Welcome to the advancements of the modern world: the internet, ipods, cell phones and all your favorite TV shows on DVD. So much has changed since our parents were kids. With so much information at my fingertips it's hard for me not to think that I am better educated and have a better understanding of my world than my parents ever had of theirs. However, Solomon's famous saying, "there is nothing new under the sun," just doesn't seem to match up with this sentiment of superiority I feel because of my contemporary experience of all our modern advancements. Aren't there new things under the sun everyday? It often feels like so many things are new that our world is advancing at an exponential rate. The more discoveries and advancements we make, the more discoveries and advancements we are able to make and at a much more rapid pace.

One of the primary interests of rednoW are the questions in which a particular piece of art asks of us - asks of humanity. Though it is a reasonable argument that art does not always exist for these purposes (to ask questions), it is often a starting point.

If you take on the view that the "questions" we ask tend to shape or greatly impact our expierences - shape the way in which we interact with the world, then their role within any creative process seems feasible.

There is something both freeing and frustrating by the fact that we can choose how/if we interact with a particular something. For example: Yesterday, I spent nine hours driving through what is arguably the worst stretch of interstate in America (I-57)... no landscape... no surprises... no Chipotles. If there was a question posed that framed my driving experience - say "Is this in fact the arm pit of our nation?" - then, it is not difficult for me to look for data that supports this claim... or of course - data that refutes it. This reality might be most visible today in our political world... how do we see our potential Presidential candidates? Corrupt? Hopeful? Human? What distinguishes between "actual" and "possible"?

Jason McCoy's short "Are You Happy" asks questions about desires and what we as humans "are for." McCoy uses contridiction between the images and the audio to create a jarring effect that might just open our eyes to questions like: are we really happy? why or why not? what makes us happy in the first place? what affect do we have on our own happiness? how do we define and rate happiness? I can't promise that the asking of these questions will be pleasent, but I can promise that it will be useful, especially during the holiday season when happiness seems to be the theme, but also seems to be strangely elusive at points.

This short (and sweet) little piece, titled "How We Met," is a testament to everyday creativity. Shot and uploaded entirely with a Samsung G800 cell phone/PDA/digital camera, the production equipment used to make this piece is accessible to most anyone (at least anyone who is able to be reading this post right now), and that's the brilliance of it.

With more and more mega-budget films coming out that attempt to woo the viewer with effects and production that few are capable of, the creators of this piece have taken a very different route. Here the viewer is instead woo by the very fact that this is something that he or she has the capacity to create. What sets this piece apart from the mega-budget films is that as the viewer I am not separated by my financial capital, which I may not have that much control over, but rather by my creative capital, which I am more readily able to control. 

It should be no surprise that this kind of wisdom comes from a child.

With between 5 & 6 billion copies of the Bible floating around out there, it is hard to find anyone in America who hasn’t heard of Jesus. Even if you haven’t picked up one of those copies, you probably know how Jesus died (Mel Gibson did everything in his power to tell you.)

But do you know why people wanted to kill him?

In this brief clip from This American Life, taken from a show focused on kid logic, a four-year-old makes a connection that brings beautiful insight to this question. Only people who feel like they have something to lose stand opposed to the ideas of others.

People aren’t killed for starting country clubs; people are killed for starting revolutions.

What have you joined?

This is a profoundly simple short that revolves around a particular question: "Are you the favorite person of anyone?" It was written by Miranda July, directed by Miguel Arteta (Six Feed Under), and featured at Sundance a couple of years ago. First, watch the short (only 4 minutes), then check out the director's reasoning behind the film below.

The following is taken from the liner notes at Wholphin DVD as a Q&A with director Miguel Arteta:

Q: Why did you want to make this film?

MA: "I love Miranda's writing. She told me that as a girl, when strangers passed her by in the street, she would picture herself as that person and then ask herself, in that stranger's voice, "Am I someone's favorite person?" This script is gorgeous because it makes you wonder, what is your story? What is the quality of the relationships that define you? After years of having my head up my ass, due to living and working in LA these questions were a welcome gift."

This simple short embodies the story of name. It is directed by Eric Tu and is entitled "The Ballad of Gabrielle". It won the Director's Bureau 60 Second Film Competition this past year.