John Palmer
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Contact Information*:
Los Angeles California USA |
Contact Type: Artist |
| web: http://www.cheybeck.com/body | |
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Bio:
John Palmer is a Los Angeles-based artist and curator. His films have been described as "complex image/sound collages that explore confused emotional worlds." John's work has screened internationally, including Pacific Film Archive, Experimental Film Today (England), Seoul Festival of Experimental Super-8 Films (Korea), Southern Exposure, Millennium (New York), Film Arts Festival of Independent Cinema, and the Telluride International Experimental Cinema Exposition. Filmography/Awards Info: FILMOGRAPHY 2003 moths (after brakhage) 2003 hotshot/shootingstar 2003 BELIEVE 2002 make or break us 2002 like falling 2001 in memory of 2001 self-portrait overlapping 2001 MAN! 2001 happily ever under 2001 Invention without a Future 2000 suspense 2000 Mitsuyo 2000 five passes 2000 dos 2000 good mourning 1999 The Ambitious AWARDS 2003 James Broughton Film Award 2003 Fletcher Cup Award 2002 Eastman Kodak Product Grant 2001 Princess Grace Film Honorarium This Contact appears in this database if Microcinema International has screened a film directed by the Contact, a film directed by the contact is featured in a DVD distributed by the Blackchair Collection Shop, or featured an organization or activity linked with the Contact. This database is used for commercial as well as informational, non-commercial purposes. It is a historical archive of Microcinema International's activities. Inclusion in this database and archive in no way implies a continuing formal relationship or affiliation with Microcinema International or the Blackchair Label nor an endorsement of its activities by the Contact. Contact details are not displayed in order to protect privacy. If you wish to contact this artist please see their website as listed above or write Microcinema International and we will be happy to forward your e-mail.
Microcinema Interview/Article:
1. Why did you select this style of filmmaking when you set out to make your art? What were the initial emphases? The images or the story? I work pretty intuitively, so I would have to say that the style sort of selected me. I've found a way of working that best expresses my thoughts and feelings - I don't intentionally work within any given genre. That's not to say that certain parameters don't exist in my work. I'm obviously not making traditional narrative films. Most of my film work grows out of ideas for various performances. I would say that these performances, and therefore the films, are very image and idea driven. Theme and structure sort of present themselves while I'm working. 2. Try to help us understand why or how you feel your work is unique from other moving image artists? I certainly can't claim that my work exists outside of a context. I owe a lot to other artists who have challenged and inspired me. I think that experimental film and video can be a bit serious at times, and I hope my sense of humor (however subverted and uncomfortable) is refreshing. I'm not the first person to use collage techniques (blending live-action, animation, performance, etc.), but my hope is that my work has its own special energy. 3. Why did you make the film "MAN!"? I've always been a little resistant toward traditional gender roles. Throughout the last century, "masculinity" and "femininity" have become increasingly confused, if not irrelevant, concepts. I grew up with role models like He-Man and the Terminator, and at the same time I worshipped Pee-Wee Herman and Frank N. Furter. I related to all of these characters on different levels, but as I grew older I found that I was expected to be He-Man when I felt like Pee-Wee. I made this film to poke fun at these expectations and to examine the mixed messages in mass media. I chose myself as a subject because I'm such an easy target! Like a lot of guys, I have issues with masculinity and body image. It's time we start talking about these things. You with me, fellas? 4. How is San Francisco as environment for the experimental > film artist? I cannot say enough good things about San Francisco in this regard. There's such a wonderfully diverse and supportive community of filmmakers and film supporters here. I am surrounded by so many amazing artists working with film and video, pushing both media in exciting directions. I feel honored to be a part of it all. 6. How important is telling a story in your works? How do you approach telling a story in such an abstract medium? I think that every film tells a story. Anything that exists in time does this. There maybe isn't always a clear beginning, middle, and end, but even abstract shapes bouncing around a film frame tell a story. I think of my ideas as part of MY story, and it's very important that at least some of these ideas come across in my work. But I never really consciously construct a story, per se. Audiences are infinitely creative and it's best not to underestimate them. A film can consist of a static shot of a single, isolated element (like in Andy Warhol's films) and people will come up with a story around that subject, if only out of boredom. I think story is a given - I make it my job to illustrate its points of interest. 7. Did you find it difficult to incorporate sexuality into the thematic structure of your film? It's funny you ask this, because so many people have asked about and referred to sexuality in the film. I never really intended to address sexuality directly, but it's so intrinsically related to the issues I'm dealing with that I guess it's impossible to ignore. But to answer your question, no, it wasn't difficult at all - I was oblivious! 8. Who would you want to see your films at a special screening if > you had the choice of all living and dead? Why? Wow, this might be impossible to answer. There is a long list of people I respect and have been influenced by. My friends have all been so wonderful to me - it would be nice to have them all in one place and share my work with them. If I couldn't have that, I guess I'd invite Carol Channing - she's such a noble freak... 9. Is there anything else that you would like to tell us? I've said too much! |
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