Megan and Murray McMillan

From Cate McQuaid’s review of our show that’s currently on view at AXIOM (through Nov 27).

For a two-minute video [edited to note that the video is actually 4:06 min.], Megan and Murray McMillan’s marvelous installation “What Stands Between Us and the Sun,’’ now up at Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media, required a lot of work.

This Saturday, Oct 23, we’re hosting an Open Studio from 10am-6pm. We’ll be showing work from our latest project, What Stands Between Us and the Sun, (which is currently on view at AXIOM Center for New and Experimental Media) and our latest installation, which was recently in Pixilerations v.7.

Come by anytime between 10am-6pm.

Megan and Murray McMillan Studio
320 Lafayette St
Pawtucket, RI 02860 (map)

Parking: orthopedic lot next door

Here are scenes from the two day film shoot. We are extremely happy with an amazing crew that made everything come together:

Lani Asuncion: folding room

Kieran Delaney: director of photography

Mike Formanski: folding room, production assistant

Rachel Jendrzejewski: folding room

Justin Lewis: folding room, production assistant

Katie Mansfield: flying boat

Keri Marion: flying boat, production assistant

Alyssa Matthews: folding room

Adam Moroski: production assistant

Ted Ollier: lead flying boat

Ben Piwowar: flying boat

Anna Shapiro: folding room

Blake W. Sherwood: lead folding room, lead production assistant

Caitlin Strokosch: lead performer, production assistant

Alan Tracy: lead performer, production assistant

J.R. Uretsky: folding room

Please see our portfolio site, www.meganandmurraymcmillan.com, which has been updated with additional images and the 4 minute video.

To make the flying boat we needed something strong enough to hold performers while rolling on the track and light enough to be pulled in the air asymmetrically. After looking at a number of real boats, we decided it would be best to make one from scratch. Our boat has a wood skeleton and we’re heat shrinking a plastic skin for it. Next step: painting it.

Our favorite nursery in the Boston/Providence area is Seven Arrows Farm in Attleboro, Mass, the place we rented the folliage for the set. Gotta tell you: packing up a U-Haul with bamboo and misc small plans is no picnic.

That said, Seven Arrows is a great place to have a picnic or the perfect place for tea (dining in their garden, or stocking up from their large selection of bulk teas).

Details of the mylar and the folding room. We’re now working on surrounding the folding room with the lake and continuing to mylar all top surfaces.

We’re covering the surface of the lake with mylar.

Now that the folding room is constructed we’re focusing on constructing the lake. You can see on the bottom photo that we’re also starting to cover all surfaces of the lake and the folding room with adhesive-backed reflective mylar (which will simulate water).

Here is all walls in the folding room assembled (with production assistant Blake Sherwood standing inside to give us an idea of how much space the performers will have).

We’re starting the perimeter cage that the folding room folds back into (and will connect with the rest of the lake).

(btw, these photos are light tests as well: the space only looks like this when the sunlight is in the right place and the atmospheric generators are on)