OUR THING #1
A Creative Community
Ted Passon is a Philadelphia artist who is so generous that his casa is su casa-or rather, his living room is your art space. Passon's passion (couldn't resist) is making award-winning short films and videos as All Ages Productions, but he also hosts the monthly Small Change screenings and, from his house, the Padlock Gallery.
tedpasson.com
smallchangescreenings.com
allagesproductions.com
padlockgallery.com
First off, state your name.
Ted Passon
How long have you lived in Philadelphia?
Nine years. I lived in South Jersey before that (also known as the seventh borough).
As an artist, what made you choose Philly?
It wasn't that conscious of a choice. I didn't know anything about New York but had always planned to go there. Then I didn't get accepted to NYU, and Temple was my second choice. I stay in Philly for tons of reasons though, but mainly because of the amazing people here. I'm surrounded by people who make great art and do things out of the love of doing them. It’s really important for me to be around that. Also, one of the best things about living in Philly as an artist is that it has the resources of a big city with less people fighting over them. People have time and energy and the ability to make awesome things happen and the visibility to have people notice and support them. Not moving to New York was one of the best things that ever happened to me. (Plus, my rent is still super cheap.)
What is the most inherently Philly aspect of your art?
I'm really interested in ideas around people figuring out how to fit-in with the world around them. I feel like Philadelphia always has this uncomfortable tension between its many diverse sections and that the city as a whole is constantly trying to figure out how to exist with itself.
Where was your first Philadelphia show?
The first screening or show I had outside of school was at the ICA. They had an open call for video art. I got in and was put in a show on a TV in the hallway.
Who supported you along the way?
My mom. My friends. The community around me in Philadelphia. Mary Tyler Moore Show reruns.
What is the relationship between your work and music?
Obviously my music videos have lots to do with music. It's a fun challenge to hear a song and try to figure out what kind of visuals it wants to have with it, or to blend the visuals I'd like to see with it into the song structure and build a project around that. For my other films and videos, I often use music as a reference point for emotion. I'll hear a song that makes me feel a certain way and I use it as a basis for trying to recreate that feeling through visuals. Sometimes, I'll be working on editing a project and be really stuck, and add some music to it and it will suddenly help to connect ideas or shape an editing structure that can get me past whatever I'm hung up on.
Space 1026 helped spawn a movement of Philly artists working in collectives. What's your take on that?
I'm not sure the Space spawned a movement. I think artists banding together to share resources is a pretty natural phenomenon. It is true though that galleries are on a trend of noticing art collectives more and so it makes the idea more visible, but it's funny cause the Space was never meant to be a collective exactly. I think if the Space did anything it was to demonstrate how viable the city of Philadelphia is to making a space of your own with other people. Kids who are already looking to do that see that you can get away with it here, and the Space can help give them a picture of what it means to do that. If anything I think the Space helps people visualize what they could do for themselves.
Do you have any advice for collectives that want to be like Space 1026 but are just getting started?
The more simple the agenda you have the more likely you are to keep existing. Sometimes people really over-romanticize the collective process and make it look too easy. Just know that you will inevitably fight with each other. It's normal and part of the process. Just remind yourself often why you like these people and tell them that. Also every now and then close your eyes and try to remember the most fun and least-likely-to-really-happen party you ever saw in an '80s movie and try to recreate it with your friends. You will fall in love with them, and life, all over again.
What is the best under-the-radar music venue in Philly?
The Rave Cave.
Best eats?
Northportfishington Bakery.
Philly: better with Allen Iverson or without?
I never hung out with him so it's hard to say. Once I hung out with an 18-year-old kid who played Allen Iverson in a Reebok commercial (only in the wide shots). He was really cool. I hope he sticks around.
Please kill off a Philly trend for us.
Philly trends that need to stop:
1.) Big companies taking ideas that make them lots of money from local artists for no money.
2.) Mummers who dress up like other races.
3.) Mumia still being in prison and the Inquirer never reporting on why he shouldn't be.