From August to December 1999, Termite TV Collective drove across the United States in a 1964 converted school bus equipped with cameras, an editing system, and a “documentary circus tent.” The shows we produced — “Living Documentaries” — were shot and edited on the road and screened at media art centers and exhibition venues we visited along the way. We collaborated with local artists, media makers, residents and fellow travelers, and began recording 5-minute Life Stories. The resulting Living Documentaries cover a characteristically eclectic mix of themes: Money; Life Stories from Sitka, Alaska; Violent; Life Stories from the Borderlands; and Rollover.
Now, we still find ourselves making “Living Documentaries.” The term has come to stand for much more than our roadtrip. Perhaps it is a reflection of our philosophy that video is an interactive format, that objectivity is a fallacy, that the observer is always part of the experiment. Or perhaps it is because we like to see ourselves as nomads with video cameras, even when we just go to the grocery store. Living Documentary shows currently in production are Space and Food.