Wolf Nkole Helzle
German media artist
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Interview: 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
The media artist Wolf Nkole Helzle, born in Göppingen in southern Germany in 1950, studied painting at the Freie Kunsthochschule in Stuttgart and under Professor Harry Kramer at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Kassel. Beginning in 1996 he again devoted himself full-time to art and set about creating works by means of computer, interactive installations, video, and photography. In 1998 he taught art and media in the art department of the Freie Hochschule in Metzingen, and in 2000 he lectured on media art at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Schwäbisch Hall. In 2006 he was artist-in-residence at the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart and lectured on video art at the Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart.
One of the essential questions Wolf Helzle is concerned with is “What is the relationship between the individual and humankind?†He poses this question in his performances, photographs, videos, and installations, into which he integrates people from throughout the world.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
I started filming in 2000 and the first art project is called “egoshooter II†in 2003. I asked 26 women and men from a little wine-growing-village near Stuttgart (Germany) the same question: “how are you?”. Each answer was filmed 30 minutes with a video camera. The step from photography to video was not so big for me, because I have done many morphings before.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
The relativity of being.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
Mostly I do my films with an artistic interest without thinking to a market. Sometimes there are invitations to exhibitions where I start or finish a video work. I try to make films with a high density.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use
Normally I use the video camera Panasonic NV-GS250, Adobe Premiere and After Effects on Windows and Mac.
6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general and you personally?
From static to dynamic.
7. How do you finance your films?
With the certainty that they have to be done.
8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team?
Normally I work by myself, sometimes I collaborate with other artists.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
The first photograph of our planet from outer space in 1968.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
I am on the way to find out more about the individual and the collective and the relationship between. To touch people with what I found out, these are the sweetest moments.