An Hour of Kindness: Episode 1 – Teenage Souls

by Greg Szeto | August 24th 2009, 10:00 AM

Posted in An Hour of Kindness |Baltimore |Teenage Souls |Video

Fledgling Baltimore video production company Polygon Tree (Miguel Sabogal [Polygons] and Matt Sterling) have graciously partnered with Aural States to present exclusive video footage of emerging artists performing in a secret, constantly in-flux underground bunker in Baltimore. An Hour of Kindness will be aired in 3 segments over 3 weeks every month, either here or on the show’s Vimeo page.

This week’s segment features Teenage Souls and video artist Ann Everton.

Some background on the whole project, courtesy of Miguel:

What is An Hour Of Kindness?

Miguel Sabogal: An Hour of Kindness is a Baltimore-based 1 hour monthly program. It includes live performances by up and coming bands and videos by a monthly featured artist. All shows directed by myself and all audio is engineered by Matthew Sterling.

Origins of the name?

MS: In 1934 Max Ernst authored a surrealist graphic novel named “Une Semaine de Bonte”. It translates to “A Week of Kindness”. Part of the focus of the program is towards experimental film/video makers. I thought the name of the Ernst novel fit well because I’ve noticed there is a bit of a surrealist influence in a lot of the video and film work I’ve seen in the area. This of course doesn’t mean to imply that every video maker in Baltimore is only making surrealist art. I simply want to highlight those film/videomakers that are influenced by the movement.

What is your inspiration? What is your goal with the project/your manifesto?

MS: My primary inspiration in starting the project is the Hexagon. Back in August 2008 when the club had just opened I had an idea for Hexagon TV, filming performances of bands at the club. That idea fell through immediately after realizing the immense lighting issues I was facing. It was going to be very awkward to just cram lots of lighting equipment on stage just to get a decent looking image. I considered that the best solution was to film bands on a set with decent lighting and controlled sound conditions.

Who is your audience? Why should they be watching?

MS: The sets are being filmed wherever I live. I’m in the process of moving at this moment. This month’s episode was filmed at my prior residence in Hampden. The basement there has gone through various project stages of sound proofing. During one of those phases we decided to tile lots of soundproofing with these pyschedelically-patterned fabrics. I’m moving to a converted church right now and the next filming is going to happen there the following week. I’ve got a few ideas for set design that I want to start working towards but that ultimiately hinges upon the cooperation of the band. I think the ultimate goal is to have a set that represents the band and their music.

What can we expect in future episodes?

MS: Expect lots of Scruples in future episodes, the game not the noun. Scruples is a board game from the 80′s about moral dilemmas. It’s a really good way to bring people together or completely polarize them. In that sense it’s sort of like Thanksgiving.