Art Office

During the lockdown Melvin worked Weather on preparations foran Psychic Forest, an animated film in the form of a musical, in which animals play the main role. They behave like humans, while in the forest they search for a wider consciousness. Weather: 'At the beginning of the corona period, it was difficult for me to estimate when it would be possible to make work again. The idea of ​​an animation was inspired by the limitations which were valid until recently. I wanted to make a fully animated movie because if animationfilmmaker can operate reasonably independently.'

Your film and publication titled cosmism in 2016, popped up following the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City. You started from the theory of Alexandre Chizhevsky, that during solar flares there are more disasters and pandemics strike up. Would corona also fit into that image? 
Mgo chuckles briefly: 'Er exist a lot of wild, suggestive theories about coherence. I don't want them all of them Verify† It is especially interesting to to see turning points in history, which are still influence. I use such theories as frame around from another point of view looking at historical processes. Natural processes influence our lives, wil Chizhevsky say† you see that nu also with corona. We are not separate from nature, there is a close relationship.' 
 
Are you as an artist interested in the point where the rational and the irrational meet?  
'Indeed. If we dreaming in our sleepWe are actually completely insane. Why do we distinguish between the everyday consciousness and the completely irrational of dreams and the subconscious?, I question. Dihe combination makes us correct human.' 
 
Je is working on an animation film in musical form, with animals in the lead role. Do you look to Disney for inspiration?  
“Disney movies tell a story from start to finish, I don't. My work is very fragmented, so that there is space for interpretation by the spectator. Mmy movie will be experimental† I recently made a narrative film that was shown during IFFR, but that was a side track. The film was shown in cinemas, but also worked well in a museum setting, during a solo exhibition in museum The ferry.' 
 
'Psychic Forest is abstract, visual and musical. Animals play the mainroll, me for example create an animation with a bat. That is a clear reference to corona. But the actual theme is identity: by using animal figures, can not be purchased aspects such as gender, color and representation not to be taken personally† It is then a matter of a universal process of identification.' 
 
Do you use digital or analog techniques?  
'I work on a analog, almost old-fashioned animation. I do use a computeranimation maar only supportive. Ik please take back to primitive forms of technology. You can make something with very few resources† For example, you can always make music with analog instruments, wherever you are. It's a way to share something, to be together. As humans we are storytellers. A film festival can you see as the modern equivalent of a campfire where people gather om each other to tell stories. ' 
 
That suggests that you missed your audience during corona? 
'Of course. You miss conversations en a kind of spontaneity in dealing with others. Everything becomes monotonous and that has to do with the lack of contact. At the same time, the pandemic is a period that we will never forget in our lives.' 
 
What did the PPR contribution mean to you? 
'The arrangement was very genergetic† it was very important to support independent artists during a crisis period. Certainly in the beginning the situation was free awkward. Income fell away, the agenda was empty. Those who are independent are vulnerable. It was important that support came from the cultural sector, not just from the government, which for a short time supported the self-employed. A scheme specifically for the visual artist was very useful.' 
 
Would artists benefit from a regular returning scheme: accessible, without having to achieve immediate results? 
'If you mean that the experiment can be financed with this, then I agree. Since the crisis of 2008, there has been been a tipping point. There is systematically less room for experimentation† Corona shows that the world can only be made to a certain extent. Catastrophes are lurking. I like attention to it irrational important. This creates space for the unexpected, such as an experiment can happen. Experimenting is part of a healthy living environment. The society should embrace the experiment, so that not only profitability is seen as quality.'

Temporary work contribution PPR

Om to help artists during the corona lockdowns to keep their professional practice up CBK Rotterdam launched the Temporary Work Contribution Production, Presentation and Research (PPR) for visual artists who are registered with CBK Rotterdam. Divided into two rounds in 2020 and 2021, eventually received almost two hundred artists a contribution† The result of the temporary work contribution is bundled in a publication in which we, together with a few artists, look back and look forward. This is one of fifteen interviews from the publication.

Text: Machteld Leij
Image: Psychic Forest, Melvin Moti