Getting Up: The Tempt One Story
Getting Up (2012) is rated PG and has a runtime of 75 minutes.
Through the 1980s and '90s, Tony Quan, better known as TEMPT-One, built a reputation as one of the foremost graffiti artists in Los Angeles. But in 2003, he was diagnosed with a progressive degenerative disorder affecting the nerves called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The disease did not affect his mind, but left him unable to control any part of his body except for his eyes. Communication devices for people in Tempt's condition were out of his family's price range, leaving him without a creative outlet or the means to have anything more than rudimentary exchanges with his friends, family, and caretakers.
Enter designer, entrepreneur, and graffiti enthusiast Mick Ebeling in 2009. Determined to find a way for Tempt to communicate effectively, he assembled an international team of programmers and artists to create an innovative solution. The EyeWriter was born as the result of their hard work and the support of Tempt's community. Time Magazine featured this low cost communication device as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010. The EyeWriter not only allowed Tempt to communicate easily again, but it also opened the door for his return to the art of graffiti.
Cinema Touching Disability was thrilled to share the story of Tempt One, Mick Ebeling, and the EyeWriter with Austin audiences on Friday November 1, 2013. The screening closed with a 10-minute panel discussion with Austin-based graffiti artist Nathan Nordstrom (SlokeOne), who gave more insight into the world of graffiti art and artists. Nordstrom, a self-trained artist and muralist with over two decades of experience, developed his artistic expression, initially by way of a spray paint can. Over the years, what began as spray can art has evolved into creative arrangements of color and expression. Read full bio
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Contact the Film Festival
Contact: Laura Perna
Phone: (512) 478-3366 ext. 305
Email: filmfest@txdisabilities.org
