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Sister Corita Kent’s inspirational spirit continues to thrive through creative art making events curated by the Corita Art Center and in small part due to the short film we made about Corita, Become a Microscope: 90 Statements on Sister Corita (film excerpt below featuring Money Mark’s new school “ABC’s” song and Max Erdenberger’s awesome animation. You can also take an extended look at the Nowness.com).

This Thursday the bay area is invited to be a part of both as the Levi’s Workshop in San Francisco’s Mission district hosts the Corita Art Silkscreen Mash-Up as well as the Sister Corita Film Program featuring our film, directed by Aaron Rose and edited by yours truly, along with 60’s era films Sister Corita: Mary’s Day by Baylis Glascock and Survival With Style by Cal Bernstein, Alex Singer and Haskell Wexler.

Director Aaron Rose and the Corita Center’s Sasha Carrera will be in attendance during both events.

RSVP to the Corita Art Silkscreen Mash-Up here…

and RSVP to the Sister Corita Film Program here.

More on the sensational Sister Corita:

• SATURDAY (July 24): Sister Corita Art Silkscreen Mash-Up @ Blue Rooster Art
• Sister Corita is the Nowness
• FRIDAY (June 4): Los Feliz Art Walk Featuring Sister Corita’s Rebel Nuns & Aaron Rose
• THURSDAY: Viva Corita!
• Flux You Very Much!
• TONIGHT: Get Fluxed With Us and Sister Corita
• Flux You!
• SATURDAY: Love
• Chasing Corita
• Continuing Corita Coverage
• Sister Corita IS Your Valentine
• These Rules Rule
• A. Rose is A. Rose is A. Rose

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Early last year we followed up our documentary Beautiful Losers with a short film just as inspiring and heartfelt about Sister Corita Kent-a revolutionary nun who shared her unique vision of creating art with her friends and students in 1960’s Los Angeles. During a time when the Catholic church was none to pleased with these new and off-beat ideas, Sister Corita excelled. The film, titled Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita, was created in association with the Corita Art Center in honor of what would have been Sister Corita’s 90th birthday.

An excerpt from the film is now available to view on the Nowness by clicking here or any image below.

Crafted by most of our Beautiful Losers crew, the film was deftly directed by Aaron Rose; produced by do-it-all-man Jon Barlow; features a hauntingly beautiful original score by Money Mark and Becky Stark; great graphic design by our great pal Keith Scharwath; stellar sonics by sound designer extraordinaire Eddie Kim; Corita’s work come to life through a small After Effects army including Alex Dervin, Max Erdenberger, Miguel Bautista and a ton of other skilled individuals; and edited by yours truly-me (Lenny Mesina).

Graphic design created by Keith Scharwath. See more of Keith’s “90 statements” here.

The film’s “ABC” sequence visualized by Max Erdenberger featuring the music of Money Mark and Becky Stark.

Corita’s art also received the After Effects treatment courtesy of Alex Dervin, Miguel Bautista and many, many more.

We were also very fortunate to have access to an archive of material made about Sister Corita including films by Haskell Wexler, Baylis Glascock, Cal Bernstein and Alex Singer.

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Sister Corita was a highly influential and inspirational art teacher and nun who created controversial pop art in Los Angeles during the 60’s. Earlier this year I edited a short film directed by Aaron Rose with a score by Money Mark to commemorate what would have been Corita’s 90th birthday. Today the art of Sister Corita will be on display and for sale at Landis Gifts & Stationery in Hollywood’s Larchmont Village. A percentage of sales all day will benefit the Corita Art Center.

Here’s an excerpt of the “ABC” song from our short film Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita (music by Money Mark and Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond. Title design by Keith Scharwath. Motion graphics by Max Erdenberger, Alex Dervin, and Miguel Bautista. Produced by Jon Barlow and Arlo Rosner):

ABC’s from Central Office on Vimeo.

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It was announced today that President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize and that he is indeed, “the man”. Poster design created by Jimm Lasser who also contributed t-shirt designs for our Barack On! Obamathon fundraiser last year.

Thanks to the man in Portland, Max at Viewers Like You.

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Looks like Saturday is the big winner with many a good thing in this weekend’s stacked schedule of events for your cultural and social pleasures.

• The super producing couple of Meg and Jonathan Wells continue to pump out the goods as one of their most ambitious projects to date opens the Scion installation space in Culver City with the Flux Super 8. Featuring filmmakers, designers and video artists from all over the world including our ultra talented Portland pal Max Erdenberger, as well as The Blackheart Gang (Cape Town, South Africa), Saam Farahmand (London, UK); Sophie Gateau (Paris, France), Miwa Matreyek (Los Angeles, USA), Terri Timely (San Francisco, USA), United Visual Artists (UVA) (London, UK), and YesYesNo (Amsterdam, NL + New York, NY + London, UK), the promising Flux Super 8 show is sure to be the first of many more to come.

• And while you’re in Culver City hop on over to the Corey Helford Gallery and take a trip to India with the moustachioed madman Carlos Ramos as he once again dazzles with his trademark contrasty colors and sublimely shaped stable of animals. (Moustache subject to availability.)

• Giant Robot cleans out their closet with the group show Junk in the Trunk in which over 30 artists including Apak!, David Horvath and Albert Reyes among others, bust out new, old, and random pieces of art that need new homes at GR2 on Sawtelle. Bonus yard sale on Sunday too!

• The second shift Saturday night continues (or starts) in Chinatown at the Sabina Lee Gallery on Chung King Road with the group show Second Shift.

• Reform School, Home Ec, and the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax join hands to bring you the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary on D.I.Y. culture, Handmade Nation. *Saturday’s 12pm premiere screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, and ticket holders for this show will receive specialized gift bags and surprise giveaways! In-between the two Saturday screenings, during 2-6pm, there will be a mini-craft fair eaturing some of LA’s most talented makers, a “Handmade Nation” book signing with Faythe Levine, and hands-on make-and-takes (craft demos). Admission to the craft fair is free, and open to the general public.

• For my Bay Area brethren, Grind for the Green presents the second annual Battle for the Bang as bay area environmentally conscious youth battle with beats for cash and prizes at the Zeum in San Francisco.

• And finally end your weekend on a high musical note as Stones Throw’s finest continue to rock Amoeba Music on Sunset every Sunday in August. This weekend’s set features one of the Beat Junkies’ founding fathers, J-Rocc.

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Fernando Villena is one of my best friends as well as one of the most talented film editors I know (Rize, Battle in Seattle, music videos for Tupac, Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, and many more). Ever since I started my editing career at Brass Knuckles in Venice back in 2000, I’ve always looked up to Fern as one of the senior editors there. We quickly formed a bond through work and friendship over the years and I’ve seen Fern in different stages along the way; becoming the consummate professional who seems to always make the right calls, as my editing mentor as well as supervising editor of Beautiful Losers, and most importantly as one of my best friends who I explicitly trust. Being both little brown editors in a white man’s post production world and sharing our love of sports, which brings out some of our best shit talking (he’s not that good), has only strengthened our kinship and I am eternally grateful for all that he’s done for me over the years. So thank you Fern, thanks for taking me under your wing all those years ago and helping me realize my potential as an editor when I didn’t know I had it in me. This weekend Fern has not one, but two films he’s edited this past year coming to theaters this week and they couldn’t be any more different that each other…

• Crank: High Voltage (in theaters tomorrow, April 17th)

Picking up where the first Crank film left off, Crank: High Voltage keeps the ridiculously insane action going and manages to accelerate the pace even more. Starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart and directed by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, Crank: High Voltage will easily be the most electryfing sequel you’ll see in movie theatres this year. (Additional editing by our pal Doobie White and animations by Max Erdenberger)

• Every Little Step (in theaters tomorrow, April 17th)
  

Remember the musical A Chorus Line from when you were a kid? Maybe you know the film made about it starring Roy Scheider from Jaws? Well growing up in New York I couldn’t help but notice it as it was a Broadway staple for like, ever. To this day, the longest running American musical still continues it’s long standing run on Broadway and now the documentary directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern premieres 33 years after the show’s original debut in 1976.

P.S.-Good luck this weekend Fern!

P.P.S.-You’re still aloof.

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(click images to see more from the Barack On! Obamathon)

With so many people ready and willing for change in the White House, it comes as no surprise that fundraisers for the Obama/Biden campaign have reached record amounts both in dollars and in number of donors. But what is surprising is just how much the people have donated. With a staggering $186 million raised since Septmeber alone, the Obama/Biden ticket has now topped the $600 million mark. I’m both pleased and proud to say that on Friday, October 17th the Barack On! Obamathon I organized with Jon Barlow (producer of Beautiful Losers) and Jonathan Sample (Fresh Pressed) added to that record total by raising $6000 in only 5 hours! With pro-Obama designs contributed by local arists and designers for silk-screening of shirts and posters, bakers feeding those hungry for change with a sidewalk bake sale, and people of all ages coming out to support our effort with positivity and enthusiasm, what started out as a modest fundraiser quickly turned into a mini block party. The “fun” in fundraiser was definitely on display as we Baracked the night away!

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make a difference! Special thanks to all our friends who contributed their time to dj, take photos, participate in the bake sale, tend the bar, help usher in the long lines, and work behind the counter! Extra extra special thanks to Max Erdenberger, Jimm Lasser, Jessica Louise, Amy Martin, Megan McGinley, Lenny Mesina, Jonathan Sample, and Nick Toga, for their artistic contributions and getting their design on in such a hurry!

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Yesterday I ran a post on the upcoming global graffiti film Bomb It, so I thought a good follow up would be to point you in the direction towards more of the same. Specifically an interview with Barry McGee a.k.a. Twist, one of my favorite artists whose work started on the streets. Vice’s online broadcast network, VBS.TV, has a plethora of cool shows on many cultural topics one of which is Art Talk. Recently Aaron Rose did an interview, of sorts, with his dear friend Barry for the show. My only problem with this genius little clip is that I didn’t get to edit it.

(animations by the über talented new dad Max Erdenberger of Central Office and Viewers Like You.)

And if you want to see more unique videos, VBS also features shows ranging from the photographically sexy (Shot By Kern), to our polluted environment (Toxic-Garbage Island), to iconic skateboarders and their craft (Epicly Later’d), to even more garbage (Manila’s City of Garbage), to inside looks into places we’re not really allowed in (The Vice Guide To North Korea). Collect them all!

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