~JOSH HARRIS/ONDI TIMONER FILM MAKES SUNDANCE !!
ONDI TOMONER’S – ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – ACCEPTED INTO SUNDANCE COMPETITION 2009 !!!!
JOSH HARRIS surfaced (via email) from ETHIOPIA to let us know the 8 year in-the-making ONDI TIMONER (DIG!!) helmed documentary – ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – a close-up look at Josh’s dotcom ups and downs & the WILD NYC art party escapades – that – that dotcom dough – funded !! – has made the cut !! and is one of only 118 films that have been accepted into the SUNDANCE COMPETITION 2009.
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ features a lot of footage from Josh’s over-the-top, one million bucks+ millennium 2000 party – ‘QUIET’ – which had over 90, pretty much hard-core artists living and playing and working and mostly partying h-a-r-d in a Japanese-hotel styled pod situation – with multi-art/work stations, for the resident artists’ installations or performances; and multi-well-stocked mini-disco bars, each with hi-tech sound systems and custom lite shows – and freely flowing – for the huge nighttime parties !! – at a big old loft manufacturing building on Lower Broadway – in downtown NYC. The film follows through on Josh’s next reality show – where the cameras were turned on himself 24/7 in his private loft on BROADWAY at SPRING ST. This second 24/7 reality-project was actually titled: ‘WLLP – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – and this is where Ondi’s fast paced & hard-edged documentary – gets it’s name.
but the ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ mantra – first surfaced – as a huge banner sign – at the ‘QUIET’ – in the open ‘Shower’ facility. IN FACT, ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ had its real-time reality 24/7 streaming seeds – in the ‘QUIET’ party – which was under 24/7 multi-camera surveillance, wired with – multitudes of mini-cams everywhere. and we mean everywhere. and played back on many-channeled monitors, also 24/ /7 – everywhere !!
watch the advance clip: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/RADAR VIMEO !!
here’s a good background article: JOSH HARRIS/WIRED/NOV 2000 !!
here’s the: VARIETY/SUNDANCE 2009 COMPETITION LINE-UP !!
JOSH HARRIS – as seen in the RADAR/VIMEO/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC ADVANCE CLIP !!
bye the way – here’s JUDGECAL aka CAL – interviewed in that same RADAR/VIMEO/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC ADVANCE CLIP.
JUDGECAL, or CAL – as most later know him – recently expired – under somewhat mysterious circumstances – he was just about to turn 40 – some say – sometimes that alone will do it to ya !! – some say his death was “accidental” suicide. his ashes were recently smeared on the 600 BROADWAY building door – that was the headquarters of PSEUDO.COM – where CAL produced an early streaming video show for Josh, called ‘HIGH WEIRDNESS’ !!
see: STAR DUST/DEATH DUST
P.S. regarding our fears about JOSH being caught in a war zone & too close for comfort – to terrorist wasp nests … in ETHIOPIA – where he is currently decamped, with 3 household servants including a private chef !! (Josh always taking note of the important rituals in human existence – can be counted on to have someone who can cook around him. you’ll see in WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – the dining room, designed and run by the super talented OWEN BUSH – served 4 star meals cooked up by a pro chef – on the spot – for all those 90+ artist residents – in a bubble wrapped dining room – straight out science fiction !!). ETHIOPIA is landlocked on the INDIAN OCEAN by SOMALIA (pirates) and YEMEN (BIN LADEN terrorists)
LONDON-based, ex-California native – ANDREW SMITH, who is writing a definitive book on the dot com millionaires, and which will feature JOSH HARRIS, the most colorful, and most importantly, the most visionary of them all – recently emailed from LONDON – to tell us our fears were a little too fanclful ?!!
he wrote: “I know Josh as Captain Kurtz (APOCALYPSE NOW) is an appealing image, though as he reminded me last week, he prefers Willy Wonka – which seems equally valid and a lot more fun !!
I wouldn’t worry too much though: Ethiopia’s a big place and along way from the sea, so the pirates are gonna have to sail (much of it over desert, come to think of it) to catch him, as will Bin Laden’s crew in Yemen. That said, (I agree with you), if there’s any trouble in the immediate neighborhood, you know he;s h gonna find it … did I tell you about his gangstas? he loves it really …”
ARCHIVAL PIX – FROM: THE ONE MILLION DOLLAR+ – JOSH HARRIS/PSEUDO FUNDED NYC NEW YEAR 2000/MILLENNIUM – WEEK-LONG 24/7 LIVE-IN & 24/7 OPEN-TO-THE PUBLIC WAY-OUT CRAZY & HARD-CORE !! 24/7 PAR-TAY!! – TILL IT WAS SHUT DOWN BY – THE NYC POLICE DEPT – THE NYC FIRE DEPT – & – THE FEDS !! as in – FEMA !! – ALL AT THE SAME TIME !!
PAPER LANTERN, NANCY SMITH. made on site. QUIET
PAPER LANTERN, NANCY SMITH. made on site. QUIET
PAPER LANTERN, NANCY SMITH. made on site. QUIET
the QUIET party took over 4 full floors of a big old manufacturing loft building on Lower Broadway. giving plenty of room for a great diversity of live ‘work’ stations !! & disco-like party areas !!
there was also a MEDIATION TEMPLE, built and designed by ALEX ARCADIA, on an $80,000+ budget. (just to give you an idea of how Josh shot the money around – those were the days, my recession/depression friend !!). The finished temple even had large golden coppery goldfish swimming in the shimmery water moats – around its perimeter – and a piped-in ‘mediattauinal’ and actually very soothing – sound track of Alex’s own making.
a young and (at that time !!) evil – LEO KOENIG !! think he was about 22. He was hired by ALFREDO MARTINEZ & NANCY SMITH – to curate an art gallery for JOSH – and once installed, promptly took their names off the p.r. missives & claimed ‘authorship’ of most of the project !!
on the left, FEEDBUCK, with LEO KOENIG at right. FEEDBUCK was responsible for many of PSEUDO’S early animated clips. He brought a lot of Josh’s early ideas to completion in video format. he made an amazing installation for QUIET – that had all kinds of shimmering colors and animated images dance on a large transparent tent-like structure – only to have Josh tell him to tear it down !! – to make room for the giant BOARD GAME – WAR – installation. that was a pretty typical JOSH HARRIS m.o. – he had a very short attention span – it didn’t matter how much money he had given you to make the thing – once it was was up and running – internet genius & t.v. raised-baby that he was – Josh – liked things & channels – to move fast !!
the pod-like sleeping bunks for the over 90 live-in artists !! based on Japanese pod hotels, it was built by JEFF GOMPERTZ. a young JAMES FUENTES, was even hired at one point, to make the hotel ‘reservations’. !!
a typical ‘QUIET’ hotel guest !! note the surveillance cameras – they were everywhere, throughout the multi-floored installation, but esp. in the “sleeping” quarters, seen here, on the left. you could train them on yourself, or you could spy on someone else in their pod !! at the right – the ubiquitous monitors. teams of unseen behind-the-scenes crews – watched the cams 24/7 and posted a range of the hottest live-action streams – in real time – as they came in !!
the monitors were posted in groups everywhere, as well. so they could ‘televise’ a big range of the art, partying & general mayhem – all in real time. you had to shower in a blanket – if you didn’t want to be featured, rather broadcast – full frontal naked !!!! and if you did – well welcome to WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !!
the hotel’s shower had plenty of hot water – just the the whole thing was hi-tech & completely transparent !! the shower, which cost a fortune to build, including the on-site installation of a huge state-of-the-art water heater – was one of JOSH’S more notorious touches aka cutting edge art ‘installation’.
(He also stocked the pod hotel with a crew of well paid-for, undercover, some not so under-cover, hookers – but that’s a part of the story – for someone else to tell. like we said, Josh liked to shake things up – big time !!)
on the left, ONDI TIMONER !! she was hired by Josh to film the whole proceedings, which included giving her several teams of – 24/7 camera crews – like we said, those were the days !!
Ondi went on to win a major, in fact, the GRAND JURY PRIZE at SUNDANCE 2004 – for her ‘rock’ documentary – DIG ! in fact, I think it was some preliminary footage from the then as yet, unmade ‘DIG!
that got her the job as Josh’s self-appointed video chronicler.
a lot of that raw footage, in black and white – now 8 years later – makes up the backbone of her newest documentary – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – which tracks the ups and downs of dotcom visionary and would-be artist – JOSH HARRIS – and, which was just announced as an official competitor in SUNDANCE 2009 !!
see: more about ONDI TIMONER and DIG! her documentary that followed 2 bands, the BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, and the DANDY WARHOLS for 7 years – and won the GRAND JURY AWARD in the SUNDANCE 2004 FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION.
and, if you scroll down just a couple of rows more – you’ll see 3 of QUIET’S major players. JEFF GOMPERTZ who built the pod hotel; ALEX ARCADIA who built the MEDITATION TEMPLE; and ALFREDO MARTINEZ – who built the AK47 SHOOTING RANGE aka the SHOOTING GALLERY !!
JOSH HARRIS gave ALFREDO MARTINEZ $80,000+ to build a wholly legal and fully operational shooting gallery !! yep real guns, and not just pistols, folks, – heavy duty assault rifles !! legal ? yeah they got it worked out as: FILE UNDER – ‘film production’ – yo !! money talks !!!
the little pip-squeak gleefully shooting the assault rifle, so big he needs help holding the damn thing !! – is then 11 yr old THEO – QUIET’S poster boy for the future – it was a millennium party, after-all. gotta have a human specimen – who would be going into the future. Josh even paid him !! – to be the ‘gunmaster’s assistant’ and, then later to be the go-fer for one of Ondi’s film crews !!
the QUIET dining hall – run and designed by OWEN BUSH. it was housed in the building next door – later to become Leo Koenig’s first Manhattan-based art gallery. the in-house chef prepared 4 star meals for the 90+ residents of the QUIET hotel – the artists, the in-house tech crews and assorted guests.
in the center, in the gray shirt – the QUIET official uniform – with fiery orange work pants !! – clapping his hands – the man, brains and money – behind it all – dotcom whiz – JOSH HARRIS.
SIMON CERIGO and ’employer’, trust-fund-baby hobby gallerist CYNTHIA whats-her-name were caught rolling around in her pod on surveillance tape. needless to say – she got clobbered !!
ok. except for some seedy interludes, fights, and intense 24/7 rivalry for Josh’s attention and credit card !! – over-the-top partying and live sex – the scene, esp at the beginning, CHRISTMAS TIME – was pretty festive & T-O-T-A-L-L-Y !! AMAZING !! – the best & most innovative, wild and edgey – and certainly the biggest art party ever to hit this town. and root to many of the scenes that later sprung up in the city.
this was a part of the interactive (prop gun) shooting gallery that DAVID LESLIE built, that was featured in the party that opened the event. anybody recognize SANTOS PARTY HOUSE THERE ? a young SPENCER SWEENEY used to haunt the place !!
here’s a nice good-bye shot – on the left MARK ENGER of EXPLODING SKY WORLDWIDE – the QUIET in-house silkscreener – who put the blue ‘targets’ on everybodies standard issue – gray work shirt uniforms.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. QUIET CREW MEMBER & ARTIST. NYC, DEC 21, 1999 – JAN 3, 2000
and check out: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/TOMORROW MUSEUM !!
