LINKS

Digital Storytelling Festival

Next Exit

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction:

Next Exit

Corporate Consulting

How We Met

In the fall of 1986, I was preparing to open a contemporary theater in San Francisco called Life On The Water. An article appeared in the paper about our efforts, and some time in the month or so around the opening, Dana Atchley contacted our theater to introduce himself. He was a professional video producer and, taking an interest in our efforts, he agreed to assist with the documentation projects of some of our productions.

When Dana introduced himself, he explained to us that during the seventies he was known as "Ace Space." Ace was a traveling electronic bard who mixed media together to perform an ongoing road show. Roadshow documented an unusual slice of American culture, from the wild experiments of avant-garde artists to an eclectic collection of roadside attractions that Dana had decided to reframe as "Art." It was Laurie Anderson meets Charles Kuralt. Roadshow was performed from one end of the United States to the other and in parts of Canada as well. In retrospect, I guess Dana’s point in telling his story was that he shared a tribal affiliation with me and my theatrical partners, for our theater was also dedicated to the seemingly incompatible mixture of experimentation and populism.