James Carman

With approximately 16 years of studying yoga & over 9 years of actually teaching yoga, sometimes, I still ponder over “who am I?”.

In 1990, I shared an apartment near the corner of Guerrero & 18th Streets. (1/2 block from Tartine’s) with a man named James Carmen. James was an upcoming film maker & I was an inspiring super model (laugh). And there, James Carmen convinced me to agree to playing the lead role in a 16mm short film titled “3000 Years in Gravity” by James Carman.

Within days of the verbal contract, James & I began a road trip. And although it sounded like an easy task, with each day, I struggled with a small detail of my actors contract – I was to run, jump, crawl, swim, sit, defecate, cry, sleep, play, eat, and BE in nature, completely naked.

James & I traveled from film location to location, in a fully loaded car. I walked through Sierra National Park during a snow blizzard. I crawled through the 120 degree sand dunes of Death Valley. I swam in the 45 degree waters of the Pacific Ocean. I became one with the Tufas of Mono Lake. And with each night, I slept in the front seat of a car.

And although, I didn’t know why I choose to participate in the filming of this story, I did mostly everything that I was asked. And by the end of the filming, I was afraid of James Carman.

Yet, the movie was finished. And, It was a prize winner at the 1992 Berlin Film Festival.

The movie depicted a man searching for himself – wandering from place to place alone & in nature. North. South. East. West.

In retrospect, I realize that experience wasn’t about creating a movie. It was about finding one’s way through the daily trials & tribulations that life throws upon us.

If we learn from our experiences then we have the possibility for growth & empowerment. And if we ignore our experience then we will continue to wander blindly – North, South East, West.

Question:
“Who am I?”

Answer:
I am the man that wandered looking for himself. I am that man who (again) was stripped of his wears so that he could attain clearer vision.

And thanks to film producer, James Carman, I (again) regained my focus & my purpose.

“I’d shot 3,000 Years of Gravity (30 min 1991) in San Francisco and edited when I came back. It’s a long terrible journey, about searching over time and not finding anything, finally a spiritual search undertaken in the wrong way. It’s set in five movements, one for each of the four directions, and the fifth was aether where he transcends, he goes to another level. Each direction is staged in a striking new landscape, and another era. It was interesting to me to make a film without telephones, cars or buildings. I wanted to make a pure film like making a film about a stone or a box or a shoe.

The actor was my roommate, a major pain in the ass. Until the film was finished we were in a weirdly dependent relationship so we both had to suffer. It’s important that people are challenged, it’s wrong to spoil actors, treat them as if they’re a precious talent. He was naked the whole time and sometimes the elements were rough, sometimes it was snowing, and once he broke down and had a fit and refused to put his clothes back on and I worried he would die of exposure. In a shamanic way, he’s looking for signs to give him direction. When you’re walking it’s a natural thing to piss and eat and shit so that’s what he does. At the end of his journey he finds a puppet on the beach. He kisses and caresses it, but gets no love in return after traveling for thousands of years. Distraught, he goes into the ocean and presumably drowns himself.” – James Carman

Related Links:
James Carman – Facebook
James Carman – NY Times