Tag: art

Lonely Legend:Film Review

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You’re never obligated to be a fan when a friend makes a piece of art. I hold that uncomfortable truth close to my heart as a means of protecting myself. In spite of this, I find myself giving a chance to anything a friend produces…just the kind of consumer I am.

            Noah Nichols is a friend of mine, so up front is an admission of bias. We met in 2007 when his band came to record at a studio where I was interning. We lost touch after that, but somewhere around 2016 he stumbled upon one of my books and remembered who I was. We became friends over our shared pursuits and he has edited two pieces of my written work.

            Aside from writing and music, Noah has decided to embark on the medium of film. He spent a great deal of time making this movie in the midst of personal turmoil; a second upheaval of his life in as many years had landed him in depression. He threw himself into this project as a means of staying distracted, and it worked to a degree. This film project outright consumed him. When he announced the premier, I made plans to be there.

            Lonely Legend is a movie that follows a would-be serial killer simply named Impervious. This masked character is tasked with carrying on the family tradition of surfacing in a fifteen-year cycle to hack and slash his way through a small town. His father before him had been this killer, but the torch isn’t so easily passed.

            Our contemporary Impervious wants to live up to familial expectations. He wants to be this killer, but every little interaction with a would-be victim brings out empathy that prevents him from being violent. When simply asked what he’s doing with a crowbar, or waved at from the side of the road, Impervious drops the façade and recoils.

            Impervious has pressure put on him by his family. At one point he tells his father over the phone, “I’d rather take care of animals than kill people.” This admission is dismissed as being irritably hungry, but as the film continues it’s all too clear that this incarnation of Impervious isn’t up to the task.

            The only notable violence in the film is our main character letting off steam on a teddy bear or inflatable toy he carries around with him for companionship. These instances reveal our would-be killer can separate his projection of friendship onto an object from the real people he cannot bring himself to harm, in spite of the genuine care he has for these inanimate companions.

            Impervious holds a lot of anger over expectations placed on him to continue on with family tradition, when all he seeks out is a more peaceful experience. He goes on walks with nature, lets out his aggression in ways that don’t hurt others, plays music/indulges in art, and gives himself permission to, “go to a field and be sad.”

            There’s a longing for something more than the predetermined horrors that are expected of him. He breaks into a number of houses when no one is home, presumably to follow through on his “mission,” yet he can’t seem to follow through.

            There’s comedy as well. Situational mishaps arise as Impervious tries to find himself while out and about. It bridges the gap and showcases a most human experience from a character built to be a monster.

            The soundtrack was fantastic. Music helped to convey the mood perfectly, and while Noah could’ve filled out the film with his own music, he pulled resources from every direction as a means of conveying the mood as it fit his vision.

Pictured: Myself with Impervious (Noah Nichols) at the premier of Lonely Legend in Columbus, Ohio.

A Little Something for my Mental Health

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2020 was weird for everyone, right? Not just me…? Okay, cool. I was an essential worker with a young child at home, so I didn’t have the sudden burst of free time that was forced on a lot of people. What I did get was the time saved from the hustle and bustle of our collective rampant consumerism. Aside from grocery shopping, my family pretty well stayed in.

            My work/life balance was out of sorts, as a typical workweek for me was 13 days on…ah, the life of management with corporate overlords that all but dictate skeleton crews. The unpaid hours beyond my salaried 40 drove me to the lows of depression coupled with the static horrors of anxiety.

            I needed something new. So did my wife. Since we were stuck in the house I looked into various hobbies, trying to land on something we could both enjoy. At the end of the search I bought all of the materials necessary to try our hands at acrylic pour painting. Online tutorials revealed to me that one doesn’t need to cultivate aesthetic talent to get quality results. The directions were pretty straight forward, and if you can both follow them and embrace a little chaos…there’s fun to be had and wall worthy results.

            Our first attempt was a simple dirty pour. Various colors poured individually, complimented by tilting the canvas gave us two beautiful pieces of art. They were destroyed the following day, as the paint hadn’t dried before we tried to handle them again. Oh well, it was a fun learning experience. That approach was utilized a couple more times before we pivoted to my current favorite, the flip cup.

            We wait for them to dry, make sure they’re clean, and apply a water based clear coat for longevity.

            We’ve given a couple away as gifts and I’ve sold one piece. There are others available on my Etsy page, with more on the way as I get back into making this part of my routine.

            Lydia laments on the wasted paint that drips off of the canvases during the tilting phase, but I think I have a remedy for that as well that I’ll be revealing later in the year.

I’ve tried my hand (and failed miserably) with the swipe technique. I am yet to break out the hairdryer to push paint around, as the activity tends to be something done after the kids have gone to bed…maybe someday.

This activity started as a pandemic hobby, but has remained a craft we continue to develop long after mandates were lifted. While we aim to get results that appeal to other people, the act of creating provides a relief that alleviates stress. There’s something to be said about making art that makes one feel alive. It reminds me that I’m more than the oil that lubes the cogs in our corporate state. I am a living entity, as are you…sometimes that gets lost in the pressures of consumerism. I create for the relief it provides me, first and foremost. If there’s pennies to be made on the back end, great…but in the act of creation where I feel most rejuvenated.