Giorgio Gerardi
Giorgio Gerardi was born in 1953 and currently lives in Favaro Veneto (Venice), Italy. At around the age of twenty, he began studying the History of Art as an autodidact and started his own photographic research. He was particularly fascinated by the artistic Avant-garde of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, as well as the artistic currents of Minimalism and Conceptual Art.
These artistic phenomena intrigued him mainly because they focused on the analysis of the visual medium, rather than on the staging of reality and its representation, as the History of Art and photography had accustomed us to.
In recent years, Giorgio has worked on various projects, including 'Clouds', 'Details', 'Leaves', and 'Daily', and has also begun making short videos, some of which have been presented at Video Mapping Festivals.
Your project has entered in our festival. What is your project about?
The video presented is part of the project "Clouds" started in December 2019. The subject is moving clouds, which I have reworked with effects and color variations and to which I have added a simple soundtrack made by myself. Clouds have always fascinated me. They are something that constantly changes, to remind us of the continuous becoming of reality, in which nothing is immobile. Today has already become yesterday and tomorrow became today, all in continuous transformation, in constant change. Clouds are something that has no shape of its own, but changes moment by moment, in always different and unrepeatable ways. They are light, elusive. They cannot be grasped, they cannot be touched, they remain something indefinite. At the beginning of this project I used the photographic medium; I produced many series, in color and in
black and white, and it is only a year that I started making videos.
What are your ambitions with your project?
I wish to share my way of using images (static and dynamic); and I am looking for my own line, my own style, and I think that making this and other videos has been a step forward in my analysis.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
I am glad I managed to make a video I like. I didn't think I would have been able to do it. For the editing and effects I used DaVinci Resolve, which I quickly learnt the basics of; it was easier than I thought.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
It is aimed at an audience that loves contemporary art, especially those people who are interested in video art and experimentation of visual media.
Why should distributors buy your film?
I believe the videos are intended more for exhibitions, art events and art galleries. I don't think distributors would be interested in my videos, I don't see what advantage they would have since they are aimed at a limited and particular audience.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
I think my work is niche, experimental, and therefore cannot have a large audience. After many years, I resumed a research I had started many years ago; and I used the photographic medium. The digital file allows reworkings that were inconceivable with the old film. In the first series of the "Clouds" project, I began to focus on the same image, first varying exposure, tones and contrast, colors, then enlarging it and focusing on individual details, which otherwise would have been lost in the totality of the picture. So I continued with this technique, getting more and more into the details. In my videos I don't go into details, but I present the same scene (clouds, water) in which the colors keep changing. The constants of this working method are repetition and differentiation in it. In this I was very inspired by American musicians, such as Philip Glass and Terry Riley. What interests me is not a simple representation of the real object; I want the result to be a set of shapes and colors that I like. The colors do not have to represent something; there is a language of color and a psychology of color, but I don't try to "write something".
These artistic phenomena intrigued him mainly because they focused on the analysis of the visual medium, rather than on the staging of reality and its representation, as the History of Art and photography had accustomed us to.
In recent years, Giorgio has worked on various projects, including 'Clouds', 'Details', 'Leaves', and 'Daily', and has also begun making short videos, some of which have been presented at Video Mapping Festivals.
Your project has entered in our festival. What is your project about?
The video presented is part of the project "Clouds" started in December 2019. The subject is moving clouds, which I have reworked with effects and color variations and to which I have added a simple soundtrack made by myself. Clouds have always fascinated me. They are something that constantly changes, to remind us of the continuous becoming of reality, in which nothing is immobile. Today has already become yesterday and tomorrow became today, all in continuous transformation, in constant change. Clouds are something that has no shape of its own, but changes moment by moment, in always different and unrepeatable ways. They are light, elusive. They cannot be grasped, they cannot be touched, they remain something indefinite. At the beginning of this project I used the photographic medium; I produced many series, in color and in
black and white, and it is only a year that I started making videos.
What are your ambitions with your project?
I wish to share my way of using images (static and dynamic); and I am looking for my own line, my own style, and I think that making this and other videos has been a step forward in my analysis.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
I am glad I managed to make a video I like. I didn't think I would have been able to do it. For the editing and effects I used DaVinci Resolve, which I quickly learnt the basics of; it was easier than I thought.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
It is aimed at an audience that loves contemporary art, especially those people who are interested in video art and experimentation of visual media.
Why should distributors buy your film?
I believe the videos are intended more for exhibitions, art events and art galleries. I don't think distributors would be interested in my videos, I don't see what advantage they would have since they are aimed at a limited and particular audience.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
I think my work is niche, experimental, and therefore cannot have a large audience. After many years, I resumed a research I had started many years ago; and I used the photographic medium. The digital file allows reworkings that were inconceivable with the old film. In the first series of the "Clouds" project, I began to focus on the same image, first varying exposure, tones and contrast, colors, then enlarging it and focusing on individual details, which otherwise would have been lost in the totality of the picture. So I continued with this technique, getting more and more into the details. In my videos I don't go into details, but I present the same scene (clouds, water) in which the colors keep changing. The constants of this working method are repetition and differentiation in it. In this I was very inspired by American musicians, such as Philip Glass and Terry Riley. What interests me is not a simple representation of the real object; I want the result to be a set of shapes and colors that I like. The colors do not have to represent something; there is a language of color and a psychology of color, but I don't try to "write something".
Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
I don't see myself as a director in the classic sense of the term, I don't have the knowledge and skills. I think I'm an assembler of images and snippets of files.
Who is your role model?
At the beginning of my research, many years ago, I was fascinated by the Avant-Gardes of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Minimalism and Conceptual Art. Among various artists, I could mention Cézanne, who several times painted the Sainte Victoire Mountain, taken from the same angle and reduced to increasingly geometric, almost abstract shapes. Therefore, repetition and differentiation. Not to forget Duchamp, father of what would have been called Conceptual Art fifty years later. Among the photographers who have influenced me are Man Ray, László Moholy-Nagy, Ugo Mulas, Franco Fontana, Luigi Ghirri. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the screenings of surrealist films by Bunuel and Dalí, and I liked the first video art films (Nam June Paik) and those of Andy Warhol, among all Empire, which took six and a half hours to film the Empire State Building.
Which movies are your favourites? Why?
Among traditional movies, I prefer “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Blade Runner”, “Forrest Gump”. I like the first one for its mystical dimension, “Blade Runner” for its projection into a future that is not as impossible as it might seem, and “Forrest Gump” for the simplicity with which a piece of 20th century history is told. Not to be forgotten is “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang, with its dark atmospheres, and “The Seventh Seal” by Bergman, which I watched on TV when I was a child.
Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
In my everyday life, in the things of everyday life, in what surrounds me. My work consists of working on projects, in these years in addition to "Clouds", I have carried out "Details", "Leaves", "Daily"; Recently I am working on "Water". My research leads me to experiment with various mediums, and among these the video.
Which topics interest you the most?
Experimentation, creating things that make people say "what is it, what does it mean?" even if I don't want to give a meaning beforehand. Or rather, I hope that the viewer sees something in it and finds the meaning that he or she wants.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your career?
The results I get from time to time, even after a long time. And when what I do gains value, making the doubt that my work has no meaning disappear.
What do you consider most important about filming?
Shooting a subject is marginal in my work; the most important things is a fine manipulating the video file, which I work on to get a final result that I like.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
My videos are static, with a fairly narrow shooting angle. I don't have a movie camera, I mainly use the GoPro and the camera.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
I don't have a clear opinion.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
The superficiality of the plot.
Who supports you in your film career?
In my artistic research, my family and friends support me.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends and family)
I attended some video mappings in Montreal and Finland, and my videos were applauded and thus liked.
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
I started offering my work this year.
What are your plans for a filmmaking career?
I am not interested in having a film career; my goal is to continue in my artistic research.
Lean more about Giorgio
www.giorgiogerardi.com
www.instagram.com/giorgio.gerardi.photo/
I don't see myself as a director in the classic sense of the term, I don't have the knowledge and skills. I think I'm an assembler of images and snippets of files.
Who is your role model?
At the beginning of my research, many years ago, I was fascinated by the Avant-Gardes of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Minimalism and Conceptual Art. Among various artists, I could mention Cézanne, who several times painted the Sainte Victoire Mountain, taken from the same angle and reduced to increasingly geometric, almost abstract shapes. Therefore, repetition and differentiation. Not to forget Duchamp, father of what would have been called Conceptual Art fifty years later. Among the photographers who have influenced me are Man Ray, László Moholy-Nagy, Ugo Mulas, Franco Fontana, Luigi Ghirri. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the screenings of surrealist films by Bunuel and Dalí, and I liked the first video art films (Nam June Paik) and those of Andy Warhol, among all Empire, which took six and a half hours to film the Empire State Building.
Which movies are your favourites? Why?
Among traditional movies, I prefer “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Blade Runner”, “Forrest Gump”. I like the first one for its mystical dimension, “Blade Runner” for its projection into a future that is not as impossible as it might seem, and “Forrest Gump” for the simplicity with which a piece of 20th century history is told. Not to be forgotten is “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang, with its dark atmospheres, and “The Seventh Seal” by Bergman, which I watched on TV when I was a child.
Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
In my everyday life, in the things of everyday life, in what surrounds me. My work consists of working on projects, in these years in addition to "Clouds", I have carried out "Details", "Leaves", "Daily"; Recently I am working on "Water". My research leads me to experiment with various mediums, and among these the video.
Which topics interest you the most?
Experimentation, creating things that make people say "what is it, what does it mean?" even if I don't want to give a meaning beforehand. Or rather, I hope that the viewer sees something in it and finds the meaning that he or she wants.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your career?
The results I get from time to time, even after a long time. And when what I do gains value, making the doubt that my work has no meaning disappear.
What do you consider most important about filming?
Shooting a subject is marginal in my work; the most important things is a fine manipulating the video file, which I work on to get a final result that I like.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
My videos are static, with a fairly narrow shooting angle. I don't have a movie camera, I mainly use the GoPro and the camera.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
I don't have a clear opinion.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
The superficiality of the plot.
Who supports you in your film career?
In my artistic research, my family and friends support me.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends and family)
I attended some video mappings in Montreal and Finland, and my videos were applauded and thus liked.
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
I started offering my work this year.
What are your plans for a filmmaking career?
I am not interested in having a film career; my goal is to continue in my artistic research.
Lean more about Giorgio
www.giorgiogerardi.com
www.instagram.com/giorgio.gerardi.photo/