Nexus Nanaimo (Initiatives)
A Unique and Creative Journey into the Fine Art of Giving Back
Mission Statement – The Gathering Storm
Our fragile planet is entering a difficult and precarious phase in the so-called ‘Anthropocene’ era. All indicators are pointing to a structural failure and collapse of the modern, advanced, industrial, technological – and lethally overpopulated – human system. It’s not necessary to go into any detail here… just watch the six-o’clock news or listen to a couple weather reports.
A small group of artists, musicians, poets, volunteers and activists from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada have come together and founded the Nexus Nanaimo (Initiatives), a volunteer-run, not-for-profit collective whose primary mission is to respond to the ever-deepening crisis – the gathering storm – that is unfolding around us daily.
Through the mediums of fine art, music, writing, humour and the spoken word, the Nexus team will endeavor to help alleviate human suffering – initially on a local and regional basis – for our most vulnerable citizens, i.e., those dealing with chronic homelessness, poverty, mental health and drug addiction issues. With no sign of the crisis abating, the Nexus Nanaimo team is currently laying the ground-work for a proactive, compassionate and ‘long term’ campaign to fulfill its intended mission.
We live in unpredictable times…it’s difficult to come up with a definite plan for the next six months to a year or even longer. So the Nexus team will need to stay loose and adaptable and be willing to turn on a dime if conditions change. For example, if an economic downturn occurs or if Covid 19 roars back we may need to switch from live art shows and concerts to online initiatives. Fortunately there are enough varied initiatives to accommodate these changes.
Introduction
Nexus:
1. A connection or link associating two or more people or things
2. A group or series of connected people or things
(Merriam Webster)
The following document provides a detailed over-view of a unique and exciting adventure which attempts to combine fine arts, music, poetry photography, digital art, literature and humour with volunteering, homelessness and social activism. The project will be based in the City of Nanaimo, on beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia and was conceived and created by Dennis Lakusta, a west coast singer songwriter, artist, author, educator and activist. Nexus Nanaimo (the project) and its many possibilities and potentials revolve around Dennis’ exquisite website – www.dlakusta.org – which is scheduled for launch around late spring or early fall of 2023.
A bit of history on how the idea of ‘Nexus’ first came about would be helpful. In the spring of 2012 Dennis had a conversation with Terry Porter (friend, bass player and confidante) in which they mused and waxed philosophically about what to do with the rest of their lives. Being in their mid to late 60’s at the time, the prospect of wasting away their ‘golden years’ in a rocking chair just wasn’t an option. Both seniors were ‘up to their eye-balls’ with energy and talent, and the urge to do something special with their ‘golden years’ was palpable. During the conversation Dennis floated some vague and rather lofty ideas by Terry which appeared to connect their love of art, music and literature with the notion of giving something back. At the time, Dennis remembers the whole room lit up like a Christmas tree. It would take the next ten years for the two senior citizens to develop and refine their music, create an amazing website and begin to lay the groundwork for Nexus Nanaimo.
The above partnership with Terry Porter dovetails nicely with Dennis’ more recent partnership with Lynn Burrows. Lynn is a dyed-in-the-wool social activist, a master of the fine art of communication and a long time resident of Nanaimo. Dennis was involved with support work and advocating – on a freelance basis – for Nanaimo’s homeless community from 2012 to 2019 during which time he met Lynn and they both discussed their common interests. Those shared interests culminated in Dennis and Lynn co-founding the Nanaimo Street Initiatives (NSI) in 2019. Lynn’s expertise in communications and Dennis’ work at the ‘street’ level proved to be an effective combination, especially with the added challenges associated with Covid 19 and the ensuing economic downturn. Dennis, Lynn and the NSI team were most effective in the areas of human rights and homeless rights advocacy, documentation, clothing drives and assisting with special needs for the most vulnerable and damaged members of Nanaimo’s downtown street scene.
Terry and Dennis’ dream of doing something special with their golden years, combined with Lynn and Dennis’ three-year involvement with NSI resulted in a brand new three-way partnership co-founding and co-managing the Nexus Nanaimo Initiatives. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Note: This document needs to be viewed against the wider backdrop of Nanaimo’s ever-growing homelessness crisis. An official count (in 2016) pegged our homeless and un-sheltered population at approximately 175. In 2019 the count mushroomed to around 375 – 450. This year (2022) we have between 700-800 homeless which means we are on track to cross the 1000 threshold by 2024-2025. The 1000 threshold represents a 500% increase in just under nine years.
The Initiatives
Nexus Nanaimo plans to move forward on two strategic fronts once the website is launched in mid 2023. The two fronts are; (1) local and regional, and (2) on-line. The following group of initiatives are local and regional.
1. Art Shows and Concerts
The original idea, hatched back in 2012, involved a simple production where Dennis and Terry would frame up twenty of Dennis’ large photographic art prints, rent a hall or gallery space for a weekend and, with the help of local volunteers, put on a benefit art show and concert for the general public. Some form of legal entity (a trust fund or society) would be set up to direct any profits (after expenses) from the event to various Nanaimo agencies and services assisting local citizens dealing with homelessness, mental health and drug addiction issues. After the launch of the project in Nanaimo, the operation could be toured around to other communities on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland with the net profits remaining in those communities. That was the idea ten years ago and it couldn’t get any simpler than that.
But the next decade would witness a magnificent out-pouring and refinement of Dennis’ photography and digital art images, plus three new recordings (one music CD and two live concert DVDs), a new book, a volume of topical essays and five high school and university course outlines. In tandem with this prolific out-pouring came a flood of new and innovative ideas on how to extend the reach of Dennis’ work to include a national and even international audience. This road map attempts to lay out some (many) of the avenues and channels through which the Nexus Nanaimo (Initiatives) plans to reach that wider audience. But regardless of where the adventure takes Dennis, Terry, Lynn and other members of the Nexus team, the art shows, concerts and website will always be the original cornerstone and linchpin that holds everything together.
The most recent concept for an art show and concert still includes twenty large, framed photographic and digital art prints created by Dennis – each signed and numbered, and available in a limited edition of 95 prints. Nothing on Dennis’ website is for sale, including the limited edition prints. Instead, they are being given away as gestures of gratitude for donations to the A.V.A. Renaissance Trust which is Nexus Nanaimo’s legal mechanism for managing and dispersing net profits (from donations) to designated agencies and non-profits. Whether at local art shows or via the world-wide web, each signed and numbered print will have a ‘suggested donation’ attached to it whose price range reflects the current market value of a print that size and the limited number of prints in that edition or ‘run’.
The twenty large framed prints – which make up the ‘show’ – are for display purposes only. The framed collection will be kept intact and transported to other regional shows and concerts. Two or three back-up prints (unframed), each corresponding to the prints in the show, will be boxed up and ready to be exchanged for donations. Most people have their own framer or Nexus can provide information for local framing shops in the area.
Note: Local and regional art shows will include a large table which displays smaller (un-numbered) prints corresponding to the prints in the show. The smaller images are printed on ultra premium 13in x 19in paper and – considering the current economic downturn – the suggested donation range will be a fraction of the larger prints and therefore more affordable.
Concerts will be set up for each art show along the tour (including Nanaimo)and scheduled for the final evening of each weekend event. The performance line-up will be anchored by Dennis and Terry and include local musicians, singer songwriters, comedians and story tellers from the particular region where the art shows occur. A nominal admission will be charged at the door with all proceeds going to local agencies.
2. Nanaimo Volunteer Registry
This overview (road-map) was penned in November of 2022. That leaves Dennis, Lynn and Terry six to nine months to prepare for (1) the official launch of the website, (2) setting up the Nanaimo volunteers registry. and (3) producing the first show and concert. (This preparation includes framing the first show and scouting out suitable locations for the event). The above time frame also allows for the establishment of the A.V.A. Renaissance Trust.
The key to the success of a venture like this is the volunteers. The volunteers are everything…they are the life blood, the soul, the breath and the spirit… they are the nuts and bolts and the fuel that will keep the adventure humming along. Behind every single aspect of all future Nexus initiatives will be a dedicated volunteer. With this in mind, Dennis and Lynn Burrows will begin developing a volunteer registry, drawing primarily from the Nanaimo arts, music and social activist scene. Over the past year Dennis and Lynn have floated the idea of a registry by their local friends and contacts and have been given an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’.
The Nanaimo Volunteer Registry will consist of a simple one-page profile of any one wishing to volunteer for Nexus projects. The first part of the profile will be the person’s name, address and contact information and the second part will list their strengths, talents and preferences. The profiles allow Lynn and her committee to place volunteers in suitable situations, doing suitable tasks. It is essential that all volunteers feel comfortable with their placements. (All information recorded in the registry will be strictly confidential).
Anyone reading through to the end of this road map document will realize quickly that the bulk of the volunteers will be working from the comforts of their own homes…which means ‘on-line’. The website consists of four sub-sites (artworks…music… essays and education… licensing and fundraising) and links to each sub-site will be directed – courtesy of our on-line volunteers – to specific and appropriate individuals and organizations who might consider entering into a mutually beneficial arrangement with Nexus Nanaimo and some of its initiatives.
A final word on volunteers. The Nexus team is made up entirely of volunteers…from top to bottom. No one is paid. There are obvious benefits to this kind of set up including the fact that the local agencies and services (as well as Nexus’ own initiatives) will receive the maximum amount of funds raised. With no salaries to be paid out, the accounting committee can focus more on legal fees, book keeping, ongoing operational costs and fees for professional services, i.e., printing, framing, stationary, etc.. Hall rentals or suitable locations for workshops and local initiatives will be required at some point but the shows, concerts, volunteer registry and legal stuff are the first priority.
3. Workshops, Art Projects and Fund Raising
A key component of Dennis’ long-range vision is to rent a small hall or suitable work space in Nanaimo’s downtown core where creative workshops and a variety of art projects could be conducted for two, possibly three days a week. The workshops and art projects would be open to Nexus volunteers, seniors and members of Nanaimo’s homeless community…and all geared towards future fund raising ventures. Some of the workshops and art projects would involve Dennis’ photography and digital art – showcased on his website – but other local artists and crafters are welcome to participate as well.
Some examples of art projects included in this initiative are; (1) unique native hand drums featuring circular images from Dennis’ Night Watch collection (see website), (2) printing and assembling two-year art calendars and greeting cards using images from the website, (3) printing and framing images from the website, etc. Plus some fresh ideas from other artisans and crafts people. The art projects double as workshops because everyone is learning ‘on the fly’. Interspersed throughout the workshops and projects could be musical interludes by local singer songwriters. Light meals (soups and sandwiches), desserts and hot beverages could be available for the volunteers as well.
These are just a few of the art projects that could be set up in Nanaimo. The art works resulting from these many projects could be displayed and sold in galleries, malls, Christmas shows, craft shows, art shows, gift shops as well as Nexus events. And the sale of these ‘works’ would not be restricted to just Naniamo but distributed to gift shops and galleries up and down Vancouver Island and the lower mainland as well. The ‘cherry’ on top of the dessert is that the net proceeds from these art initiatives will be funneled back – via the A.V.A. Renaissance Trust – to local agencies and services providing care, food, clothing, shelter and human rights advocacy for Nanaimo’s street community.
(Actually, the real ‘cherry’ on top of the dessert is the pure and simple joy that comes from volunteering).
4. Publishing
Another exciting initiative has to do with publishing….specifically, a series of exquisite coffee table books which combine Dennis’ artwork and music with his extensive writings and educational material. Thematic images would be selected, compiled and balanced with quotes and excerpts from his books, essays and course outlines. An insert inside the front cover would contain a cd with twelve to fifteen of Dennis’ original songs, and the written lyrics for those songs could be inter-woven throughout the images and writings in the book. Several publishers have been recommended but this initiative will have to wait until the website, shows and concerts are up and running.
Note: The next series of initiatives deal with on-line potentials and global outreach.
5. Limited Edition Prints
The world wide web presents unlimited possibilities for outreach, education and fund raising. There are numerous angles and avenues through which Nexus Nanaimo can precede once their on-line volunteers are trained and in position. Some of the on-line initiatives over-lap with local and regional projects but the methods and procedures used are distinctly different. Take limited edition prints for example.
At the local level, prints can be acquired through art shows and concerts. But to reach a more national or international audience, online volunteers will set up displays and profiles – featuring samples of Dennis’ amazing art works – on selected social media and art-oriented platforms. An ideal sample would be a link to any one of twelve image galleries contained within Dennis’ website – www.dlakusta.org The gallery showing on each platform would be exactly as it appears on the website, complete with relevent information about the print and suggested donations displayed underneath each image. If viewers are interested in more information or would like to acquire a signed/numbered limited edition print in exchange for a donation to the A.V.A. Renaissance Trust, there will be a ‘contact’ button at the top or bottom of the gallery page where visitors can leave their information. A Nexus team member would then contact the donor, complete the transaction and ship the print to the donor. Printing and shipping costs would be included in the donation.
6. Art and Music Therapy
Two related experiments. (1) Some years ago, the head of personnel at Royal Roads University (Victoria, BC) experimented with Dennis’ photographic and digital images in an effort to ‘calm down’ staff members who occasionally experienced emotional or work-related stress. The experiment was an unqualified success. (2) During Dennis’ twenty-five year involvement in Canada’s education system, he has shown his art work and performed his original songs for tens of thousands of students across the country – from elementary to university graduate level – and his images and music have never failed to delight and inspire the students.
This is another key component in Dennis’ long-range vision…art and music therapy. The concept is simple. Nothing on the website is for sale…the music, artworks and writings are free to be downloaded for the pure enjoyment of visitors to the site. Why not email the website – or links to specific galleries or music sub-sites – to a wide variety of institutions and organizations across Canada and around the globe who could use the images and music for therapeutic purposes.
The main thrust of this initiative will be directed at young children. One of the collections on the website is titled ‘All My Relations’ in which a whole new realm of delightful creature forms was created by Dennis, simply by symmetrizing chaotic configurations of form found in nature (trees, leaves, flowers, roots, rock formations, sand stone, etc.). The resulting creatures are not only captivating, inspiring and mind-blowing for young children but quite therapeutic as well. The online volunteers will email links to the ‘All My Relations’ gallery to children’s hospitals, pediatric wards, elementary schools, First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities, etc. Essentially, any place where children could use a welcomed distraction or some ‘cheering up’.
For schools, hospitals and other institutions who would like to use the on-line images for the purposes of art therapy, there are no fees or charges.
Another unique initiative that Nexus would like to pursue in the years to come is to facilitate the permanent installation of a framed collection of Dennis’ images that would grace the walls and halls of children’s hospitals, pediatric wards, elementary schools, indigenous communities, etc. This would provide children – and adults – with easy access to the unique images. Such an initiative would require interested communities (whether local, regional or further afield) to conduct fund raising events to help cover the costs of the installation, i.e., printing, shipping, framing and installation. The printing will be done in Nanaimo and shipped to the interested community and then framed by a picture framing company in that region. Note: In some cases – depending on the number of images required for the installation and assuming funds are available – Nexus will cover the cost of printing and shipping.
Another option or feature added to the permanent installation scenario – where feasible and practical – is for Dennis and Terry to travel to the interested community and perform a full concert which would coincide with the unveiling of the art installation.
Adults can benefit from art and music therapy as well. Therefore, the online volunteers will be emailing links to the ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Shape Shifting’ collections – which are currently displayed on the website and intended more for adults – to hospitals, palliative care units, psychiatric wards, hospices, prisons, seniors long term care facilities, indigenous communities, etc. The particulars and procedures for adult settings are pretty much a carbon copy of those for children, including permanent art installations, live concerts and no fees or charges for online usage of the images,
7. Licensing
Image licensing is an area that the Nexus brain-trust knows little about, but at the same time, it’s an area that could prove quite promising in terms of fund raising potentials. Considering the imaginative and character-driven nature of Dennis’ exquisite artwork, combined with its futuristic bent and distinctly indigenous over-tones, approaching the film and media industry would be a ‘no-brainer’. Particularly those production houses who specialize in futuristic, fantasy, animated and/or nature and indigenous-based subject matter. Film and production companies are constantly on the lookout for fresh, original and innovative ideas for character development, costumes, dance, props, set designs, etc.
The Nexus team will need to do some serious research before it moves ahead with this rather ambitious initiative…considering the legal, copyright and contractual ‘red tape’ required by established film and media companies. The Nexus Nanaimo (Initiatives) is a unique venture, which will require some legal arrangements to reflect that uniqueness. For example, Nexus Nanaimo – which is also known by its legal title, the ‘A.V.A. Renaissance Trust’ – is a registered non-profit. Perhaps the Nexus online team could approach film and media companies with the idea of negotiating a fair and appropriate donation (to the Trust) in exchange for licensing one or more of Dennis’ images. In this type of scenario, the Nexus team and their lawyers would then draw up a licensing agreement and contract, and work out the terms. The licensing agreement and contract could then be used as a general template for other prospective licensees.
The film and media industry is only one of several avenues to pursue in terms of licensing. Other avenues include; dance companies, theatre companies, Broadway productions, Cirque du Soleil and similar type productions, comic books, children’s story books, cd covers, magazine spreads and articles, etc.
Note: The world-wide magazine and art publication industry probably qualifies as a bona fide initiative on its own.
8. Education
Dennis Lakusta has been involved in Canada’s education system for the past twenty-five years, either as a presenter, guest lecturer or writer (of course material). He has travelled the width and breadth of this country and experienced – first hand – the nuances and complexities of the system, from elementary and secondary schools through to university graduate levels. And since day-one he has always written his own course material. Much of that material is now accessible through his website (www.dlakusta.org) by following the links to the ‘E-books, Essays and Education’ sub-site.
One e-book and several course outlines focus on Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, their history and their effects on Dennis’ family. Another course outline is centered upon the epidemic of youth suicides plaguing Canada’s indigenous communities. These are all ‘hot button’ issues, not just in this country, but around the globe. Therefore the Nexus online volunteers will be emailing links (to the education sub-site) to secondary schools, universities and indigenous communities around the planet. All of Dennis’ education material can be downloaded and used free of charge.
9. Music and Songwriting
The music sub-site on Dennis’ website showcases forty to fifty of his best songs written over the past thirty years. Intelligent, thought provoking and topical songs which are more suited to a global network of co-op, roots, world-beat, indigenous, independent and university FM radio stations. Therefore, the online volunteers will be emailing links to the music sub-site with a request to FM stations to add Dennis’ songs to their playlists. Every time a song gets played on any station affiliated with the global network, the email address for Dennis’ website will be given out. This initiative will help spread the word about Nexus Nanaimo’s current and long-range objectives and its mission statement.
10. Essays and Insights
The books and essays on Dennis’ writing sub-site are not always ‘pretty’. He tends to gravitate towards unpopular and unpalatable subject matter, such as; institutional racism, youth suicide, conquest and colonization, the ethics of the industrial state (some say it has none), the tyranny of the church, the imminent collapse of the human system, etc. Dennis has mastered the ancient art of tapping into a ‘stream’ of consciousness (a.k.a. cellular memory) for his original insights and all-encompassing vision. For written deep within the genetic code of every living cell and etched along every strand of DNA is the ‘memory’ of time-enduring principles, laws and ethics practised by countless generations of his indigenous forbearers. These are the ‘voices’ and intimations that inspire and inform his writings.
An ancient Cree proverb states; ‘When you have a group of people sitting around a circle and they all agree with one another…you only have half a circle’. Northwest indigenous tribes understood the law of opposing forces and the absolute necessity – in order to affect change – for all voices and all perspectives to gather around the ceremonial fire.
As unpopular and unpalatable as his essays will be to some, Dennis’ views and insights deserve to be included in the national and global conversation. To that end, the online volunteers will email links (to excerpts, essays or the writing sub-site itself) to the literary world including universities, conferences, symposiums, think tanks, magazines, reviews and individual authors…for their consideration.
11. Partnering
Once the whole Nexus ‘machine’ is humming along smoothly and all the kinks have been worked out, another long range endeavor is to develop one or more partnerships with key players in regional, national or international efforts to provide disaster relief and humanitarian aid to those in need. On every one of those three levels people are hurting, big time. Using the simple rudiments of extrapolation, one is not left with very much hope that things are going to get better. On a recent CBC National news broadcast – CBC being traditionally a trust-worthy, level-headed and non-sensational source of news gathering – a reporter used the rather ominous phrase ‘sixth mass extinction’ when referring to the apparent meltdown in global affairs.
The limited edition prints, combined with the whole new world of image licensing both have the potential to raise substantial funding for organizations such as, the International Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, Canadian Mental Health, the National Association of Canadian Food-banks, regional and provincial coalitions dealing with homelessness, etc. It doesn’t need to be on a global scale…during the wildfires and floods in southern BC last fall there were desperate appeals for cash donations – on a daily basis – from the Red Cross and other like-minded organizations.
Nexus Nanaimo first needs to get things up and running at the local level. By then the core team should be ready to begin expanding into the world-wide web with its online initiatives. That expansion will hopefully include any partnering arrangements.
12. Pixel Capturation Technique (P-Cap-T) – A Eureka Moment
‘A eureka moment is usually preceded by the phrase… hmm, I wonder what would happen if I tried this…’
This initiative is aimed specifically at the tech industry. First, an amazing but true story. Dennis Lakusta came to the computer age quite late…he bought his first computer in 2006. After a high school and university speaking tour in Ontario in 2010 he had enough cash to buy a spiffy new Sony Vaio super computer with a 24″ high resolution screen (Sony’s answer to the I-Mac).
The computer came complete with Photoshop Elements 9 and Dennis found the software to be quite user-friendly. He experimented a lot with various filters (effects) using close-up photographic images taken through his camera’s macro lenses (macro-photography).
The following spring – at precisely 2:30 pm in the afternoon on April 12, 2011 – Dennis was sitting in front of an image that was highly affected by filters and on a whim, he zoomed deep into the image as far as he could go and was startled by the unusual arrangement and appearance of the image’s pixels. The arrangement resembled a ‘checker board’ configuration of brightly coloured pixels much like multi-coloured Christmas lights glowing against a dark and wintry night.
That’s when the eureka moment occurred.
Dennis wondered to himself quietly… hmm, I wonder what would happen if I tried to crop a group of these multi-coloured pixels…his pondering didn’t go any further than that. He then took his cropping tool and selected a small group of the brightest and primary-coloured pixels – eight to be exact, two vertical by four horizontal – and sure enough, the tool had no problem cropping the tiny cluster. Next he clicked the cropping button and he was left with nothing but a blank screen…completely blank. Except for a tiny, tiny (almost imperceptible) black dot at the center of the screen. He then placed the cursor on the tiny dot and started clicking to enlarge it and, sure enough, the tiny speck enlarged to reveal the eight pixels.
This is where it gets weird.
At one point in his creative life, Dennis considered printing and framing large canvas images that were 40″ x 80″ at 300 dpi. (Remember that number). He had eight tiny pixels sitting in front of him and those eight were already extremely enlarged. Now at the epicenter of his eureka moment, Dennis hit the re-sizing tool and – are you ready for this – he keyed in the dimensions of 40″ x 80″ x 300 dpi, clicked ‘enter’ and in a couple seconds his computer spat out a re-sized image that was 825 million pixels!!! That’s EIGHT-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE MILLION BRAND NEW PIXELS….from the original eight. (Hey, didn’t somebody already try this with some loaves and fishes).
Note: Dennis saved a few copies of the original image – the ‘mother-ship’ – and in a live presentation he can display the unique image on an over-head screen, zoom into it, locate the original eight pixels and then repeat the entire P-Cap-T process from start to finish.
The newly re-sized image (825,000,000 pixels) now filled the 24″ screen. But the re-sized image bore little resemblance to the original eight pixels. The original eight exhibited clearly defined borders separating each pixel, like eight clearly defined multi-coloured squares on a chess board. In the mind-boggling conversion from eight pixels to 825 million, those precise and defining borders completely disappeared and what replaced them was a super-gentle, super-gradual wash/blend – involving tens of millions of pixels – between any two squares from the original crop. The re-sized image – which Dennis also kept copies of – exhibited a dazzling, mind-bending display of incalculable colour values washing throughout the 825 million pixels. When observing this amazing image, the viewer can easily make out the eight now-undefined colour fields that once constituted the original eight highly defined pixels.
(Note: This is hard to explain technically because the computer – by default – was probably never designed to process such an ‘eight-ball’, ‘out of the known universe’ type of maneuvers to begin with. But process it did and there was very little choice in the matter…it all boiled down to basic mathematics. Dennis acknowledges that the computer did all the heavy lifting in terms of the technical process…but to his credit, he (the artist) had the courage and the creative freedom to follow his muse – and the strange sequence of steps – that led to the eureka moment….that then led to the technical process).
That amazing re-sized digital image now washing and gradating gently over 825 million pixels, has to be seen to be believed. The unique image is a veritable masterpiece in its own right. For two reasons. The first is that the image exists at all, being the end result of what is arguably one of the most creative ideas to come out of the digital age. The second reason is that the image was the source and starting point – which led to the next eleven years, thousands of creative experiments and hundreds of thousands of hours of screen time – from which Dennis’ two flagship collections evolved. (See ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Shape-shifting to Kathmandu’ on website).
The Nexus Nanaimo online volunteers will therefore be forwarding links to the two collections (containing nine exquisite galleries) to key players in the tech world including Adobe and Photoshop Elements 9 for their valued feedback.
Conclusion
The preceding document is for internal use only…it is not intended for the general public. Its primary purpose is to act as a blueprint or road-map laying out Dennis’ long-range vision for the Nexus Nanaimo (Initiatives) should he need to step away from the project due to health or age-related issues. The Nexus core team and those participating in the volunteer registry will have access to this document…more as an introduction and orientation manual. Selected excerpts, paragraphs, sub-sections and quotes from this doc will be strategically ‘dropped in’ to Dennis’ website for added strength.
Thank you.