Roland Wegerer
Austrian video artist
—>
biography
—>
Interview: 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
I was born in 1974 in Amstetten, Austria. After school I started training for technical draftsman. On the other hand I always was interested in art especially in painting. When I was 30 I made the decision to start study at the art university in Linz. But I don’t want to contain painting. So I started to study sculpture.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
On the university in Linz, where I study there is an open mind about sculpture. Not only the classical way (wood or stone), also performance, art in public spaces or other spaces like the www. I was looking for a new way to express my ideas in a short way from the artist to the audience. So I choose performance and started to film. First only as documentary but later I decided to make the camera more important.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
The main target of all my work is to come close to the recipient. The investigation of positioning the individual is a central task. Rituals, practices and preferences are recorded and get examinated on their qualities. I use familiar objects in distorted ways, wrong action sequences in the opposite or focused details of the human body in which I intervenes formed structures. From the collective society, I use numerous pattern associations. I’m interested in the relations of man to his surroundings and the experience of daily life (breathing, chewing, sleeping, etc.).
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
In my films I use a straight setting. The black background is a good tool to have “no space around†– to fix what the film is all about without useless surroundings. Sometimes I use a simple horizontal line to create some space. That’s it.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
Actually I use a CCD-Cam with Mini-DV. Sometimes I combine with a Photocamera. I use a simple software for cutting because generally I cut my films at the beginning and in the end and edit some titles. In the near future I will buy a HD-cam.
6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general and you personally?
The chances of the genre video are the weight and the space. DVD’s or Harddisks are easy to send around the world. The hardware is mostly standard. On the www you can upload your films and you have an big audience.
7. How do you finance your films?
I’m actor, director, editor, …. In once. There is normally only one scene and settings are constructed in the cheapest way. And I have a little studio where I can film or sometimes I film outside. So I don’t have really problems to finance my films.
8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team?
if you have experience in both, what is the difference, what do you prefer?
See question 7
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
The pioneers of performance and video in the 70’s, like Bruce Nauman, Vito Acconci or Joan Jonas …, have influence and there are also other things like commercial-spots, news or the simple life.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
I’m looking for interesting ways of presentation of videos. I’m thinking about installations where you are IN the video.