Introducing our August 2nd Workshop Presenter

JESSICA LING FINDLEY

Jessica Findley is a maker. The first time we met her was at an unusual event, one that in retrospect gave insight into her genius. It was a group outing to Kaiju Big Battel performance, where competitors dressed in hand-made monster costumes duke it out in a roped ring – think World Wrestling Entertainment meets the Godzilla series of films (the original sixties Japanese versions).

Jessica is also a talented conceptual artist who dreamed up the Aeolian Ride. As the website explains, the Aeolian Ride outfits fifty cyclists with wind-inflatable suits and sends them on a mapped course through cities around the world. To date the ride has been hosted in New York City; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Capetown, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is in the suits that Jessica’s craft shines. Designed from rip-stop nylon, the suits come in three basic shapes. A personal favorite is shaped like a Portuguese Man O’ War with the cyclist’s arms and legs serving as the jellyfish’s tentacles that swing below its buoyant bladder. There is also an abstract bunny, with outsized ears that rise out of the biker’s shoulders and an orb-like suit with a puffy hump.

Ask her and Jessica will most likely highlight the fun involved with the project, she’ll say that she created this mass participatory event, with its odd uniform, to exude humor and “excite those riding as well as delight those watching.” She will not be one to lament over obstacles faced or ideas that died on the cutting board.

The payoff for her hard work was evident on the day of the New York ride as a stream of ghostly figures, that would have fit nicely into any Hayao Miyazaki film, sped out of Manhattan’s Riverside Park with the Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn as their destination. As we rode onlookers cheered, cars honked in approval and bicycle messengers inquired as to where they could acquire their very own versions of the Aeolian suits.

You can view Jessica's marvelous work at sonicribbon.com.

EXPERIENCE

07.00- FREELANCE DESIGNER : BROOKLYN, NY
NOW Illustration, graphic, web design, animation, and video editing.
Clients: Computer’s For Youth, American Museum, of Natural History, Large Animal Games, LEGO, New
York Philharmonic, Tylenol, Cablevision,New York Underground Film Festival, Picture Projects, RMJM
Architects.
03.02- ILLUSTRATOR / ANIMATOR : PLANETII, BROOKLYN, NY
05.03 Illustration, character design, development + Flash animation for on-line + printed tutorials for children.
Also responsible for project management, quality control and sound design.
09.99- ASSISTANT TEACHER: NYU DEPT. OF FILM + TV, NEW YORK, NY
06.00 Assisted classes with Director, Premier + PhotoShop. Taught + managed TV studio workshops.
06.99- PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN : PORTLAND CABLE ACCESS, PORTLAND, OR
08.99 Assisted producers in edit suites + studios, managed + schedules + equipment.

EDUCATION

05.01 MASTER'S DEGREE FROM THE INTERACTIVE TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM
TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
06.99 BA DEGREE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MULTIMEDIA ARTS
THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, OLYMPIA, WA
SKILLS

DESIGN : PhotoShop, Illustrator, Director, Flash, Dreamweaver, GoLive.
PROGRAMMING : HTML, CSS, basic ActionScript + Lingo,
FILM + VIDEO : Final Cut Pro, Premiere, After Effects
ANIMATION : Flash, and Stop Motion 5
AUDIO: Pro Tools

July 26th Workshop Review

The first Green Apple Kids workshop was a bangin success. Presenter Manuel Oquendo (aka MegMan) led an engaging class that resulted in the construction of various sculptural instruments (all from household recycled materials). In the coming days we will post instructions on how to make your own instruments at home, but for now enjoy our photos and noisy audio.


(Presenter Manuel Oquendo and a few Green Apple parents)

Introducing our July 26th Workshop Presenter...

Manny I. Oquendo

AKA MegMan

Manny I. Oquendo is a Producer, Composer and Multi Instrumentalist. He began his music training at the age of 5 studying violin, African percussion, and storytelling at the Bloomingdale House of Music NY, NY. He also studied and performed with the Boys Choir of Harlem and more recently has studied West African Drumming with Master Drummer Laryea Addy.

Manny has had music videos featured on M.T.V and the B.B.C’s Radio 1 and has composed and performed music compositions at the Whitney Biennial, Brooklyn Museum, Dietch Projects and Exit Art gallery to name a few. Currently he is touring extensively throughout Europe with the groundbreaking Hip Hop innovators Anti-Pop-Consortium.

He is a supervisor for the Arts Conservatory Program for the Police Athletic League of NYC where he facilitates and teaches a highly enriching music and poetry program to the inner city youth of the South Bronx. He also teaches music in the New York Public School system. Recently he has collaborated with drummer/composer and founder of Fast Horse Records, Barrett Martin, to record his yet to be named debut album, which is currently in the final production phase, and is a blend of Electronica, soul grooves, and world music sounds, which reflect a slice of life in urban New York City, the place Manny calls home. Look for an early winter release worldwide, exclusively on Fast Horse Recordings. For more information and to experience his soundscapes visit him on Myspace.