This item is so typical of my youth. I got it from the person I had my very first crush on. It is a nail to fix shoes to a horse’s hoof. I don’t know if it is universal, but horse shoes are supposed to be lucky charms. Well, nobody ever gave me the shoe. I had to make do with the nail. But I’ve learned in the meantime they can be just as lucky. You only have to believe in it.
Who is going to tell Sunny that we are not using his project as is. Certainly not me. I am a wimp when it comes to such talks. Thankfully I have a good excuse. I am not even a Dede. If I told him he could view the decision as oppression and blame me, the outsider, for his woes of being turned down yet again rather than taking in the real reservations we all have with his proposal after Minor’s revelation yesterday. No, one of the Dedes has to tell him and let him down softly.
I asked for volunteers and waited for a bit but nobody held their hand up for this certainly ungrateful job. Devil just shook his head when I looked at him. “I resigned from my job as spokesperson, remember? I gave you the letter” he said.
“And I’ve never officially accepted it!” I reminded him.
“You took it and said you will get back to me after the weekend. You never did.”
“Guys, guys, what is it with you two?” Witch interrupted. “It’s not helping. This is a totally different issue and won’t get us anywhere today!”
“I just wish he understood what it means to be an artist” L’Artiste started now. “He doesn’t get that while you can use bits of existing work you have to bring your own in and develop it further. He is such a me-too guy. It drives me bonkers!”
“Do you want to talk to him, artist to artist?” I immediately asked.
“No, he wouldn’t take it from me. He would discard my words as sour grapes, as though I was envious I didn’t come up with this ‘brilliant’ project.”
“Why don’t we all talk to him then he has to accept we all agree on it.”
“Yes, and have him feel like standing before a tribunal? This is a sure recipe for disaster…”
“Minor should tell him. After all she knows the entire background. And it was her who alerted us to his ruse.”
“C’mon she is only a teenager. Do you think he will take the message from her?” Detail stepped protectively in front of her daughter.
“I don’t know what the big deal is” Philosopher finally said. “I’ll do it. It’s not that we want to scrap the project entirely. We just have to strip it back and assemble it differently, don’t we? I personally like the beginning with everybody sitting on the stands. It goes right back to our roots as NO BODIES. When you look at the image posted yesterday your expressions are just gorgeous. Can’t we work along these lines? We just need a mentor who can help Sunny develop it into his own style.”
“Agreed” I said quickly before he could change his mind. “You just proved you would be the perfect mentor!”
“But I know the least about art.” Philosopher pointed out.
“Art is Sunny’s job. You only have to keep him on track.”
Right after breakfast yesterday we went into the studio. Sunny took charge and explained again what he wanted to do. First all the puppets will sit on their stands for 15 seconds and then they all put their robes on and dance like there is no tomorrow for 15 seconds. It sounded like great fun and there were plenty of volunteers who wanted to take part, more than could fit on the tiny little stage. In the end we cast a lot to make it fair for all.
Like Socialite had anticipated, the entire thing was done and dusted in an hour or so. Work with the Dedes was never easier. Sunny was a fantastic lead character and he danced his little heart out to music only he could hear. The trouble started when I put everything together in a video editing program and I needed some real background music. Sunny of course had thought of this too and he gave me a file to use. But, oh dear, most of the others didn’t like his choice at all. It was some sort of techno or hip hop stuff which most of Dedes are no big fans of . Someone suggested using something more melodic that you can really dance to. Something that suited the majority of the Dedes.
“This is not a film by committee.” Sunny put his foot down. “I am the artistic director and this is my choice. So keep your noses out of it!” he insisted. He added I had no choice in the matter. Either I use this piece of music or he would withdraw the project altogether. Not the thing you want to happen after you have spent an hour in the studio already. But there was definitely no room for negotiation. To prove his point Sunny left the room.
Minor, who was sitting in the corner pretending she wasn’t interested in the goings-on finally spoke up. “You know what he is trying to do?” she asked.
“Yes, he is trying to bully me into using some music that most of Dedes don’t like!” I said very disappointed.
“What planet are you living on?” She rolled her eyes. “No, he is trying to make you do a Harlem Shake video!?”
“A what?” I asked, as I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. I looked around for help but only saw blank faces.
“Oh gee” she said and came over to push me away from the keyboard. “You oldies really have no idea what’s going on in the big wide world yet you believe we teenagers live in a world of our own. That is so rich!” She loaded a page on Wikipedia and explained to all of us that Harlem Shake is an internet meme that started in the beginning of February this year and peaked by the end of the same month. According to Wikipedia, within a fortnight of the original upload forty thousand similar videos had been made and uploaded by individuals from all over the world. All in the same format that Sunny had suggested! After forty days the videos hit the one billion viewing mark. And according to Youtube the world had spent roughly 2,782 years watching Harlem Shake videos in this one month. She showed us a couple of examples, each of them 30 seconds long with the same music Sunny had suggested. I was speechless!
“The only artistic input from Sunny really is that usually the participants drop some of their clothing in the second part, while the Dedes put theirs on. So most of the videos have sexual connotations. Mum wouldn’t like me to watch them” she added. “But there are some really funny ones. The Simpsons have done one, there is an underwater one, one by some soldiers in the Norwegian army, and plenty of washing machine to choose from. You name it… even advertising agencies are jumping on the bandwagon. And you know once this happens you really are too late. Let me tell you guys, you’ve missed this train!”
She went back into her corner shaking her head in disbelief.
Now what?
In typical Dede fashion all the puppets have ideas about what we should do next. So we have around 46 new ideas and everyone is convinced their idea will be an absolute hit. There seems to be a common theme though. They all want to do more films! However, with the precedence L’Artiste set, they all want to feature in their own little films.
L’Artiste of course wants to do another art film, not necessarily a sequel to “Life of an artist” but one where he is the star again and shown in a better light. Devil would like to re-enact what happened at my work this week. Obviously I have been complaining a bit too much at the dinner table. He believes what I have been through all week offers the perfect material for a drama/comedy and the main character would be tailor-made for him. Witch is very keen on doing a cooking show as they are so popular on TV. Her cooking show will of course be totally different as it will promote a healthy lifestyle. And she believes I owe her one since I totally neglect her on the blog.
I of course curse the day when I opened pandora’s box. This morning at breakfast I told them they should put forward their ideas in writing. Socialite volunteered to be my assistant and help vet the scripts. Of course scripts that feature several puppets will have a better chance than those that only feature one. I explained: “Do your math, guys, if everybody got their own film, and it takes at least a weekend to complete one, we would need a year.” I had barely finished when they all ran off to look for pencils and paper and find themselves a quiet space in the house.
“It’s not a competition and speed is not the essence,” I added, but they were all gone already.
The Dedes have a strange hold over me. On the one hand they keep me sane in my current situation, but on the other hand they are driving me totally crazy. I have to admit there is a thin line between the two states of mind.
Over Easter I started my new project, which will take a while, as it is the first time that I am not doing everything myself. I have somebody coming up with a script for a short film. It is a fun project for my tennis club. We are going to explain some of the more obscure rules and how to behave on court. So far, the project only exists in my head and in our club captain’s head. I would like to get more talent involved and hopefully we can turn the entire thing into a fundraiser for a much needed upgrade of our courts. As everybody knows, as soon as more than one person is involved things get trickier and the different ideas have to be managed somehow. So I thought I would jog things along a bit by creating some footage to help visualise what the puppets are capable of.
First of all I needed to find a good pairing who will play well together. Originally I thought Alien would be perfect but it turned out his infectious smile is quite annoying when it comes to a game of tennis. Nobody would smile throughout an entire game! He played against Smuggy and it was pretty boring. No highlights whatsoever.
Mouse and Nosy Neighbour were another combination I tried. Mouse is a good player and kept a cool head. She was a tad aloof and kept her head high at all times. She obviously had the mental advantage over Nosy Neighbour and just thrashed him. Understandably he wasn’t happy. Who wants to be beaten by a girl!
The last combination I tried was Foxy Lady and Socialite. I love how these two eyeball each other all the time. Foxy Ladies’ big eyes come out very well in the game. So I guess they will be the stars of the next film.
I am truly relieved. I found L’Artiste safe and sound, though he devised a devilish plan to get back at me. Let me tell you the story:
My dear friend knows all too well how much I dislike having my image displayed publicly. So while he was sitting up on the ladder he got his pencils and crayons out and did a few sketches of me concentrating on my work with the other Dedes. I didn’t even notice, so engrossed was I in what I was doing. Excited about his cunning plan, he shouted himself a bottle of schnaps to celebrate his success. The discarded robe didn’t mean anything sinister either. L’Artiste is generally a very messy worker and wasn’t wearing his tunic at the time. Sure enough, he soiled his robe and swapped it for a new one. Untidy as he is, he didn’t bother throwing the old one in the wash. You should have seen how excited he was about the outcome. He could hardly wait to get back to the gallery and hang the piece today.
I am a good sport, at least I think so, and primarily I am excited he found his spirits again. So I am happy to call it quits. But I certainly hope that by tomorrow everybody will have forgotten the image.
I am extremely concerned about L’Artiste. Last week he was very frustrated and I thought I would help him out by making him the star of my short film. Originally he was quite chuffed, but when the feedback came in, he changed his mind. Even though we had some good responses and Socialite was so excited and wanted to interview him, it didn’t help. Strangely enough, negativity always seems to be remembered longer than positive remarks, doesn’t it? Sure enough, after cooling down for a while L’Artiste became convinced the film had ruined his reputation. He choose to have some time out and has withdrawn from the Dede community for the time being. I am well aware of how much he needs his solitude every now and then. So I left him to his own devices sitting high up on a ladder yesterday, while I worked with a few other Dedes on a pilot for a new film. Much to my surprise, when I came into the studio this morning he was gone. Only his robe was lying around where he was sitting yesterday and next to it a bottle of high percentage schnaps. Can you understand my worries?
When you know the whole picture, I have to confess, I have sugar coated our situation just a tad. I am actually not working in a studio. I am trying to keep up appearances here and studio sounds flash and established. In reality, I am working in a building site. The site currently has no roof and is shrink wrapped. This protects the building from the elements and gives me the perfect diffused lighting for photography. As it is the Easter holidays there are no builders around. If you have ever lived on a building site you know how awkward it is. As you can imagine the creativity suffers a little. I’ll try to make the best of it :)
But if L’Artiste really has taken to the bottle and wanted to go skinny dipping in a puddle outside the house, as his discarded clothes suggest, he might have come to grief. I had better go searching for him.
Socialite is a puppet I don’t see very often. I suspect I am much too common for her. She likes to hobnob with the rich and powerful. There are not many of them in my circle of friends. Naturally, I was very surprised when Socialite came and told me about this wonderful short film she had seen called “Life of an artist.” She immediately launched into dissecting the story line: “It’s fantastic how the director captured the essence of torment. You see the artist’s rapid decline from self-confidence to a picture of misery. You must see this film”
“I know the film” I said.
“It’s sad how artists are reliant on viewers opinion, isn’t it?” she continued. “People just don’t understand good art anymore! They are ignorant folks. Did you see the two characters that just walked past the picture? What are they doing in an exhibition for goodness sake? They obviously have no idea how much pain goes into creating unique artworks!
“I don’t know. To me it looks very much like instant-gratification-artist. A one shot wonder! He had one good inspirational idea and he immediately took the result to the market in the hope of selling and making money. Artists need a bit more stamina, don’t you think?” I responded. “He can’t expect people to go all gooey over everything he hangs on the wall just because he wears a tunic like Paul Klee. Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?”
“I totally disagree. He did a lot of soul-searching before he had his inspiration. That’s very obvious in the sequence where he walks around the room. No, no, his inspiration did not come out of nowhere! I clearly see it was the audience that ground him down!”
“What I don’t understand, the two art-lovers at the end commended him for his work. But this wasn’t good enough for him. He is obviously slanted towards the commercial. Honestly, what kind of reaction is that… pulling the work off the wall and tearing it up only because they don’t want to buy it! Isn’t it more important that they liked it?”
“Tssst” Socialite threw her head over her shoulder. Obviously she was piqued. “What do you know about the delicate soul of an artist? I should have known one can’t discuss films with you!”
Mhm, could I be so wrong? What do you see in the film? In case you haven’t seen it, here is the link Life of an Artist
“I should do an interview with L’Artiste!” Socialite said. “He is the only one who can shed light on this matter. Do you have any questions I should ask him?”
I don’t know what it is, except that maybe because it’s the end of summer, but the Dedes are in total disarray…
Remember when Devil threw a wobbly last week? Foxy Lady was obviously a bit aggressive towards him. She is a staunch feminist and can’t stand it when the other gender gets too cocky.
Bad Conscience was sidling around all weekend offering his services to both squabblers. That’s what he does… He goes around and looks for a disagreement of some sort somewhere. He offers his help and moves in with whoever lets him in. Once he has made himself comfortable in a corner of your house, preferably the darkest one, he forgets his promise to help and just sits there and expects to be fed. He has lived with me for a while and, gee, it is difficult to move him on. You have to make a big effort to virtually throw him out. He is one of those who doesn’t know when he has outstayed his welcome. He never leaves of his own accord. Sorry, I am digressing. You certainly know the chap anyway.
Neither Devil nor Foxy Lady have taken Bad Conscience in yet. And I actually wanted to talk to them to see if I can help. But then L’Artiste popped in unexpectedly on Saturday morning. He was really, and I mean really, depressed! We had breakfast together and he moaned and groaned. In the end I said: “To be honest, we only have two options. Either we hang around and we are all depressed for the rest of the weekend or we do some new work. What’s it going to be?”
You know what he opted for. The result is in the previous post. It was an impromptu. L’Artiste just wanted to tell his story. In the end he admitted in secret (so please keep mum about it) that it felt so refreshingly good to have a hearty cry. I picked up his tunic and will keep it for him until he is ready to put it on again.
Sorry, I am running late today. I was rushing to finish a new Dede puppet film. So, here it is, fresh of the press… just uploaded to Youtube. Hope you enjoy it!
dedepuppets 