VIP - VideoChannel Interview Project

Reich, Johanna

Johanna Reich is a German video artist living partially in Spain.

  • artist biography
  • Her video “Front” is part of “://selfportrait – a show for Bethlehem
    More biographical information at the end of the page.

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    10 Questions/10 answers

    1.
    Question:
    Tell me something about your life and the educational background.
    Answer:
    Before I started studying art I went to the university of Bayreuth to study music. But I also wanted to do something visual so I applied at the academy of art in münster. There I started making installations and performance.

    2.
    Question:
    When, how and why started you filming?
    Answer:
    One day I tried to film my installation/performance and I realized that this was the way to combine both: image and sound. so I started filming.
    Then I went to diferent academies (Hamburg/Wim Wenders, Barcelona) to learn more about image and sound.

    3.
    Question:
    What kind of subjects have your films/videos?
    Answer:
    Mostly it is a kind of self-performance, but with emphasis on the sound…sometimes it`s also narrative.

    4.
    Question:
    How do you develop your films/videos, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
    Answer:
    I try to travel a lot to get inspiration.

    5.
    Question:
    Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
    Answer:
    Usually I work with my laptop, a Canon XM1 and my small sound studio logic…

    6.
    Question:
    What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general
    and you personally?
    Answer:
    I think it is a way to bridge the divide of distance – it`s posible to send a stream via internet in a few minutes, hours to the other side of the world. Besides for me it`s important to create a different world far away from the mainstream world of images. It`s a chance for me to be a modern “painter”…and to tell a story.

    7.
    Question:
    How do you finance your films/videos?
    Answer:
    Sometimes with grants, prizes, paid proyects or I have to work to earn money for my videos…

    8.
    Question:
    Do you work individually as a videoartist/film maker or do you work in a team?
    Answer:
    I do both. I also work with an artist group with two other girls that is called “treibeis” www.treibeis.org
    Question:
    If you have experience in both, what is the difference, what do you prefer?
    Answer:
    Sometimes it`s much faster working on my own – I can do want I want. But working with others is more exciting – everytime I learn a lot from the way they percieve the world. In a way it seems to be more colourful. I like both.

    9.
    Question:
    Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
    Answer:
    Traveling around and learning from other cultures.
    making music…
    moreover my residence in spain changed my way of thinking about art and life…

    10.
    Question:
    What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
    Answer:
    I would like to get more in touch with artists from other countries, to develop things, ideas and plans… I would like to develope my knowledge of working with sound…