ARTISTS TALK : Hasabie Kidanu

(Painting and Printmaking ‘17)

For me, part of the work becomes about just experiencing it once, and having that memory rather than having something that can be watched over and over. It’s like a performance. It happens once all you have is just a memory of it.

For this particular project, by not doing digital work, I’m kind of taking a stand; of course, the “digital” and digital equipments are of our time, but in terms of the presentation of a work, I question the digital projector as much as I do this guy [16mm film projector]. It brings much character to the work, but more importantly, it absolutely makes me consider the meaning of light, space, and cinema thoroughly.

We can take any medium for granted, even painting. You can go into any studio and ask why are you using this particular medium to best present your work, and people may not have answers. “How else am I supposed to portray this?” But if I usethis 16mm film instead of a painting, I will be getting many questions: why are you using this? What’s the effect? I would like to question the medium as much as I do the work itself.