Jonathon Nokes - Please set the clock
2:22, 2011DirectorJonathon NokesComposerJonathon Nokes
CountryAustraliaEdition2011 Screenings1+2 / 2 November 2011 / 14 Hardy St, Brunswick
Fringe Festival Media Arts Screening / 5 October 2011 / Warren Bar, Melbourne
Greatest Hits / 24 September 2011 / Tape Projects, Carlton
< overview
Who is Jonathon Nokes?
I am a media artist based in Melbourne, Australia. My art practice is varied, but my interests lie in sound, video, sculpture, installation, and performance art. I am also an experimental musician, composing in a range of genres, and a sound designer, having worked in documentary film, animation and video art.
What is Please Set The Clock about?
Please Set The Clock is a self-portrait, created largely through chance and error. It relies heavily on the modulation and destruction of my own image in concert with my fascination with obsolete media. It is still and it is moving. It is sterile and it is fertile. It is broken and it is restored.
How did you start with film? And do you have an educational background in art or film?
I began working with the moving image by helping friends with their short films. However, I consider myself relatively new to creating my own film and video works. I am currently finishing a degree in Fine Art, and have taken classes in video art.
Do you carefully plan the production process or do you work more intuitive?
I seem to work more intuitively. Having said that, I certainly begin my productions with a plan, large or small. Whether I end up following that plan is another story.
How does the title relate to the work, and how do you find a fitting title?
The title came from a message that appeared on one of the VCRs I was using to manipulate the images. I thought it fitting of the work as it played on the rupturing of time in the piece, and the idea that a simple correction could realign what was out of place.
How important is sound in film, and if you use sounds, do you create your own or use existing?
Sound forms the bulk of my artistic practice, so I find it is always a consideration in my work, film or otherwise. For Please Set The Clock, I created the sounds myself using an analogue modular synthesizer, then edited and manipulated them afterward on a computer.
What possibilities of the web are yet to be explored?
I think the most exciting aspect of the web yet to be explored are alternate Internets. These new networks are being set up to circumvent current government and corporate control of the Internet, where people can share information and processes free of surveillance and interference.
Did the web changed your view on art, or your career?
Yes, I think the Internet has had quite a large impact on how I view art. 10 years ago, using the Internet to view and disseminate art didn’t really occur to me, but over the last three or four years it has become increasingly invaluable. It allows us to view and interact with artists from any part of the world, and perhaps more importantly, from both established artists and emerging artists like myself.
In fact, it’s probably the largest source for viewing and engaging with new art for many people, myself included. As a medium, web-based art is in its infancy. Provided that ridiculous anti-piracy legislation doesn’t impact upon exhibiting and creating new art, then it’s place in the art world will continue to expand.
How influential is the reaction to your film by the audience?
I consider the audience as imperative to my work, or anyone else’s for that matter. What is an artwork without anyone to experience it? However, the particular reaction that the audience has to my work is less important than the act of engagement itself.
What is your next project about?
I’m working on a number of projects, the next of which explores near-death experiences in an installation piece. Using resonant frequencies of the human skull, light and video, the piece will play with the perception of light, acoustic tone and dissonance.
< overview
< Artists interviews
CountryAustraliaEdition2011 Screenings1+2 / 2 November 2011 / 14 Hardy St, Brunswick
Fringe Festival Media Arts Screening / 5 October 2011 / Warren Bar, Melbourne
Greatest Hits / 24 September 2011 / Tape Projects, Carlton
< overview
Interview
I am a media artist based in Melbourne, Australia. My art practice is varied, but my interests lie in sound, video, sculpture, installation, and performance art. I am also an experimental musician, composing in a range of genres, and a sound designer, having worked in documentary film, animation and video art.
What is Please Set The Clock about?
Please Set The Clock is a self-portrait, created largely through chance and error. It relies heavily on the modulation and destruction of my own image in concert with my fascination with obsolete media. It is still and it is moving. It is sterile and it is fertile. It is broken and it is restored.
How did you start with film? And do you have an educational background in art or film?
I began working with the moving image by helping friends with their short films. However, I consider myself relatively new to creating my own film and video works. I am currently finishing a degree in Fine Art, and have taken classes in video art.
Do you carefully plan the production process or do you work more intuitive?
I seem to work more intuitively. Having said that, I certainly begin my productions with a plan, large or small. Whether I end up following that plan is another story.
How does the title relate to the work, and how do you find a fitting title?
The title came from a message that appeared on one of the VCRs I was using to manipulate the images. I thought it fitting of the work as it played on the rupturing of time in the piece, and the idea that a simple correction could realign what was out of place.
How important is sound in film, and if you use sounds, do you create your own or use existing?
Sound forms the bulk of my artistic practice, so I find it is always a consideration in my work, film or otherwise. For Please Set The Clock, I created the sounds myself using an analogue modular synthesizer, then edited and manipulated them afterward on a computer.
What possibilities of the web are yet to be explored?
I think the most exciting aspect of the web yet to be explored are alternate Internets. These new networks are being set up to circumvent current government and corporate control of the Internet, where people can share information and processes free of surveillance and interference.
Did the web changed your view on art, or your career?
Yes, I think the Internet has had quite a large impact on how I view art. 10 years ago, using the Internet to view and disseminate art didn’t really occur to me, but over the last three or four years it has become increasingly invaluable. It allows us to view and interact with artists from any part of the world, and perhaps more importantly, from both established artists and emerging artists like myself.
In fact, it’s probably the largest source for viewing and engaging with new art for many people, myself included. As a medium, web-based art is in its infancy. Provided that ridiculous anti-piracy legislation doesn’t impact upon exhibiting and creating new art, then it’s place in the art world will continue to expand.
How influential is the reaction to your film by the audience?
I consider the audience as imperative to my work, or anyone else’s for that matter. What is an artwork without anyone to experience it? However, the particular reaction that the audience has to my work is less important than the act of engagement itself.
What is your next project about?
I’m working on a number of projects, the next of which explores near-death experiences in an installation piece. Using resonant frequencies of the human skull, light and video, the piece will play with the perception of light, acoustic tone and dissonance.
< overview
