Booking and press inquiries:
Doug 'dBom' Bohm
[email protected]
303.333.5073
John 'Sucka VJ' Heenan
[email protected]
720.883.2942
An-ism is a Video Jockey collective formally established around March 2003 in Denver, Co.
Initially, An-ism was the moniker of a solo visual artist named Brian Steckel. Brian (AKA "Bird" to many of his old-school homies) shot and spliced together super 8 film for the sole purpose of projecting film loops to compliment various styles of music at various underground parties amidst the growing dance and electronic scene in the Denver/Boulder area of the late 1990s.
From the get go, An-ism planted its roots in the Denver underground as an integral part of the art collective known as Soulciety. This collective of painters, photographers, sculptors, screen printers, and performance artists resided in a warehouse space north of downtown Denver near the Platte River.
It was in this creative environment that An-ism was able to fine tune his technique of overlapping film imagery into a multi layered mix created by the synchronization of multiple film projectors.
With the rise of desktop video editing and the development of user friendly animation software, An-ism became consumed with the world of digital media before the turn of the last century. The live switching capabilities of a video toaster made it possible to mix multiple video sources into one single image. This eliminated the burden of operating multiple film projectors while simultaneously allowing An-ism to become mobile outside of the Soulciety warehouse space.
In then year 2000, The first Denver nightclub to install a video system with the intent of mixing video live opened its doors as "Bash." Although the music of mainstream clubs often clashes with the underground style of An-ism, Bash nightclub provided the venue and equipment An-ism needed to grow as a VJ.
It was in this space, that Bird and fellow Soulciety pranksters organized a party dubbed Ordinary/ Extraordinary. Creating an interactive communal atmosphere w/ live art encouraged John Heenan, an animation student, to contribute by sharing some self made clips for the An-ism video mix.
In turn, An-ism past these clips to another artist friend, Ryan Pohanic (Dr. Nez aka DRNZ aka ElevatedTV), who was working on installing a video sculpture at Revoluciones, a gallery that helped lay the foundation of what is known as Denver's Art District.
Soon these three began to collaborate with a web designer named Nicole Antonopolus(VJ Pink Unicorn) and a multimedia student named Robert Fraser (Cambium Array) forming the first foundation of An-ism as a collective in the late part of winter 2003.
As individuals, each member of An-ism was able to bring various talents and multi media equipment to the collective group. Like Voltron or the Wu Tang Clan, An-ism became stronger as a single unit.
Along with the first release of the world renowned video mixing software known as Resolume and the development of the Edirol V4 video mixer, An-ism hustled gigs within numerous music venues and clubs along the front range of Colorado. Since then, these VJs have established and fortified artistic relationships with many promoters, venues, and international artists.
An-ism has taken many forms since its inception. Brian Steckel has since moved to Chicago where he dabbles in audio-visual mixes. Ryan Pohanic is currently based in L.A. spearheading the expansion team. Some new additions include local VJs AVJ Gabe, dBom,and VJ DizyPixl.
Nightclubs have come and gone and the number of VJs has quadrupled. However, An-ism will remain at the forefront of the Denver scene!
