Joshua Enoch Williams and Vincent (Vinny aka Enzo) Digeatano

The world premiere of “The Sound Of Paint” screened on Saturday October 5, 2024 in front of 7 Dudley Avenue, the birthplace of The Beats, and the home of both the Venice West Cafe & the Sponto Gallery. This amazing new documentary about Venice creativity evokes the roots of these iconic landmarks. Joshua Enoch Williams followed Vincent (Vinny aka Enzo) Digeatano for 14 years with a video camera, documenting his triumphs and struggles as a houseless artist and musician living on Ocean Front Walk. Williams captures intimate stories. His cinematic vision is truly a deep dive into how the Venice community has nurtured the creative spirit of liberation in the arts and music. This is not a slick ass agenda movie, this is the reel deal. And, the premiere screening was a total success.

At 7 Dudley Cinema over the last two decades, I screened over five documentaries about Venice people in the Rose parking lot. Do not miss this one, because it is one of the best. I will be introducing an 8-minute clip from this new documentary (which is a 70 minute feature) at the Venice Heritage Museum Film Festival on October 20. And the Topanga Film Festival screens it on Oct 17. Here is my interview with the filmmaker Joshua Enoch Williams. Joshua has been a life guard in Venice for 20 years. He studied photography at San Francisco Art Institute. A friend praised his vivid photos of Venice people, and encouraged him to use video. Joshua did it, and found his subject. He stayed devoted for nearly two decades to get the full enchilada. Here’s some questions he answered exclusively for the Venice BeachHead.

The Sound of Paint Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/1005556267?share=copy  exclusively for the Venice BeachHead.

Joshua writes: “For over 20 years Vincent Digaetano relentlessly painted his way through the streets of Venice Beach. For the past 15 years of Vinny’s journey as a Venice street artist I shadowed him, hoping my camera and curiosity could tell a part of his story. Our encounters were never scheduled, unpredictable to say the least. Some days he remained silent while immersed in his craft. Other days he transformed into a jovial, chatty, painted jester. Interviews throughout the years with Vinny and other street denizens of the Venice Beach community offered up rare insights into his complex world. My lens was merely a sensor reflecting Vincnet’s struggles and triumphs of homelessness as a street artist.”

G= What first attracted you to pursue filmmaking?
J= Being able to capture easily people’s lives in the age of digital cameras, made it quite accessible to make a short movie.

G= How and when did you first meet Vinny?
J= We met in 2011 on Dudley Ave around midnight at the Cadillac Hotel where he was painting on canvas.

G= When did you decide he was the subject for your first feature?
J= I did not start with the goal of a feature film in mind at all. Actually I photographed him for about a year or two, then I started to film him with no plan at all to make a feature. I was just flattered and intrigued he allowed me to get so close. He was like a forbidden creature to me. I made a few shorts documentaries on ceramic art and surfing before this, but none nearly to this scale. Four to seven minutes tops on the previous ones.

G= A screenwriting teacher told me a great film is when you can clearly see the intention of the maker. Stanley Kubrick says the opposite: great art is when you cannot see the intention of the maker. What role does intention play in your creative process?
J= My intention is to simply display the bond I discovered with Vinny through my lens and curiosity.

G= Marcel Duchamp says there is no art without an audience. What role does your potential viewer play in your creative process while you were making this film? In other words, did you think about your audience while making it?
J= No, I did not think about them in the beginning at all. I was just loving the content solely for myself. It wasn’t til this past year that I started to formulate a plan for sequencing the moments together for a greater crowd, so to speak. I still don’t think the feature film is for an audience actually. It could be better, but what I have thus far is something that I alone truly love.

G= If clothing is an extension of skin, and knife & fork are extensions of teeth, what human sensorium does the moving image camera extend?
J= If I’m interpreting your question properly, I would say moving images create a palpable texture of emotions.

G= Marshall McLuhan said there is no such thing as a good or bad movie, it’s a good or bad viewing experience. Any comment.
J= I’m impartial to this statement. I lean more towards “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Mainly because I’m currently the “eye.”

G= When I asked Michael Apted years ago why rock video makers feel so obliged to edit fast, he told me “because we have learned to take in information faster.” Martin Scorsese also said that he edited his films faster because of MTV. Can we indeed learn to take in info faster? Is it literally possible to multi-task?
J= Editing this feature took me years, so at minimum, I would say fast info gathering is feasible for sure, but for me, slow is pro. If a film is too slow for someone they can just get up and leave.

G= “Film as an art form has been swindled by capitalism.” Any comments.
J= I don’t feel swindled at all. I was able to complete my entire vision with no strings attached, but that’s also not to say swindling is not taking place.

G= What was the motive of the cave artists?
J= Remembering! Possibly sentimental.

G= What is more important – conviction or compromise?
J= It truly depends, but in the context of my vision for this film, it is conviction.

G= Is ambition based more on fear or joy?
J= These two concepts go hand in hand for me at this moment in my life.

G= T.S. Eliot said that poetry is outing your inner dialogue. What language is your inner dialogue in? What form is your inner consciousness in?
J= My innards are comprised solely of poetry. My consciousness is simply unknown to me at this time.

G= George Manupelli says “Ignore yourself.” Jonas Mekas says there is no self-expression. Cecil Taylor says he is a vehicle and it comes through him. Is art making more self-expression or more vehicles for whatever dominant technology or culture is currently present?
J= In my opinion, art delivers vehicles for exploration of self-expression.

G= Can art-making be egoless?
J= I would like to meet someone besides Banksy whose ego does not affect them at all in this realm.

G= Is perception reality?
J= Probably not, but it’s all we got at the moment.

G= If you were walking down the street today and you met yourself as a 12-year-old, what would you say to your 12-year-old self?
J= Honestly nothing, I enjoy quite sincerely how I ended up.

G= Please tell me something good you never had and you never want.
J= Cocaine.

G= If you were in a vat of vomit up to your neck and somebody threw a bag of shit at your face, what would you do?
J= Ask for Kleenex…

G= What gives you the most optimism?
J= How incredible my mother is at simply expressing her humanity towards the world.
G= Thank you Joshua for your time and your great film THE SOUND OF PAINT. You have truly captured the spirit of the Venice art & music community.

LAUGHTEARS.com Upcoming Events

*** Oct 17 THURS Gerry’s salon 3pm FREE – “The Revolution will be Improvised” at Topanga Film Festival https://topangafilminstitute.org/ and at 1pm THE SOUND OF PAINT by Joshua Enoch Williams – colorful and engaging portrait of Vincent Digaetano, painter and musician on Ocean Front Walk for over 20years – the struggles and triumphs of this Venice houseless artist.
*** SUN oct 20 at 7pm Venice Heritage Museum FILM FESTIVAL 228 Main Street – Gerry Fialka introduces an 8 minute clip from The Sound of Paint by Joshua Enoch Williams https://vimeo.com/1005556267?share=copy
*** THURS oct24 at 7pm SUZY WILLIAMS CONCERT with Michael Jost & Mike Bolger at UNURBAN 3301 Pico Blvd
*** Sun, Oct27 at 4pm Gerry Fialka hosts Venice Culture Salons (VCS) at Venice Heritage Museum 228 Main Street – Special Guest TIM RUDNICK of Venice Oceanarium -Fun, fiery, interactive discussions. Free admission. Bring your stories, then Third Thursdays in Nov and Dec at 3pm
*** Sun Nov17 PXL THIS 34 Toy Camera Film Festival Lo-Fi Hi-Jinx. Online James Wickstead invented the plastic camcorder and Fisher-Price produced it from 1987-89. It records picture and sound directly onto audio cassettes, which creates its grainy look. Another distinguishing feature is its “in-focus” capability from zero to infinity. The “in your face” attitude restores a certain human vitality to the overpowering sensory overload that bombards us daily. It illustrates Marshall McLuhan’s percept that television is tactile – you can practically touch the dots, all 2,000 of them (as opposed to the 150,000 you normally see on TV). Orson Welles said that a movie studio is “the biggest electric train set a kid ever had.” On the other end of the spectrum, the PXL-2000 video camera is the cheesiest failed toy ever — a train crashes in the playpen. Yet, in the hands of visionary video-makers, it has become an essential tool of cutting-edge creativity. .https://www.facebook.com/events/501365292503926/
+++ Join in JAMES JOYCE, Marshall McLuhan and CARL JUNG Reading Groups. Carl Jung believed the metaphorical language of alchemy could give us insight into human experience. Learn to understand Jung’s concepts and relates alchemical processes to passages from literature, works of art, case studies and dreams, many of which can be directly related to themes in Finnegans Wake. Our weekly online discussions every Monday, Tuesday & Wed, at 1:30pm (pacific, for 40 minutes). Occasional Saturdays we go from 1 to 2:30pm. LZS (Laughtears Zoomin’ Salons) probes the hidden psychic effects of human inventions and how they shape behaviour. Arts, literature, film, activism, new media, poetry, funk, jazz, avant-garde, new media, performance art, politics, coding, tales, cosmic wisdom, jokes and more.
VOTE Nov5 Classic Frank Zappa quotes still apply: “Democracy doesn’t work unless you participate” & “Keep the government out of your underpants.”
Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com 310-306-7330 Tune in, Turn Around, and Drop by