Miodrag Manojlovic
video artist from Bosnia-Herzegovina
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biography
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Interview: 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
Growing up as a third child, I had a lot of time to play and to develop my imagination. That is the reason why I do my art as a big child. It is some kind of evolution of behaviours, as a social identity and that also reflects historical, geographical and philosophical conditions.
I have finished an Art Academy, painting department, so I can say that some of my earliest and serious works after leaving art school were paintings and drawings. During my educational time at the Academy I have been also doing some experiments with space and sculpture in motion. I have finished Interdisciplinary postgraduated studies, stage design department in Belgrade and that helped me to develop myself as a media artist. I am planning to continue my education.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
I started my filming when I was a student as a result of experiments with drawings and motion sculpture. I always start with drawings as a way to develop my ideas, as a mean of thinking., no matter is it going to end with painting, animation or multimedia.
I prefer making video-film because I like motion in every way and because it’s easier to communicate.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
I try to explore the survival of values in spite of changes in urban society and try to develop not only physical interaction but also emotional interaction between work and viewers, questioning the limits of the body in virtual and the virtual in the body.
In my opinion at the moment we are in the given historical contex, on the crossroad of great contradictions, where the question of critical identity is becoming a main subject. The constant presence of memory and different interpretations of history in various periods of time as well as eternal determination for one’s or other’s choice, brings us into immobile condition. New generations will not come to one’s or others sides. But they will, as media nomads, use different interpretations of images for creating their own reality, even the virtual one.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
I have no certain principles, but I enjoy developing ideas, because it’s process, movement, film.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
The technical equipment I use depends on idea I have, it does not matter if it’s high or low technology. During the work I use different kind of computer programs and different kind of tools. I don’t prefer big production but rather low budget works.
6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general and you personally?
Today it is possible for almost anyone to create a film or video without too much labour, but in my opinion it is hard to create film or video or any other art work that will touch or move the viewer. This could sound old-fashioned, but homosapiens is not far from us. The net came and brought big changes, not only as a mean of communication, used as a virtual tool, but also changes and influences on physical space rapidly changing economics, politics and social life.
7. How do you finance your films?
My films are short and low budget and I have no problems to produce it. I like to think that the future is in the way that we use tehnology not as an expensive and complicated tool, so possibilities of creating and distributing ideas through video/film or net will be easier.
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?
I work both, individually and team. It is also depending on the idea of my work. When I work individually I can better express myself.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
I like Andrei Tarkovsky, the way he translates both reality and imagination in rich visual and simbolic communication. I find inspiration in every day life, nature, art and technology.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
I still have to learn much more and to continue developing myself in animation and other media.
Throughout my works I will try to move people developing forms of communication that will include not only physical or virtual interaction, but also other human potentials as a touch, smell, sound, taste, etc. Even if we live in net-era I think that is necessarily to improve these potentials.
Can works of yours viewed online besides on VideoChannel? Where?
List some links & resources