Angela Washko
US videomaker
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biography—>
Interview:10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background.
I have a BFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University in
Philadelphia, PA. I am a painter, printmaker, installation artist,
performer, and filmmaker. In addition to pursuing education in fine art,
I also was a Division 1 cross country star and MVP of my Temple University
Cross Country Team.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
I started filming this past January because I moved to Troy, NY – in close
proximity to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a well-known hub for
artists, students, and professors interested in tactical media and
activist documentary filmmaking. Though my work has rarely ever been
personal in nature, I started collaborating with professor, performance
artist, and filmmaker Chris Skinner – who thought that film might be the
medium for some past history I have wanted to address in art.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
Washko’s PR addresses competitive athletics as a stage in which spectators
experience victory and defeat vicariously through athletes. The athlete’s
catharsis remains separate from the viewer – as she (or he) runs to break
her own personal records and shatter her boundaries. The demands of the
sport, progress, and the spectator’s desires put the athlete at risk.
Concurrently, the champion often falls in love with his or her own
suffering and intentionally surpasses their limits, immobilized by
personal excess.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
I try to avoid direct narrative and allow viewers to fill in the blanks
and leave it open to interpretation. Shots are sequenced in a way that
allow for contemplation.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
Camera-wise: Sony HVR-V1U
6. What are the chances of new media for the genre film/video in general
and you personally?
7. How do you finance your films?
I borrow equipment and have a small team of people that help me.
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 ways. For Washko’s PR, I worked with a team – Andrew Lynn was responsible for cinematography, and Chris Skinner assisted with editing and also participated as a principal actor. Each film and each project require a different setup. I react to what the situation calls for.
Being new to filmmaking, it was especially helpful to have
assistance…however the film I am working on now I am solely doing
cinematography, directing, and editing. And am very comfortable in the
director role.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
Performance artist, musician, and filmmaker Chris Skinner. Filmmaker Ryan Trecartin. Feminist performance artists. Nao Bustamante’s idea of
“filmformance.†The Sanctuary for Independent Media’s dedication to
promoting radical independent media and providing a public stage for it in
Troy, NY.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
I am currently working on a film that incorporates low-budget twisted
remakes of 90s Gap and Old Navy Commercials into a bombardment of other
advertisements….where the re-interpreted commercials become the feature
presentation. I want to pursue video making as a part of a larger
interdisciplinary art practice where my ideas and concepts determine what
medium they are to be translated into. I won’t make a video just because
I want to make a video – but rather because I have an idea that would make
sense to be translated into video.
Can works of yours viewed online besides on VideoChannel? Where?
Yes-
www.angelawashko.com
http://vimeo.com/user3036794
http://wmhttvfilm.blogspot.com
(in the wmht link – I am interviewed about Washko’s PR – the film in the
Self-Imaging show)
List some links & resources
www.angelawashko.com
http://nonsensenyc.com/