Manger follows a street prophet as he interprets the Book of Genesis and contemplates salvation in front of an abandoned strip mall. It is a short film, but also a proof-of-concept for a more ambitious feature, Bad Head, currently in development (see below), a meditation on the fractured zeitgeist of 21st century America and an attempt to channel the trauma of living in a "post-truth" age. 

"I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, but I have lived in Baltimore most of my adult life. I have always been surrounded by wild, contradictory, confusing people, full of eccentricity, free-spirited with a fervent anti-authoritarian vein. I’ve had no shortage of larger-than-life personalities among my immediate family and close friends. Often labeled by mainstream, capitalist culture as outsiders or freaks, or disregarded completely, these folks contain precarious truths about America, which vibrate through their words. Listening can be a radical act. So can seeing. Through an immersive approach to camera, sound, and production design, I hope to create intimate contact between the audience and my characters, inspiring empathy, as well as a deep questioning of dominant narratives, Western exceptionalism, and the normalcy of a hegemonic, individualistic, or nihilistic, worldview."

-- Jimmy Joe Roche 

Ultraviolet Light is a music label established in 2015 in Baltimore, MD. The label is founded, operated, and curated by Jimmy Joe Roche. UVL is dedicated to releasing work by artists who push sonic boundaries, emphasize experimentation, conceptualize sound as invisible sculpture, and radiate mysterious energies. Roche creates almost all of the design and visual art for the releases. He uses the medium of risograph and silkscreen printing for the editions. UVL is about to release its 31st album. Here are a collection of releases with art and design created by Roche. 

Jimmy Joe Roche began performing noise and sound pieces at house shows and DIY warehouse spaces in Baltimore in 2010. He built his first synthesizer on the west side at the legendary home and performance space Tarantula Hill. His early electronic performances used homemade electronics, microphones, cymbals and repurposed bio-feedback devices from the 1970’s. Later, Roche learned the visual programing software Max/MSP and developed performances that manipulated sound and video with the muscles in his face. After a decade focusing on live performance, Roche now primarily focuses on recording and releasing material on Ultraviolet Light, the record label he has run since 2015.   

“I love making noise. It’s a great pleasure, a sense of play and discovery. Sound is freeing and beautiful in the sense that it can tell complex stories without images. For an image-maker this is a great release. While this may seem paradoxical at first blush, I find a narrative quality in non-idiomatic, ambient sounds and noise that traditional song forms lack.”  

-- Jimmy Joe Roche  

New Works is a screening series dedicated entirely to showcasing the work of film and video artists based in Baltimore, MD. Typically, there are two central stipulations for artists invited to participate: they must be based in Baltimore and they must attend the screening. The mission of New Works is to foster community among local image makers and promote, support, and grow the local scene. The series was founded by Jimmy Joe Roche in 2016.

"The mirrored forms of Jimmy Joe Roche’s sculptures resemble the symmetrical inkblots used in Rorschach psychological tests  - images also explored by Andy Warhol in the 1980s. The Rorschach test asks subjects to free associate with a sequence of non-representational shapes as part of a carefully structured process for analyzing the human psyche. 

The great complexity of Roche’s composition suggests a highly labyrinthine and fluid evocation of individual psychology. With its intricate layers of color and interwoven passengers, this obsessively handcut piece is in keeping with the diverse, colorful, and interrelated network of personalities that the artist creates and embodies in his photographs and videos. The distortions of self image that Roche cultivates when performing his alter egos have an almost psychedelic quality, possibly reflected in the in the intense, doubled patterns and pulsating hues of his sculpture."

-- Kristen Hilman, writing as curator of Contempary Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2013