Artist Interview
A “Digital Art Revolution” Interview with Multimedia Artist Kasumi.
Kasumi is one of the many exceptional artists whose work is featured in “Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine Art with Photoshop”. Kasumi is one of the leading innovators of a new art form synthesizing sound, film, and live video manipulation. She has won acclaim for her work in performances and collaborations worldwide. This is a recent interview with Kasumi, conducted by Scott Ligon, author of “Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine Art with Photoshop”, specifically for this blog.
One of the revolutionary characteristics of digital technology is that it breaks down the boundaries between mediums. You’re an acknowledged pioneer in combining elements that would traditionally be considered examples of different mediums. What is it about this “mixed-media” approach that appeals to you?
The new digital tools allow me to incorporate movement, sound, literary elements, acting, dance, music, installation, painting, sculpture and live-performance and unite them into a unified work of art. This lets me use the elements of each medium to their fullest expressive extent.
Can you tell us a little bit about how digital technology has been enabling in your approach.
It has allowed me to create work that is really unique in terms of styles and methods in ways I would not have been able to do otherwise. With its ability to combine the elements of spatial dimension and live performance, the technology allows me to examine the relation of temporality and form not only artistically, but also has given me new insight into concepts like memory and cognition.
I watched the your video from the Cleveland Ingenuity Fest. You’re collaborating with experimental noise band Ken Rei.
You’re literally jamming with them, controlling your images from a laptop like a DJ. How does your work relate to music? Do you have a musical background as well as visual?
Music has been a part of my life practically since birth so it has a huge influence on my work…from the overall structure of the work to understanding phrasing, timing and articulation to individual rhythmic moments.
Thinking in musical terms is very helpful in working a time-based visual medium. Being a musician myself, a performer, reading music, etc., has made it easier for me to do collaborations like the ones I’ve done with The Cleveland Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic, The American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, etc. Often these works require reading a score and following a conductor.
What value does spontaneity play in your work?
It’s huge. Due to the fact that I was playing music from a period where the ability to improvise was the pinnacle of achievement, I strive for that kind of spontaneity in my video art. It’s getting pretty close to pure “live” performance, but the reality of making sure the equipment is working, loading, plugged in, spinning, backed-up, rendered, compressed, uploaded and registered is a kind of a buzz-kill, if you know what I mean. Utopia will be a cable- and render-free environment where nothing crashes or freezes. Dream on, right?
You’ve done collaborations with Grandmaster Flash and DJ Spooky? What is the common ground between rap and your own work and sensibility?
http://www.youtube.com/kasumifilms#p/u/12/dmEeMRiCZ_k
The similarity comes in the metaphor and imagery as well as the muscular, aggressive quality of the music. Hip-Hop is a predominately story-telling medium.
You’ve had a remarkable career, you’ve played at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, among many other venues all over the world Can you give us a little overview of your professional trajectory, including actions you’ve taken and decisions you made along the way?
I’ve definitely made as many bad decisions as good ones…including some colossally bad ones and insanely good ones, but I’ve always been an observer of the phenomena that’s common to image, sound and gesture. Using these to exert influence on emotion, meaning and cognition has been fundamental in my lifelong journey in the arts. It has led me to examine cultural and political influences and how they have shaped interpretations of artistic value and historical truth. My arc through multiple disciplines, media, languages and countries has helped evolve an art form that intersects video installation, live performance, music composition, dance, film and poetry and make my work flexible enough to work across styles and genres.
You also seem to have a great work ethic. Always quick to respond and meet deadlines regarding all the book stuff. Is this a conscious effort or are naturally organized?
I’m actually dreadfully disorganized, but on the other hand, I work like a dog. In addition, I have found that if immediately do-able tasks are done immediately, I won’t dwell on them while working on larger projects.
How do you feel this impacts an artist’s career?
Again, this is probably from my musical background, but discipline is critical.
Do you have a specific time allotted for your creative work, or is it more open ended, depending on when inspiration strikes?
Basically, I wake up, have coffee, and start working - putting into form what the creative juices were churning out the night before. The discipline applies to physiological aspects of my life like eating, working out, etc.
What do you get out of collaboration that you don’t get from solo work?
A good collaboration is about the exchange of new ideas, techniques and technologies creating an altogether unique aesthetic experience.
Each situation involves taking a survey of each artist’s individual abilities, knowledge and media, a discussion of mutual goals in terms of concepts and ideas, and common expectations we had for the audience. The resulting projects are always greater than the sum of their parts, the co-creators learn, grow and inform each other as artists, and the audience benefits from the scope of the resulting project.
What are potential difficulties in collaborative work?
Working with someone entrenched or dogmatic about method - to the extent that there’s no flexibility – is rough…the proverbial “prima donna”. Crediting and deadlines can also be issues; people tend to de-value what they don’t understand.
Much of your work, by your own description, is politically charged. Can you talk about this and tell us a little bit about the philosophy behind your work?
My exploration into contemporary digital techniques took place primarily over the course of eight years coinciding with that particularly bleak and unpopular phase of the American Imperium known as the Bush Administration.
Before that I had been writing critical, expository and satirical articles here and in Japan that dealt with politics and social issues. Political critique and current issues sort of naturally imbue my work and through this I hope to stimulate reflection on culture, identity, and history.
Could you tell us a little bit about your background and what inspired you to be an artist?
I was just sort of born this way: I’m a third-generation artist AND my father was a rocket scientist – a recipe for the integration of art and technology. There was never a time in my life that I wasn’t creating art.
I saw that you lived in Tokyo, teaching at Tokyo College of Music. How did that come about? What were you teaching there?
I was in Japan on a concert tour and was invited by the president of the college, Akira Ifukube – the composer of all the Godzilla movie soundtracks – to stay, teach and perform. Previous to that I was living in Germany.
How was your work influenced by immersion in a different culture?
The rhythm of the language is hugely influential; each culture has different senses of timing and aesthetics. And living in different countries gives one a spectacular vantage point from which to observe your own country.
How was your work received there?
Excellently. If you think about it, many films use foreign cinematographers because of their unique perspective and vision, their ability to see from a different vantage point. People seem to want to know what outsiders think and how they see.
Can you tell us about your creative process, including how Photoshop is used in your work?
The creative process is about questioning and searching. One powerful use of Photoshop is to create some wild .flm files to composite in After Effects. I also use still images to animate in After Effects or Modul8. A good example is on page 12 of your wonderful book: the Capital Building and the dollar signs on were created in Photoshop and then composited with moving images in the background as well as the foreground.
What are your plans for the future?
I have quite a few projects lined up on the runway, so the near future, at least, is exciting. I’ll continue working with composers, dancers, orchestras, electronic musicians, noise musicians, installations, etc. I’m very interested in doing more gallery shows like the one currently up at Asterisk Gallery that combines video art with prints derived from the video art, thus presenting the work from a new perspective.
You’ve done a lot or work in a lot of different mediums; is there anything else you want to explore creatively that you haven’t already?
I’d like to push the newer mapping technologies – and would love to use the data glove and alternative interfaces for live performances. Two projects I’d love to do are a full-scale opera based solely on samples with a set that’s entirely projected, and a large-scale installation utilizing technology that would create an immersive 3-dimensional experience for viewers.
Learn more by visiting Kasumi’s website: www.kasumifilms.com
Technical Aids
Book of Whisper Marionette
Attack!
Breakdown
Dirty Symphony
African Man
