Bing met Michelle through a mutual friend and the two immediately began to inquire about the other's art. A talented muralist and illustrator, Michelle's first commission was the inspirational sketch art for the Dark Studios animated production "A Grave Matter" which is now in development. Based on her acute eye for detail, dramatic interpretations and knack for exhaustive research, Michelle was approached about creating the "virtual canvas" for "Teknodawn".

The original intention was to create a painting that gallery visitors could walk through by aid of a series of strategically placed slits. Once through the painting, guests would experience a three-dimensional version of the painting, incorporating elements that served as a running thread throughout the entire production. Last minute details prevented this from becoming a reality in the first incarnation of the exhibit, but her work in acrylics is a study in progress realized through metaphors.

The left side of the painting is a fairly uncluttered dawn, bright sky and sparse horizons. As the landscape travels from left to right, the sky becomes more ominous, skyscrapers begin to loom up out of the ground and satellite dishes indicate progress as if it happened within a day.

Michelle wishes to expand upon this original concept and has agreed to participate in the next showing of this exciting work-in-progress.

Mr. Network, as Bing calls him, describes himself as a cartoon artist--but his scope is far more wide-reaching than that. While writing at the Harold and Maude's Coffee House in downtown Orlando, Bing was queried by Elton about what the hell he was doing with a laptop in a coffee house. After some passionate discourse--the two exchanged numbers and pledged to keep in touch. A seasoned gallery exhibitionist in his own right, Elton combines superior draftsmanship with inventive settings and ideas that result in ringing commentaries on life and the people who struggle to achieve something within it.

Bing pitched a couple of ideas to the artist regarding the theme of "fearing technology". It took Elton merely a fortnight to contemplate the situation and present his vision. His contribution to "Teknodawn" is rendered in colored pencils with a surprisingly air-brushed feel. His depiction of a humanoid puppet figure being manipulated by a string-pulling circuit board elicited gasps and chuckles from gallery visitors during the show's three day run.

The background detail is made up of cyber-buzz-phrases as well as the border of the piece. A cartoon dog in the bottom right-hand corner encourages observers to watch for more--a sort of editorial touch that could easily be translated into some sort of political statement.

Elton's iceberg of talent has merely been scratched as far as his contributions to future Dark productions. With a pledge to drop some Rolling Rock side by side in the coffee house while chilling and brainstorming, we've only seen the start of what looks like a highly beneficial effort from both men. And humanity.

Bing met Anne at a party that followed the opening night event for the Central Florida Film and Video Festival. The screening that evening was Russ Meyer's "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" and after the film, attendee's reveled in a soiree' at the Knock-Knock Club in downtown Orlando. While trading words with the veteran war filmmaker and reknowned "titty-boo" king--Bing fell into conversation with the computer animator about the art of filmmaking and his visions for the future of entertainment.

Bing had commissioned Ed Howell to do the CG animations for "Teknodawn", but a hard-drive crash took him out of the game one week before opening. With a quick e-mail, Bing related the situation to Anne and not more than 24 hours later, there were sample animations available to review.

Anne has programmed flight simulations for aerospace companies and is currently involved with Siggraph in more ways than can be easily divulged here. Her renderings of lightning, the Dark Studios logo and an eerie computer head with a subtle shifting gaze were a major hit amongst those who experienced the installation.

During 14 years in the entertainment industry, Bing had never attempted a museum installation before. With plenty of concepts but no idea how to execute them, he did what has become a sort of trademark for the itinerant producer; he winged it by the seat of his pants. Without even a glance at a how-to on the web, it was "grab the supplies and just do it".

Along with coordinating the talent to add real artistry to the exhibit, Mr. Dark took it upon himself to tackle two mediums of art that he'd never attempted before.

The first piece was a painting that had originally been planned as a combination canvas piece and multi-media slide show. When technical glitches made this impractical in the final days, Bing went ahead and created a painting in acrylics that depicts hundreds of human figures converging upon a hillside upon which a mammoth computer monitor rests. As they bow and celebrate before the CRT, a looming skyscraper in the shape of a cross provides a backdrop.

Curiously silent regarding the deeper meaning of this symbolism, Bing offers only that the theological iconography serves to represent the things most sacred that humans tend to take for granted.

As his first official painting, what has been dubbed as "cross" has only encouraged Bing to continue pursuing this craft--he cites a jealousy of those who can render canvas into beautiful messages as his impetus to nurture this newfound medium.

His second static piece is a sculpture of a man who is experiencing a violent eruption of digital influence. A circuit board protrudes from his midsection as blood flows down his severed body and into a pool at his feet. This graphic first-time sculpture was created in two hours on October 29th, two days before the show debuted. Using water-based clay, Bing worked with a wire armature and enjoyed coaxing an emotional reaction out of the inanimate structure.

Bing resisted the urge to surf the web for hints on how to create a sculpture and instead relied on his basic instincts. After appropriating a circuit board from Michelle, he used a hammer and screwdriver to create a hole through which the armature could be threaded. Then, after building up a base with the clay, the work began in earnest. The blood wasn't originally a part of the design, as Bing wished to show a fairly natural figure who was merely reacting to the sudden outcropping of a foriegn media throughout his body. But the cracking of the clay created an aesthetic distraction that required many touch-ups and the eleventh hour decision to render some color onto the work as theming.

Much easier and closer to home for this artist was the task of creating a living and breathing soundtrack for the room that the museum had so freely bestowed upon him. All of the MIDI music for the show was created during the month of October and mixed down on Halloween. "Teknodawn" is a theatrical experience, one that sustains levels of fright as well as whimsical moments of character-revealing pieces. To hear and read more about the soundtrack, please visit The Soundtrack page.