I’d imagine it feels a lot like what it must feel like to be any other human being seeking connection to the world around them… It’s a mixed bag… Most of the time it feels utterly crushing. There are also times when it feels incredible.
My mom is really proud, and I think my sister and the rest of my family are too. Everyone is really supportive and excited.
Thanks, it sounds more impressive when you guys say it. I just want to make things, and explore something in a way that can hopefully be interesting to someone else, while being engaging at the same time, and be meaningful to me – “does it help?” I start to feel really crazy when I can’t be making things…
Generally speaking, I don’t really define between mediums in a very concrete way. Like, when I try to imagine a project, it’s usually spread out through everything I do. I like environments – a song on guitar I can see as a video, which in turn could be translated into stills or photographs to tell the same story in a new way, and become writing which could become symbols or colors or a book or anything… Everything is a natural extension of the others for me. It’s not so much a matter of balance, as it is of finding fluidity between everything.
I really like to dance, I’d maybe consider myself a dancer of sorts. Or strive to be one anyways. I’m not too worried about defining exactly what I do; I hope I can be free.
Hmmm, I don’t know exactly. But I know it’s helped me as a person beyond measure. It helps me feel grounded and to have a clearer thought process, a clearer idea of what it is I need to do. It makes the crazy go away.
Oh, thank you! I think mostly my work revolves around multi screens – showing a number of different motions/objects/places that can relate or juxtapose one another. At least that’s a something I think about a lot.
Maybe also people, I’m really interested in people’s faces – trying to find that moment where someone looks truly human.
Two Julian’s? I’m sure there’s more… Ultimately I wanted to make videos, and I just thought, "if I pay for a service to publish my videos, it will really push me to make videos…" Like renting a studio space or something – I have it, I’m paying for it, so I better make the most out of it.
Working with Gosha has helped me develop so much both as a person and as an artist, and I’m so grateful to be able to work with him and the people that surround him. I think it has also gotten people to look at what I do with more interest, given me a wider audience, and given me incredible opportunities.
I always cringe a little bit when I see “lo-fi” associated with my work, but it’s okay – in a way it’s true, but it also sometimes misses the point. I would love to work with 16mm film, and recently I want to do something with mini DV, but right now I have what I have (a VHS camera), so I’m going to make the most out of it, and see if I can do something interesting or new (or hopefully both!) within the existing limitations of it.
At this point I am very comfortable with VHS though, I know what to expect, I know how to work with the quality in a way that I like, so it allows me more freedom than working with HD might.
When I film, I try as much as I can to be just an observer, without being too intrusive (though sometimes it is necessary). Just to see what is going on, with an understanding of what it is and equally with total naivety… I think at times it can feel a bit voyeuristic. I think this voyeurism also allows for a more personal experience though.
Working with Kelsey is great. He is one of the most inspiring and interest(ed/ing) people that I know. I collaborated with him to do one of the videos for the release of his new book Psychedelic Space. For this video, I tried my best to show some of the structure/process behind what he does. There’s one part in the video where Kelsey’s hands are mixing paint colors (left screen), and on the right side of the screen, iPhone photos in quick succession pop up – this is a reference to how he derives his color pallets, a subject that is explained in the book. So that’s an example of something that’s more thought out. Other stuff is in there just for fun – I think there needs to be a good balance: between well thought out reason and fun/play.
In collaborations, I try my best just to understand what the people I am working with do –like Gosha or Kelsey– and then to build upon it in my own way, that will at the same time stay true to their vision.
“Careful if you bear your soul, careful not to bear it all”, Patti Smith.
“To be with art is all we ask…”, Gilbert & George.
“This is water”, David Foster Wallace.
In Japan, with Onigiri. And in Russia with KFC & Granola bars. And anywhere in the world: on the kindness of strangers (or “grit”, some would say.)
Whoa, you guys are well-researched! I really want to visit Patagonia to do a photo project with instant film/writing. I’d love to visit the southern tip of Argentina too. I want to see the glaciers. Recently, I’ve wanted to visit Brazil. I have a friend in Chile, Alberto, who is a sculptor/designer, I’d love to visit his studio and collaborate with him someday! Maybe go on a motorcycle trip. The jungle seems inviting.
Mmmm, there are a million things I’m striving for. I’d like to have my own collection; to show an exhibition at Team Gallery in NYC; I want to buy my mom a new car and her own house; I want to direct a film; to work with people whose work I admire and respect… I want to make good work – I think that’s something that will be an eternal goal.












