Austin's GRAVITY
Published March 25, 2024 · 6:58 · 58,572 views
About This Video
A return to Austin, Texas, framed through the metaphor of gravity: the forces that pull creative people toward specific cities and hold them there. Van explores what makes Austin's gravitational field particular: the IMI Fest (Independent Media Initiative), the expanding city's tension between preservation and growth, and the specific quality of attention that Austin's creative community pays to the kind of work Van makes.
The seven-minute runtime keeps the exploration moving. Van doesn't romanticize Austin or position it against LA. He treats it as a data point in an ongoing investigation of what makes cities work for creative people. The gravitational metaphor is earned: some cities attract by mass (New York, LA), others by density of like-minded people (Austin, Portland). The difference matters if you're trying to do work that requires community rather than audience.
Transcript
you got your Kota and your formula one you got your Elon Musk and your gigafactory you got your Joe Rogan
Duncan Trussell hinch cliff and redband Ryan holiday Lex fredman Michael malice mat and Shane Tim Ferris Chris
Williamson Tom and Christina and Tim Dylan our National Treasure
[Music] Austin has the gravity I once felt from New York or Paris or Berlin Austin wants me in Austin now what could possibly be wrong with this
sidewalk what should I say in my [Music] speech two gravitational forces from Austin entered my life a couple years
ago simultaneously or nearly simultaneously while I was at Jaylen
Garage in Los Angeles the first this man Allan invited me to Leno's Garage while
he shot an episode of Jay Leno's Garage Allen's motorcycle shop Revival is Jay
Leno's favorite motorcycle shop Revival cycles and Allan himself are both based
in Austin and Allen had built this Ducati that jayen wanted on his
show Allan gracious Allen who liked my channel in invited me along while I was at Jay Leno's Garage in Los Angeles I
got a phone call from Austin from this man Stewart I took the call outside
obviously Stuart and his wife Elaine both Apex Predator academics
phds Stanford Harvard physics Neuroscience they were dedicating their
lives and careers not to academics but to an initiative that would support
media creators like me and Stuart asked me if I wanted to
[Music] help we basically talked about things that people like me need in order to protect the work that we make and we continue to talk about that
and in like one year Stuart and Elaine and the folks at
IMI built this IMI Fest and that's where I was awarded my award
and that's why I needed a gracious speech for the award thank you Stuart
and Elaine for your generosity thank you Stuart and Ela beling in us for your generosity bringing us together
believing in us and for bringing us together Benny and aba's wedding
2013 South by Southwest 2015 Sleepy Jones campaign 201
5 Revival Cycles 2022 IMI Fest 2023 okay Dan it's heavy wield it as a weapon thank you steuart and Elaine for your
generosity for believing in us and for bringing us together I would like to repeat my
favorite Academy Award acceptance speech from Sven Nyquist
1974 best cinematography Oscar for cries and Whispers And he said thank you very very
much I am very very proud and I am quite sure that this fine award will give the
possibility for me to make better work than I have made before thank you very
[Applause] much I've been driving for like 20 minutes uh in and outside of Austin and it's all this it's just development and pipes and giant drill bits and
cranes and rerouted temporary traffic but it looks like they're going fast and they're building very well and
I this is all it's like Joe Rogan Elon Musk stuff but I get why I get why this is
it's a fun fun place you can drive really fast and they have a racetrack and they have amazing Builders and makers
like Alan stalberg at Revival [Music] cycles and there was nothing wrong with the sidewalks in Austin it turned out they were just
making them [Music] wider on this week's patreon only video a lot of people on patreon asked me to make a video about what it takes to make videos start to finish but that's too hard so
I'm going to make a video about all of the things you need to do just to make this one little sequence that I want to make
Products & Tools Mentioned
- Ducati mentions — motorcycles at Revival Cycles
People Referenced
Joe Rogan, Duncan Trussell, Tony Hinchcliffe, Redban, Ryan Holiday, Lex Fridman, Michael Malice, Matt and Shane, Tim Ferris, Chris Williamson, Tom Segura, Christina P, Tim Dillon, Elon Musk, Allan Stalberg
Films & Media Referenced
- car show referenced
- Ingmar Bergman film, Sven Nykvist won 1974 cinematography Oscar
- festival in Austin