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Evidence of
CREATIVEPRODUCTION
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Due to the nature of t ime-based and site-specic 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 ap-
propriate 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.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introductory Essay:About My Creative Process..............................
Multimedia - Intermedia .........................................................................
Learning & Teaching Digital Art.............................................................
Chicago Art Scenes ...............................................................................
Collaboration .........................................................................................
LIST OF EXHIBITIONS ........................................................................
MOST RECENT & I MPORTANT PROJECTS ......................................
OBJECTS ..............................................................................................
Torn from Britannica
Film & Video Paintings
Video Art-Cade
Video Suitcase
Truck-Jector
Video Printmaker
Video Clothes
TV-Stick
Jigsaw Loop
PERFORMANCE ..................................................................................
Rook - TV
Rook @ CMGF
Lollapalooza
Earth Day / Earth Night
Fashion Shows
Transamoeba
Super-Fun Movie House
Musical Performance
Travel Show
DIRECTORIAL ......................................................................................
LOOPTOPIA
PRDF@MCA
Montana Artist Residency
Red Cabinet Theater
Workshift
Fear of Falling
Privacy
3.1
3.23.3
4
7
6
9
11
12
26
28
30
48
56
60
64
68
70
72
74
76
78
84
88
90
92
94
96
98
102
112
114
124
128
130
134
136
140
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INTRODUCTOR
ESSA
ABOUT
CREAT
PROC
3.
CREATIVE PREATIVE PRODUCTION
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
An important distinction necessary to discuss the t ypes of
artworks in this book is the difference between intermedia
and multimedia. Multimedia is commonly understood as the
combination of several digital art making processes. Most of
my classes are multimedia in nature. Students explore and
mix photography, video, sound, animation and interactivity
in different ways in every class. Most of my artworks are
also multimedia. One example is the DVD that accompanies
this book. DVD is a popular multimedia art-form combining
interactivity, video and sound.
Intermedia can be dened as the mixture of art making
process with the intention of creating a new hybrid medium.
There is an added focus on generating a new repeatable
technique. This crossbreed employs the most necessary
elements of the parent media. This often requires as much
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.
There are two distinct approaches to intermedia. One is
collaboration the other is research and experimentation. If I
was composing a multimedia performance, and decide that
I want a viola, I have to either call a violist or buy a viola
and start practicing. In many cases I begin looking for a
specialist, to either collaborate or teach me. On more than
one occasion I have collaborated with acrobats, surgeons,
drummers, or fashion designers. I have, on other occasions,
taught myself how to sew, silkscreen, solder, or rock, (danc-
ing while playing the guitar and singing loud and fast).
Multimedia is the combination of digital media
is the creation of new media. It is far easier to
media because it involves teaching techniques
can be practiced and mastered. The intermed
quires the student to have studied many medi
are able to understand how or why to merge th
Through intermedia research and experimenta
explored a wide range of art forms, learning on
techniques in some media and mastering othe
is the area that I have studied the most and is
I feel the most comfortable teaching. Many of t
in this book are examples of intermedia but ev
this book uses multimedia techniques.
IN THIS BOOK
MULTIMEDIA
Rook-TV- video-interactivity p
Lollapalooza -video-sound-interactivity p
Musical Performance- sound - video p
Montana Artist Refuge - animation, video p
NTERMEDIA
Video Suitcase- video-chat-sculpture p
History Whistle - Video-printmaking p
Video-clothes- annimatied-garments p
Red Cabinet -tele-puppetry p
Fear of falling- video-trapeze-viola-dj p
MULTIMEDIA & INTERMEDIA
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
nlike other professional artists that keep their style or
chniques tightly guarded as their trade secrets, I open up
y bag of tricks for my students every day in class. Most of
ese tricks are framed in lessons that teach my studentsw to learn. My approach is designed to offer basic prin-
ples and digital fundamentals that encourage my students
pursue a more sophisticated knowledge through personal
search. This allows my students to learn while discovering
w to learn. Students are then expected to teach the rest
us what they have discovered.
hen I graduated from Mount Mercy College in 1997,
gital art & design was in its infancy. Although the tools
ere available to create basic 2D digital compositions, there
as little or no technical training being offered. I taught
yself how to employ the theories of color and composi-
n discussed in class on t he few Macintosh computers
uipped with early imaging software. While studying these
gital visual tools, I was also exploring a wide range of
her approaches to art including music, sculpture, painting
d theater. I discovered early on that I was uninterested
studying these disciplines independent of one another. I
en created images, printed them out and combined themth paint and sculpture to create unique digital / analog
works. I had a unique roll model in this arena in a profes-
r named Jane Gilmor. Her artworks often mixed sculpture
th video and audience participation. She was also quite
eresting because she was a successful artist and instruc-
simultaneously. She taught us how to mix the structure
the academy with the improvisation that working with an
dience or other artists requires.
I was specically interested in pursuing a graduate degree
for two reasons. First, I wanted to continue my creative
research in the mixing of art media. I didnt want to just
study music or painting. I wanted to nd a place where theinstructors encouraged, or required, students to mix media.
Second, I wanted to follow in Janes artist / academic foot-
prints.
The University of Iowa offered me an expansive set of tools
but still relatively little technical training. The Intermedia
program was founded on the principle of exploring hybrid-art
forms through conceptual works of art. Media theory and
critical analysis occupied most of the classes. While I was
there, I taught myself how to animate 2D images in time
and I discovered the basic principles of web development
through an extensive period of trial and error. I shared my
research and technical knowledge with my colleagues nearly
every evening in the studio as we took turns directing major
collaborative projects. These collaborative and self-taught
lessons became my digital art courses and are the founda-
tion for the classes that I teach at Saint Xavier.
After graduation, I have continued to study, experiment andcreate artworks in many media. With every breakthrough in
my studio, a new lesson is formed for my classroom. Each
new lesson offers another distinct opportunity to evolve
that knowledge through the individual explorations of my
students. As they use my new knowledge, they nd new
directions in which that knowledge can be used and in turn
instigate further research.
EARNING & TEACHING DIGITAL ART
I moved to Chicago in 2001 to take a position teaching com-
puter graphics and web design at Saint Xavier University. I
was teaching only half time and was spending the rest trying
to gure out the complex workings of Chicagos many artscenes. I had spent the majority of the preceding years in
small rural Midwestern cities. I traveled to this hub several
times for eld trips and vacations. Each time I visited, the
depth of possible entertainment options afforded a Chica-
goan blew me away. Every night, it seemed, the museum,
gallery and theater options were endless. I was sure that
breaking into this creative scene was possible, but until I
moved here I had no idea how inviting it really was.
When I arrived in Chicago, I knew two people. Jayne Hile-
man and Ralph Barton. Jayne and I had worked on a sculp-
ture selection committee at Mount Mercy College in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa in 1999. When I began teaching at Saint
Xavier, we carpooled for two years and she introduced me to
both the inter-workings of Saint Xaviers academic structure
and the history of Chicagos creative neighborhoods. Ralph
and I studied together for several years at the University of
Iowa. He introduced me to his art scene. On the day that
I arrived in Chicago, he hosted an exhibition of my work athis Red Door Gallery in Bucktown. On that rst day, I met
dozens of artist with whom I still collaborate regularly.
Ralph also introduced me to the revolving door principle that
denes many Chicago scenes. An example of this can be
seen in the history of one Chicago rock band, the Smashing
Pumpkins. In the early 90s, The Pumpkins held a residency
at The Metro, a north side rock club. During their reign of
weekly rock shows, they played to larger and larger crowds
CHICAGO ART SCENES
as the Grunge style became popular. They helped
lish a stylized rock scene in Chicago that both ree
style in other American cities and evolved it. Their
helped import other bands of similar style to Chicaas Pearl Jam and Nirvana who were also just start
Eventually, they outgrew The Metro and moved on
venues like the United Center, Lollapalooza and co
rable sized venues in other cities, thus opening the
for new talent to occupy The Metro stage. The fac
venues constantly open up in Chicago is indicative
scene. Ralph told me that,Every Chicago stage c
yours sooner or later. The really interesting people
ally move up to somewhere else making room for t
artist to have a chance. This is not necessarily th
places like New York or Los Angeles, where stars c
cupy the same stage for twenty or thirty years.
Regardless of whether it is style driven, media de
venue specic, I cannot understate the value of the
scenes of Chicago to my development as an artist
instructor. The scene functions as creator, audienc
er and student. This is even more valuable in the c
digital art. First, and foremost, digital art is an eveart form. The digital art scene offers a regular opp
not only see this evolution but also to discuss the t
process with the artist. Many of the techniques tha
at SXU came straight out of conversations with dig
at these scene driven exhibitions.
A scene might begin as a niche clique of media or
specic artists, but through exhibition and critical e
these groups sometimes grow into scenes as othe
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
inded artist s join in. One exampl e of this is PRDF, The
RDF (Peoples Republic of Delicious Food). was both
multimedia arts organization and a scene in itself. On
e hand, PRDF functioned literally as a list-serve, (An art
hibition opportunity would be fed in and 5 50 people
ould turn out to present artworks) but on t he other hand,
ere were dozens of situations in which PRDFs events
ould function as recruitment opprotunities. These events
eled an internal appreciation for the collective conscious
the group. By making art together, showing art together,
tically analyzing the artworks within a stylistic standard,
RDF established a style of improvisational multi-media per-
mance happening, in which, audience members became
rticipants and eventually members. On one occasion,
scribed later in this book, PRDF put out a call to action
at drew over one hundred creative participants - including
any rst-timers.
e PRDF scene was critical to my creative development
providing me with several of my most successful early ex-
bitions, but the VJ scene has given me the most useable
chnical insights. A VJ is a live digital video artist. I have
arned more about digital art, both theoretically and techni-
lly, from this scene than any other educational experience
at I have had. I see at least one new video performance
ery month. Each show promises an oprotunity to view
th new approaches to the media as well as each artists
ique techniques and style. I know that I will also get a brief
orial if I ask.
e artists and designers that make up the VJ scene are
ry important to one another for reasons beyond theory
d technical discourse. All of us are familiar with com-
ercial digital art. It surrounds us in the grocery store and
on TV. The photography in the advertisements that ll most
mainstream print publications differs in both function and
intent from the photography in galleries and museums.
This difference is the divide between popular commercial
digital design and contemporary experimental digital
art. As an instructor at Saint Xavier, I teach digital founda-
tions that can be employed in either of these arenas, and I
know distinctly different groups of artists that meet to exhibit
and discuss the nuances of each. It is quite necessary to
look at and discuss each slightly differently. Without an art-
ist community as robust as the one here in Chicago, these
conversations often get muddled in value judgments, as to
which is more pure, or more valuable. Both approaches
exist for important reasons and must be discussed on their
individual merit. I depend on two different groups of artists
to help me stay abreast of contemporary issues in both of
these categories.
I also rely on these artists as collaborators. As an artist with
a background in theater, music and art, I thrive on artist and
audience interaction. I often refer to it as creative gasoline
that fuels my production. The scenes described here are
only a few of the many artists and audiences that refuel me.
I must appreciate that not all artists or students have this
type of relationship with their audience, but for those who
do, I have both experiences and venues to share. During
the time that I have been at SXU I have learned how to use
these scenes and have taken every opprotunity to rst intro-
duce my artowrks into these venues and creative circles and
then introduce them to my students.
As I mentioned several times already, collaboration is a key
component of my art. Perhaps, I learned this growing up in
a small house with lots of siblings or maybe in the front yard
with a baseball. With only one person a baseball is ter-
ribly inert. If somebody else joins you, a game of catch can
ensue. As more and more neighbor kids pour into the yard,
a full baseball game can occur, and regularly did.
I enjoy painting by myself and making music with one or
two other people, but if I intend to create a live performance
dozens of collaborators are often necessary. With the addi-
tion of each new artist, it becomes increasingly necessary to
compromise. Not every body can play pitcher, for instance.
A good team, with a good coach (director) will choose the
best pitcher to play this role. Over the years, I have had the
opportunity to play many different positions in my collabora-
tions. Sometimes, I am the star, sometimes I am building
the stage, and sometimes I am the director. I n each project,
I look for the necessary balance between the scale of the
project and my creative contribution.
I have discovered in my studio that collaborators are not
only necessary to create large-scale productions. Some-
times, it is simply the merger of expertise that makes a
collaboration benecial. I have experienced this quite often
with music. Many times the person with the best rhythm
plays the drums in order to keep time, regardless of whether
that person is a drummer or not. A simple beat is sufcient
to drive the music. When a real drummer enters the scene,
suddenly his range of skills with the instrument can dramati-
cally alter the options available to the band.
This principle is often the driving force behind my atten-
dance at jam sessions. I can audition many musicians
while improvising. One example was the famous M
Trafc Jam. At ve-o-clock on a roof twenty yards
the freeway, ten to twelve musicians ranging in ski
bedroom-rocker to members of the Chicago symp
chestra collaborated to entertain stranded passeng
particular session taught me that t he most skilled m
is not always the best collaborator, the ability to sh
collaborative experience is equally important.
Learning how to collaborate and the ability t o ident
potential collaborators are lessons I want my stude
know. As many of my students intend to pursue di
design careers, they should understand that most
sional multimedia projects require dozens if not hu
artists to work in union with their egos in check. Af
in theater and multimedia events, the director / sub
method for producing large-scale productions is no
fective, it is often absolutely necessary.
COLLABORATION
Some
have the co
situat
re sp
Baptican m
enhan
other
Earth2006page
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CHRONOLOGICA
LIST O
EXHIBITIO
3.2
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
1990s
2000
2001
2002
2003
International Electronic Arts Festival - Skopia, Macedonia
Video Screened - Drive Thru Fly Thru, Thassaloniki, Greece
Video Performance - Fear Show- Links Hall
Video Performance - Equalize the Arts- Wicker Park
Video Performance - UnderShorts Festival- Congress Theatre
Sculpture Exhibition - Faculty Show- SXU
Video Performance - Chicago Motion Graphics Festival- Society for t he Arts
Video Installation - Looptopia: Living the River Green- Wabash & Wacker
Director - Looptopia: Underground Art School- Palmer House Hotel
Photo Exhibit - Photo Frames- Chicago Art Department
Video Performance - The Last Analog - Galapagos Art Space - New York City
deo Performance - Zoo Station- Folsom Dance Hall - Folsom, CA
deo Performance - Zoo Station- 21st Amendment - San Francisco, CA
deo Performance - Gross Anatomy- 4Arts
deo Performance - Zoo Station- Slims - San F rancisco, CA
deo Performance - Chicago Motion Graphics Festival- Daily Planet - NBC Tower
deo Installation - Wander Lust - Cell Space - San Francisco, CA
deo Installation - Dressing Light - 1 North Wacker
deo Performance - Earth Night- with DJ Spooky - Hot House
ainting Exhibition - Around the Coyote- Flat I ron Building - Wicker Park
deo Screening - A+ Videos- Hyde Park Art Center
Video Performance - Zoo Station - Slims - San Francisco, CA
Video Premier - Privacy- DePaul UniversityPainting Exhibition - Faculty Show- Chicago Art Department
Video Performance - Earth Day: Edge of the Earth- Edgewater
Solo Exhibition - Analog Boy Meets Digital Girl - Mount Mercy College, IA
Video Performance - Flavor for Fashion- Chicago Cultural Center
Video Installation - Hostel Audience- Florence, Italy
Video Screening - SAIC MFA Fashion Show 2006- Marshal Fields
Video Exhibition - Dressing Light- Chicago Cultural Center
Video Performance - Gross Anatomy- Transamoeba / 4Arts Inc
Video Installation - Version 03: Rook vs. Rotten- MCA
Video Performance - Persistence of Vision- Buddy
Video Performance - ROOK vs. LOOL- Emory University - Atlanta
Video Screened - Philly from Philly (Her Coma Soars)- Philladel
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 - Vision of Labor- SXU
Video Performance - Broken Clown Interlude- Buddy - Chicago /
Video Exhibition - Introducing ROOK- Red Door Gallery
Video Performance - BER-SETZUNG- Dortmund Germany
MFA Exhibition - The Sexton at Irish Valley- Museum of Art - Iow
Video Performance - Lenny Dee show - Old Brick Church - Iowa C
Painting Exhibition - Area Faculty Show- Cornell College - Mt. Ve
Video Composition - Reasons To Dream -Fred Woodard - Bucharest, Romania
Exhibition - BER-SETZUNG- Museum of Art - Iowa City, IA
CD ROM - Catalog - Science Fair Exhibition- Museum of Art - Iowa City, IA
Exhibition - Adjunct Faculty Show- Mount Mercy College - Cedar Rapids, IA
Installation - Composite- The Checkered Space - Iowa City, IA
Installation - Temple of Rites/ Rights- Iowa City, IA
Performance - For the Earth- music by Misha Burstein - Studiolo - Iowa City
Installation - 2 Rooms- Bridge Space, U of I (main art building)
Installation - 5 Ways to Exhibit Hanging Bricks- Bridge Space - Iowa City,
Painting Exhibition - Jurors Choice - Purchase Prize- Perpetual Bank - Ce
Installation Exhibition - Jurors Choice- Davenport Museum of Art - Davenp
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 - Ce
Solo Sculpture Exhibition - DOORS- Mount Mercy College - Cedar Rapids,RONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS
NATHAN PECK
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
Video Performance - Version 02: PRDF vs. Mercaba- MCA
Video Performance - Workshift - Farmstead - Cedar Rapids, IA
Video Installation - SOFA - Navy Pier
Video Performance - Spundae- Vision
88
88
88
88
8888
88
88
88
88
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GEOGRAPHY O
SIGNIFICAN
EXHIBITIO
3.2
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
1) BEVERLY
- Saint Xavier University
6) SOUTH LOOP - Transamoeba - Hot House
10) WICKER PARK / BUCKTOWN - Rodan - Flat Iron - Smart Bar - Sonotheque - Subterranean - Society for the Arts
13) LINCOLN PARK
- Chicago Historical Society - Park West
7) DOWNTOWN - LOOP
- Grant Park - NBC Tower - Palmer House - Marshall Fields - Wacker & Wabash - Chicago Cultural Center - Museum of Contemporary Arts
3) BRIDGEPORT -Texas Ballroom - Zhou Brothers
2) HYDE PARK
- Old Hyde Park Art Center - New Hyde Park Art Center
5) BRONZEVILLE - Illinois Institute of Technology
9) NORTHLOOP - Kaleidoscope - Le Passage -Funky Buddha
8) WEST LOOP - Fulton Market
4) PILSEN
- Chicago Art Department - Drive Thru - Pilsen Lumalive
14) LAKEVIEW / WRIGLEYVILLE - Lake Shore Theatre - Links Hall
15) SHERIDAN PARK
- Loyola University
16) EDGEWATER
- St. Andrews Greek Orthodox
11) HUMBOLDT PARK - Catalyst
12) LOGAN SQUARE
- Congress Theatre - Logan Square Auditorium
10
1211
2
3
6
4
5
16
15
9
7
8 13
14
1
VENUES WHERE I HAVE CUREXHIBITED OR PERFORMED
VENUES WHERE MY STUDENALSO EXHIBITED OR PERFO
HICAGO VENUES
EOGRAPHY OF
GNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS
Y NATHAN PECK
In many cases we hain the named venue m
NOTE:
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay Introductory Essay - CREATIVE PR
MY CHICAGO STUD
GEOGRAPHY OF
SIGNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS
BY NATHAN PECK
1608STUDIOS
600 SQ. FT.S
studio
CHICAGO ARTDEPARTMENT
1,000 SQ. FT.M
TRANSAMOEBASTUDIOS
4,000 SQ. FT.L
CATALYSTSTUDIOS12,000 SQ. FT.
BACKGALLERY
XL
upper
upper
upper
upper
1608 STUDIOSWEST PILSEN - STUDIO / RESIDENCE
Established 2003
aprox. 600 SQUARE FEET
3 STUDIOS - 3 RESIDENCES
MAX. CAP. - 30
CHICAGO ART DEPARTMENTEAST PILSEN - GALLERY / STUDIO
Established 2004
aprox. 1200 SQUARE FEET
3 GALLERIES - 2 STUDIOSMAX. CAP. - 150
TRANSAMOEBA STUSOUTH LOOP
STUDIO / RESIDENCE / GALLERY /
Established 2000
aprox. 4,000 SQUARE FEET
5 STUDIOS - 4 RESIDENCES - 3 G
MAX. CAP. - 300
CATALYST STUDIOSHUMBOLT PARK
STUDIO / RESIDENCE / GALLERY / TH
Established 2007
aprox. 12,000 SQUARE FEET
6 STUDIOS - 4 RESIDENCES
MAX. CAP. - 1000
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Introductory Essay
BILLINGS, MT
HELENA, MT
BASIN, MT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
FOLSOM, CA
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
OSHKOSH, WI
NEW YO
ATLANTA
LOUISVILLE, KY
CHICAGO, IL
IOWA CITY, IA
PHILADELPHI
DAVENPORT, IA
AMERICAN GI
GEOGRAPH
SIGNIFICANT EXHIBIT
BY NATHAN P
IFORNIAOMation - Folsom Dance Hall
RANCISCOation - 21st Amendmentation - Slims
er Lust - Cell Space
NTANANna Artist Refuge& Secrets - Basin Cafe
NAa Summer Media Jam - Helena Quarry
NGSSide - Billings Rail-Ampound
AR RAPIDShift - Frmstead Meatpacking Plantg Boy Meets Digital Girl - Mount Mercy CollegeCollege Faculty Show - Cornel Collegeout Town - Jurors Choice - Perpetual Bankopen close - Mount Mercy Collegenal College Art Show - C.R. Museum of Art
RS - Mount Mercy College
CITY-SETZUNG - Museum of Artexton at Irish Valley - Museum of ArtDee show - Old Brick Church
ce Fair Exhibition - Museum of Artation - Composite - The Checkered Spacents - Studiolo & International Centere of Rites/ Rights - International Co-op Housee Earth - music by Misha Burstein - Studioloms - Bridge Spaces to Exhibit Hanging Bricks - Bridge Space
NPORTation Exhibition - Jurors Choiceport Museum of Art
CONSINKOSHFurther - Osh Kosh Grand Opera House
ILLINOISCHICAGOChicago Motion Graphics Festival - Society for the ArtsLooptopia: Living the River Green - Wabash & WackerLooptopia: Underground Art School - Palmer House HotelPhoto Frames - Chicago Art DepartmentChicago Motion Graphics Festival - NBC TowerWander Lust - Cell Space - San Francisco, CADressing Light - 1 North WackerEarth Night - with DJ Spooky - Hot HouseAround the Coyote - Flat Iron Building - Wicker ParkA+ Videos - Hyde Park Art CenterPrivacy - DePaul UniversityFaculty Show - Chicago Art DepartmentEarth Day: Edge of the Earth - EdgewaterFlavor for Fashion - Chicago Cultural CenterSAIC MFA Fashion Show 2006 - Marshal FieldsDressing Light - Chicago Cultural CenterGross Anatomy - Transamoeba / 4Arts IncVersion 02: PRDF vs. Mercaba - MCASOFA - Navy PierSpundae - VisionFear Show - Links HallEqualize the Arts - Wicker ParkUnderShorts Festival - Congress TheatreFaculty Show - SXUVersion 03: Rook vs. Rotten - MCAPersistence of Vision - BuddySummer Solstice - MCAVision of Labor - SXUBroken Clown Interlude - Buddy - Chicago / Atlanta
KENTUCKYLOUISVILLEPRDF vs the Chef - Lower Louie Loft
PENSYLVANIAVILLANOVAPhilly in Philly - Villanova University
NEW YORKNEW YORK CITYThe Last Analog - Galapagos Art Space
GEORGIAATLANTABroken Clown Monologues - Red Cabinet TheaterROOK vs. LOOL - Emory University
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DORTMUND, GERMANY
BER-SETZUNG2001
FLORENCE. ITALY
Hostel Audience2006
THASSALONIKI, GREECE
Drive Thru - Fly Thru2004
SKOPIA, MACEDONIA
International Electronic Arts Festival
2004
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Reasons to Dream2000
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Reasons to Dream - 2000Video Composition for Fred Woodard, Chair of theAfrican American Studeis Program at The Universityof Iowa. The video / annimation accompanied hispoetry in a performance in Bucharest. I was unableto attend.
DORTMUND, GERMANY
BER-SETZUNG - 2001Video Composition created for BER-SETZUNG(german word for translation) exhibition in Iowa.The exhibition, including work by Iowa and Dortmundartists was presented in both cities. I attended this
screening and worked at the Universitat Dortmundfor one month during the summer..
SCOPIA, MACEDONIA
International Electronic Arts Festival - 2004Several videos from the gallery that I co-curratedwere selected for inclusion in this eastern Europeanmedia festival. Several members of the galleryattended this event, although my wo
rk was shown, I did not.(see IEAF - Research book page 108)
THASSALONIKI, GREECE
Drive Thru - Fly Thru - 2004While attending the International Electronic ArtsFestival in Skopia, our gallery members were invitedto guest curate a night of video in a Greek perfor-mance space. Several of my videos were amongthose shown.(see Drive Thru - Fly Thru - Research book pg 108)
FLORENCE. ITALY
Hostel Audience - 2006Three 45-minute improvisational Video perfor-mances in Florence, Italy.(see Hostel Audience - Research book page 106)
UROPEAN GIGS
OGRAPHY OF
GNIFICANT EXHIBITIONS
NATHAN PECK
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MOST RECENT
IMPORTAN
PROJEC
3.
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OBJECT
Torn from Britannica ..............
Film & Video Paintings ............
Video Art-Cade .......................
Video Suitcase ........................
Truck-Jector ...........................
Video Printmaker ...................
Video Clothes .........................
TV-Stick .................................
Jigsaw Loop ...........................
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TORFrom BritaA giant stack of picture frames and
inspired me to create the largest se
/ collages that I have made in over
series that has driven this increase
called TORN from Britannica.
All of the content in these works are
form or another from the Encyclop
Text and image are glued to canva
stained with a rich brown and blue
information from the encyclopedi
able and ironically interesting and
the data seems to be of little or
as your eye is drawn over the sca
gets its pattern from the books ar
(columns, binding, page numbers
Recycled messages and scraps oform the textured surface of these oil-c
Each one is a unique Intermedia Encyclopedia R
Take a Number2008
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Time
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EATIVE PRODUCTION - Geography Geography - CREATIVE P
invited by my friend, Justine to show paintings in her
during the annual Wicker Park Art Festival,Around The
eat the famous Flat Iron building. I decided to use this as
portunity to test drive this new TORN series. Thousandsnting enthusiasts visit the Coyote festival every year. I
ndreds of conversations, sold most of the paintings and
terviewed for a television show.
One of the key factors in the evolution of this series was a
studio change. I shared a 1200 square foot SouthLoop
loft with 6 artists for several years. In the past year, I moved
into a much larger space on the north side of Chicago, in
which I have approximately the same amount of space all
to myself. The paintings have grown. The rst paintings
were small 5 inch by 5 inch squares. And the most recent
are 5 foot by 5 foot monster canvases.
I have exhibited these paintings extensively. T
shown at Catalyst (Humbolt Park), Flat Iron Bu
Park), Park West (Lincoln Park), Transamoeba
some cool little coffee shop downtown that cturned into a Starbucks, and nally a solo exh
cago Art Department (Pilsen). Many of my c
students came out to join the regular 300+ S
crowd.
Solo Exhibit: Chicago Art Departme
Over the past three years, I have created over one hun-
dred paintings in this series. I decided that I would pur-
sue 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.
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36
Series Two: Little MTHE SOLDIER S
The uniform and medical illus
always my favorite part of my
clopedias. I decided that I ha
experiment with them.
These paintings are about 4 x
eries One: Small SquaresHE SURFACE SERIES
ese were the rst studies for the Torn from
tannica Series. These paintings rely heav-
on the use of the drilled binding holes, text
umns and page numbers.
ese paintings are 5 x 5 inches.
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Turn LWindo2007
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Series Three: The A
THE WINDOW These were the rst large paint
Torn from Britannica Series. I s
painting by choosing a frame a
ing backwards to the painting.
agenda with this series was to
tive and negative space. I wan
like you were in a brown room
window into a blue world.
Knob Creek 2006
Mike Portal 2006
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Tabloid Part Two - Micr oscopeSuper Size Series2007
Tabloid Part One - MicrophoneSuper Size Series
2007
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Series Four: ZoomSUPER SIZE SERIES
This series involved blowing up some of the
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.
Series Five: IronyREMIX & TWIS
This series also started with th
Each of the paintings uses pag
illustrations from the encyclop
an ironic or sarcastic twist. Th
the rst series to include a cou
tronic paintings, one that empl
and the other video.
Thirty Year Cockburn
Internet Part OneTelephone 2007
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Superrnaturalism Suppl
Remix &
Court of Hundredsx & Twist Series
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For several years, my friend Trevor Arnholt has hosted the C
derSHORTS Film Festival at the Congress Theater. The ca
asked for short underground lms. Trevor was very famil
video paintings that I did in Montana, (see TRACKSIDE BILL
asked me to design something with a similar sensibility for th
I decided to play with the idea of duration. In Montana, the i
present videos like paintings, projecting very short video loo
ten little gallery walls designed for paintings. For the Unde
Festival, I decided to ip it. This time, I showed paintings fas
of lm and video paraphernalia on the walls at a lm festival.
FILM & VIDEO PAINTING
ies: Short Round Films
Title: VERY DIGITAL
ale of analog to digital)
2006
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Each painting in the Short Film
started with a still frame from a
collection. I cut the image to t
of the round canister and then a
dial that gave the image a score
from analog to electric to digita
one image to t each score. My
was for this series of paintings t
range of artistic approaches in m
So, in addition to being a series
ings, they were also a series of
of my videos.
The Short Video Series was a l
different because the paintings
presented in two very different w
some exhibitions, I present them
on a wall like a painting. I n oth
have them closed and shelved
collection. Each one has a prin
like movies at a video store and
case is opened the viewer sees
a two page spread, like a book,
combination of photos and pain
After the Undershorts lm festiv
vited to my Alma Matter to exhib
during their annual Reunions W
presented the same series of pa
and photos packaged in video c
lm canisters and called the se
Round Films and 11 Short Vide
time I also include a few new on
ing several electronic paintings
a video screen mounted inside others had little USB keys that I
and glazed. These USB keys h
video from which the still image
taken and inferred another leve
tion. Several computers in the
allowed the viewer to plug in an
rest of the painting.
Short Video: GRIME- 2006
Short Video: MISS NG HISTORY- 2006
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ERACTIVE
2005
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SoloExhibition
Analog Boy Meets Digital Girl Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids
MountMercy
College
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First live vidsoftware resea
with Matthew But@ University of Io
First performan
using live video softwa@ Old Brown Church in Iowa C
with DJ LennyD
Move to Chicaconnect with seve
video artists & sculptu
First MIDI resea
using piano keyboawith VJ MINDTR
aka Myles Fag
Several performancusing MIDI and live vid
First research w Arkaos VJ (softwa
Artist residen@ Drive Thru Stud
Video-Art-Cade - VERSION Debut @ SOFA - Navy P
Video-Art-Ca
@ SXU, AVEqualize the A
& Undersho
Video-Art-Ca
@Transamoeba Studfor dozens of eve
including ResF
Video-Art-Cade - VERSION
redesign usmuch sma
Mac M
Video- Art-Cade is part
Analog Boy Digital Girl
Mount Mercy Collein Cedar Rap
Video-Art-Cade - VERSION redesign us
Mixman (hardwa
This sculpturesinteractivity is the
result of years of investigation, starting in
998 at the University of Iowa. Matthew Butler and
designed a program that would let a user call up
deos from a library using the letter buttons on a
gh powered computer. Each key had a different
ideoand the videos changed as rapidly as the
ser typed.
When I arrived in Chicago, I met VJ
MINDTRAP, (Myles Fagan) who had
been doing similar research in New York
City. His system used MIDI, a hardware
language usually used by musicians for
assigning sounds to piano keys. The
advantage of MIDIis that it opened up
the doors to a wider range of interface
devices.
VIDEO-ART-CADE2003 - 2008
Video-Art-Cade isnot really a gameit is more like a funstory telling device.
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Version
1.0
Version
3.0This sculpture debuted at SOFA, the
Pier sculpture showas part of the ART BO
hibition that took viewers on a 3 hour yacht cruis
Lake Michigan.
Art-cade has also been a part of several other scu
and digital art exhibits including Persistence of Visi
UnderSHORTS Film Festival, AVIT, The Chicago I
tional Video Performance conference, SXU Facu
Show and Analog Boy Digital Girl at Mount Mercy C
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Video-Art-Cade is made
of two principle parts:the exterior - cabinet
and the interior - electronics
The cabinet was constructed by sculptors, Eric M
and John Dae, using wood, plastic and metal. It wa
from scratch using blueprints downloaded from the
I designed the interior. I connected a TV to a com
via a scan converter. I then connected a small pian
board & Phatboy knob box to the system by using a
switch.
The Video-Art-Cade hasseen 3 distinct versions.
Each offers more user coand requires less hardw
the fall of 2003, I was invited to be a resident
tist at a Pilsen gallery called Drive Thru.
created a regular monthly VIDEO JAM fea-
ring local video artists and electronic musi-
ans. I also had a solo exhibition of my paint-
gs and videos at the January Pilsen Gallery
pening.
Another product of the Drive Thru Studios residency was a collabora-
tive video sculpture project undertaken with the studios Artistic Direc-
tor, 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.
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I had just purchasedtwo tickets for a Smashing Pumpkins
concert in San Francisco, (they had just
reformed the band after 5 years off), when I was
reminded that I had agreed to contribute to the
Language of Travel exhibition at CAD. I decided
to capitalize on the conceptual twist that I would be
in a San Francisco on the evening of the Chicago
travel exhibit.
I immediately began exploring video, software and
network systems. I wanted to nd an efcient and
portable way to create an interactive communica-
tion sculpture. I chose to use old suitcases as an
obvious icon for travel. I installed a computer, video
monitor and a telephone handset into
the suitcases and began testing consis-
tency of communication from different locations in
my house to different locations in the city. I arrived
at a suitable solution and then installed one in the
CAD gallery on 18th street in Chicago and got on
an airplane.
In San Francisco, I contacted a friend of mine in
The Mission District. She arranged an exhibition at
the arts education gallery called Cell Space (which
coincidentally is also on 18th street). All evening,
audience members in Chicago got live reports from
my vacation. from 1500 miles away two 18th street
educational art galleries were connected via tr avel
sculpture.
LANGUAGE
TRAVELof
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THE VIDEO SUITCASETelecommunication Sculpture
(((1500 MILES)))
mac
mac
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truck-jector live performers
recycled sculptures crowds
Chicago River - Wacker & W
May 2ndving the River Green- Looptopiaroducing a multi-media inter-agency recycling program
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RUCK-JECTOR
was a very ambitious project and its potential lies
p within its conceptual construct. Tom Laport, with the
of Chicago Water Department proposed a large-scale
-arts celebration of the natural elements in the city,
ically the Chicago River.
ontacted me (a video artist and art professor), Dominic
son (an orchestra leader), Koko Pauli (a clothing de -
er), and Steven Kishmohr (an architect and chairman
hicagos AIA, American Institute of Architecture). We
with the Chicago Loop Alliance, United Parcel Service,
ng The River Green LOOPTOPIA, Wacker & Wabash
the Mayors Ofce for Special Events and the artistic direc-
tors of the annual Looptopia all-night downtown art event.
We were trying to hatch a plan in which, we would create
an artwork about recycling that kicked off a functioning
recycling partnership.
By the end of the meeting, we came up with a very simple
plan. UPS would use its trucks to pick up recyclables
from Loop Alliance businesses (that they already drop off
packages to) and deliver them to a nearby blue bin. Loop
businesses would preparethe returns, UPS would deliver
them, and we would tell everybod
it. We made a simple change that
functioning loop, and we wanted to
it communicate it and encourage
We would demonstrate the proces
UPS drop off the rst loads of r ecy
turned into sculptures by artists an
on the riverfront for the Looptopia
sights and the sounds of artists ce
natural beauty of the city would su
sculptures. My contribution was a
Truck-jector (interactive video truc
provided the big brown trucks and
the back gate with projection mate
hid a video projector in the cab. I
several local video artists to compo
for the vehicles. I also asked stud
classes at Saint Xavier University
Two trucks were installed outside
of Wacker and Wabash. Inside on
trucks was Chuck Prysbl, a local V
artist, the other, a group of UIC gra
The video in the rear of the trucks
time with the music and performan
on around it. Although it rained th
hundred of people braved the elem
our sculptures and the accompany
music performances.
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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 sev -
eral 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 t he cameras auto-focus jumps from
layer to layer, the viewer sees each plane for a mo -
ment and their mind completes the image.
How it WorksIn 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 rst 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 ver-
tical lines created a throbbing light that made the cam-
era 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 plexi-
glass.
History Whistle and BeyondThe rst video I created using the video-printmaking
technique was titled History Whistle. The image wasdissected 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.
VIDEOPRINTMAKING
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VIDEO CLOTHESessing Light Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago
several years, I have collaborated on art and design projects with Belgium Fashion Designer and School of the Art
tute Fashion Instructor Anke Loh.
initially contacted me after seeing my video at the Chicago Cultural Centers Flavors of Fashion Exhibition (see Food
ashion). She asked me to help her catalog her students projects in my VJ style for a fashion show at Macys at the
of the semester. I designed 3 videos that played between each of the runway projects. The videos received very fa-
able reviews from her colleagues, students and families instigating several conversations about future collaborations.
The most interesting of t hose collaborations was Video
Clothes, wearable art that included LED screens
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 ofce build-
ing 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 ap-
peared on NPR and in Chicago Magazine.
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V-STICK is a puppet or a mask or a staff or a weapon
ding on what image is on the screen and how you are
ng it. I have carried it in parades, displayed it in galler-
d choreographed it for dancers.
nated in a series of sketches leading up to a perfor-
e, in which we were mixing tribal drummers with danc-
d video projection. The TV STICK mirrored a weapon,
or tribal staff.
months later, PRDF took part in the Museum of Con-
rary Arts Version>03 Digital Arts Festival. PEOPLES
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
PRDF@MCA).
Later that year, the TV STICK was re-purposed once again
for involvement in a site-specic video installation / perfor-
mance at Wilson Farmstead Meat Packing Plant in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. In this piece, the TV STICK operated as a
mask, or puppet displaying the faces of past workers as
they told stories of their trials and tribulations.
The video transmitter is the most effective strategy and the
research was the direct result of working as a stage techni-
cian on a large multimedia production called MERCY, which
featured two art legends Ann Hamilton and Meredith
Monk. In the performance, video cameras were located
all over the stage and performers. Some were in the ac-
tors mouth, others on the tips of pencils. All of the video
was then transmitted backstage mixed and projected
back out to a large screen. The technology was new
and unpredictable but over the course of the production,
I learned many tricks and strategies for the best use of
video transmission within performance.
Other plans for the TV STICK include A TV FAMILY with
different sticks of different heights conversing around
a dinner table. And THE TV SOLDIER, a project that
would include several TV STICKS in a gun rack or
marching with soldier faces on the screens.
This is How it WorksThe TV-STICK is a very simple sculpture
television is xed to a wooden pole via sim
joints. The TV is battery powered and t
feed can come from several different so
Video Transmitter
Wireless video input from DVD, laptop, o
Portable Video Device
Cable from the performers belt or pocke
Small Live Camera
Battery Powered & Fixed to the top
formance Sculpture
TV-STICK
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JIGSAWLOOPPuzzles made from
photos of paintings
made from puzzles
I was asked to attend a class that Mike Nourse was of -
fering 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
rst impulse was to photograph some of my newest paint-
ings 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 difcult time commu-
nicating that idea and most of the students in the class
thought I was trying to stretch a concept that most viewers
would miss. I thought back to a project that I had done
several years back. I assembled a jigsaw puzzle, ipped
it over, did a painting on the backside, broke the puzzle
into several quadrants and xed them to masonite. Most
of these puzzle paintings were distributed to friends but
one remained on my wall. I decided that this painting was
far more appropriate subject matter for this photo series
than the Britannica paintings. I photographed t
above from several angles and utilized an onl
service to print them. The nal pieces were cal
Loop: a puzzle of a photo of a painting on a puz
Interesting true fact: A group of 5 women, all tea
different neighborhoods in Chicago, met for th
at the puzzle table that evening and spent an h
half completing one of my puzzles.
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PERFORMANC
Rook - TV ..............................
Rook @ CMGF ........................
Lollapalooza ..........................
Earth Day / Earth Night ..........
Fashion Shows ........................Transamoeba .........................
Super-Fun Movie House ...........
Musical Performance ...............
Travel Shows ..........................
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create artworks in many formats. My most prolic
edia are painting, video and song writing. I have
omposed nearly one hundred paintings this year and
ave sold many. I am currently nishing an album of
5 new rock songs and have performed them live at
alleries and open mics all over Chicago. Yet, I am
ill known best in my community and am afforded the
ost travel opportunities as a VJ. A VJ is an artist that
erforms (remixing, recomposing and effecting) video
real time with live musicians (often DJs).
his type of artwork happens to be an interesting com-
nation of music and painting. A VJ is responsible for
omposing in length and width like a painter, and in
me like a musician. The reactionary editing of the VJ
akes their art form different from that of a lmmaker,
s much more improvisational.
I have used the tools and techniques of the VJ to create
either massive immersive video environments that ll the
viewers entire periphery or simple contextual backdrops
for multimedia performances. This art form changes
dramatically based on the venue. When I am compos-
ing 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 art-
work 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 withmany 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 rang-
ing 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 collabo-
ration and the mixing of analog and digital art forms.
Both of these elements also appear in my personal re-
search and creative development. I have worked, in
the past year, with singers, dancers, acrobats, graphic
designers, programmers, cameramen, art historians,
surgeons, violinists, re spinners, djs, models, curators,
gallerists, ceramicists and more.
This marks the end of my 7th year teaching at
my 7th year of relentless exhibition based in
Below is a summary of the highlights from the
Not included are dozens of one-night engage
nightclubs, private events and parties all ove
wherein, I was the featured visual artist. I hav
ed a brief description of each of the events hig
a particular aspect of each multi-faceted colla
or exhibition. I dont necessarily consider th
the only interesting creative activity, but hap
have garnered the most publicity and peer rev
ROOK-TVIVE VIDEO PERFORMANCE
This system can be set
up in about 5 minutes innearly any venue with
electricity and an empty
wall or screen.
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Y-SOUTHSIDE-SWITCH
Y-GRAFFITI-ITI
Y-DIVISION
Y-ASHLAND-ARMITAGE
Y-BOY-GIRL-TRAIN
Y-SOUTHSIDE-BETTER
PEIDAY - SOU
A VJ has many options for collecting video. Some-
times, I do an entire show using only live cameras.
Usually though, I like to have prerecorded content to
mix and scrub (to adjust the speed of fast forward and
rewind in time with music).
I enjoy shooting short lms. I dont, however, enjoy lm festivals. I enjoy the ability to perform the sa
short lm in a different way every time I present it. The two things that change the meaning or mood
video more than anything else, are tempo and the sound track. The images on this page switch from
len to belligerent, depending on whether you have U2 or 50 Cent on the speakers. At every performan
I am able to tell very different stories with the same content by reacting to the music and choosing
best order and speed to perform them.
Prerecorded content comes in three varieties: pop cul-
ture, personal footage, and friends video art. My col-
lection includes hundreds of examples of each. The
images on this page are from one series of personal
footage called PEIDAY.
There are several obvious benets to each type of
content. And I believe that it is a purely stylistic de-
cision left up to the artist. Andy Warhol and Robert
Rauschenberg opened the door to commentary on pop
culture through creative remixing in the 1960s. Hip
Hop took off a decade and a half later and sampling
has been a part of the creative menu ever since.
VJ ARTISTRY:
CREATION vs
COLLECTION
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s page describes my favorite Rook-TV shows not
ntioned elsewhere. This list includes exhibitions at
leries, nightclubs and studio lofts around Chicago.
LOCALE SUNDAYS
cation: Rodan - Wicker Park
as invited by Caton Volk, video producer / curator /
omoter, to perform at the live video night at Rodan on
elve different occasions over its two-year run. I was
o invited to perform for the 100th anniversary of the
ekly event.
s particular weekly became synonymous with fresh
sic, art, and conversation. The room became more
d more crowded every week, with the most exciting
ctronic artists and curious Wicker Park scensters.
t of all the events that I have done in Chicago, this
ular opportunity to plug into my chosen audience
ovided me with the most consistent critical feedback
d enthusiastic appreciation for my artwork. This
ent was also pivotal in introducing a large audience to
medium of VJ. In the time since Locale started and
entually ended, dozens of nearby, Wicker Park ven-
s have introduced video projectors and opportunities
visual artists to perform.
2. MF CHICAGO
Location: Subterranean Wicker Park
I was also excited to perform at my other favorite Wicker Park
venue, Subterranean, (recently remodeled to include video
projection). In the time since Rodans LOCALE event ended,
this has become the new venue to serve as a regular summit
for like-minded video artists and often spurs new technical or
artistic projects.
3. BIG IN TEXAS
Location: Texas Ballroom - Bridgeport
7 DJs were scheduled for one evening at Texas Ballroom and
I was asked to nd 7 VJs to match up with the musicians. Two
huge video projections would occupy the walls of this 6000
sq ft, two and a half story loft. Two Saint Xavier students,
Laura Dagys and Stephen Lewkow, were among the seven
VJs that I collected. The event was a unique teaching envi-
ronment because although the students had rehearsed their
performances, they had never performed them outside of the
classroom. At Texas, they had a chance to perform in front of
several hundred people.
4. REMIXERS LOUNGELocation: SmartBar - Wrigleyville
I was invited by Galina Schevechenko, video artist / promoter
to guest host several evenings of video at t he uptown Smart-
Bar (the nightclub below The Metro, rock venue). Each eve-
ning was entirely different as the events upstairs often brought
a very different crowd down with them after the show. My
personal highlight was performing video with the members of
LCD Sound System (top 40 rock /dance fusion band).
5. SPECTACLE - with Creative Chaos
Locations: Funky Buddha, Sonoteque Near North
On many occasions, ROOK-TV and Creative Chaos ( Aaron
Edwards - Tim Shoen) work together. Creative Chaos has
a very similar video performance strategy as ROOK-TV but
chooses to secure more long-term venues. Funky Buddha,
and Sonoteque offer regular weekly events that Creative
Chaos hosts.
Over the past 6 years, I have performed with Aaron more
than any other VJ. We taught each other many tricks and
collaborated on shoots and share a lot of footage. At one
particular performance of his, in which I was not perform-
ing, I walked into Grant Park at dusk to see him projecting
a video that I had created years ago. The video was of the
Sears Tower from several different angles around the city.
He was projecting this pulsing video on two 40-foot screens
and the Sears Tower was framed perfectly between them.
6. IMVF - Independent Music Video Festival
Location: Subterranean Wicker Park
Video curator, Caton Volk was presenting an evening of
progressive independent music videos. He decided that
he also wanted to include live video artists as they often
perform video for music. I was invited to perform with one
of the bands.
7. SPUNDAE
Location: Excalibur / Vision night club - Loop
Five different occasions, I shared the stage with world class
DJs at Chicagos Largest night club. Thousands of people
danced below the $10,000 video system under my control.
8. URBAN DIALECTIC
Location: Congress Theater - Logan Squ
The Congress Theater is a 3000 seat con
Urban Dialectic was a 3 day music and ur
culture conference. The kick-off to the c
was held at Congress Theater with 20+ mus
was invited to enhance both the theater as w
grand entryway with video.
I called Creative Chaos and a number of s
take part in the planning and performing. C
from Saint Xavier University and Pei San
Rives from Chicago Art Department, all took
evenings performance.
9. IGNITE: a GEN-ART Event
Location: Kaleidoscope - West Loop
GEN-ART is a leading arts and entertainm
nization dedicated to showcasing emergin
designers, lmmakers, musicians, and visu
With ofces in New York, Los Angeles, San
co, Miami, and Chicago, Gen Art produces
events annually ranging from week long lm
to massive star-studded fashion shows, DJ
tions, art exhibitions, multimedia events, a
For the IGNITE event, I was in charge of
artists that were going to perform. Three C
Department students were among the artists
10. Entheon
Location: Various
Chicago Burning Man Community Events
TOP TENROOK
VJGIGSTV
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ROOKLocation: Daily Planet NBC Tower - Loop
This annual festival in its 5th year, took place in several different big name post-production studiosaround town, arriving at Daily Planet in NBC tower for the nal night. I was invited by video curator and
Art Institute motion graphics professor, Mason Dixon, to perform f or 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
with our hoods on for about three hours on the 23rd oor, with a view of the lake and a blizzard outside.
We featured lots of videos of re, re-spinners, replaces and reworks, attempting to keep the video re
stoked for our winter guests.
Chicago Motion Graphics Festival 2007
Location: Society for the Arts - Bucktown
The following year, My good friend, Mason Dixon, hosted his annual Motion Graphics Festival agcalling on all the local, national and international talent that he could corral. The event spanned 10 d
and culminated in an Interactive Installation showcase at The Society f or the Arts in Bucktown.
This event served as both a showcase and a summit for some of the most interesting, creative inven
and collaborators. I was invited to VJ on the monster main screen and connect our event with an e
in Los Angeles via Video Chat. Caton Volk, the cofounder of LOCALE Sundays, weekly VJ exhib
started a similar event in L.A. He was also breaking new ground in the area of online performance
his project called Top Floor Live. Our Chicago event was connected with his L.A. event and arti sts
audience members in both cities could chat and mingle.
CMGFChicago Motion Graphics Festival 2008
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MGF WORKSHOPS - Guest Instructor
ansamoeba South Loop
ddition to performing at the nal event of the CMGF, I
also tapped to lead several workshops. Most of the
cipants in these workshops were professional motion
gners, my job was not to cover foundational material.
s responsible for showing these video composers the
erground art form of video performance (VJ).
nsformed our downtown studio into a multistage ani-
on creation center and video performance laboratory.
lected a wide range of the industries best interactive
o software and tried to draw conceptual lines between
tools that they are already familiar with and these new
he-y approaches. Although the products of this one-
workshop were not quite museum-ready masterpieces,
attendees learned quite a bit and several have linked
to projects in which they utilized the information that I
vered.
Electronic Sophistication: Series 3Lake Shore Theater - Lakeview
To promote the CMGF08 events, Mason Dixon also organized a screening / lecture series
Lakeshore Theater. For each event, he brought in a different video artist or motion desig
discuss their current projects and the state of the art.
I presented my most recent interactive video sculptures and cross-country-video-drawing e
ments that I did in San Francisco / Chicago in the previous summer. I also discussed my C
Art Department projects and their role as community arts projects. The evening wrapped u
a discussion of a proposed community action between organizations such as CAD and SX
Masons afliatio ns with SAIC and MIT. This project is called SCRIBBLE TV and is desig
an Internet television project where students contribute time-based artworks and help sea
the best of the net video and motion graphics. The ideal output would be on kiosk style mo
where users could not only watch the content curated by students but also contribute / u
content for consideration.
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LOLLAPALOOZAGRANT PARK, CHICAGOI returned from a performance in San Francisco last year to nd an invitation, tickets and wristbands for all of Lo
Chicagos lake side summer rock spectacle. The annual Lollapalooza event invites several hundred musical an
dozen visual artists to Grant Park to engage and entertain hundreds of thousands of rock and roll fans over thre
My job was to project video onto two 40-foot geodesic half-domes created by a group of Burning Man artists. I h
the enormous architecture, complete with parachute skins, and each night would install multiple video projection
congurations to both enhance the sculpture and draw interest to our camp. The primary function of these eno
tures 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
and during the days the thermometer climbed well over one hundred degrees. Needless to say we had enormo
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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 re).
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 nale when our video
spectacle met a viola, ute, and turntable trio, performing with the
Baptist Choir and the SPUN re dancers.
DAISY WORLD with DJ SPOOKY
Hot House - South Loop
I was invited to VJ at an Earth Day event by some of the same promot-
ers 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.
EARTH DAY2006
EARTH NIGHT2007.
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FLAVOR FOR FASHION
Chicago Cultural CenterDowntownThe city of Chicago operates a center downtown
where people can come and experience master-
pieces of art, theater, music, food, and fashion from
a variety of cultures. I was very attered to receive
a phone call from the Chicago Cultural Center ask-
ing if I could contribute my art-form to one of their
presentations. I performed live video art on a screen
while a DJ performed live music for a runway show
based on collaborations between fashion designers
and chefs. Several TV news stations covered the
event.
Svedka FUTURE FASHION
West LoopAfter my rst, very eclectic, foray into fashion I
was pleased to be invited by the director of Flavor
for Fashion, to work on a commercial project with
SVEDKA VODKA. They were producing an event
that would introduce their product and ad campaign
to the Chicago market and buyers. I was in charge
of a creating a video fashion show, using their aes-
thetic of retro-future-chic and animating imagery that
their design team had generated for print ads.
SAIC FASHION 2006
Marshal FieldsLoopAnother 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 perfor-
mance 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 fast-
paced video montage debuted at a runway event at
Marshal Fields in April of 2006.
LUMALIVE: Design - Style
PilsenUsually a couple of times a year, I get a call from
one of my favorite clients, Anke Loh, a professor
of Fashion at the School of the Art Institute. In
the past, we collaborated on several experimental
art / fashion projects, such as video-garments and
contextual video installation. I have also produced
several video portfolios and documentaries of her
work as design jobs. In winter 2007, she con-
tracted me to design a video narrative for a series
of garments that she had recently created. The
interesting part of this project was the interaction
between the collaborators. This project was done
almost completely over the internet. I never met
the photographer, layout designer or models. Most
of them lived in Belgium. Anke was the modera-
tor and translator. I was the motion designer and
the projectionist . The video was shown in a giant
warehouse in Pilsen, along with two-dozen furni-
ture, fashion and graphic designers. It was also
on display on 3 giant plasma screens for a month
at the Chicago Tourism Center, in downtown.
ASHION SHOWS
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When I rst 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 at-
tended 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.
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
Event: Salon DelavoOn 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 in-
crease their knowledge through conversation, participation
and readings, often consciously following Horaces deni-
tion of the aims of poetry, to please and educate (aut de-
lectare 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 jewelryand martini menu. Each Salon centered around a different
combination of artists / media and always drew a wide vari-
ety of participants. These salons were pivotal in keeping our
reputation as a create space as opposed to a party venue.
People gured out fairly quickly that they were supposed to
make something if they came to Transamoeba.
Event: ARTEC painting and video eventThis 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 ReceptioRes Magazine sponsors an annual world tour o
tive digital artwork. The tour has two main ai
goal is to promote the t ime-based artwork tha
lease on DVD with their magazines. The othe
is to nd up-and-coming digital talent from a
the world to promote in future events.
I was invited by video curator, Mike Nourse,
sent Chicago in an evening showcasing the
and DJs in town. Each VJ was paired with a Daudio / video collaborations were presented o
screens and speakers throughout Transamoe
Audience members leaving the RES FEST eve
Museum of Contemporary Art received free a
to our exclusive opening night reception. Seve
tors, directors nd presenting artists were in att
I also displayed my interactive video art / gam
TV. Res contacted me after the event and e
interest in showing ROOK-TV as part of the 06
Fest Tour.
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 con -
ceived, executed, or staged at Transamoeba. Many of the
collaborators discussed in this text, met for the rst time
at Transamoeba. I formed my rst 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 favor-
ite Transamoeba events.
TRANSAMOEBASouth-Loop Intermedia Studio & Creativity Factory
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SUPER FUNMOVIE HOUSE
CHICAGO VJ SUMMITTransamoeba: South-Loop
During the two-year long, LOCALE, Sundays residency at Rstrong community of VJs formed in Chicago. After over 100
weekly events ,the founders of LOCALE were abruptly reloc
Angeles and LOCALE left with them, enjoying an additional
The vacuum created by their exodus, left the need for altern
mits. The weekly event, in addition to being a visual showca
a teaching and learning situation in which artists swapped s
hardware advice. Super Fun Movie House was an event tha
ll this gap. Dozens of VJs showed up to swap clips and le
tricks.
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MUSICALPERFORMANCEIn 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 min-
utes, several other resident artist materialized and a
band was quickly formed. Mike Nourse brou