'The Process is the Product'
Page
a
Process Media Labs' Product
'The Process is the Product'
Page
a
Process Media Labs' Product
shown November 23,2000 at Lee's Palace(Toronto)...
.
Images start Left to Right, then Top to Bottom. I was sure I got a pic of the plain main title screen but it turned out blank...
Note:
-Optimized for 1024x768 browser screen. Widen your browser. You should
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Listen
keenly to SP's Process here from CDNow:
Listen
keenly to SP's Cellar Heat here from CDNow:
This never before seen short film 'The Process is the Product' was presented in Toronto. To my knowledge it has never been presented prior or since, except for these brief spy shots. I have presented these images only to show Skinny Puppy fans, DRG fans, Process Media Labs fans & possibly Processian Church followers the content. I to tend to detour to other related info on the Videos and Music.
~CQ found this 'Centre of Attention' link which somewhat negates the releases that of the Toronto exclusivity claim.
This film
was a collaboration between Brother Ogre(Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre)
and Process Media Labs' Brother William Morrison with
some input from "panvestite" Gen.P-O completed(or ending) in about 1995 - which included Skinny Puppy 'The Process' Video content. Of note is the never before released or 'heard' lengthened remix of Cellar Heat in the soundtrack!!! In hindsight this may have been a clip of the Puppy Gristle Jam but Gen did mention a special remix during his intro.
(great DRG stuff!!!)
My brief tPitP review:
'The Process is the Product' was a result of brainstorming between Bill Morrison, Ogre and Genesis regarding convergence of image, online media and creating the concepts for the songs and videos concurrently (in 1993!). The Music of this time period came soon after Skinny Puppy's move to Malibu, California from Vancouver, BC. Genesis P-Orridge was brought onboard as "Creative Consultant". In a Jam Session at Puppy Central with Gen, Larry Thrasher and Ken "HiWatt" Marshall on live manipulations to DAT, Skinny Puppy found the 'sound direction' to their future. This unreleased raw 40 minute jam session(in Nov. 1993) became known as 'Puppy Gristle' and was finally released in March 2002 by the (then) newly formed Subconscious Studios (record label). It's partial namesake is the famed vintage 'Gristle-izer'(or Gristle box) used by Gen's first musical project - UK's Throbbing Gristle. An interesting article on how this music became integrated into other Skinny Puppy offshoots can be found here.
tough to recall as them green guys were dancing around my head. The Soundtrack to 'The Process is the Product' was the title track 'Process' with Brother Ogre's spoken word style vocals(as on CD). Then, an instrumental track that was right out of the DRG manual on SP noise. Just like what Philth described when DRG sat him down in his Apt & played some stuff for him on headphones. This tune was nothing like the current Download(2000/01). Luckily the venue(Lee's Palace) had great sound coming from the VCR Unit that piped thru the stage sound system. The film was only 2 songs long & I'd have to say about 7-8 minutes. It was a total feeling of the real Ghost of Goettel in the room as music sweeped from side to side!
Maybe a few sillouettes of Brother Ogre hidden in the collage. This really r**ked on THC.
The first 2 Skinny Puppy Videos for The Process were 'Hardset Head' & 'Curcible'(completed a year later). 'Curcible' was created by Rod Chong & 'Hardset Head' by William Morrison. These 2 videos combine common imagery used in 'the Process is the Product'. Skinny Puppy were preparing a full length video to accompany the 'The Process' Album which I believe became a shortened 'The Process is the Product' video reel. A video for each track but like many Skinny Puppy projects, it was scaled back. (Live) images were captured in Hi8 format. Editing was done on an Avid Workstation by Chong and traditional digital tape based editing suite by Morrison. An infra-red (style) technique was used with ultimatte hardware. "There was no film involved" comments Morrison (in 2002). "When the final video for Hard Set went to MTV, they agreed to air it as long as I took out all of the text and symbols. To American Recordings credit, they said they would be fine with me telling MTV to stuff it. So I did."
I found 'Hardset Head' borrowing the most from 'The Process is the Product'. More live human images are shown in these reels than in the presented collaboration. These 2 SP
music Vids in turn were edited by Morrison to create the last SP The Process
Vid 'Candle' as American Recordings enjoyed their content(or they decided the first single was to be 'Candle' and needed a video quick!).
I found 'Candle' inherited a bit from 'The Process is the Product'
via 'Hardset Head'. Note; the use of Silent Noise images
in 'Candle' even when those lyrics are in 'Hardset Head'.
"Generally speaking though the black and white images are 'Curcible' and the colour stuff is 'Hardset Head'" writes Chong (in March 1998). You will notice above that no B+W images were captured by my camera. I'm assuming the green hue over the captured images could be from the venue's video projection unit. Most Images could be taken as B&W except for when the brighter yellows come into play. My belief is that only W.Morrison worked on the compilation of this film shown.
The track/vid 'Hardset Head' contains the lyric 'turning of the screw' -maybe a mere coincidence of the 'Turn of the Screw' remix project by DRG & Rave in 1992 for Contagion only available by DJ Promo 12".
Chong appeared earlier working on Skinny Puppy's Last Rights Tour Backing Videos. He arrived late in the 'Shangri LA Sessions'(in Malibu, CA) period timeline of Skinny Puppy just 3 months before the end. Chong went on to form the creative firm Mediakill with fellow Toronto native Sharon Matarazzo.
Once viewing these 4 shorts you can tell that much of the creative was done by Brother William Morrison. Information on Process Media Labs is not abundant since the mutation of www.process.org (about 1995). I believe Morrison collected all images to create the 'The Process is the Product' short. Morrison was the Director of SP's earlier 'Killing Game' Video with Dean English. William Morrison was credited for doing some Front Line Assembly videos as well on FLA's Live Wired [With Video]. Corey's SP FAQ will one day feature an in depth explanation of these days in 1995 &
later when the Process Media Labs worked on an Internet Project (that being process.org).
This Domain was given up to the Processians and for the most part
the 4 major people left that project behind them. Process.Org seems to be gaining content (as of late 2001) here by Loki Der Quaeler[the original process.org webmaster]. Morrison has/had an alt-rock musical project called 'Sixtynine' based out of Vancouver, BC.
Surprising, SP's audio werks have been been featured in many feature films(some listed below).
Credited
on SP's 'the Process' CD, as some of 'Shangri LA'
The(e) Experience(crew) are: William Morrison , Rod Chung, Larry (Thrasher), Gen and Ogre's pets Sedu & Hiro. [Sedu is a timber wolf & Hiro a dog].
Among the Thank You's of note on that CD are Loki and Timothy
Leary.
SP's The Process was dedicated to the
Loving Memory of DRG.
View the Skinny Puppy 'The Process' Videos:
Today, cEvin Key continues his Download
project as well as solo efforts which included guest vocals by Ogre on 'Frozen Sky' (in 2001). Key's 3rd solo cd "The Dragon Experience" (a collection of recordings from the SP's Bites (1985) era) is set for release July 8,2003.
The other Kevin, Nivek Ogre is now more present in production of his own music. His current project is the band ohGr(ne้ W.E.L.T. / WELT). William Morrison has directed
ohGr's new Cracker Video. You can see a clip of it
here.
You can download it in it's entirety
here.
'Curcible'
'Hardset
Head'
'Candle'
If
you get a max. users error try this link:
I downloaded these videos
back about 1998 & can't really remember where from. They likely
original the from the
Vault of SP. These SP Vids are not commercially available.
American
Recordings went under circa 1996. SONY bought the rights
to their catalogue. SP's demo recordings of the Shangri LA
Sessions are available on the web but I don't think it's appropo to divulge
links here. SP's demo song 'Carpenter' became later known as
'Curcible'. There was recent debate about the track 'OutAfter',
it's DRG origins, proposed possible Film Soundtrack use in the
Crow & it's appearance on Download's
EoSP.
Apparently, Brandon Lee enjoyed the track and wanted it used in
the film but the deadline was missed. Unfortunately,
Brandon Lee
or OutAfter never made it to the sequel.
More recently, cEvin Key played drums on that ohGr US tour. On the Skinny Puppy front, after the tour remarks were made about a collaboration with Genesis P-Orridge to spawn new ideas for the lost pups. When I spoke with Gen in Nov2001, he mentioned that it was to happen but Ogre was taking his time becoming ready. While this collaboration has not happened yet Key has come to work with Ogre and 'Hiwatt' on as-of-yet untitled Skinny Puppy-like project along with ohGr cohort Mark Walk. Additional Players mentioned in this demo process are: Omar Torres(of Native Instruments, an instrument manufacturer), Static(programmer of Collide), Otto von Shirach(electronic ambient artist), Pat Sprawl(guest guitarist on 'The Process') and William Morrison(guitarist of Sixtynine). It will be interesting to see and hear this modern day Pup.
Mediakill has gone on to do many projects including the new Front 242 side-project Speed Tribe's (24hr LeMans race based imagery) DVD by Daniel and Patrick. Back in the day, Daniel B. visited PML in L.A. and agreed to work together on audio visual projects then. In present day projects, Chong has continued to work on Front242 Side-project Male or Female's live stage backing video content seen in April 2003. Chances are Chong is also doing the backing video for the upcoming Front 242 tour in late 2003 & 2004.
Since in 2004, Front 242's side-project Male or Female has released their "Primitive Reflections Twisted From Sound" DVD on Dance.Com . Check the Speed Tribe YaHoo! Group for news & discussion. Rod Chong did the backing video for the Male or Female 2003 tourdates.
In related news, Last Sigh Press will release "Future Beat: The Life And Artistic Process of Genesis P-Orridge" written by Mr. Greg Zobel. "Future Beat" covers the life of Genesis P-Orridge from Gen's early days as a child, through his early efforts with "cultural engineering" to his current endeavors, and discusses his past and present associations in his
fields of art.
Of note, Last Sigh Press is working on "A Tribute To Skinny Puppy" and a series on "The History of Electronic Music." Skinny Puppy has recorded new music starting in 2002 through 2004 and will be released on the SPV label worldwide. The title is "The Greater Wrong Of The Right" and is rumoured to have Bill Morrison working on the live tour backing videos. The live 2004 tour starts in USA on June 11 and moves onto Europe a month later.
See Gen's 'Performance' with Thee Majesty here.
visitors
references:
H¥PHEN.01
Studios
hyphenone@canada.com
to
Process Church link(no SP or P.M.L. content) -just for reference
