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Artist's Statement:
The creation of this project is directly related to my trips and
meetings in Great Britain to investigate the media art scene in
the country. The choice of the people I meet is determined by different
subjective and objective reasons, but mainly by my interest as an
artist, working with new media, and leader of a media art institution.
Besides the official events and meetings, another reason for the
trips are also the informal conversations with artists, mainly in
clubs and pubs, discussing their problems and topics related to
life, professional and personal motivation to work in the area of
the new media arts.
Following my entirely subjective interest, I dared to ask some of
them a series of questions**, which interest me, distinct the artist's
general appearance and put him face to face with the media, which
he /she have chosen for the realization of his projects.
Without pretending to be thorough, the streaming documentation of
these interviews presents a definite picture of the media art scene,
which is biased and critical at the same time, and the conclusions
and analyses remain under the surface of the official activity and
the professional ethics.
The desire for complete authenticity of the published information
is the reason for the choice of video streaming for this project.
Petko Dourmana 2002
* The title is taken from the Saturday's cultural add in The Guardian.
** The structure of the questionnaire is based on
LEXICOnCULT /a project by Triumviratus
Art Group/
Questionnaire:
· How will you describe the project you are working on now
in the shortest and most concise way?
· What can discourage you and what can motivate you in the
process of working?
· With what team do you prefer to work, do you prefer specific
generations?
· During the last years have you worked actively with artists?
· To what extent does the intuition govern your choice of
team to work with?
· Which is your favorite book when you are working?
· Which is your favorite computer game when you are working?
· What do you always put off in the working process? Which
problem do you prefer to hide from instead of solving once and for
all?
· In what are you in doubt when you think about your new
project? What do you worry about?
· Who/what is your closest ally?
· Who/what is your most serious enemy?
· Sport?
· What do you do when you feel that you have reached the
limit of your artistic and physical strength?
· How much will your new project cost?
· Are you in serious difficulties with the budget of the
project?
· Can such a problem influence strongly the result?
· On what do you prepare your projects - pages, notebook
or straight into the computer? Do you draw your projects?
· Have you dreamed your future project or anything related
to its creation?
· In the newspaper you come up with information on an investigation
and lawsuit. The perpetrator of the heavy crime, by accident, has
the same name as you. How would you feel?
· Is there a film directly related to the project you are
realizing at the moment?
· What will happen if you have to leave art and earn your
living with a new profession?
· Do you sense you "true" age - for example, do
you feel that you are younger or older than you actually are? What
is your "subjective" age?
· Do you think that the media, the critics and the society
pay enough attention to the work of the artist?
· What is your favorite show on TV?
· How many people would you like to watch your new project?
100, 1 000, 100 000, million? Is there a limit for the number of
viewers beyond which you would think that the artistic essence would
be lost and would turn into a show?
· What do you think about drugs? Do you think that it can
give new opportunities to the artistic impulse or enrich it?
· Compare yourself with an animal...Why did you choose it?
· Does your new project bear any direct, metaphoric or non-metaphoric
relation with the last world social and political events?
· How did you respond to the surprising and fast changes
on the political landscape?
· How do you react when your child /future child/ watches
documentation of your projects - do you ask for an opinion, do you
listen to it attentively or vice versa?
· Do you feel like a famous person?
· What is your first thought when you see yourself in the
mirror in the morning?
· Share with us (honestly!) if when answering any of these
questions you had to hide something or not tell the whole truth
as you feel it ...
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