With this event, the Ullage Group begins its long and shameful career.  We’ve been meeting in private; now we stand before you, unrepentant and unprepared.

First, what is ullage?

Ullage has two primary meanings: the space at the top of a bottle, and the sediment left after the bottle is emptied.  But dictionaries differ, since they were written by humans who were just bluffing anyway; so there are other meanings: lack, deficiency, the fumes in an engine.  It is, then, the other part, the lost bit: we take it as an emblem of all that is contrarian, forgotten, paradoxical, or stigmatized.

This doesn’t mean that we will haul out a lot of crap just because nobody wants it.  All things contrary are not created equal.  It’s not the same to oppose, say, crony capitalism as to oppose fuzzy kittens, since those two subjects themselves differ, in many respects.  We can pick what we want, and air the ullage that we judge most useful, or amusing, or embarrassing.

We will point out, however, that we live in the USA; which means that the opportunities for ullage are so numerous and luminous that they make your head spin.  It often seems — and I don’t think it’s just me — that our culture is now devoted mostly to greed, religion, guns, sex, celebrities, and xenophobia.  This leaves out many things, including all arts and sciences, history, philosophy, and the rest of the world.  We will have elbow room, out here in the ullage.

And we will also point out that the contrarian can be useful, if for no other reason than sparking fresh ideas.  There is, for example, a lovely story about Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

One day, Rousseau was ambling down the cowpath, when he met his old friend Diderot.  Diderot asked what he was working on; and Rousseau said he was writing an essay for a contest, on the subject of whether civilization had been good for mankind.

“And what will you say?” asked Diderot.

“Why, that it is,” Rousseau replied.

“Oh, everybody will say that,” said Diderot.  “Argue the opposite.”

And so he did, resulting in the French Revolution, the Romantic Movement, and other developments.

Whether our activities will be fruitful or not remains to be seen.  We can start, though, with the ceremonial uncorking of the ullage.  We’ve chosen a bottle of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, since it was the favorite wine of Marsilio Ficino, court scholar to the Medici, and the nice man who translated Plato and kicked off the Renaissance.  Please note: once the cork is removed, the ullage is much larger.

 [Here, I discovered the cork was rotten; it crumbled in extraction.  The audience was quite amused, but the joke was on them, since they didn’t get any.  A week later, I corked another bottle.  Somebody should take this up with the Trebbiano people.] 

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Our first event took place on the season’s first snowfall, surely an omen of some kind. A few dozen truth-seekers braved the crystals to see what we were up to. After finding niches for our brood of projectors, Doug stepped into the lights to deliver an informal keynote speechlet (given above).

Anthony followed with a few remarks on the Fortean background of our activities.

Doug returned with a presentation along these lines:

I began by explaining that we organized a survey of “dead media” because of the strong feelings technology stirs nowadays. I’ve been surprised to learn how many people I know either categorically reject all pre-digital gizmos, or ardently collect obsolete ones.

The Ullage Group is not Luddite; we enjoy both the old and the new. We do point out that all machines were made in the past: whether that was five minutes or five centuries ago is a piddling detail. At this spot on the great ring of endless light that is eternity, all past machines are also part of the present.

I revved up a Standard filmstrip projector (once in use in the schools of Kingston, NY) to show a brief filmstrip, explaining the mechanism of the magic lantern; then that formidable device, the Beseler Slide King, for some old lantern slides, mostly patriotic or masonic.

The audience was invited to admire an array of smaller devices: the Projectol, the Astrascope, and a vintage Viewmaster Theater.

I then proposed that any machine, old or new, has pros and cons in addition to its so-called “currency”; and suggested five criteria for assessing it:

1.  Function: how well does it do its task?

2.  Social: how stigmatized or fashionable is it?

3.  Aesthetic: how beautiful is it, how well designed?

4.  Economic: how expensive is it; how profitable?

5.  Environmental: how harmful is it?

Lisa Hirschfield followed with a demonstration of the Radiopticon, an early opaque projector, and discussed its good and bad points.

Anthony was joined by Greg Dinkins for a program of projected stereoscopic slides, mostly taken with the Stereo Realist camera; Mick Andreano set up another system, which projects stereo picures from the rear onto a small screen, giving the illusion of peering into a diorama.

The audience lingered awhile, sipping (non-Trebbiano) wine and puzzling over the gadgets, then trudged off into the slush. There were no blown bulbs, short circuits, or other failures; the Radiopticon’s rickety stand and taped wiring did provide some welcome suspense.

More ullage will follow!

(The above image is a vintage lantern slide; it illustrates the word “snowfall” as only a lantern slide can.)

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Yes, there was a delay in getting this site up.  We apologize.  We resume.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

What is ullage?

It has several meanings: deficiency, lack, the air at the top of a bottle, the sediment after the bottle is emptied, the fumes in an engine. The Ullage Group takes it as an emblem of the other part: the contrarian, paradoxical, lost, unpopular, and forgotten.

Our founders, Anthony Matt and Doug Skinner, have been uncorking many bottles in their search for greater ullage. There are many surprises ahead. Our first public event will take place on a Sunday afternoon, Dec. 2 at 3:00, at Jalopy, in the ullagistic neighborhood of Red Hook, in Brooklyn.

The Five Sides of a Machine” will be a celebration of projected pictures: lantern slides, filmstrips, stereo images, and whatever else we can drag in there. The founders will give keynote speeches, and uncork the ceremonial ullage. Skinner will outline the pros and cons of different machines; Matt will present various stereoscopic systems. We’ll probably have some guests; and our non-carbon-based pals will include the Astroscope, the Radiopticon, the Balopticon, and other rickety gizmos that may or may not work. It’s only $5; it will be more fun than popular culture; you’ll be unhappy if you miss it. For directions to Jalopy, see www.jalopy.biz.