Dérive Like Jehu
After wrapping principal photography for the initial This is Now in Chicago, with the delightful Thomas Morton in tow, I'm more determined than ever for our show to take viewers to places unbound by traditional tourism or commercial agendas. Rooted in the concept of drifting through landscapes, we'll invite viewers to let go of preconceived notions of "must-see" destinations and instead embrace the unknown and the overlooked.
Be Your Own Guru 2024Instead of an expert guiding the journey, characters will remain perpetual beginners, open to being led by intuition, chance, and the landscapes themselves. This is Now aims to resist over-explaining or categorizing, allowing the mystery of the dérive to unfold naturally, leaving interpretations open to the viewers' imaginations.
Our drifting through environments, aka fucking around, aspires to moments where the ordinary becomes extraordinary—a seemingly mundane alleyway reveals a hidden world, or a conversation with a stranger opens an avenue to a different way of thinking. Skirt the spectacle, embrace the marginal, and don't let your beliefs inhibit surprise. It’s like the non-stop movement of Leopold Bloom’s frenetic travels through Dublin, less about arriving anywhere and more about motion.
Rather than following a rigid itinerary, we intend for experiences to unfold with the fluidity and unpredictability of dreams, where the mundane can suddenly transform into something outlandish. Our efforts in surrealism are not meant to promote an escape from reality but rather to promote a deeper engagement with the layers of experience often missed in the rush of daily life.
In nuce, This is Now’s angle is to promote exploration of the world—and oneself—through a lens of curiosity and wonder, free from the constraints of consumerism and the pressures of mastery. Radical, amirite?