Action!!

Last September, The Villafane Studios crew went over to China to undertake one of the most ambitious projects to date. We set up at Ocean Park in Hong Kong and basically had to fill an entire haunted house with over 70 carved pumpkins. The pumpkins were pickled in large custom tanks filled with vinegar and then lit up to showcase the detail etc… I was joined by Ray Villafane, Andy Bergholtz, and Sue Beatrice. Our haunted house happened to be part of an even larger display of many haunted houses. Some of the coolest ones I’ve ever stepped foot in. The entire park was decked out in Halloween decor and they really went over the top with most of the staff adorned in intricate costumes breaking out into flash mobs randomly with lots of singing and dancing. I have to say it was weird sweating my ass off carving pumpkins and trying to get into the Halloween spirit of things but after a while, it wore on me and I was able to feel right at home. Besides, every time I glanced at one of the employees wearing layers of makeup and costume in the hell fire of the Hong Kong sun, I looked down at myself and realized I had it pretty easy with shorts and a t-shirt.

While there, we were being filmed for an upcoming TV show called Carvers that’s going to be airing on SyFy. The whole experience was so much to take in and while I’m less than a fan of this word, the only thing I can say to describe it is surreal. Its hitting me especially hard now since I’ve been seeing posters and trailers pop up with myself and the rest of the Villafane crew showcasing us doing our thing. I’m pumped! But, the first time I watched, my heart was pounding out of my chest and as the trailer ended, I immediately started thinking of all the stuff I did and didn’t say. Shit…this is gonna be on TV…Like, real TV! Significantly more than a slight alteration from the days of my childhood. When my parents would go on vacation, leaving my brother and I to film makeshift KISS concerts using  gram’s camcorder while she was fast asleep. We did have some mega pyrotechnics though. Complete with baby powder smoke and a spray painted fluorescent orange guitar that we threw out the window of our 3rd floor apartment. \m/ 

Being that I’m human and sometimes my nerves can get the best of me, I started struggling a bit with my carvings. I had only carved a few pumpkins for Ray the year before and I was able to do that in the comfort of my own studio without anyone watching. A much different story than being mic’ed up with cameras hovering and sitting in a room full of sculptors all of whom I’m convinced pawned their souls in exchange for carving prowess and all-around artistic ability. Must have missed those damn crossroads back in Rosedale (coincidentally, the name of the hotel we all stayed in ……….. ಠ_ಠ ).

…………………………………………………………………………………………………… seriously    ಠ_ಠ

I do love me some Robert Johnson though. Perfect sculpting soundtrack.

Thankfully, the entire crew we were working with, are some of the most patient, down to Earth, all around cool people and after breaking down and turning into an anxious pile of China funk, they sat my sweaty ass down and reassured me that I wasn’t going to be turned into a meme. I was able to concentrate more on carving and the task at hand and finally started to find a groove- ………..game on………..

Anyhoo, click here to see some pics I posted on my flickr account all from my stay in China. Not really anything sculpture related but more from my own personal experience on my days off. If flickr had invented the world’s first scratch and sniff website already, you bitches would be in for a world of hurt. For now, you’ll have to settle for the flamboyant views and vast amounts of neon I was able to seize in each click of the shutter. I do have more that I’ll probably post another time, but I wanted to share now since it was such a special time. My last night there, I was at an arcade until 1 am playing Super Street Fighter IV. There was a Honda player who was very skilled and I was locked in battle with him for a good 6 hours. Only a few other people put their HK quarters up to get some rotation in. The majority of the time it was him, and I. Neither of us spoke a word of the other’s language but lots of funny stuff happened in game that we shared a laugh about. Something I really miss and don’t get to do too often in the states. In fact, I think I made more friends in China than I had in the past 4 years of my life.

God, why are there no arcades?

That’s all I got for now. Tune in to SyFy on March 4th at 10pm right after Face Off for the world premier of Carvers! Join myself, Sue “The Queen of Steampunk” Beatrice, Andy “The Gentleman” Bergholtz, and Ray “If you ever move near me, there will have to be portages between us” Villafane – j/k, love ya Ray 🙂 on the adventure of a lifetime. As we take over China, and Carve some pretty cool stuff too. See you in your living room >:)

Peace and sculpting wax,
-C

03/03/2014 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: art, Arts, beatrice, bergholtz, Carvers, carving, China, Chris Vierra, Sculpting, Sculpture, syfy, vierra, Villafane | 2 Comments