So basically my one and only self imposed rule and restriction is to keep things real, once again to prove that daily life can be beautiful, just as it is.
How do you see the relationship between emotional and intellectual perception of your work? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
The works more come from emotion than from intellect and are definitely meant to be an emotional experience. Of course intellectually some things can be said about my work, but I just think that in mirjamsvideos there is more joy to be found on an emotional level.
The often slow and dreamy images do have the power to suck someone in, or transport someone to another state of mind. The most outstanding of compliments I ever received was for 'AERO'. The person said to almost have reached the other end of the universe.
But in the end, how deep the viewer immerses her or himself is of course completely up to the person. My view is that the more you dive in, the better it gets. And this does not just count for viewing my work, or art in general, it's life (being really alive) that we should immerse ourselves in.
When recording each video there is a part that is intellectual: deciding the aperture, shutter speed, angle, frame, and this is enjoyable to the extent that I feel very good when it all finally is set right. Then, I can rest and enjoy what is going on. Sometimes after some time of recording the intellectual (the digital photographer) wakes up to say that 500 other different angles still need to be tested. I have to distance myself from the scene again, sometimes sudden nightmares of the golden ratio pop up and I have to make a new decision on all those technical aspects again. Then, joy returns. I can just observe what is going on, the big picture, the tiny details and completely forget about myself. It's a very peaceful but lively experience. And funny enough, stepping out of it, is also very good. It's like waking up, coming back to myself, taking a deep refreshing breath.
I cannot look at my artworks the way other people do. Though I do enjoy them a lot, I have created them: I will always see that scene that has too little contrast and wonder whether this fade-in should not have been longer. But I image that immersing oneself in one of my works will be like when I am filming.
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, mirjamsvideos. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
You are very welcome and thank you so much for showing interest in my work!
Future projects? Well, at the moment I am again at this point where I have some videos that seem to speak the same language, though they all look totally different. They seem to speak the language of romantic love and I am looking forward to find and create the scenes that will glue these crazy videos together into a beautiful whole.
Next to that there is a big project living in my head for already too long that really needs to be worked on. It's a documentary about sort of a social problem of these days. I won't reveal too much. Be patient, one day it will appear!
Since you transform your experiences into your artwork, we are curious, what is the role of memory in your artistic productions? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
I work with thematisation of life and life events. In my work I mostly react to current themes. In some older works I worked with memory, especially in the work "What next?", "Notice boards", "Milouš" (2007-2008). It was a reaction to the previous period - the former totalitarian regime in Slovakia and throughout the Eastern Bloc.
When working with text I use word games, absence, negation, quotation. In my recent screen prints I use as a source old family photographs, but also ongoing records captures by the camera. So memory is present especially in captured and archived moments.
What is the role of technique in your practice? In particular are there any constraints or rules that you follow when creating?
There are no rules. I think it's good to have an experience with material; it offers more freedom in creation. I choose the technique according to the topic. When creating objects and installations I have been trying to make graphics present, even if indirectly; or at least its attributes (print, multiplication, etc.). Lately, I focus mainly on screen printing and I want to experiment more in this medium.
How do you see the relationship between emotional and intellectual perception of your work? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
My work is based on meaningful and visual communication. That is what I am striving for in my works; to give them ideological background. When working with text, I am particularly interested in text as a graphic symbol, but I use text especially for its communication ability. Text interpretation can then stir viewer’s emotions. The current works made by screen printing technique record the moments of life where I try to achieve a visual shift and thus make the displayed image more special. In the series of screen prints, where I work with portraits of animals, I refer to the life cycle and the power of nature, the characteristics of the animals, the animal kingdom, which is also a reference to human qualities.
The animal kingdom is particularly interesting in its natural instinctive functioning and hierarchy. This part of my work is more about emotional perception but it is also about the intellectual side of the perception.