Mike Hall Video

documentation of fine art works, performance, and critical historic events of the third millennium

works

A portfolio of video productions, visual imagery and writings that challenge convention and explore alternative forms of perception

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Unmarked Package  a case for feeling insecure Over a weekend in May 2007, the Institute for Infinitely Small Things set out to research insecurity in Chicago´s public spaces. They ceremoniously carried over a hundred white packages (each marked "UNMARKED PACKAGE") to different locations in Chicago and set them up in various locations to poll the public about security and fear. The reactions tended to reflect the area where the questions were asked; for example, urban respondents cited crime rather than terrorism as being a primary concern. Most residents of the city expressed a greater suspicion of strangers overall since 9/11. Union Square  the downfall of an uprising Although the local mainstream press reported the harsh treatment that protesters endured from the last day in August until the end of the Republican convention, very little of that reporting made its way outside of New York or continued beyond the time it took for the physical and psychological scars of those events to heal. The issues are obscured by the fact that some of the individuals arrested that day were performing acts of civil disobedience for the expressed purpose of being arrested. What is not widely recognized is that many others were curious bystanders or local residents coincidentally on the street while these acts were being performed. This film is a first-hand account from an independent documentary producer who spent five days in New York, two of them behind bars. Before you decide who was right and who was wrong, you should first see this story. Sones De México  "Un Son a Cuatro Vientos" In January of 2005, I finished work on a promotional video for a Chicago based traditional folk music ensemble called Sones De México. Juan Díes, the producer and camera operator, asked me to edit a collection of performance clips, interviews, rehearsal video, images, audio, and subtitles, for the purpose of persuading owners of large performance venues to sign them on. Juan has suggested that a longer piece would also be desired, so stay tuned for more "¡Son!" The A31 Street Party  a mass arrest by the NYPD On August 31, 2004, at about 7:00pm, a marching band launched from Union Square in downtown Manhattan into the street as an act of civil disobedience. All those who followed their path, and even those who were there for incidental reasons, were indiscriminately arrested on minor charges and detained by police for two days or more. I was on that street, shooting a documentary on the demonstrations around the RNC, and was fortunate enough to reclaim my camera and tapes after my release. Express Yourself!  demonstrations outside the 2004 Democratic National Convention The demonstrations outside of the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston were relatively tame compared to the events that would occur in New York a month later. However, the presence of riot police in full armor set an ominous tone outside of the Fleet center during the last week in July, and the construction of demonstration pens to be used for the expression of dissent was particularly ironic considering that only blocks away, more than two centuries before, the model of world´s first free democracy was formed. Funerals for a Moment  mourning events of no particular significance On May 15, an excursion led by performance artist Kanarinka commemorated the passing of seven seemingly insignificant moments throughout the lower east side of Manhattan.  The group consisted of Mourners, Ushers, Journalists, and The Orator, Pirun of iKatun.  In this piece I attempted to convey the remarkable facility of this group to juxtapose the solemn and the absurd, set against the backdrop of the active city on a sunny morning in spring.  In October of 2004, this work was included in a compilation of new media performance art works in the Boston area called "Aspect", with voice-over commentary by Natalie Loveless Holographic Portfolio  capturing the works of Harriet Casdin-Silver As a preparator of Harriet Casdin-Silver´s works, I´ve had the rare opportunity to capture the wide rage of emotion and complexity of her work, using a video camera, in various museum and gallery locations as well as in her studio in Boston. A hologram is a two-dimentional image that can be viewed from many angles to see the objects as if they had true dimensionality. To videotape a hologram, it isnecessary to move the camera from one side of a work to another, being careful to maintain an angle that produces a consistent spectrum of colors and sufficient reflection of light. translation/history/archive  Documentation of a site-specific installation by Natalie Loveless. In the spring of 2003, a curatorial group called iKatun produced an exhibition called "info@blah" at the Mills Gallery, as part of the Boston Cyberarts Festival held that year.  The work by Natalie Loveless was a site-specific installation that involved the collection of pins and written messages from a large group of people, which were applied to an open wall at the gallery before the opening.  However, when the work was finally displayed, only the pins remained, along with hundreds of straight lines traced in silverpoint, and pinholes marked the intersection of any two of these lines. Because I liked the piece so much, I shot video of it, which she later incorporated into a descriptive piece for her portfolio. Thee Electric Bastards  Hanging out with the dudes of "psychodelic garage pop rockin´ stuff" During the summer of 2005, Dutch videojournalist Charlotte Govaert followed members of Thee Electric Bastards, a Boston-area rock band, to capture their unique performances and points of view on videotape. Charlotte asked me to edit the piece, which was originally aired on Somerville Community Access TV on August 30th of that year. I got to know the Bastards very well while working on the piece, by means of the 10 or so hours of videotape Charlotte gave me to work with.