The Magic Soup

New York has this spirit where any moment can be one that changes your life.

In 2014, I randomly walked into the Japanese vintage store About Glamour and walked out with a Mono No Aware flyer. It sounded like a fun venture and I ended up taking their intro to puppet making class.

The class required you to make an actual short film and I got all crazy trying to figure out the right mini story to tell.

I ended up coming with something short, but sufficiently creepy. But, building a stop motion was definitely more of the adventure.

I got scraps of fabric from Mood Fabrics that I turned into clothing. My friend Brian at Everything Goes Furniture Store on Staten Island helped me drill together a table from scrap wood. And the little props I made from clay and painted.

Since then, I’ve seen Mono No Aware transform into a strong post of traditional film filmmaking. Whenever I can, I try to get in on some of their strange and wonderful screenings and events. Mostly, I just get this warm fuzzy feeling when I remember how lovely it is to hold a real piece of film.

Here’s me with the founder himself, Steve Cossman, right after we gave my puppet a bloody goodbye.