I am an artist and designer who creates fine art, architectural design services and projects, multi-media and A-V multi-image production projects and special events and/or unique situations and created environments.. My design/build corporation specializes in the adaptive re-use and retro-fit of existing sites and structures to serve modern hi-tech/hi-touch needs, desires and goals. I received university degrees in both animated and documentary filmmaking and in developmental psychology. My psychology studies focus was on schizophrenia and creative self-expression as therapeutic for recovery in highly intelligent people. My media arts coursework also involved architecture as personal space, the impact on the human condition from created spaces and the carry-over between mental health and physical environment as a harmony or a discord. In 1971, I participated in a program led by Dr. Jean Huston with the National Mind Study Foundation who constructed physical environments to replace the catalyst that had been used to study sense of time correlated with imagined study/practice and skills development. The catalyst prior to the created environments was the Sandoz product, LSD-25.
I am 65, disabled from a 1966 motorcycle accident and an independent filmmaker – my animated short, “ANOTHER SEASON; ANOTHER ROLLING CHAIR,” co-created with Paul Fierlinger, was accepted 2 years running at Cannes. I first met Paul following my graduation from Stockton University when I began to work in January, 1975 as Assistant Animation Director for Paul Fierlinger, Animation Director for AR&T Associates. before I was engaged with AR&T Associates, Paul had created and produced three (3) films with the US Army that involved the LSD-25 experiments which ended abruptly after the “window leap” in NYC occurred.
We did a variety of animated shorts using Oxberry equipment during the “pre-digital/CGI age” of Hollywood. In anticipation of the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, we were tasked with creating an animated film for the City of Philadelphia that travelled from 1776 – 1976. The project that fascinated and excited me the most was a film we were contracted to create to represent the drug, Digitalis, which was new to the market and physicians were leery of subscribing this new medicine. I did an animated pictorial of the Potassium/Calcium exchange as the most beautiful medical film ever seen as that was our task – make it beautiful and not about the drug – symphonic music with pretty-colored cell drawings passing through a crimson wall-like image served the purpose. The drug was in common usage following our film distribution to the medical community.
When you visit the various web sites with which I affiliate, you will understand the level and complexity of my art – a practicing professional audio-visual artist since 1974. My initial professional exhibit was a 3-person group showing that included a selection of my acrylic pigment paintings on canvas with 2 other artists in the gallery – Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. I was the “new kid” abstract expressionist surrealist image-maker at that time. I also was a single father of an exceptional daughter and did not transition to NYC or LA as my peers and studio classmates had in 1974, after receiving our BFAs. I remained in Atlantic County, NJ through May, 1975.
From 1975-1977, I owned an inter-American advertising and creative media arts agency, JEREMY PAYNE ASSOCIATES, in Coconut Grove in Miami, FL. My focus on the one hand was on the Caribbean and South American markets on behalf of a select client group, including Beebe Winches, Ingersoll Rand and Rockwell Tools. Significantly reducing catalog mailing costs by creating fine line industrial design graphic images on onion skin paper rather than 20# “white” standard catalog sheets, I saved a lot of production and mailing expenses for my clients. On the other hand, I did special photography services for a few select clients, including Aaron Russo and Revlon. I did a photo location shoot in Hollywood, FL for Revlon at an orchid orchard maintained by Seminole gardeners, as a proposal for a young woman, to determine who would replace Laura Hutton as the image of Revlon RED. I also did several promo shoots with Mr. Russo’s two clients, Manhattan Transfer and Bette Midler. My photo shoot with “The Divine Miss M’’ was at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, PA and I used CPS 100 color reversal film stock pushed to ASA 200 without flash and in such an acoustically perfect venue, everyone, including Ms. Midler turned to look toward my camera at the sound of the shutter. One of the images from that performance is the back-cover photo of her second album that had an illustration for the front. RCA moved and misplaced my photos and by the time they were rediscovered, they already had commissioned the cover artist to render the image for the LP in time for the advertised release date for the album.
I released my half-interest in JEREMY PAYNE ASSOCIATES in May, 1977, to return to Atlantic County, NJ to accept a public service executive position within the Executive Office of the County of Atlantic under Chuck Worthington, and to ultimately become the sole custodial parent of my minor child – my daughter, Alethea, who had been born on June 6, 1974 and was almost three years of age when I returned to be with her on Memorial Day week-end, 1977. On August 9th. of that year, I began what became a 9-year government appointment as Administrator of Cultural & Heritage Affairs for the County of Atlantic, NJ. I redsigned what had been the Atlantic County Cultural project under CETA Title VI grant funding for the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations into the Atlantic County Office of Cultural Affairs. I had a secretary and was able to hire artists throughout my term of service to implement special projects and services, such as an historic sites survey of the entire county in associaiton with Judy Hall and the Department of the Interior, Historic Preservation Office, and the marketing film to increase bus ridership when I was able to collaborate with Paul Feirlinger to make an animated film for theatrical release as a 35mm commercial trailer shown before the feature presentations at every movie venue in Atlantic County.
With the advent of hotel-casino development and the gaming industry “fast track” to change the environment of the “city by the sea,” as well as the more rustic, pristene regions that quickly would become townhouse residences for the thousands of new employees and residents that the new tourism industry required to operate, the Atlantic County Office of Cultural Affairs received a large Federal grant from the Department of the Interior in order that I could coordinate and publish an in-depth historic sites survey document with photographs and “as builts” for the 23 municipalities that comprised Atlantic County for the preservation of the architectural history and the 200+ years of random and systemic American surface development before the anticipated structural demolitions and new construction drastically changed the region and further impacted on the barrier islands and inland waterways.When President Reagan appointed me to serve on the his Arts & Humanities Taskforce with William Bennett and Margo Albert as Co-Chairs, the NEA and NEH had reached the end of the 20-year mark that the 1966 legislation appropriated and had been signed into law by President Johnson as homage to his former “boss,” John Fitzgerald Kennedy, as in why the US capitol city now has the Kennedy Center. Congress had to determine whether to re-appropriate funds and extend the life of the two major government endowments. At a time when government was stream-lining and everybody wanted to shrink the size of the departments – collapse the Department of Education, combine others into one big Department of Health and Human Services and coupled with the Rockefeller Foundation report on dollars spent in contiguous venues surrounding the arts districts and specific facilities in NYC, we determined that the National Endowments were inextricably linked to private sector philanthropy and an ongoing fiscal commitment by Congress would insure an exponential increase in direct private sector support for the visual and performing arts and for studies and projects in the humanities. In the time frame, 1986 – 2016, the State of New Jersey, as only one example, increased its annual funding for the NJ State Council on the Arts from approximately $4,000,000.00 to an annual average appropriation of $16,000,000.00 with dedicated funds now allocated from hotel, travel and tourism. During my tenure as Administrator of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, I served as President of the NJ Association of County Cultural & Heritage Commissions and we were able to establish community development block grants from the state to the counties for flow-through distribution on a competitive basis to local arts agencies and educational projects in the schools that could not qualify for direct governmental funding. Strategies including the purchase of tickets for a particular regional theater performance to be distributed through the public school system as a way for the Office of Cultural Affairs to provide $2,000.00 as a budget line item to a small community theater to insure its curtain would rise and its doorswould open by being the pre-show sales that allwo a budget to be created and further funds to be raised as partners joined with my office to support the arts as a necessity for a desired quality if life in any given community.
I resigned from public service on April 18, 1986 and opened VISUAL PHENOMENA STUDIO as a sole proprietorship with a registered fictitious name in Linwood, NJ at Central Square.
Today, I am a 1-person independent boutique fine art, design service and A-V production studio operating from the SW suburbs of the metropolitan market region of Philadelphia, PA in close proximity to the primary NE Corridor regional railroad from Washington, DC to NYC, and to the Philadelphia International Airport. I have an incredibly talented network of friends, public servants/officials and professional service providers with whom I can partner to provide pinnacle performance on behalf of my clients or special event or project. As VISUAL PHENOMENA STUDIO, business operates as CEI T/A VISUAL PHENOMENA for legal, fiscal and copyright administration. As CEO and President of CREATED ENVIRONMENTS, INC. (CEI), a Full C stock corporation registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I own 100% of the issued stock, making CEI a wholly owned, privately held multi-aspect corporation.
Now, VISUAL PHENOMENA is a registered fictitious name in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, jointly owned by Jeffrey Pergament and CEI. Within the corporate construct is my design/build construction management firm, DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL, INC. (DCSI), also a Full C stock corporation and wholly owned privately by me. Please visit www.createdenvironments.com to learn much more about that which I can do and have accomplished during my 40+ years as a professional architectural fine art and design services provider. My primary YouTube broadcast channel is www.youtube.com/visualjeff1 and my special promotional broadcast channel associated with IMDb/WithoutABox is www.vimeo.com/visualjeff.
The commercial IMDb webpage for my film industry profile is identified by my PA birth certificate name, “Jeffrey Pergament.”
Please do your due diligence about me with any online search engine and you easily will discover who I am and what I do – then let me know how I can entertain a win/win relationship as you explain your needs and wants relative to your ventures, for public presentation and identification, as well as to create and produce user-friendly site-specific location elements to initiate, enhance and/or augment your existing personal or business identity on the World Wide Web in partnership with LIQUIDISLAND onstage, with our media distribution and online broadcasts. I have established a unique PARTNERS IN PROMINENCE advertising, marketing and promotions platform in association with Patreon and am an active member of the online Patreon Community. I also serve on the EAW Acoustical Performance Partnership as a Charter Member and VISUAL PHENOMENA is a Studio Partner with Disc Makers in Pennsauken, NJ.
The VISUALJEFF Patreon PARTNERS IN PROMINENCE Member/Partner/Patron webpage is www.patreon.com/visualjeff. EMAIL: team1@liquidisland.net for further information about TEAM LIQUIDISLAND Membership and the different membership tiers that start at $1.00 per month and only reach the top tier of $100.00 per month with only 50 open VIP top tier memberships available.
I also am involved with dotstudioPRO as a web-based video presentation platform and this makes me very excited! The user-friendly developments are perfect for a disdabled artist and entrepreneur. This is how Keith Forman, John Carr and I first met. We met at the World Cafe in 2004 when I was a panel member for a national IT conference that was discussing the future of data transmission and how to create the current cloud-based software platforms. I was a grant recipient and award winner disabled entrepreneur that was demonstrating the necessity of Internet technology for disabled entrepreneurs and creative producers, to be able to collaborate with others despite geographic limitations and mobility challenges, with an ultimate goal of real-time collaborative exchange utilizing the Internet, a broader transmission cable system and less intrusion on the applicable hardware – that is, how can a multi-member entity share the same software and edit in real-time with direct and instant feedback?
From PULSE; LinkedIn:
“What we dreamed and imagined in 2004 is a very real component of the arts and entertainment industry today. I am sure you are aware of this – we now utilize it as a matter of fact on a daily basis, 24/7/365. In May, 2016, LIQUIDISLAND produced a complete CD album, GO YOUR WAY, and manufactured a limited press run of 300 units at Disc Makers in Pennsauken, NJ. VISUAL PHENOMENA STUDIO is a Disc Makers Studio Partner and is a Charter Member of the EAW Acoustical Performance Partnership. Within the confines of a residential apartment unit exists a full spectrum digital and analog audio-visual production facility for both in-house and on-site on location creative productions, as well as adequate space for easel painting, civil engineering and architectural renderings, as well as multiple media arts efforts.” [Jeffrey Pergament on behalf of LIQUIDISLAND.]
The data packets in 2004 moved across standard telephone lines, with dial-up access and initial DSL systems were transmitting 20 MB+/- was a very big deal! Verizon DSL provided plastic e-Wire devices to segregate the DSL signal from the dial-up signal on the standard telephone wiring system which was pre-wired in most residential and commercial venues. 12 years later, FIOS and Xfinity circle the planet with more than 2,000 satellites in constant orbit. We have come a very long way since the trans-Atlantic cable was laid on the bottom of the ocean and even further from the telegraph and tele-key systems, punch card shuffling and optical computers that required a separate room in which to be installed.
I also believe in “giving back.” I have led a very fortunate life – I had a very intelligent single mother who worked with an outstanding law firm in Philadelphia and nurtured my talents and skills and always supported my art and provided a loving home from which to grow and development. I learned at age 40 that everyone is not as fortunate. I was a case manager at the MARC House as well as continuing all my arts efforts while I lived in Key West, FL from 1990 – 1998. Today, I chair a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, METROPOLITAN ASSET DEVELOPMENT, INC. (MAD, INC.) This community service organization provides a central reference system and one-to-one counseling and guidance to those who usually fall through society’s cracks – the rehabilitated ex-offender, the recovered addict or alcoholic, and the independent artist that has existed outside of society’s “norm” and need a new direction and a new design for living to insure successful re-entry and end the recidivism cycle that is far too common for this social outlaw population niche. Since its inception, MAD, INC. has a zero-recidivism rate; every client who followed direction and undertook a specific strategy secured stable employment and remained a productive, self-fulfilled, purpose-driven member of the community. With self-discipline and personal accountability, one’s health improves, one’s self-esteem improves and the habits of the past are transferred into effective, efficient and satisfying actions that are easily repeated and/or modified to sustain a sense of balance in all situations.
For example, a tailored sport coat, a pair of “dress” jeans and 2 belts rather than a twenty-dollar bill or a $100.00 daily stipend – a simple change for a better way to approach a job interview, without apology for past performance – the pre-vocational skills development and social strategies for dialogue with others to prevent one’s foot from entering one’s mouth, and to call ahead of schedule if a situation arises and the schedule meeting or interview cannot be met – to bathe regularly, seek out other positive, productive associates and cement the foundation to insure a successful transition from justification to accountability.
As I have said, I have led a most fortunate life in 65 years so far, all things considered and I can afford to be available to others to collaborate on a creative project or a human resource matter.
Thank you for reading this communication and introductory commentary about VISUAL PHENOMENA STUDIO, LIQUIDISLAND and the upcoming 2017 new year. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate in the next few months.
Very truly,
Jeffrey Pergament, CEO and President, CREATED ENVIRONMENTS, INC.
CEI T/A VISUAL PHENOMENA
www.reverbnation.com/liquidisland5
VISUAL PHENOMENA STUDIO 