Tempt Uno is a personal friend an inspiration and pioneer in his own right. For years after we first met I admired him as one of the best hand style masters of his generation, a true student to the art and culture he was also an activist and a publisher alongside Relic they launched BigTime magazine which covered the LA graffiti scene. A passionate advocate for the suppressed and the arts Tempt One was generous with his time and creativity to those in need. When diagnosed with Lou Gherigs, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, many in the community where taken back but also stepped up to support him and his family. At first one would ask what is this disease and why him?, for that I defer you to his website – http://temptone.wordpress.com/ My first reaction was one of limited understanding given that it is a disease with no known cure, now I am better informed.
When I return to LA I do my mandatory visit with Tempt and never leave with the weight of his condition but rather lifted by his spirit determined will to live, every time I return he has found a new way to communicate and create. His thinking and emotions are intact especially regarding the writing culture, as one will see in the film he has been given the tools both to speak via an eye tracker that converts computer texting to an audible electronic voice. He is also enabled to create art both digitally and even sculpture! The invention of Mick Ebeling and his co-conspirators called Eye Writer is a marvel onto itself that was born out of a need to help someone regain some of their physical human capacity when they wouldn’t otherwise.
This film is about his triumph and unlikely friendship with Mick, his family and friends who come to his aid and reconnect him to the things he loved most art and people.
ABOUT THE FILM
*How does a fallen man get back up?*
Tony ‘TEMPT’ Quan is a legendary LA graffiti artist, social activist and publisher. In 2003, he was diagnosed with ALS (also called Lou Gherig’s Disease), a degenerative nerve disorder which has rendered him unable to move, breathe or speak…
But his mind and creative spirit are still intact.
In 2009, Mick Ebeling and his Not Impossible Foundation brought a motley crew of international hackers and artists to Los Angeles to attempt the impossible: invent a low-cost, open source DIY device that allows Tempt to once again create art, using the only part of his body that still moves, his eyes.
After hours of harrowing trial and error, The EYEWRITER was born and Tempt was once again able to create art.
Getting Up beautifully illustrates that through the will of two men, and on the shoulders of a community, anything is possible.
For more info check- GETTING UP – The documentary
Getting Up Trailer: http://on.fb.me/yDwszw
Getting Up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gettingupdoc
