Summary

Negative Douglas documents an underground-art mini-phenomenon in Pittsburgh which began as a banal circa-1970's grade-school photo of a boy named Douglas, swiped off the Internet and emailed between friends. Douglas was then turned into sticker art, a band, a popsicle-stick-style mask, and a dispay at the world's skinniest art gallery.

Directed by Keith Tassick

Pittsburgh, 14 minutes

www.keithtassick

Click here for Keith Tassick's biography

Artist Statement

Negative Douglas is a documentary about a photograph of a young boy, sticker propaganda, a made up rock band, and boredom in the City of Pittsburgh. In or around the year 2000, an office worker with little better to do did an image search for “Douglas” and returned a class photo of a teenage boy with a bowl haircut that amused him.  He emailed the photo to his co-worker, who also found it amusing.  This inside joke was then taken outside the office and sprouted a multimedia art project that would span the next several years. Winner of third place in the 2006 Three Rivers Film Festival shorts program, Negative Douglas brings you this heartwarming tale of how far a stupid joke can be taken.

Pittsburgh City Paper article:
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A27742