Tell me about Mystery Dinosaur Productions.

Fae Yamaguchi is the creator of Mystery Dinosaur Productions.

My background is in sculpture. My work was toylike and usually incorporated a moving element which frequently broke as I was not so technically inclined. In 1986 the Contemporary Museum invited me to do a one minute performance and I decided to directly address the humor that was always present in my work. I did the “Universe.” I created a full costume and became the moving apparatus with the sculpture. The work was videotaped and the audience responded favorably when it was played back. It was then that I got into video–a medium I would have have never thought of entering.

My videos began and remain somewhat as “bad home movies” Things fall apart, props fail on purpose. The puppeteer often appears as an underlying presence and mirrors the Universe character – one who is incompetent but is unaware or unconcerned of his or her shortcomings. (This of course, has nothing to do with my real life)

Where did the name Mystery Dinosaur come from?

The name Mystery Dinosaur came from a pin that I made a long time ago. I had a bag of plastic dinosaur toys and I made little paper bags with holes cut out for the eyes and glued it on the dinosaur’s head and called it The Mystery Dinosaur” with a big question mark. This was one of my big money making ideas. It was at this time I melted plastic cowboy and Indians on horseback in my toaster oven and stuck pin backs on them and called it “Ride to the Sun” I specifically remember when I got the idea and was anxiously melting them down and was so excited. What I can’t believe is that I seriously thought that these pins were going to solve my money problems as I was selling them for $2.50 each or something. Needless to say, neither was a commercial success but each brought some critical acclaim among my art friends.

Who are your influences ?

Godzilla, William Wegman, Pee Wee Herman

I want to give you a million dollars. But first, do you have a resume?

Oh how nice! And yes, I do have a resume. Here it is:

Fae Yamaguchi

SELECTED GRANTS & AWARDS
1999 Individual Artist Fellowship  in the Visual Arts
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.   Honolulu, Hawai‘i
1996 Artists Projects Grants – New Langton Arts, San Francisco  Funded  by           the Rockerfeller Foundation,  the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual
Arts,  the National Endowment for the Art
1996 Persis Corporation Grant
Private Corporation, Honolulu, Hawai’i
1993 The Classroom Channel Program Fund
Commissioned by the Pacific Mountain Network.  Denver, Colorado
1992 Visions of the US. – 2nd Place- Experimental
The American Film Institute – Los Angeles  ” The Horse Farm”
1992 NAATA Media Grants  National Asian American Telecommunications Association, San Francisco. & the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.        There is the Monster’s  Paradise
1990 LACE Artists Projects Grants  Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions   Funded by the     Rockerfeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.  The Horse Farm
1989 Western Regional Media Arts Fellowship
Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, The American Film Institute.  Administered     through Rocky Mountain Film Center Boulder, Colorado .  Beets in a Blue Flowered Bowl
1987 Honolulu Advertiser Grant   Honolulu, Hawai‘i.  Touch the Turtle

INVITATIONAL & JURIED SCREENINGS & BROADCAST

2009 Pacific Film Archive/Berkeley Art Museum invitational
Berkeley, CA
FilmOne Fest  juried  Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
2008 The Puppet Show  invitational The Contemporary Museum Honolulu
2006 USA network  commercial for Major League Gaming
2006 Asian American International Film Festival  juried New York
2003 Chicago AsianAmerican Film Showcase  juried  Chicago, Illinois
2002 Visual Communications Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video
Festival  juried
2002 25th Asian American International Film Festival * – juried – Asian
Cinevision, New York * National Tour of U.S. – Wash D.C., Boston,
Montpelier, Ithica, Madison, Chicago,Tampa Bay
2001 The Contemporary Museum Biennial  invitational     Honolulu & Kahului, Hawai‘i
1999 Pacific Film Archive/Berkeley Art Museum invitational
The Fabled Puppet of Cinema  Berkeley, CA
1999 17th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival juried
1999 Pacific Film Archive/Berkeley Art Museum iinvitational   Alternative Visions   Berkeley
1998 The International Puppet Film Festival  invitational
Guggenhem Museum New York,,  Presented in conjunction with the Henson Foundation
1998 16th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival juried
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts  invitational       San Francisco, CA
1998 Rock, Paper, Video: Fae Yamaguchi & Valerie Soe
1998 The Space Between  Honolulu Academy of Arts at Linekona  Honolulu
1998 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival  invitational  Totonto, Ontario Canada
1998 Offline   juried   Inthaca, New York
Nationally distrubuted cable TV series showcasing experimental artists across the country
1998 Unquote TV   juried – DUTV – Channel 54  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Innovative film and video  program-  airs on over 60 cable  systems throughout the USA.
1997 San Francisco  Cinematheque invitational  – Real World   New Langton Arts    SF
1996 L.A. Freewaves   invitational  – A Child’s-Eye View    Museum of Contemporary Art’s     Temporary Contemporary      Little Tokyo – Los Angeles
1995 Asian American Film Festival   invitational  – Bridging Across Cultural  Barriers.  American  Embassy.  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia.
1995 Honolulu Underground Film Festival  juried  – Honolulu Academy of Arts
1994 KHET-TV  Hawaii Public Television.  invitational  “Luck” Honolulu
1993 Videoscape: An Asian American Video Showcase   invitational  New York
1993 Today’s Avant-Garde Female Videographers  invitational  The Honolulu Academy of Arts
1993 Asian American International Film Showcase  juried   San Francisco
1993 DCTV  Downtown Community Television.  juried  – New York, New York.
1993 CUNY-TV City University Television  juried  – New York, New York.
1993 KHET-TV  Hawaii Public Television   Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
1993 The Classroom Channel   Denver, Colorado
1992 The Arts Festival of Atlanta  juried- Video Art Competition – Atlanta, Georgia.
The New American Makers  juried – The Red Vic Theatre  San Francisco
1992 Video/Installation (solo Exhibition) Koa Gallery, Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu
1992 WYBE – 13  Philadelphia Public TV  invitational”Through the Lens”  Philadelphia ,  PA
1988 Mixed Media 5  (group show)  video/installation. Touch the Turtle  Amfac Plaza, Honolulu.
1987 Amusing the Lizard  (video/installation- solo exhibition) U.H. Commons Gallery.  Honolulu.

EDUCATION
1987 Masters of Fine Arts  /  Sculpture    University of Hawai‘i
1980 Bachelor of Fine Arts  / Sculpture   University of Hawai‘i