Katalin Tesch
Hungarian videomaker
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biography
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1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
I guess I have always been under the influence of music, arts, literature and science – I have been absorbing all the impulses from my surroundings since my childhood. That resulted in a very complex education; I studied music and visual arts simultaneously until I applied to the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design Budapest, where I mostly explored design and animation. After graduation I had the opportunity to continue my studies at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and afterwards at the Zurich University of the Arts, where I finally felt that I was free to combine the perspectives and techniques I had been grasping during the years. Back in Budapest, I have been contracted with the Spiritusz Gallery, which is a subsidiary of the Hungarian famous 20 years old Várfok Gallery, dealing with young artists. As a media artist, this kind of compound thinking is still very important for me, usually I try to combine different softwares, techniques and genres in my works.

2. When, how and why started you filming?
When I admitted to myself that music (or at least, conducting) does not satisfy me anymore, I turned to the arts again and figured out that creating motion graphics is analogous to developing music in several points. So I created my first animation for the entrance examination of the visual communication department at the university. From the very first moment I was amazed by the fact that I “tricked†our brains, I made such a view that normally can’t be seen, and somehow I changed our vision about reality.

3. What kind of subjects have your films?
I see art as a kind of magic – a possible way to explore new worlds for human perception. My work is always about widening our visual and physical perspective by creating unusual pictures and spaces. For a while I have been concerned in creating new, “inverse†or parallel universes of perception, I specifically focus on the rules of motion and their relations to time these days.

4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
Usually I have many objects simultaneously in my mind – either images or concepts. The work starts to develop itself when a certain concept finds the proper visualization. Then I try to realize the ideal image in mind as close as I just could with any digital tools I ever heard about – while I keep trying to focus on the pure concept. I am glad when these two elements, the visualization and the idea mutually strengthen each other in the result.

5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
Pictures taken of the surrounding word are usually just the base for further experiments and post-production so usually I use any digital camera (even a low-resolution photo camera) I can get. For post-production I try to combine any software that supports the idea I want to visualize, from common graphics- and video editing programs to 3D softwares.

6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general
and you personally?
I think, for film, video and any motion graphics this is just the beginning. Comparing the newest works to those of a decade ago, the aesthetics has been changing superfast – just like the digital background behind them. I have no idea how it will be in like ten years but I am sure we are still in a kind of experimental period – and me as well.

7. How do you finance your films?
My movies are very low budget and I finance them myself. When I need some more equipment in a specific installation I look for additional support and propose my project for a call.

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 have tried and enjoyed both methods, although making a movie on my own is generally faster, easier and keeps the costs very low.

9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
I have been thinking a lot to answer this question but I just cannot pick one impression from the many I have gathered during the years. I am sure my scholarship and travel experiences in Vienna, Luzern and Zürich had a lasting influence on my work, but if i try to pick a few names randomly, then Cage, Cunningham and Tzara it is.

10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
Interaction in a very wide sense has an important role in my projects: I share a thought of my perception but the idea only becomes complete by other viewers’ feedbacks – this exchange of information is an important part of my research and gives me further inspiration. So the plan is to continue the artistic path I have been following so far, while integrate my new works more in public spaces.

Can works of yours viewed online besides on VideoChannel? Where?
List some links & resources
http://www.teschkata.hu
http://www.culturetv.tv/?p=355