The Ranch Project was an art installation in the foothills of the Rockies, which Steve DeNure and I filmed over the course of year, through the 4 seasons, with his ingenious time-lapse 16 mm Bolex photography. In the film-on-art genre, ‘Ranch’ is a clever mix of old Westerns, TV news, and gorgeous experimental film making with a very cool soundtrack. Jay Scott in the Globe called it “a stunning documentary about a work of art… that actually has become a work of art.” The artist is Alan Wood.

In 1984-85, I also produced a Punk rock doc for TV called Not Dead Yet. Peter Wintonick (Manufacturing Consent), writing in Cinema Canada, called it “a model for all documentarians.” During this period I also started a publishing company, Razorback Press, to produce a satire of men’s magazines and advertising called The Best of Playboar which sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.

Ranch: The Alan Wood Ranch Project, a film by Steve DeNure and Chris Lowry (1985, 25 min.) is available on DVD from Ecotone.

Testimonials
In June I gave a talk about Jack Chambers at a wonderful historic building in Hamilton, the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, which is run by Marshall McLuhan’s daughter Elizabeth.

The event curator, Tyler Tekatch, had this to say: “Much like the documentary itself, your talk was informative and enlightening, but also intimate, personal and full of enthusiasm for the subject. A wonderful storyteller, it was fascinating to hear you speak about your encounters and relationships with Canadian greats such as Kim Ondaatje and Greg Curnoe. A great film, and a great speaker.”

For a number of years I have given a guest lecture in the fall to the new students in Jennifer Sumner’s Adult Eduction for Sustainability Class at OISE/U of T. It is always a pleasure to speak at OISE where I did a Masters in Education (M.Ed.) in 2004.

“Thank you so much again for speaking with the students in the Adult Education for Sustainability class. They were inspired by your words and by your commitment to sustainable practice. I always learn something new when I hear you speak – you have a special gift of communication. Once again, heartfelt thanks for your contribution to learning.” —Jennifer Sumner

“Wow! Wonderful unfolding of your downstream and upstream experiences… beams of wisdom shining out in all directions. The students were high on ideas after you left and our discussion of their research projects incorporated many of your themes. Thanks so much!”

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I had a darkroom in Kathmandu in 1978, provided by German friends who had brought the equipment in their Magic Bus from Munich. This is some of the photo printing work that I did during several weeks that I lived there during my slow road trip around the world. The Kathmandu valley was saturated and radiant with spring rains, and I was seeing everything for the first time.

Back in Toronto, the images caught the attention of the guys at Dreadnaught Press, which was affiliated with Coach House, and they made plans to send me back to Nepal with a fellow writer to shoot more and write it. We tried to find the money for it, but there were one too many coffee table books on the market by then. These photos (scans of the original prints) have not been published until now.

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