Nicole Rademacher (Germany/USA)
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Interview: 10 questions:
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background.
When I was younger I always knew what/who I wanted to be. After I left home and went to school, I realized that life is not so simple. I have studied architecture, engineering, photography, video, sound, print … I have lived in 3 countries on two continents and will soon move to my fourth country/3rd continent. I see every moment as my next adventure.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
I found the moving image after photography. I think it was a natural transition. I began to see the world differently and needed a new medium to express it. The first video I made was in 1999, all in-camera editing. I love in-camera editing.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
An outsider may see my work as very cohesive (or they may not), I’m not sure that I do. I am intensely intrigued with language (in all of its varieties) and how we communicate (or fail to) with one another. In general my videos are rather figurative; given my educational background, it is hard for me not to look at the frame formally and as an important part of every piece.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
The work develops itself. Sometimes pieces find themselves very quickly and I don’t spend too much time “at the drawing board”, so to speak. While others are very slow to reveal themselves; I will spend a lot of time mapping and scoring the footage and ideas that I have, trying to figure out how they want to come together.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
Very basic, just a small video camera, usually. Some of my work is shot in a studio, or a contrived, environment. Much of my very recent work comes out a documentary background.
6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general
and you personally?
I am not sure I understand the question, but if you are asking about the future of new media and how it might fit in to the contemporary art world: I think people are hungry for it. Especially since so much of this technology is available to consumers, they want to see it used in an innovative, intelligent, and creative fashion.
7. How do you finance your films?
Me. I haven’t looked for sponsors, yet….
8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team?
I have worked on teams, but normally I am a single artist.
if you have experience in both, what is the difference, what do you prefer?
It depends. With larger projects you really must work with a team. A team is fantastic because then you can bounce ideas off of one another, but the great thing about working alone is that you don’t ever have to make a compromise (yet, sometimes it would be better to be able to see your work from afar). As an individual you really take control of the piece; you own the piece.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
Literature. Literature is one of the basic forms of storytelling. My two most favorite authors are Italo Calvino and Julio Cortázar. They have similarities, yet are quite different. What they hold in common is their unique way of storytelling, of making the reader a participant, of revealing the story to the reader.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
I am just going to keep making work. Currently I am developing a piece based on a play written by Max Aub (which will be long-er) and I am continuing to develop more micro-shorts that look at casual, familial gesture. Dreams? For my career to continue developing. And if I keep making work, I am sure that it will.