Here's the stop-motion video Fashion Week by Susan Happersett, with sound by me.

Last week was my final week as project manager at STEIM. STEIM has been my home for a long time and I owe a lot to my friends and colleges there. Most of what I do professionally was initiated at and inspired by STEIM and the people that came by there. So it was a difficult decision, but after 10 years I felt it was time to focus on my own musical output: composing electro-acoustic works, collaborating with theater makers and fashion designers, and performing improvised music.

So what am I up to the coming year? With Anne LaBerge I've developed a workshop on live electronics that we will teach in various places around Europe, in combination with performances of our duo Shackle. Shackle is also touring Australia and New Zealand in 2011. Furthermore, I'm active in the Conlon Foundation to promote adventurous works for player pianos, and I'm preparing a composition for Disklavier to be performed at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2011. My collaboration with clarinettist Gareth Davis also continues: we're performing on September 18 at Theater Kikker in Utrecht and we are working on an interpretation of Jay Alan Yim's piece 'Bending the memory of time'. Other exciting plans are in the making with my bands ABATTOIR and SKIF++ and my collaboration with Jodi Gilbert.

Back from yet another road trip in the USA. This on extended into Canada. Roughly: From Seattle going east through Washington, Idaho and Montana to Glacier National Park, then back through the same states, going north into British Columbia Canada to Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Here's the full trip on Google Maps.

Totally uninteresting to anyone but my obsessive mind, I was happy to be able to add Idaho and Montana to my list of visited states. Idaho I was always curious about, as a part of the US that was colonized very late. I was a bit disappointed though, although now I think of it, Idaho's forrests, deserted country roads and rivers are very nice. And the fact that it rained didn't help either. It's just that I much more like America's desert and prairie lands, and in that respect the eastern part of Washington state totally blew my mind, unexpectedly. In all tourist guides this part of Washington is barely mentioned, but there's great landscape there. In Montana we only drove through the western part, and I guess the beautiful dramatic mountain landscape there is very different from the rest. I keep being obsessed (a bit) by Montana though, probably because of it's presence in the first very strong section of the book Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, and of course because of it's dental floss tycoons ;).

This was the first time I was in Canada, and I liked it. But again, what I liked most was the desert landscape around Osoyoos (yes, they have desert in Canada!), the mountains and beach on Vancouver Island, and Vancouver the city. Driving becomes a bit less interesting after so many treeeeeees. Nothing beats driving for hours through bare landscapes and straight roads ;)

Vancouver Island was great though. The beaches in the west, directly connected with the temperate rainforest, totally has this Lost, or The Beach atmosphere. Great strolls through the forrest, ending on endless beaches with (again) lots of trees on small islands in the sea. Strathcona National Part in the center of Vancouver Island is something totally different. Snowy mountain tops, smooth lakes, very quiet and very isolated. Beautiful.

Washington:

Idaho:

Glacier NP:

Washington again:

Vancouver Island, Pacific Rim NP:

Vancouver Island, Strathcona Provincial Park:

Back to work.

Susan Happersett will premiere her new movie “Fashion Week” during Fashion Week NYC. "Fashion Week" is an animation collage short with music by Robert van Heumen.

On September 10, from 6 PM to 10PM, Susan and her collage creations will be participating in the Shop Addicts “Fashion Night Out” event. This is a free event, but VIP tickets with additional benefits are available at the door. Fashion Night Out will be held at TOUCH LOUNGE 240 West 52ndSt, NYC. This will be a fun event with shopping, new designers and refreshments. Susan's video will be playing at her booth. Look for the model wearing Susan's Collage Dress.

On Monday September 13, the “Fashion Week” video will be featured during a fashion presentation from 8 PM to 9PM at “The last days of Summer” party at BAR NINE, 807 9th Ave, NYC. This is an RSVP only event sponsored by Ouch Magazine. There will be a party and music after the presentations. Send an email to rsvp@ouchmagazine.com to RSVP.
Disclaimer: This could be a really wild event