teaching at SXU and

my 7th year of relentless exhibition based in Chicago.
Below is a summary of the highlights from the last year.
Not included are dozens of one-night engagements at
nightclubs, private events and parties all over the city
wherein, I was the featured visual artist. I have included a brief description of each of the events highlighting
a particular aspect of each multi-faceted collaboration
or exhibition. I dont necessarily consider these to be
the only interesting creative activity, but happened to
have garnered the most publicity and peer review.
79
PEIDAY-SOUTHSIDE-SWITCH
PEIDAY-GRAFFITI-ITI
PEIDAY-DIVISION
PEIDAY-ASHLAND-ARMITAGE
PEIDAY-BOY-GIRL-TRAIN
PEIDAY-SOUTHSIDE-BETTER
VJ ARTISTRY:
80
Prerecorded content comes in three varieties: pop culture, personal footage, and friends video art. My col-
CREATION vs
COLLECTION
lection includes hundreds of examples of each. The
A VJ has many options for collecting video. Some-
cision left up to the artist. Andy Warhol and Robert
times, I do an entire show using only live cameras.
Rauschenberg opened the door to commentary on pop
Usually though, I like to have prerecorded content to
culture through creative remixing in the 1960s. Hip
mix and scrub (to adjust the speed of fast forward and
Hop took off a decade and a half later and sampling
rewind in time with music).
has been a part of the creative menu ever since.
images on this page are from one series of personal

footage called PEIDAY.
PEIDAY - SOUTHSIDE-BETTER
There are several obvious benefits to each type of

content. And I believe that it is a purely stylistic de-
I enjoy shooting short films. I dont, however, enjoy film festivals. I enjoy the ability to perform the same
short film in a different way every time I present it. The two things that change the meaning or mood of a
video more than anything else, are tempo and the sound track. The images on this page switch from sullen to belligerent, depending on whether you have U2 or 50 Cent on the speakers. At every performance,
I am able to tell very different stories with the same content by reacting to the music and choosing the
best order and speed to perform them.
81
TOP TEN
2. MF CHICAGO
5. SPECTACLE - with Creative Chaos
8. URBAN DIALECTIC
Location: Subterranean Wicker Park
Locations: Funky Buddha, Sonoteque Near North
Location: Congress Theater - Logan Square
I was also excited to perform at my other favorite Wicker Park
On many occasions, ROOK-TV and Creative Chaos ( Aaron
The Congress Theater is a 3000 seat concert hall.
venue, Subterranean, (recently remodeled to include video
Edwards - Tim Shoen) work together. Creative Chaos has
Urban Dialectic was a 3 day music and urban youth
projection). In the time since Rodans LOCALE event ended,
a very similar video performance strategy as ROOK-TV but
culture conference.
this has become the new venue to serve as a regular summit
chooses to secure more long-term venues. Funky Buddha,
was held at Congress Theater with 20+ musical acts. I
This page describes my favorite Rook-TV shows not
for like-minded video artists and often spurs new technical or
and Sonoteque offer regular weekly events that Creative
was invited to enhance both the theater as well as the
mentioned elsewhere. This list includes exhibitions at
artistic projects.
Chaos hosts.
grand entryway with video.
3. BIG IN TEXAS
Over the past 6 years, I have performed with Aaron more
I called Creative Chaos and a number of students to
Location: Texas Ballroom - Bridgeport
than any other VJ. We taught each other many tricks and
take part in the planning and performing. Colin Luce
1. LOCALE SUNDAYS
7 DJs were scheduled for one evening at Texas Ballroom and
collaborated on shoots and share a lot of footage. At one
from Saint Xavier University and Pei San Ng & KS
Location: Rodan - Wicker Park
I was asked to find 7 VJs to match up with the musicians. Two
particular performance of his, in which I was not perform-
Rives from Chicago Art Department, all took part in the
I was invited by Caton Volk, video producer / curator /
huge video projections would occupy the walls of this 6000
ing, I walked into Grant Park at dusk to see him projecting
evenings performance.
promoter, to perform at the live video night at Rodan on
sq ft, two and a half story loft. Two Saint Xavier students,
a video that I had created years ago. The video was of the
twelve different occasions over its two-year run. I was
Laura Dagys and Stephen Lewkow, were among the seven
Sears Tower from several different angles around the city.
9. IGNITE: a GEN-ART Event
also invited to perform for the 100th anniversary of the
VJs that I collected. The event was a unique teaching envi-
He was projecting this pulsing video on two 40-foot screens
Location: Kaleidoscope - West Loop
weekly event.
ronment because although the students had rehearsed their
and the Sears Tower was framed perfectly between them.
GEN-ART is a leading arts and entertainment orga-
VJ
ROOK
TV
GIGS
The kick-off to the conference
galleries, nightclubs and studio lofts around Chicago.
performances, they had never performed them outside of the

This particular weekly became synonymous with fresh
classroom. At Texas, they had a chance to perform in front of
6. IMVF - Independent Music Video Festival
designers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists.
music, art, and conversation. The room became more
several hundred people.
Location: Subterranean Wicker Park
With offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francis-
Video curator, Caton Volk was presenting an evening of
co, Miami, and Chicago, Gen Art produces over 100
and more crowded every week, with the most exciting

electronic artists and curious Wicker Park scensters.
4. REMIXERS LOUNGE
progressive independent music videos. He decided that
events annually ranging from week long film festivals,
Out of all the events that I have done in Chicago, this
Location: SmartBar - Wrigleyville
he also wanted to include live video artists as they often
to massive star-studded fashion shows, DJ competi-
regular opportunity to plug into my chosen audience
I was invited by Galina Schevechenko, video artist / promoter
perform video for music. I was invited to perform with one
tions, art exhibitions, multimedia events, and more.
provided me with the most consistent critical feedback
to guest host several evenings of video at the uptown Smart-
of the bands.
For the IGNITE event, I was in charge of the video
and enthusiastic appreciation for my artwork.
This
Bar (the nightclub below The Metro, rock venue). Each eve-
event was also pivotal in introducing a large audience to
ning was entirely different as the events upstairs often brought
7. SPUNDAE
the medium of VJ. In the time since Locale started and
a very different crowd down with them after the show. My
Location: Excalibur / Vision night club - Loop
eventually ended, dozens of nearby, Wicker Park ven-
personal highlight was performing video with the members of
Five different occasions, I shared the stage with world class
10. Entheon
ues have introduced video projectors and opportunities
LCD Sound System (top 40 rock /dance fusion band).
DJs at Chicagos Largest night club. Thousands of people
Location: Various
danced below the $10,000 video system under my control.
Chicago Burning Man Community Events
for visual artists to perform.

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nization dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion
artists that were going to perform. Three Chicago Art

Department students were among the artists.
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ROOK
Chicago Motion Graphics Festival 2007
Location: Daily Planet NBC Tower - Loop

This annual festival in its 5th year, took place in several different big name post-production studios
around town, arriving at Daily Planet in NBC tower for the final night. I was invited by video curator and
Art Institute motion graphics professor, Mason Dixon, to perform for the closing reception.
I arrived to discover that I was performing in an all-red video cave. There were about 30 video monitors
and hundreds of switches and I was wearing a red-hooded sweatshirt, so was the DJ. We performed
CMGF
Chicago Motion Graphics Festival 2008
Location: Society for the Arts - Bucktown

The following year, My good friend, Mason Dixon, hosted his annual Motion Graphics Festival again,
calling on all the local, national and international talent that he could corral. The event spanned 10 days
and culminated in an Interactive Installation showcase at The Society for the Arts in Bucktown.
This event served as both a showcase and a summit for some of the most interesting, creative inventors
and collaborators. I was invited to VJ on the monster main screen and connect our event with an event
with our hoods on for about three hours on the 23rd floor, with a view of the lake and a blizzard outside.
in Los Angeles via Video Chat. Caton Volk, the cofounder of LOCALE Sundays, weekly VJ exhibition,
We featured lots of videos of fire, fire-spinners, fireplaces and fireworks, attempting to keep the video fire
started a similar event in L.A. He was also breaking new ground in the area of online performance with
stoked for our winter guests.
his project called Top Floor Live. Our Chicago event was connected with his L.A. event and artists and
audience members in both cities could chat and mingle.
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CMGF WORKSHOPS - Guest Instructor

Transamoeba South Loop
In addition to performing at the final event of the CMGF, I
was also tapped to lead several workshops. Most of the
participants in these workshops were professional motion
designers, my job was not to cover foundational material.
I was responsible for showing these video composers the
underground art form of video performance (VJ).
I transformed our downtown studio into a multistage animation creation center and video performance laboratory.
I collected a wide range of the industries best interactive
video software and tried to draw conceptual lines between
the tools that they are already familiar with and these new
on-the-fly approaches. Although the products of this oneday workshop were not quite museum-ready masterpieces,
the attendees learned quite a bit and several have linked
me to projects in which they utilized the information that I
delivered.
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Electronic Sophistication: Series 3

Lake Shore Theater - Lakeview
To promote the CMGF08 events, Mason Dixon also organized a screening / lecture series at the
Lakeshore Theater. For each event, he brought in a different video artist or motion designer to
discuss their current projects and the state of the art.
I presented my most recent interactive video sculptures and cross-country-video-drawing experiments that I did in San Francisco / Chicago in the previous summer. I also discussed my Chicago
Art Department projects and their role as community arts projects. The evening wrapped up with
a discussion of a proposed community action between organizations such as CAD and SXU and
Masons affiliations with SAIC and MIT. This project is called SCRIBBLE TV and is designed as
an Internet television project where students contribute time-based artworks and help search for
the best of the net video and motion graphics. The ideal output would be on kiosk style monitors
where users could not only watch the content curated by students but also contribute / upload
content for consideration.
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LOLLAPALOOZA
GRANT PARK, CHICAGO
I returned from a performance in San Francisco last year to find an invitation, tickets and wristbands for all of Lollapalooza,
Chicagos lake side summer rock spectacle. The annual Lollapalooza event invites several hundred musical and several
dozen visual artists to Grant Park to engage and entertain hundreds of thousands of rock and roll fans over three days.
My job was to project video onto two 40-foot geodesic half-domes created by a group of Burning Man artists. I helped install
the enormous architecture, complete with parachute skins, and each night would install multiple video projections in different
configurations to both enhance the sculpture and draw interest to our camp. The primary function of these enormous structures was to provide a space for people to get in and out of the sun or rain. Two out of the three nights it rained at some point
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and during the days the thermometer climbed well over one hundred degrees. Needless to say we had enormous crowds.
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EARTH DAY
2006
EDGE OF THE EARTH
St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church - Edgeview

This event was both an Earth Day celebration and a fundraiser for
Pilgrim Baptist Choir (who recently lost their church to a fire).
I performed video on two large screens while another VJ controlled
ceiling projections and still another performed on a screen in the
center of the stage. The piece came to a finale when our video
spectacle met a viola, flute, and turntable trio, performing with the
Baptist Choir and the SPUN fire dancers.
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EARTH NIGHT
2007.
DAISY WORLD with DJ SPOOKY

Hot House - South Loop
I was invited to VJ at an Earth Day event by some of the same promoters of last years EDGE of THE EARTH show in Edgewater. This year,
the event was at the Hot House, a South Loop performing arts venue.The
event featured the internationally renowned Hip Hop and Electronic artist,
DJ Spooky - also a music professor in Switzerland. Several artists and
musicians performed a composition based on James Lovelocks Daisy
World. I followed with a 45-minute improvisational video jam trying to
keep up with the super fast cuts of DJ Spooky on the turntables.
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FASHION SHOWS
FLAVOR FOR FASHION
Chicago Cultural Center
Downtown
LUMALIVE: Design - Style

Pilsen
Usually a couple of times a year, I get a call from
The city of Chicago operates a center downtown
one of my favorite clients, Anke Loh, a professor
where people can come and experience master-
of Fashion at the School of the Art Institute. In
pieces of art, theater, music, food, and fashion from
the past, we collaborated on several experimental
a variety of cultures. I was very flattered to receive
art / fashion projects, such as video-garments and
a phone call from the Chicago Cultural Center ask-
contextual video installation. I have also produced
ing if I could contribute my art-form to one of their
several video portfolios and documentaries of her
presentations. I performed live video art on a screen
work as design jobs. In winter 2007, she con-
while a DJ performed live music for a runway show
tracted me to design a video narrative for a series
based on collaborations between fashion designers
of garments that she had recently created. The
and chefs. Several TV news stations covered the
interesting part of this project was the interaction
event.
between the collaborators. This project was done
Svedka FUTURE FASHION

West Loop
almost completely over the internet. I never met

the photographer, layout designer or models. Most
of them lived in Belgium. Anke was the modera-
After my first, very eclectic, foray into fashion I
tor and translator. I was the motion designer and
was pleased to be invited by the director of Flavor
the projectionist. The video was shown in a giant
for Fashion, to work on a commercial project with
warehouse in Pilsen, along with two-dozen furni-
SVEDKA VODKA. They were producing an event
ture, fashion and graphic designers. It was also
that would introduce their product and ad campaign
on display on 3 giant plasma screens for a month
to the Chicago market and buyers. I was in charge
at the Chicago Tourism Center, in downtown.
of a creating a video fashion show, using their aesthetic of retro-future-chic and animating imagery that
their design team had generated for print ads.
SAIC FASHION 2006

Marshal Fields
Loop
Another off-shoot of the Flavor for Fashion event

was a call from the Fashion Department at the
School of the Art Institute. They had seen my performance at the Chicago Cultural Center and wanted
me to help them with a documentary project. I found
dancers to model the garments and shot the video
in the same room it would be presented in. The fastpaced video montage debuted at a runway event at
Marshal Fields in April of 2006.
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TRANSAMOEBA
South-Loop Intermedia Studio & Creativity Factory
When I first moved to Chicago, one of the few people

that I knew, Ralph Barton, suggested that I check out
Transamoeba as soon as possible. He likened this
space to Warhols New York Factory of the 1960s. I attended several art events there and realized what Ralph
had been trying to explain. This studio seemed to be
the center of a very substantial art scene in Chicago.
Artists of many different skill and media met regularly
to swap art and stories, and share the responsibility of
entertainment.
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Two years later, a completely unrelated project brought

me back to Transamoeba, (see Workshift). Since then,
this 3000 square foot loft in the South Loop has been
MY creation factory. The studio is shared by as many
as seven different artists at any given moment and the
crowd changes regularly. This room plays host to crowds

of 300 or more, fairly regularly and the audience always
expects the place to have changed dramatically every
time. Among the events, there have been fashion shows,
gallery exhibitions, open mics, salons and several very
non-traditional weddings. Electronic musicians and digital
visual artists consider this place a second home. Many
of the large-scale events listed in this book were conceived, executed, or staged at Transamoeba. Many of the
collaborators discussed in this text, met for the first time
at Transamoeba. I formed my first rock band there (see
ROOK ROCK) and have since recorded dozens of tracks.
In the winter of 2005, we designed an art school out of the
eclectic art tools that were unlike any traditional art school
anywhere (see CAD). Listed here are several of my favorite Transamoeba events.
Event: Salon Delavo

On many occasions, the resident artists at Transamoeba
hosted art-making events. We called them salons after
the French tradition, in which the participants sought to increase their knowledge through conversation, participation
and readings, often consciously following Horaces definition of the aims of poetry, to please and educate (aut delectare aut prodesse est). The Stein Salon was The First
Museum of Modern Art, by James R. Mellow.
Our salonnire was Deb Vogt, best known for her jewelry
and martini menu. Each Salon centered around a different
combination of artists / media and always drew a wide variety of participants. These salons were pivotal in keeping our
reputation as a create space as opposed to a party venue.
People figured out fairly quickly that they were supposed to
make something if they came to Transamoeba.
Event: ARTEC painting and video event
This event brought together two very interesting art scenes,
the Transamoeba & CAD group and the Buddy & Heaven
Gallery group. The result of this collaboration has since
spawned an organization called EQUALIZE THE ARTS,
dedicated to bringing together members of many other art
organizations to create citywide art events.
Event: RES FEST - Opening Night Reception

Res Magazine sponsors an annual world tour of innovative digital artwork. The tour has two main aims. One
goal is to promote the time-based artwork that they release on DVD with their magazines. The other agenda
is to find up-and-coming digital talent from all around
the world to promote in future events.
I was invited by video curator, Mike Nourse, to represent Chicago in an evening showcasing the best VJs
and DJs in town. Each VJ was paired with a DJ and the
audio / video collaborations were presented on several
screens and speakers throughout Transamoeba.
Audience members leaving the RES FEST event at The
Museum of Contemporary Art received free admission
to our exclusive opening night reception. Several curators, directors nd presenting artists were in attendance.
I also displayed my interactive video art / game ROOKTV. Res contacted me after the event and expressed
interest in showing ROOK-TV as part of the 06 / 07 Res
Fest Tour.
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SUPER FUN
MOVIE HOUSE
CHICAGO VJ SUMMIT
Transamoeba: South-Loop
During the two-year long, LOCALE, Sundays residency at Rodan, a

strong community of VJs formed in Chicago. After over 100 straight
weekly events ,the founders of LOCALE were abruptly relocated to Los
Angeles and LOCALE left with them, enjoying an additional 2 years there.
The vacuum created by their exodus, left the need for alternative VJ summits. The weekly event, in addition to being a visual showcase was also
a teaching and learning situation in which artists swapped software and
hardware advice. Super Fun Movie House was an event that was held to
fill this gap. Dozens of VJs showed up to swap clips and learn the newest
tricks.
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MUSICAL
PERFORMANCE
In the fall of 2003, I invited a student, Colin Luce to
my studio to work on a faculty Student Collaborative
Grant project. At the end of our meeting, he asked
to use the drum kit set up in the corner. Within minutes, several other resident artist materialized and a
band was quickly formed. Mike Nourse brought the
Montreal Garage sound and DC indie rocker, Nat
Soti, brought the Grunge. I sang and performed
video. Several months later, we added Chicago
bassist Jennifer Rosenthal, to round out the sound.
During Hive of Fives (H-o-5) lifetime, the band
functioned in two ways, first as the Transamoeba
house band for any event that required music. It
also allowed all of its members to learn the basics
of rock banding, from musical collaboration to stage
presence.
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LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT - CAD
Transamoeba South Loop

All of the members of the band took part in the Chicago Art
Department (see CAD in Service Section). The topic chosen
for the first CAD exhibit was love it or leave it. For the CAD
open house, Hive of Fives performed a thirty-minute piece
titled Lover Leaver. I performed a video accompaniment
that told the story of our lost loves.
STREET STUDIES - SXU & CAD
SXU Mount Greenwood

Hive of Fives was made up of SXU and CAD students and
faculty. In the spring of 2006, both groups were making art
about streets. The advanced Sound & Video class at SXU
was composing artworks in sound and video, for an end of
semester stage show, called CAD & SXU Street Studies - A
Chicago Intersection. Hive of Fives was slated for the final
performance of the evening and we performed a 15 minute
musical and visual medley about Paulina Street, the OHare
Blue Line and Belmont Avenue.
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SOLO PROJECTS
RECORDINGS
After about two and a half years, Hive of Fives
devolved into several side projects. I began working with a fellow Transamoeba artist, Deb Vogt,
on a series of songs based on our old poetry. We
found several opportunities to perform and record before she moved to Los Angeles. Several
of these songs have become sound tracks to my
videos.
I have since recorded and performed dozens of
songs in different studios and stages around the
city. I have also released two albums of all original content that merge rock, country & electronic
styles and instrumentation.
Rook Ruckus - up-tempo digital rock
Rook Rumors - down-tempo acoustic ballads
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COLLABORATIVE MUSICAL COLLECTIONS
Dusseldorf Choir & Ice Cream Truck

Digital-Musical Composition
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TRAVEL PROJECTS
Oaxaca, Mexico
Florence, Italy
Thassaloniki, Greece
Skopia, Macedonia
New York City
San Francisco
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MEXICO SHOOT
OAXACA, MEXICO
I spent two weeks shooting video in Mexico in

the summer of 2004. I shot most of the video
vertically in order to end up with tall thin video
projections. The content was shot for a video to
accompany a song about Juarez City Mexico by
Billy Serrano for MTV Espana. I chose to shoot in
Oaxaca becuase Juarez has become quite dangerous.
The song is about the true story of the murder of
hundreds of Mexican woman. The police seem
to be doing suspiciously little to help solve the
crimes and the city has appealed to artists to help
communicate their plight. One of my students, Arturo Galan, introduced me to this issue. We collaborated with Billy Serano to host an exhibition
ito raise awareness the previous year.
This project became the inspiration for a class
that I would later propose called Documentario
Italiano - The art of Video Storytelling on the
Road.
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HOSTEL
AUDIENCE
IMPROVISED VIDEO SCREENINGS

Ostello Archi Rossi, Albergo San Giovani
Florence, Italy
I intended to go to Florence for a five-day study

abroad conference in preparation for a course
called Documentario Italiano that I was going
to be offering the following summer. (see documentario Italiano - Teaching) I was informed only
days before that the program was canceled due
to a failed contract negotiation. I had a non-refundable ticket and a substitute teacher, so I went
anyway.
I decided that I would attempt to complete the
one month course that I had proposed in one
week - including exhibition of the project, whichwas instrumental to the course that I proposed. I
created a series of stories focusing on sculptures
as main charachters. I had them deliver lines of
dialogue. I shot and edited my work and began
looking for exhibition venues.I printed a few posters and drew a crowd of about twenty at Albergo
San Giovanni a Hostel with a large courtyard.
The sevond presentation was two days later
when I got permission to project a huge image
onto the front facade of Archi Rossi Hostel. One
image that stands out was from Gross Anatomy
in which the image of the Mona Lisa is contoured
to the shape of Digital Girls body. This image
was intended to represent the artistic ideal of
beauty in the original performance but took on a
different historical meaning when projected huge
on a building in Renaissance Florence, Leonardo
DaVincis hometown.
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INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC
ARTS FESTIVAL
Skopia, Macedonia
This event was curated by my gallery, Drive Thru Studios (Eric Medine
& Ralph Barton), and ran from October 1 - 9, 2004. The events took
place at several galleries, museums and nightclubs in Skopia, Macedonia. Several of my newest video compositions were a part of this event
including Dance French, Basin Revisited, and PeiDay.
DRIVE THRU - FLY THRU

Thassaloniki, Greece
As a part of the European tour, the Drive Thru Crew stopped and did a
video performance in Thessaloniki, Greece. The same video compositions mentioned above were screened but with local musicians providing a new sound track.
THE LAST ANALOG
ZOO STATION
Galapagos Art Space
Slims, 21st Amendment
My good friend, Chris Hales (aka DJ Tapedek) arranged
On three occasions I flew to San Francisco to add video to an
an event at Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg Brook-
extremely well received theatrical multi-media rock show. My
lyn. Being a Hartford native he wanted to bring together
most recent trip to was for an encore performance at Slims. Our
several of his favorite East Coast collaborators to do a
previous event had drawn a substantial crowd and the owners
Chicago style A/V set.
wanted my video to be a part of their return show. The band
Brooklyn, New York
San Francisco
ZOO STATION were doing a series of songs celebrating the 10th

Gallapagos Art Space was the perfect environment to
anniversary of U2s ZOO-TV tour. This particular rock tour was
create a relaxed theater style situation. Tapedek was
celebrated for its large-scale show that seamlessly combined im-
also celebrating his last official all-analog set. From that
age, sound and text. We wanted to simulate that strategy for this
point further, he would be showcasing his new digital
show. We added 6 televisions to the large video projection screen
turntable system.
that we had used in our previous show several months earlier.
While in New York, I did a bit of research and discov-
I cut up U2 videos from that era and we made text animations rel-
ered that I was staying less than three blocks from a
evant to our time to add to their texts from their time. I composed
recently discovered Jon Michel Basquiat / Fab5Freddy
with these text and image clips on the 7 screens with a MIDI video
mural. I arranged for an appointment to view the mural,
controller live in time with their guitars and drums. As this was
which was undergoing careful relocation to the Guggen-
an encore performance to our spring 2005 show, we were widely
heim. I watched the same preservationists that tend to
publicized on the San Francisco radio stations and about 900
Renaissance frescos contend with spray paint on sheet
people turned out for the show. A line formed around the block.
rock. The most fascinating thing is that this archeologi108
cal find was less than 25 years old.
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Slims - San Francisco
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Looptopia - Art School ................114
PRDF@MCA ............................. 122
Red Cabinet Theater .................. 126
Montana Artist Residency ........... 130
Workshift ................................. 134
Fear of Falling .......................... 136
Privacy .................................... 138
Gross Anatomy .......................... 140
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We turned Chicagos premier downtown ballroom

into a massive one-room schoolhouse for late-night artists.
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At the same meeting in which the plan for the River was
The entire event was free and open to the public. Participants
hatched, ( See Truckjector) we were told of another spot that
left having experimented with a dozen art forms, wearing a t-
Looptopia was trying to fill. Our Dream Team of city plan-
shirt they either silk-screened or image-pressed, a mask they
ners, downtown business people and underground artists
designed, and a collage on their new metal water bottle. They
had made quick work of solving the first problem, leaving us
also contributed to a stop-motion version of Exquisite Corpse,
with a bit of time to help them solve their second problem.
and got their photo and collage in our magazine. Our event
The river event was planned for 8-11pm but they were also
was the last one to shut down and collected the largest sus-
looking to fill a 1-4am slot with something fun, conceptually
tained population of any of the late night events. Hundreds
interesting, and above all, interactive.
of images and videos appeared the next day on youtube and

facebook. Our event was also featured heavily on the official
The location was to be the parking ramp under Millennium
Looptopia site.
Park. I quickly suggested the Round Robin art warm-up that

we have done for the first day of many CAD classes, (5-10
I directed this event. I worked with the citys largest produc-
stations with different art media to experience looking at the
tion company (Jack Morton: they do the Olympics), one of the
same still life or model). We evolved the idea to include wear-
most elegant historical hotels in the city (everyone knows the
able and competitive art forms.
Palmer House), and was given a budget for one evening that
matched my annual salary (and I came in $5 under budget).
After months of meetings, budgets, footprints and relocations,
Approximately one thousand people came to the art school
we ended up with an art school in one of the most elegant
and made something that night. I had the pleasure of hiring
ballrooms in Chicago. The art stations were designed to be
close to one hundred artists, performers and musicians to
cumulative, the Cut & Paste Zine station lead to the T-Shirt
make the event happen, (this included a dozen Saint Xavier
Station which lead to the Photo Fashion Show Station.
University students).
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PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF DELICIOUS FOOD (PRDF)
AT THE MCA, we created a Revival style performance
was an artist collective that operated through a list serve,
(aka: the Peoples Revival of Digital Faith), a digital fash-
when an event was proposed, e-mails and phone calls
ion show (aka: Our Sunday Best), a pulpit reading of a
went out. In some cases people showed up to impor-
digitally created text by The Reverend DJ (Untitled) and
vise , adding their unique artform to create a happening.
we offered neuro-feedback sessions (to allow people to
In other cases there would be two to three weeks of re-
see if they had enough faith to connect a computer to
hearsals before the event to generate a more sophisti-
their head via electrodes and see their brainwaves).
cated plan. This was one of the latter.

THE REVIVAL was the last of the evenings events at the
PRDF was contacted by Ed at Lumpen to take part in a
MCA and the room was packed. Our revival was a suc-
new inter/multi media event called VERSION. We ac-
cess because we were able to convert the masses and
cepted his invitation on the spot because it was to be
convince them to follow us down the street for a digital
held at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Myself being
throwdown on the domed ceiling and from the smoke
a contemporary Chicago artist, I couldnt turn down such
machine drenched balcony, overlooking 4 stories of
an offer. However, we were horrified to discover that we
dancing throngs in the main room of Vision. In all, more
were double booked for that evening. We had already
than 50 artists were involved with the two events.
agreed to perform video art at another new event called

Spundae, to be held at VISION, a converted cathedral
I got these photos from the MCA, from Catan Volk a year
nightclub downtown (recently named one of the best
later. He and Jeff Creath had by chance captured the
mega-clubs in the country by URB magazine).
performance on video from the front row.
VISION OR VERSION - so we called EVERYBODY including another arts group called MERCABA and at the
first meeting, we divided into two groups. Half would
concentrate on Vision, the other Version, though it was
understood that everybody would contribute to both. I
chose Version. The next few weeks were feverish as we
collected artists wrote scripts and created artworks to tell
one cohesive story in two of the best rooms in town on
the same night.
DIGITAL FAITH became our theme. As we were depending on computers for EVERYTHING and we were performing in two cathedrals (one for God and one for art).
PRDF@MCA
Peoples Republic of Delicious Food

@ The Museum of Contemporary Art
124
124
CREATIVE
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION -- Directorial
Directorial
Directorial
Directorial -- CREATIVE
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION
125
125
IN MY VIDEO DOCUMENT
Kelli Spangler is doing a very analog meditation, dripping color into glass pitchers.
The Reverend DJ (Untitled) turns on a
camera and light. The room lights up with
video projection of the liquid. The meditation is now Electrical. As Kelli adds another color, the color of the room changes.
Aduni enters with two light stewards, (she
has converted to electric) sees Kelli and
wants to learn more from her, in order to
spread her message.
Reverend J (with the Mohawk) enters with

a mass of followers interested in conversion. Aduni and her TV and light stewards
attempt to reproduce the beauty of Kellis
analog meditation in electrical media.
WHEN THE MUSIC CHANGES IN THE
VIDEO - As the revival progresses, the
attempts to communicate the simplicity of
the original message become more and
more difficult, so Aduni adds digital media
messages, to try and convince her followers.
Chaos ensues and miscommunication
becomes rampant as electric followers
of an analog meditation are accidentally
converted to the digital faith. In desperation, Aduni calls out for Kelli Reverend
J captures Kelli and she is offered as a
sacrifice to the digital monster that has
been created.
126
127
In 2001, between graduating from The University
RED CABINET THEATER
of Iowa and being hired at Saint Xavier University, I spent three months living and working
on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta,
Georgia. During this time, I began working with
two other U of I alums, Margaret Baldwin and
Ralph Barton. They had each taken part in the
U of I Intermedia workshop. This unique critical
environment encouraged media exploration
and mixing disparate art forms in unique ways.
Margaret is a playwright and sculptor, Ralph is
a performance artist and puppeteer and I am
a painter and videographer. We immediately
began talking about a project that would occupy
the next three to four years and allow us to
perform in four different states. Red Cabinet
Theater was formed to utilize our range of skills
and push the boundaries of live performance.
This is how it worked. Margaret wrote the plays
and created the puppet sculptures and mailed
them to us in Chicago. We would unpack the
play in a box and Ralph would get to work designing the sets and directing the stage action.
The sculptures puppets were often very small,
so my job was to install video cameras to cover
the stage and control the mix of content projected large on the wall above the action. When
everything was in place we would phone Atlanta
and Margaret would have a team of voice actors
on a conference call to perform the script. Our
telephone receiver was resting on a microphone
and broadcast over speakers. We called it
video-tele-puppetry because it was a hybridmedia that utilized each of these technologies in
a way that nobody had ever seen previously.
We performed under the title Red Cabinet
in Chicago, Atlanta, Iowa City, and several
locations in Montana. At one moment we had
performers in three different cities collaborating
on one performance.
The First-Ever Documented Example of the Exquisite Hybrid Medium
CROSSCOUNTRYVIDEOTELEPUPPETRY
128
129
MONTANA ARTIST REFUGE - I was invited
part in the Helena Summer Media Jam in a
to work with Atlanta Playwright, Margaret
limestone quarry in the center of town. The
Baldwin; Chicago performance artist, Ralph
projection of our live video performance was
Barton and Montana musician, MJ Williams,
spun around the 270-degree walls of the
on a one-month project in the mining town
white rock quarry, to create a large immer-
of Basin between Butte and Helena. Our
sive experience. Video was also projected
primary goal was to create a series of new
onto the floor of the quarry offering a unique
animations for our Red Cabinet Theater
view from the top rim.
Tele-Puppetry project.
TRACK SIDE - Billings, Montana
RED CABARET Basin, Montana
Finally, I was also invited to take part in a
As we finished our animation project, we
unique exhibition called Track Side. The
realized that we would still have a bit of time
event featured video artists from all over the
to present the performance in Montana.
country projecting videos on the walls inside
We found a venue in the little mining town
and outside of their gallery and on the trains
and collaborated with several of the Refuge
(still and moving) that ran past their massive
Founders to create Red Cabaret: A Multi-
artist compound.
media Soire. Our one-night event drew a

large audience and was mentioned briefly
Having spent much of my life as a painter
in a National Geographic article about the
and video artists, I have a great deal of
quirky little mountain town.
interest in mixing the two together to create

a range of different hybrid medias, most re-
HELENA TV SHOW Helena, Montana
cently focusing on duration. For this event,
The success of the Multimedia Soire
I projected 10 small videos on the 10 panels
opened a floodgate of opportunities to ex-
designed for displaying paintings. The vid-
hibit our work. First, we were invited to do a
eos were very short, 10 to 20 second loops
live TV performance with the jazz ensemble,
of varying subject matter including drawings
States of Matter, on channel 11 HCTV. I
and photographs.
opened the show with my ROOK-TV VJ set

and we then went through an abbreviated
version of our live show.
HELENA SUMMER MEDIA JAM Helena,
Montana
The live TV show brought us a good deal
more attention and an invitation to take
MONTANA ARTIST RESIDENCY
130
131
outside the studio
inside the studio
video still from Codes & Secrets - performed at Red Cabaret - Basin, Mt.
132
132 CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Directorial
Cross Country - video painting from Track Side Exhibition - Billings, Mt.
133
133
WORKSHIFT
I have had no better collaborative art experience
what I thought the director wanted. I have tried to
than the Workshift performance. Jane Gilmore
model my directorial style after that of Jane and BJ.
and BJ Krivanek, both university professors, pulled

together their favorite alums and assembled an inter-
WORKSHIFT DOCUMENT
media cast of choreographers, storytellers, compos-
After completing the video compositions for Work-
ers, conceptualists, documentarians and experimen-
shift, I jumped on a plane for my summer job in
tal media artists. The project was to tell the stories
Philadelphia. I was never able to actually see
of woman working in an Iowa meat packing plant
the production. Six months later, I finally had
that closed twenty years ago. The performance took
my chance when I was informed that a Chicago
place on the factory property and the audience rolled
production company called Zero-One was editing
from scene to scene around the meat packing plant
the documentation. I met the editors at their studio
in a modified cattle trailer.
and became fast friends. I later shared a studio

with them, formed a rock band and eventually an art
My role in this project was video director. There
school (see Chicago Art Department).
were twelve scenes in the hour-long performance

and 6 of them used my videos, but each in very
They were nearing the completion of the full hour
different ways. In one, a video of pigs eating was
long edit and asked if I would be interested in editing
juxtaposed against archival footage of a 1970s fam-
the shorter 10 minute version (the one more likely to
ily preparing a traditional pork breakfast. The video
be actually watched). I spent a good portion of the
was framed in a circle and was moved around the
winter working on that video and collaborated on the
set like a searchlight. In a different scene, videos of
DVD to submit to the National Endowment for the
past workers were played on my TV-Sticks held in
Arts as part of our grant responsibility.
front of the actors faces. In this scene, the videos

became a mask transforming the performers into the
LABOR SHOW - SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY
workers.
This exhibit was curated by Jayne Hileman and

included artworks that dealt with issues of occupa-
134
One of the reasons that I enjoyed working on this
tion and labor. She asked if I would be interested
project, was the fact that the artistic directors gave
in screening my ten-minute version and I agreed. I
each of the sub-directors a great deal of creative
designed a video kiosk that would allow a viewer
liberty in translating the scenes in our own style.
to click and restart the video from the beginning yet
This hands-off approach to directing allowed me to
allow it to play on a continuous loop the rest of the
explore the themes in my own voice instead of doing
time.
135
IMAGERY
After a brief conversation about our fears and
our creative abilities, we decided to pursue
the fear of falling. Deb, who is generally
a jewelry maker by the name Delevo, had
recently been performing on a range of different trapeze and wanted to use that media to
discuss her fears. I decided that I wanted to
use video art to try to lift her out of the room
and put her high up in the sky, so I began
collecting video of birds, planes, and people
falling and jumping from great heights.
Fear of
SOUND
Next, we decided to contact some musicians,
we decided that we liked the analog / digital
difference between our visual medias and
wanted to continue that in the sound. We
drafted Ryan Bockenfeld as our digital musician, he has been performing at galleries and
nightclubs on the scene for years under the
handle, RSB1000. Dominick Johnson, our
acoustic musician, is a concert violist and
cofounder of the New Millennial Orchestra.
We had two different endings

one if the rope broke
and one if it didnt.
Falling
In the spring of 2004, Laura Chiarmonte and Marvin
Marzocco of the modern dance company Creative

Arts Melting Pot, contacted Deb Vogt and I, to see
if we were interested in contributing a multimedia
performance for their upcoming show about fears.
STRUCTURE
We discovered that we were going to need
a contraption. Apparently, you can not hang
anything from the ceiling at Links Hall, so
hangeing Debs Trapeze was out of the question unless we built a cage. This worked
conceptually because it is ironic to think of
a bird with the fear of falling. We contacted
our builder friends, Josh Sheldon and Dan
Simborg to build our cage. They built it to
be portable, as we were only one act in a 4
act evening. Dan also did the rigging on the
trapeze (which became instrumental to the
performance).
FALLING
We rehearsed the performance for a month
and discovered that falling was a constant,
not because Deb was a bad trapeze artist, or
that Dans rigging was insufficient, but that it
made the performance better. We had two
different endings, one if the rope broke and
one if it didnt. Therefore, a cushion below
Deb became necessary.
Although, we recorded the performance all
four evenings, the best version is this one
where the rope broke.
136
137
The finest girl the dearest child

Is talking to me on the line that I dialed
Making me crazy and making me wild
Wild because she is thinking of me
It is finally my turn Im the one she is choosing
In answer to prayers that Ive been misusing
But there is no way that I will be losing
Losing this one that said yes
And as I lie here by my bride
Im reeling with unselfish pride
In love with this beauty asleep by my side
That says that her heart is all mine
And the more that I love her, the more that Im near
I see one more thing she holds dear
One more thing whose loss shed fear
Her little porcelain privacy
This little clay box handed down through the ages
Held my darlings private pages
Of deepest thoughts and darkest rages
Rages never once of me
My Darlings Little Privacy

This has been a poem, a song, a film and required reading for hundreds if not
thousands of High School juniors. I wrote the poem at Mount Mercy College
in1997. The song was first performed in 2003 and was later recorded for the
Rook Rumors album. The film premiered at DePaul University in 2006. I only
recently discovered that my friend Andy Fowler, an administrator for Chicago
Public Schools who develops English curriculum, had chosen this piece to
represent tragic irony for 11th graders all over the city.
The images on this page are from Ben Chapels film version of this poem.
Christian Hales and Deb Vogt play the young lovers. The film was shot in my
home and studio, Transamoeba.
138
With pages and stoppages daily Im haunted

And nothing inside of me has ever so wanted
To do what I must do today
My lover stepped out but her privacy did not
So I seized this moment for I could not be caught
It was finally my chance to prove what Id thought
But her privacy is not easily opened
The porcelain box had no stitch or no seam
And the one hole at top left no way to redeem
All the pages inside that had painted this scene
About lovers and secrets and privacy
While holding the box I knew not which to choose
Should I destroy this odd package shed disparage to lose
Or go bombarded by mental abuse
Of questions and wonders and privacy
How else could I end all this juvenile teasing?
The decisional roar in this room is not ceasing
And the pain in my head is increasing
And I fear that Im losing my mind
But the more that I love her, the more that Im near
The more I see something so queer
The more it rapes my deepest fear
Of my darlings little privacy
I upturned the table I kicked out the door

And I paced back and forth on the living room floor
til my lover at last returned from her chore
and saw me with her privacy in hand
After misunderstandings or more often a fight

In her shy little corner with shy little light
When she thinks that Im safely
Removed from her sight
A page slips into her privacy
I now looked at this girl and despise

All the tears that well up in her eyes
And curse at her struggles and now useless cries
As she tried to get back what was hers
And when I promise at 6 but show up at 8

Even with an excuse for why I am late
In a shy little gesture I interpret as hate
A page slips into her privacy
When Im drunk at a party with all of her friends
And ignore dirty looks that my true lover sends
Even after tries when we are home for amends
Still a page slips into her privacy
What should I think why shouldnt I ponder
Why shouldnt my mind continuously wander
And hose can my heart ever grow finder
When my darlings best friend is her privacy
I must take a peek if only to ease
Because feelings inside me are starting to seize
And are boiling up like some dreadful disease
About questions and wonders and privacy
NO, I must stop this insanity I must get a hold
I must stop my heart from being so cold
I must stand on my morals I have to be bold
It would be wrong to peek into her privacy
Now we fight almost daily Im constantly taunted
I watched as she fell to her knees

But ignored her last promise and pleas
And I broke through her clutches with sharp bitter ease
And then cursed at my darling again
I was burning with rage and with spite
And the fire of pages that ended each night
So I heaved the great box with all of my might
And it broke on the wall by the door
With the pages all around me blowing
And eagerness inside me growing
For secrets I would soon be knowing
I let not one paper escape
And as I sat with the treasure Id earned
I read the pages for which Id burned
And was sickened by the secrets learned
The same text repeated on each
And as I sat there on the floor
My lover walking out the door
I read the pages each once more
They all said YOU ARE FORGIVEN
139
141
140
Gross Anatomy
T
he idea for this performance came from a

conversations with my friend, an emergency
room doctor, who had just performed her first birth
through cesarean section. I designed a performance in three acts, in which Analog Boy creates
Digital Girl, (a painting that comes to life through
video projection). Analog Boy falls in love with
Digital Girl, in act two and she becomes pregnant
with their child. Act three involves a emergency
surgery, during which their offspring is delivered.
140
This performance was designed specifically

for my painting studio at Transamoeba, (see
Transamoeba) because of its resemblance to a
surgical classroom. The performers were on the
ground level and the audience surrounded them
from a 270 degree balcony overhead. I enjoyed
the fact that only about half the crowd knew that
the doctor in act three was a real MD. I think it had
a significant impact on their experience knowing
Dr. Chang was performing the exact procedure.
The Tale of
Analog Boy & Digital Girl
I have performed sections of the piece many other times, including an event at a Pilsen gallery
called 4Arts during Chicagos Artist Month. This
performance was just Act one. I performed the
video painting on the opening night and for the
remainder of the show, a projector replayed the
video on the surface of the painting.
Segments of Gross Anatomy were also preformed in Italy as part of a series of video screening called Hostel Audience. My experiences in
European backpacker hostels when I was in col-
lege became the motivation for bringing my video

projector and laptop when I traveled their in the
fall of 2005. The most interesting of these events
was an improvised large scale projection onto the
front facade of Archi Rossi Hostel. One scene
from Act Two of Gross Anatomy includes the image of the Mona Lisa contoured to the shape of
Digital Girls body. This image was intended to
represent the artistic image of beauty in the performance but took on a different historical meaning when projected huge on a building in Renaissance Florence, Leonardo DaVincis hometown.
141
142
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
CREATIVE PRODUCTION
143
144
CREATIVE PRODUCTION

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Evidence of

Introductory Essay: About My Creative Process.............................. 4

LIST OF EXHIBITIONS ........................................................................ 12

Torn from Britannica

Film & Video Paintings

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Earth Day / Earth Night

Super-Fun Movie House

Montana Artist Residency

Red Cabinet Theater

MULTIMEDIA & INTERMEDIA

An important distinction necessary to discuss the types of

Multimedia is the combination of digital media; intermedia

artworks in this book is the difference between intermedia

is the creation of new media. It is far easier to teach multi-

and multimedia. Multimedia is commonly understood as the

media because it involves teaching techniques. Techniques

combination of several digital art making processes. Most of

can be practiced and mastered. The intermedia approach re-

my classes are multimedia in nature. Students explore and

quires the student to have studied many media before they

mix photography, video, sound, animation and interactivity

are able to understand how or why to merge them.

in different ways in every class. Most of my artworks are

Through intermedia research and experimentation I have

this book. DVD is a popular multimedia art-form combining

explored a wide range of art forms, learning only one or two

interactivity, video and sound.

techniques in some media and mastering others. Multimedia

Intermedia can be defined as the mixture of art making

I feel the most comfortable teaching. Many of the artworks

process with the intention of creating a new hybrid medium.

in this book are examples of intermedia but every project in

There is an added focus on generating a new repeatable

this book uses multimedia techniques.

technique. This crossbreed employs the most necessary

invention in designing the process as the product. In many

cases I either created a machine or a group of people that

allowed me to produce additional artworks or performances

using the same new media.

Musical Performance - sound - video

Montana Artist Refuge - animation, video page 130

was composing a multimedia performance, and decide that

Video Suitcase - video-chat-sculpture

I want a viola, I have to either call a violist or buy a viola

History Whistle - Video-printmaking

and start practicing. In many cases I begin looking for a

specialist, to either collaborate or teach me. On more than

Red Cabinet - tele-puppetry

one occasion I have collaborated with acrobats, surgeons,

Fear of falling - video-trapeze-viola-dj

drummers, or fashion designers. I have, on other occasions,

CREATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay

Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PRODUCTION

LEARNING & TEACHING DIGITAL ART

CHICAGO ART SCENES

Unlike other professional artists that keep their style or

I was specifically interested in pursuing a graduate degree

I moved to Chicago in 2001 to take a position teaching com-

as the Grunge style became popular. They helped estab-

techniques tightly guarded as their trade secrets, I open up

for two reasons. First, I wanted to continue my creative

puter graphics and web design at Saint Xavier University. I

lish a stylized rock scene in Chicago that both reflected the