The Final Post

It has already been over a month since The Night Shift installation was completed, but the time between then and now has flown. Our final BFA show is up and evidence of the installation is at the show. Here are a few images from my portion of the show:





Also, www.nightshift07.com has been fully updated with audio, video and images. Take a look at this site for a more steamlined understanding of the image. Thank you for all your support over the past few months and I hope to hear from you in the future.

Week Fifteen: It's Here!

Well, well. After months of planning the day is finally here. In about 5 hours the Night Shift will be "engaged" (that sounds a bit militaristic). I hope you can come be a part of this installation, but if not, there will be images to follow this posting.

TONIGHT APRIL 28, 2007, 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm THE NIGHT SHIFT

If you are leaving from Eugene, please meet in the PLC parking lot at 6:45 and transportation will be arranged from this point. Remember, check out www.nightshift07.com for more information! Cheers and I hope to see you all there!

Week Fourteen: Drawing Close

This week has been a blur already and already (just one week now) the installation will be up. Not much to say other than tell your friends, grandparents and neighbors about the project. Read on for updates:

UPDATES:

• The great news this week is that the installation was published in the April 21st version of Siuslaw News. The article, by Wesley Voth, deserves a thorough read, which you can do below:

  Do you wish to save the changes you have made?

  All my life I have heard laments from my elders on changes happening that they believe has ruined a certain place. Most of these have had to do with development, the cutting down of trees, altering of waterways, bigger-faster-straighter-wider roads, disappearing views and skylines, blocked access or fee access to favorite places. Probably I have come to sound just the same. I do realize there are many things that are better, but I do cling to memories and mementos that preserve on some level what is vanishing.

  When people first come to places, they have a tendency to name them. The major rivers around here carry the names of original inhabitants (either that or the people carry the names of the rivers with which they were associated), like Siuslaw, Umpqua, Coos, Siletz. Using those names helps keep alive a rich past. Many of the creeks around here still carry the family name of homesteaders, like Labar, Bernhardt, Sweet, Hadsall, Shoemaker, Thompson, and some of these then also lend their names to the roads that follow them. Some of the burgs as well—Brickerville for example is named for the Brickers. But then there are also the descriptive: Mapleton, Tide, Swisshome, Deadwood--and places, like Rainrock, Firo, Point Terrace, Dead Dog Hole.

  As a culture we have ways of clinging to disappearing images and names—photographs of former generations and icons, paintings of dammed waterfalls or long ago torn down covered bridges, published books and diaries, keeping old maps that show routes and names and understandings that would otherwise fade into oblivion.

  Not that long ago this area was characterized by salmon canneries and lumber mills, most now the faintest shadow beyond historical archives. Of those now only one mill in the area continues to operate, American Laminators in Swisshome; just downriver from the functioning mill the old Murphy Veneer Plant is an empty shell.

  On Saturday night April the 28^th from 6:00 – 11:00 pm this shell will be the arena for an artistic rendering of a scene from the past. Fine Arts student Andrew Van Dyk from the University of Oregon is planning to bring light to bear on this structure. To quote his intentions, “The Night Shift - a large scale light installation - seeks to breathe new life into the Murphy Veneer Plant, abandoned in the early 1990's near Swisshome, Oregon. More than 20,000 watts of generator powered light will illuminate the structure and resurrect the memory of the abandoned lumber mill. On the evening of April 28, 2007, the Murphy plant will be brought back to life for one last night.” More information including his thinking and planning is available on his website www.nightshift07.com

  The event will give curious folk the opportunity to view the structure close up without having to trespass. And it is likely there will be those there who can speak firsthand about the operating days of the plant; I’m looking forward to seeing what the now full-of-holes building will look like at night with powerful light beams angling out through every crevice and opening into the night sky. A one-of-a-kind event. Maybe I’ll be inspired to print out the poster to remind myself of that time in the distant past when that guy lit up that place that used to be where the something or other is now…

• One last tidbit is the Van that I will be renting from the State Motor Pool requires a lot of paperwork and all that good stuff, but I'm sure that will all get sorted out soon. Have a good weekend.
  

Week Thirteen: Still Moving Along

Not too much to mention this week. I have been putting the last few things into place (mainly transportation) and trying to get a gauge on how many people will be attending. I wanted to take a minute to share an installation with you entitled "Space Balls". It is supposed to reference the feeling of being in the Australian bush. Check out this link for more information (photos below).

Week Twelve: Announcing Nightshift07.com

Hey all, another week is near closing, so its time to write up what has happened this week. I have been pretty busy with everything (as usual), but lately I have been thinking more about this summer and what I will be doing. Work? Travel? Study? Internship? A lot to think about, but for now lets stick to the...

UPDATES:

• ANNOUNCING: The opening of my website: www.nightshift07.com it will serve as a more professional face to the project. It has all the information someone would need to check out my project. I hope that the word is being spread and I get a good turn out.
• Transportation: it's a kind-of-sort-of issue. Not really, because I think there should be good carpooling, but its best to have more than enough transportation that not enough. I am hoping to rent a van from the school and perhaps a school bus if the price is right.
• Thats about it for the updates, remember the date APRIL 28th, 2007 - 6:00p - 11:00p. Hope to see you and friends there.
  

APRIL 28, 2007: THE NIGHT SHIFT

Week Eleven: The Night Shift

Well, after a winter term, it feels like I can actually get my hands dirty. I spent so much of last winter term with proposals, conceptual images and all that jazz, but now I can actually work. If you have been keeping up with this blog, you noticed that I had my lights donated at the end of spring term, which was huge! Now, with a fresh start on things, I have started the full production portion of this project. Also, the project has an official name: The Night Shift. Read on for updates....

UPDATES:

• This weekend, I was able to rent one of the light towers, a generator and one of my auxiliary lights. Basically, this means that I put together a small scale rehearsal of the show. It turned out better than I had imagined, slightly different, but generally good. I can't wait until the final show. One problem that arose during the staging of the project was the time that it actually gets dark. As the days drag on, it stays light longer and longer. For this project, that is a problem because the full effect cannot be witnessed unless it is fully dark. But, that problem will be ironed out in the next few weeks. Anyway, check out some photos from Friday night:
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• I aI also have started making a website dedicated to this project to give viewers more information and directions to the site. The site is: www.thenightshift07.com . It isn't up yet, but it will be soon.
  
  

Week Ten: Holy Cow...It's Gonna Happen!

Spring is definitely here and so is the sun and warmer weather. One thing that this means is that the sundown times are going later and later in the night. Anyway, more on that later. The most important part of the week was that I have nailed down the date when this installation will take place: April 28th, 2007. It is the last weekend in April on a Saturday. Overall, it was a huge week for the project and me, so read on for the updates!

UPDATE:

• The big, huge, gigantic, out of this world thing that happened this week was that I had the light towers for the installation donated! Thats right, totally free! That means one night for the installation and another night for set up. The kind person who did this was Rich Bolen from The CAT Rental Store. He was totally kind and interested in the project. If you are looking to rent any kind of machinery contact Mr. Bolen at his store. Here is a link to their website: Peterson Machinery Co.
  
• Another thing that I have been working on this week has been learning to re-wire the lights that were given to me from a co-worker at Home Depot. Check out some images of how thats going here. If you could tell...not very well. But, no worries, I will figure this one out soon enough.
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• If you have been keeping up on this blog, you can see my progress so far this term. It is clear that everything is in place for the installation of this project now. I have the lights all ready, the site ready, and the date. The last few things are just going to be creating the identity for the installation and getting the information out there. This spring break I will be traveling via train down to California, so I won't update for a week, but after that, the updates will continue.