I partnered with Daisy Munoz, the Capital Access Manager for Progress OKC, a nonprofit that strengthens and preserves the social and economic fabric in Oklahoma City’s underserved communities. Thanks to their sponsorship, we visit Anointed Hands, FlasHOLR, Focus Urban Farms, 59 Food Mart, and K Luxe Beauty Bar. These five small business have received support thanks to Progress OKC.
Learn more about Progress OKC and our mission by visiting ProgressOKC.org and following ProgressOKCCDC across all social media platforms.
I was originally commissioned to make a testimonial video for Progress OKC, but I added this episode to highlight their clients as a bonus deal for their videography package. I enjoyed working with Daisy and getting to know their program and these businesses.
Oklahoma Contemporary hosted a conversation and demo with James Simpson, CEO of GoldFire Studios, Jeff Price, chair of game design and animation at Oklahoma City University, and Linh Terford, independent game illustrator and concept artist. The speakers shared their experiences contributing to a growing video game industry in Oklahoma and gave insight into what’s on the horizon in game design, development and VR.
I’m getting back into the swing of things for Uncovering Oklahoma and first up is a story about the art experience, Seed Reef. I went in a different direction, focusing on more of a mellow pace. For example, I pause the interview a few times, turning up the music to showcase footage of the installation. In addition, I used my camera’s highest quality settings (that I’ve nicknamed the Netflix settings as they are what Netflix wants for video production with my S1H). I used this setting because besides being an episode of Uncovering Oklahoma, this story will be part of another episode of a new series that I’ll talk about another time.
Seed Reef is an immersive, sculpted paper installation of a coral reef, created by artists Emma Difani and Malcolm Zachariah, in collaboration with Factory Obscura. Participants may walk “underwater” through the kirigami (cut and folded paper) reef as it transitions from a colorful, vibrant section full of corals, fish, and other sea life to a barren wasteland of bleached coral skeletons.
Participants are invited to restore Seed Reef by constructing and adding their own corals and other reef animals to the installation. By crafting corals, you are helping seed the reef, bringing it back to a healthy, thriving state.
Artists Malcolm Zachariah and Emma Difani’s artistic partnership formed through a shared love of material, nature, and ecology. Emma will use dye, silkscreen, and woodcut printmaking techniques to create patterns and imagery based on reef life. Malcolm will design, cut, and shape the printed paper to create stationary and suspended kirigami sculptures.
Seed Reef will be open for General Admission on Thursday, February 10, 2022. Tickets are $8 for Adults, $6 for Kids 12 & Under, and Free for Children 3 & Under. Save $2 when you bundle with your Mix-Tape tickets.
Factory Obscura’s Mix-Tape is located at 25 NW 9th St, in the historic Automobile Alley district of Downtown Oklahoma City. More information is available at www.factoryobscura.com.
Thanks to my superstar supporters, Revolve Productions, and the Keller-Kenton Family, as well as all of my supporters on Patreon. If you love what I’m doing, please join me on Patreon for bonus content, including early access to new episodes. Be sure to visit my online store with various Oklahoma-themed merchandise.
Oklahoma Contemporary commissioned me to film this guided tour of their exhibition, Open World. Featuring nearly 70 works across both traditional and digital disciplines, this showstopper exhibition offers something surprising around every corner. Open World will engage gamers, pop culture enthusiasts, art aficionados, and casual fans of all ages alike.
I got to use my big camera stabilizer for this tour, which I’m still getting used to setting up and using for videos. The tool was great for walking around the gallery.
If you can make the trip to Oklahoma Contemporary, go visit Open World before they close on February 21, 2022.
The day before Thanksgiving, I was hired by Graham Colton to live-stream and film his big 20 Year Homecoming Concert. He’s released the edited video to share with everyone as a showcase piece.
I had a blast filming and editing the video together. I hope you enjoy this concert too.
