Where I Proudly Display My Past Collaborations

I was sitting for the artist, Jeremy Hoffeld, having my portrait painted when I said, ‘We should make a show; do a performance.’  He said, ‘Okay; what did you have in mind?’ I said, get someone to stand while you paint and I try to steal the thunder away from you both by putting on Political Theatre of None Sense at the steps of Union Square. Itwas right before I left for Paris (May 1st, 2008 to be precise) when we made it happen and as luck would have it, May 1st, is not just May Day but Worker’s Rights day so we had a huge audience.  My favourite part?  When I mummified myself, and started singing songs from the American Classic Song Book in ‘White Face’.

-JMPII

‘These Days’ by Imani Coppola was the inspiration.

On the day before my birthday, my Collaborative Partner, Tim Arbon said, ‘You have to hear this song’; immediately upon finishing listening, I said, ‘We have to create a dance theatre piece about this.’ He said, ‘Okay. What’s a dance theatre piece?’  The piece is about two people who are lost living on opposite sides of the world suffering alone though they are going through the same exact thing.  Eventually they cross worlds and inspire one another though they continue to be unaware of each other until in a moment of despair they look into the mirror (which they share on opposite sides of the wall) and recognize each other.  I love it. One day we hope to work with Imani one on one to complete an entire suite to her music.  Here’s to.

-JMPII

I asked a number of my painter friends if I could present their works in an experiment of mine. The experiment? Converting a black box theatre into an art gallery where I would have live dance and musical performances going on at the same time. My theory for this experiment was, ‘That if a picture is worth a thousand words, then music accompanying that picture must create at least a 1001 words and if you add another layer of dance to interpreting that picture further still, maybe you’ll end up with 1002 words. So I rented a theatre, found the musicians, hired a dancer (the amazing Dante Puleio) and made it happen all with my Collaborative Partner, Tim Arbon. We called it, ‘Beauty in Motion’, a title I love but that did not end up sticking because the famous ballerina, Diana Vishneva calls her touring show the same thing (and even though I thought of it first, she is more famous than I am at the moment and so she wins out this time.)  The show went splendidly especially once I created the image from the 2nd shoot I had upon my returning to America.  A photo of me jumping out of the subway at Astor Place taken by the amazing Hal Pocius.

-JMPII

‘I know you’re showing this for something else in Singapore but will you let me premiere it as part of my Moving Beauty Series?’  I was on vacation, doing programming for my first fully self produced week of art (sic. Not vacationing), and I thought, I have to show this work.  So I rang Yvonne Ng, and asked her point blank if we could do it.  This was June 26th, 2009.  At first our composer Yasuhiko Fukuoka said no, but then we all met had a meeting and said, ‘YES!’  By July 31st, we’d converted a black box theatre into a multi media Cinema and premiered our work.  Now you see why I love working with Yvonne.

-JMPII

The Infamous ‘Whore Works’ Photo, or more appropriately, ‘The Fish Picture’( as it is know at Sugar Valley Theatricals). Taken by the Brilliant photographer, Todd Williams. Being a model I was tasked by Artistic Director of Sugar Valley Theatricals, Bryan Webster with creating an image which would best advertise this play.  Luckily I’d just finished this photo shoot; my first upon returning to America from Paris.  I don’t know how much this image represents ‘Whore Works’ but it is sure is bold, beautiful, and provocative.

-JMPII

Nothing lasts forever… excepting Plastic and Heart-Ache.

After an amazing time Collaborating together upon our mask exploration multi-media event, ‘Beneath it All’, the brilliant photographer, Yvonne Ng, and I have decided to return to the studio to tackle a new subject:

Plastic.

It’s forver.

It doesn’t bio-degrade.

It’s taking over the world.

One square inch at a time.

Don’t believe me?  Go take a walk through your park and tell me what you see… Yeah; thought so.

Realizing that there are numerous directions in which one can travel with such a theme, Yvonne and I have constructed a series of story lines to illustrate our thoughts; some of these vignettes will be shot on film, others presented live in a choreographed dance series between myself, an actor, and our amazing musician composer, David Friend of TRANSIT

At this point it is still too early to say how it will all turn out, that said I can share with you this sneak peek of an image from one of our shoots.

If you’d like to find out more about this project, feel free to drop a line

-JMPII

Yvonne and I found each other on Craigslist.  Trust story.  I was writing an essay on the abuse of the talent on Craigslist and responded to her posting without ever actually expecting it to go anywhere besides my research folder.  Woo Boy am I glad that expectations are for the birds.  Yvonne responded to my email and after initially turning her down (she wanted me to take a nude photo which I don’t do, so she agreed to taking the photo of me in a dance belt) I agreed to meet with her and instantly fell in love.  Almost a full year later and after creating something unexpected of our original project we are still working together and creating new forms of expression with video, photography, dance, live music, and original composition.  May you find someone who completes and expands your intellectual ideas as I have with Yvonne.  In the emotional Spectrum Yvonne lives in the world of Hope; she dreams so much larger than someone like I could ever dream, and it is those dreams which inspire and give me the strength to go on regardless of what pratfalls come our way.  Is it obvious that I am totally in Love?

-JMPII

There is almost nothing quite as satisfying as working with a genius.  Case in point, Todd Williams, the live Sports Action Photographer who conceived and directed this shoot.  How’d he do it?  Magik.  Well Magik, Baby Oil, a Deck, Lights, a Hose, a mini Tramp, and me Jumping.  Like I said, Jumping.  This was the first photo shoot I had upon returning from Paris in August 2008 and it very nearly saved my life.  It certainly revived my spirits and gave me the logo for ‘Whore Works’.  Who would have thought that so much wonderful could come from one Collaboration?

-JMPII