Montreal; Nothing revolutionary in form, but always in content : streets, people and moments of a day in my life in the city I am from...

Back into our woods

After years away from the land where my family came, I am back, with my dad's 70s snow moccassins and my grandmother's quilt... Perfect stillness.

Old pianos and all that jazz

I just love them. This one is at one of my aunts' in the eastern tip of the island (Montreal)

Juliette & Chocolat, some winter day in Montréal

In the recent weeks, I have been thinking about my use of this blog (primarily for news), and, parallel to that, the incredible amount of chronicling I do on a daily basis.. documenting my life, my surroundings, the people I see, the places where I eat, the beauty of a detail, the quote scribbled on a wall that nobody noticed, the design at the bottom of my cup of tea...

So, as I sat here at Juliette &Chocolat, a trendy spot where one may order all types of chocolate to drink (yes, I did say 'to drink'), I thought about all that, while in the process of documenting with my iPhone the quite incredible display of lights and the funky servers' hats. And so I decided, that instead of just being some sort of news channel for me via 8h51, I would transform this blog into a forum for the creative process, and an outlet for these chronicles.

As I pondered all of this, I had a cup of herbal tea, precisely 'Mayan chocolate with red pepper sparkles', which seemed quite appropriate considering I had just recently watched 'Chocolat' with the admirable Juliette Binoche and her fabulous counterpart, M. Johnny Depp, who in the movie admits to Mayan hot chocolate 'and a sparkle of chili pepper' being his favorite drink. Synchronicity, synchronicity.

After an interesting moment of creating eclipses of light and ying yang symbols at the bottom of my tea cup, I wrote down this quote, printed on the great mirror greating all visitors at the entrance of their little hot spot on Laurier street, in the Mile End quarter of Montreal :

(loosely translated) 'Happy is the chocolate, which, after traveling the world through the smiles of women, meets death in a delicious kiss and melts in their mouth' _ Brillat Savarin

So, I am offering the new spirit of this blog not as a crowned writer, but rather as a blessed child of the New World, blessed to live an exciting life, mostly on the road, between great deserts and little urban worlds like this one; a life I will do my best to share with ya'll.

On this, I am exiting through the blood-colored velvet curtains, leaving my little black kettle behind, and stepping right back into the great big adventure that is winter in Montreal.

Good night ! x

Le Soul Reel 2010

It's finally here ! :P

http://vimeo.com/9513690

... and a couple of street shots from the shoot of Wonder Chamber no 2

Wonder Chamber no 2 begins

Last week saw the 'official' launch of the creative process, this time in terms of making sonar ambiances and recording beats loops (in a creative collaboration between marie-michele jasmin-belisle and ffortissimo studios), for the second piece in my 'Wonder Chambers' series.

Wonder Chamber no 2 will delve into the misty nights of Britain, the sea port of Whitby and its Dracula-inspiring sceneries (it is indeed where Bram Stoker came, in 1890 to write his masterpiece on the Transylvannian count), the 199 church stairs, the ruins of the Abbey, and the alledged tomb of the famed vampire, its stone skulls and arabesques covered in moss ... meet Whitby in all its dark glory ...

And then, stroll down the flashy yellow trailer of a 'gyspsy' fortune teller, which probably hasn't been painted since the 40s, the trendy coffee shops with luscious Edwardian wallpapers, the Audi R8 parked in front of the 'M' lounge, the salons de thé, my wooden Buddha covered in gold leaf bought at an antique store for 5 pounds ...

These are but ideas and memories which may or may not end up in Wonder Chamber no 2. Overall, this is going to be an ode to the Old World, with trip hop beats and pixilated nights.

Some shots from the beginning stages :

recoloring the wwww

the new exciting project of the holidays, revamping mah web presence .. some photos of the work in progress :D

Happy Holidays !

With art and soul food, old books and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite, I wish you the happiest holidays from my family's Victorian mansion buried under snow in our tiny village, and pray for everyone to end the year on a high note, amidst personal victories, inner peace and joie de vivre ... :)

New management : 1680 Artists

Marie-Michele of 8h51 Digital Bohemia is now being represented and managed by 1680 Artists, a division of 1680PR, a PR firm located at the Albuquerque Studios.

This partnership is taking flight this month in New Mexico and will join the creative vision of Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle and Ken Lingad to push the boundaries of video loops into the stratosphere of world establishments, from fashion runways to boutique hotels, concert venues and cruise ships ... more shining stars and fireworks to come in upcoming news ... :)

Wonder Chamber goes to the land of Oz

Hello friends, a quick update to say that I recently received a personal invite from the Byron Bay Film Festival director to submit Wonder Chamber no 1 for the next edition of the festival, to be held March 5-13 2010 in Byron Bay, Australia (surfers' mecca, for those in the know :) )

The film is on its way and I will make sure to update you once I get the news - in the meantime, here is a link to the festival's website : http://www.bbff.com.au/

In their words :

We like to transport our audience away from this sub-tropical paradise and expose them to stories, people and places that are worlds away.

Sounds amazing !

The Loops

here is a 30 second sample of my new creative venture - creating custom designed loops for upscale establishments, bar & lounges, boutiques, spas and hotels ..

Wonder Chamber goes to Sun Valley

The latest - 'Wonder Chamber no 1' was selected to be part of the 5th edition of the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival this year, September 17-20.

It will be screened between a visual art documentary on the Nomadic tribes of the Sahara ('Footsteps of Africa') and 'Waking with the Kukai', on the hundred thousand Japanese monks and pilgrims that undertake a contemporary 1000 km long journey every year on Shikoku Island, in honor of Buddhism's Kingon school founder Kukai.

The screening is scheduled for Sunday morning at the Opera House (I love opera houses !) at 9:30.

For complete details, schedule and program : www.svspiritualfilmfestival.org

Wonder Chamber gets selected to show in London and Berlin !

Latest news amidst the Santa Fe heat wave  : 

Wonder Chamber no 1 was selected to be the opening film in a showcase to be presented in Berlin and London this summer. Curator Ming Turner selected pieces on the themes of the hybridisation of Asia, in a 2 hour showcase titled ''Simply Screen : In Betweeners of Asia''.

The screenings times and locations are as follows :

Berlin : Saturday August 8th, 6-8 pm, @ the Tanzfabric art center (Möckernstrasse 68, Berlin) 

London : Tuesday August 25th, 6-8 pm @ the M.P. Birla Millenium Gallery of London (4a Castletown road, West Kensington, London) ** nearest stations : West Kensington, Barons Court

Wonder Chamber EXPANDED

Now gone on to the festival circuit, I can't bring it live on the www, but here are a few stills of my latest piece _ a 4 minutes on sacredness _ ft. japan & new mexico

Nowa Cumig

Just finished the new Nowa Cumig Institute promo film, featuring excerpts from the Sacred Run 06, Longest Walk 08, Clean up Mother Earth Tour with Mary Sano, Tony Chapman & Dennis Banks, as well as the feature du jour, the Great Anishinabe Canoe Race Yamamoto Cup.

Amidst the waves of the Leech Lake in Ojibwe territory, Minnesota, then into the wonder land of Tokyo Japan and the Chiba prefecture where the master canoers, if that is a word, were taken for their grand prix.

Once the film has been screened in Japan in the coming week, a link to the video will be posted.

Photo below : yours truly on the roof of Omote Sando Hills, with M. Yamamoto, benefactor absolute of Nowa Cumig and namesake of the Yamamoto Cup. Photo by Takeo Koshikawa.

Montréal

Rë/Discovering the joys of maple trees in the spring + the smell of firewood

Wonder Chamber no. 1 : Japan

This is my very new piece,

 the first in a series i had been dying to do for years - the Wonder Chambers. 

This series was inspired by a museum exhibit I saw years ago with my beautiful friend Eri, one fresh night of August, at the Museum of Art and Science in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

The exhibit reminded me of the Renaissance experiments with shadow boxes, and highlighting/dissecting/studying little microcosms rather than just the big picture - focusing on the detail of the wing of a dragonfly, for example, and making a whole painting out of it. 

So there was born my wonder chambers, little video pieces meant to be opened like a treasure box, with a tiny piece in there - in this case, the piece being my respectful hommage to the monks and temples of Japan, and to nam myoho renge kyo, the mystic law of the Lotus Sutra. 

enjoy :)

here she is ... my ferris wheel

L.A. love

A quick note to say I have been living/breathing/creating in Santa Monica upon my return from the U.K. early January, where I am working on two portraits for Evolvement Productions. 

These projects have been intensively rewarding, being very 'value-creating' as we would say in Buddhist terms, as we are depicting the lives of two men, in all their simplicity, grandeur, happy and sad memories... highlighting, under the keen eye of Evolvement's founder Karine Petit, the life lessons and guidances weaving their way out of these men's stories. It has been a real pleasure to gather music for their soundtracks, from traditional folk music of Quebec (Vigneault, etc) to great classical composers, and a little escapade towards some Gershwin and vintage Fantasia footage ... These are the first two pieces I am doing in my own language, about my people, my roots, my land, and my music. Quite the comeback ... 

Stay tuned for more news. Coming up next : the 2009 reel, and a MFA application on the way

montreal, 1+T

back in the island-city, covered in snow, choir children and wallpaper. I am working hard on a National Geographic proposal for The Longest Walk, with ambitions of finishing an 8mm short film I shot years ago at the same time, and visit old friends in every neighborhood of the town. the night is young, montreal lives on