Our new series, Sonic Haiku, launches on Michigan Radio Monday, Nov. 10th ~ short audio postcards that air on the top of the hour intermittently throughout the day. Make sure to tune in!

Join Third Coast International Audio Festival Directors Johanna Zorn and Julie Shapiro for an evening of unforgettable documentary audio stories, including recently-crowned winners of the 2008 TCF / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, top selections from the Third Coast Festival’s Radio Ephemera public audio challenge, and a few other surprises.

When: Wednesday, November 19, 2008  7:30 - 9 pm
Where: Stamps Auditorium in the Walgreen Drama Center
University of Michigan North Campus.1226 Murfin Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan
How much?: Free!

The rules are simple: an original film, three minutes or less, made in ten hours or less. Take the challenge with the Ann Arbor Film Festival and be there at 9am October 18th at the Kerrytown Concert House.

Edibles, a show about food, opened on September 12th. Audiences stopped by the Animation Station to make an animated movie. Stop by the WORK gallery and add your animation to the loop! (306 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI.)The show runs until October 3, 2008.
And check out Sinful by Jenna Chascera and Toastwriter by Missa Coffman, two videos submitted to the show.

Elbow Grease is coming up, submit soon. Here’s an interesting work-related video we found on vimeo:

Shifts from E K on Vimeo.

We found this wonderful animation made on a simple white board without redo or undo functions~ just like our Animation Station:

Attention audiophiles and sound artists! PLAY is launching a new project with Michigan Radio called the Sonic Haiku Project. Think 30 second ’sound portraits’ that punctuate the NPR listening landscape. We’re looking for contributors. Find our more HERE.

We’ve got lots of buzz at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, so we figured we should answer some questions about the Animation Station. This is the second iteration of the Animation Station, after its launch at the 2008 Ann Arbor Film Festival. We’re currently in the beta stages of this project, testing out the station in different locations and venues. Keep your eye out for PLAYNATION, as we develop it into a television project for Michigan Television and a web gallery. And, contact us if you have questions!

Come down to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair to make a stop-motion animation at the PLAYNATION Animation Station. We’re on North University between Thayer and Fletcher in the New Art New Artists Tent. Stay tuned for movie posts from the fair!

Wow, PLAY won an EMMY award at the 2007 Awards Gala of the Michigan Chapter National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In a top ten market, poised against some serious professional motion graphic suites with the latest technologies and big budgets, it is a huge honor that one of our promos took home the prize! Thanks to the super talented Jeff Christy for making the first year of PLAY an EMMY-award winning one.

PLAY has been recognized by the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, receiving three (!) nominations at this year’s awards. The final award winners will be announced in June.

Come down to the Michigan Theater this week for the 46th ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL. Make sure to stop at the PLAYstation where you can make your own stop-motion animation to add to the Festival Loop.

(And kudos to PLAY Team members: Tom Bray, Rob Brancheau, Emily Skaer and Katie Trent for masterminding this invention!)

PLAY wins Best Marketing & Promos in 2007 at the Broadcast Excellence Awards presented by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Kudos to PLAY’s Head Animator for that year: then-A&D senior, Jeff Christy. You can see his promos HERE.

Youtube star, Seth Welton, master of the rabbit-centric blockbuster flick, seeks a composer/sound designer for his new film (see SAMPLE). Contact us at playgallery at umich dot edu and we will connect you with Seth.

In conjunction with Work & Slusser galleries, PLAY invites submissions on the subject of aging for Aging With Attitude & on the subject of personal geography for Place.Mark. Visit our CURRENT CALLS page for more information.

PLAY invites Detroit artists working in time-based arts: video, film, performance art, etc. to submit work that reflects the description: “Made in Detroit” for a series that will run on Michigan Television and the Michigan Channel. Click HERE for more information.

Don’t miss it! Two opportunities to see Acts of Art, an half hour documentary profiling Janie Paul & the Prison Creative Arts Program:

Friday, Nov. 9th at 6:30pm: a screening and Q&A at FOCUS HOPE IN DETROIT as part of the opening reception for The Linkage Show, featuring the work of formally incarcerated artists. Reception 5:30pm-9pm.
Monday Nov. 12th at 10:30pm: the premiere on MICHIGAN TELEVISION (PBS, Ann Arbor Comcast Ch. 24).

Watch the TRAILER.

Make art, make money! Up to $30,000 in prizes will be awarded for the Annual All Student Exhibit at the University of Michigan’s School of Art & Design. If you are a student at A&D working with time-based arts, submit here to PLAY.

Joey Ostrander is looking for original music for his submission to the Green Show. Check out the Collaborators’ Corner for more information.

PLAY invites submissions exploring the color green, along with its many environmental, political and emotional associations. Interesting interpretations are encouraged.

Deadline: October 8, 2007.

Work will be selected for a Green Show Feature on the site and for PLAY TV. Visit the submit page for more information.

PLAY returns to the air this Sunday with The Oscillettes. This month featured new work by ManosBuckius Cooperative, Melano Manos, Nick Tobier & Ed Johnston.

Check our online calendars for up-to-date schedules: Michigan Television (Ch. 28/Ch.24*), Michigan Channel (Ch.22**)

A new episode of the Sound Salon, hosted and curated by Stephanie Rowden, investigates the question “what’s in a list?“.

The Sound Salon features audio portraits, soundscapes, personal essays, experimental narratives, and other auditory excursions created in and around the studios on Bonisteel Boulevard, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

As the walls of Ann Arbor’s historical landmark now crumble, it’s a good time to revisit this monologue from last year’s hit performance, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Ham?” Here, the 99-year old Frieze building, embodied by Erin Markey, has her say about her history & her imminent demise.

Click here to go to our current list of favorites.

New on the site: Seth Welton (Children of the Universe, Rabbit Roulette) shares his process for working with digital photos in Final Cut Pro: Animating Digital Photos in FCP.

PLAY shorts are in regular rotation throughtout the day on Michigan Television (Comcast 24, Ann Arbor) and Michigan Channel (Comcast 22, Ann Arbor)

Each short has a scheduled premiere date. Check out the Michigan Television and Michigan Channel PLAY Calendars for more details, subject to change.

PLAY welcomes sound work into the gallery with the premiere of Sound Salon, a monthly series, hosted and curated by Stephanie Rowden.

Tune in every two months for a new collection of audio portraits, soundscapes, personal essays, experimental narratives, and other auditory excursions created in and around the studios on Bonisteel Boulevard, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

PLAY at the Festival features trailers from Jeff Christy, Colleen Cox & Seth Welton, plus a PLAY reel at the microcinema in the lobbies of the Michigan Theatre.

The 2007 Ann Arbor Film Festival runs March 20th-March 25th.

Jeff Christy posts his work-in-progress, visualizing strings and quarks. Visit the Collaborators’ Corner for more information.

Performers from Holly Hughes’ class let their alter egos out of the bag on the PLAYCAM.

Currently housed in the IP Studios on the first floor of the Art & Architecture Building, the PLAYCAM features instant feeds from inside the School of Art & Design. Stay posted for more video blog entries from the PLAYCAM.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Ham by Holly Hughes and collaborators played to sold out audiences last April.  Excerpts of the show are now on the site.  Commissioned by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, The Ham explores the history of feminism and sexuality on the campus of the University of Michigan.

Last summer Nick Tobier took a small band of intrepid performers to Toronto to perform in Small Cascades. Part of a city-wide art event exploring public water spaces, this Busby Berkeley-esque escapade transforms a small wading pool in downtown Toronto into an aquatic stage.

In conjunction with the “If Other, Please Explain______” exhibit at Work Gallery, artists were invited to explore themes of identity as well as issues such as national ID cards, affirmative action, identity theft, RFID, privacy, immigration and the census.

This week, as part of the series, watch Falling Inside on Michigan Television and Michigan Channel.

Check out other selected video submissions for “If Other”.

Please see our online calendars for up-to-date schedules:
Michigan Television (Ch. 28/Ch.24*), Michigan Channel (Ch.22**)

* Flint and Ann Arbor Comcast, check www.wfum.org for local listings.
** Ann Arbor Comcast.

Seth Welton’s video “I Woke Up Horrified” about the science of dreaming was featured on YouTube over the holidays. After the feature ran, views of the video skyrocketed. The video now has 420,295 views and 1,017 comments, as of this posting.

Read the comments on YouTube.

There’s an article about PLAY in this week’s edition of The University Record. Check it out:
http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0607/Dec11_06/08.shtml

If you’re interested in having your work viewed by more people on YouTube, consider your tags and cast your “tag net” far and wide. For example: notice what Jim Leija did with Street Dogs.

Jim used multiple popular tags: dogs, pets, animals, gay, performance art, south america. His video seems to attract quite a bit of traffic.

Similarly, Seth Welton (Children of the Universe) uses: children, universe, rainbros, bears, grizzly man, cloning, violence, alien, space.

YouTube viewship works in strange and mysterious ways, but certainly tagging is part of the game. (Consider making it part of the art-making process, too.)

And, don’t forget to add “playgallery” to your tags!

PLAY will be adding a sound page to the Gallery. In the meantime, feel free to post audio work through our regular submission process: How to Submit.

Note: PLAY is on hiatus at Michigan Television while the station is in Pledge. The schedule will resume December 12th.

Michigan Television (Ch. 28/Ch.24*): SUBJECT TO CHANGE
* Channel Listings are for Flint and Ann Arbor Comcast, check www.wfum.org for local listings.

Dec. 12th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Midnight Roller Derby
Dec. 15th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Living for the City
Dec. 17th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Costume
Dec. 19th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Making Fridge Magnets
Dec. 22nd at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Lonicera Lizard

Schedule T.B.A.

Five Ways To Pass the Time No. 1
Five Ways To Pass the Time No. 2
Five Ways To Pass the Time No. 3
Five Ways To Pass the Time No. 4
Five Ways To Pass the Time No. 5

Michigan Channel (Ch.22*): SUBJECT TO CHANGE
* Channel Listings are for Ann Arbor Comcast.

PLAY is on regular rotation on Michigan Channel.
Look for it at the following times:

Monday thru Friday at: 6:56pm, 7:26pm and 10:56pm

Currently PLAY is open to the A&D community. We’re accepting short videos for the site on an on-going basis. It’s easy to submit. Find out how…(Click here)

Video shorts should be 30 secs. to 3 mins. in length. This program of works seeks to explore notions of identity in various forms:

* Mistaken
* Fixed
* Chosen
* Individual
* Gender
* Ethnic
* Virtual
* Group
* False
* Racial
* National
* Secret
* Intersecting
* True
* Assigned
* Other__________

We invite works that explore themes of identity as well as issues such as national ID cards, affirmative action, identity theft, RFID, privacy, immigration and the census.

FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO SUBMIT, CLICK HERE.

Five Ways to Pass the Time

PLAY offers an unusual context for an artist: the “in between” time, often less than three minutes, of PBS programming. The viewer is (usually) at home, and not necessarily expecting to view anything like an experimental video.

A&D Assistant Professor Andy Kirshner, composer and performance artist, took us up on the challenge of creating something specifically for this broadcast space. The results are a series of five videos that are meant to air consecutively but not necessarily in order: Five Ways to Pass the Time.

The stories will air, like the other shorts, in the interstitial space of public television: a comment on the way we pass time with our stories, the way our stories repeat and continue, a voice painting a picture of the past, over and over again, in the present.

Here is the Five Ways schedule for Michigan Channel (Ch.22), one each day of the week:

Week of November 6, 7:26 pm (after BBC World News)
Week of November 13, 6:56 pm (after Charlie Rose)

PLAY went on the air today, November 1st.

PLAY shorts air in between regular programming, on the Michigan Channel and Michigan Television at various times during the day.

Here are the premiere dates for the following videos:

Michigan Television (Ch. 28/Ch.24*): SUBJECT TO CHANGE
* Channel Listings are for Flint and Ann Arbor Comcast, check www.wfum.org for local listings.

Nov. 1st at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: The Oscillettes
Nov. 5th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Fetch
Nov. 7th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Blue Puddle Dance
Nov. 12th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm:The Load
Nov. 14th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Seven Folding Structures
Nov. 19th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Parking Lot Opportunity
Nov. 21th at 8:56pm and 11:56pm: Levity

Michigan Channel (Ch.22*): SUBJECT TO CHANGE
* Channel Listings are for Ann Arbor Comcast.

Nov. 1st at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: The Oscillettes
Nov. 2nd at 6:56pm and 10:56pm:Fetch
Nov. 3rd at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Blue Puddle Dance
Nov. 4th at 6:56pm: The Load
Nov. 5th at 6:56pm: Seven Folding Structures
Nov. 6th at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Parking Lot Opportunity
Nov. 7th at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Levity
Nov. 8th at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Roller Derby Madness
Nov. 9th at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Living for the City
Nov. 10th at 6:56pm and 10:56pm: Making Fridge Magnets

Five Ways to Pass the Time
Week of November 6th, 7:26 pm (after BBC World News)
Week of November 13th, 6:56 pm (after Charlie Rose)