Aside from wishing to sensitize people to other ways of experiencing film, I also hope that the exhibition of my work will contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practiceswork will contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practiceswork will contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practices. I belie contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practices. I belie contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practices. I belie contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practices. I belie contribute to redefining the notion of "audience", by which people tend to confuse marketing power and standardization of needs with the ability to speak across boundaries of language, class, gender, and culture, for example. By working on the very limits of the known and unknown audiences, I am bound to modify theses limits, whose demarcation changes with each work and remainunpredictable to me. Unlike commercial work or straight oppositional work, critical artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because ital artistic work does not offer immediate solution nor immediate gratification. They are not immediately useful or effective and but can act in the long term, haunting their viewers, changing their perception of life. As Robert Bresson nicely put it, "to be original is to wish to do like everybody else without ever succeeding to do so."
It is said that the artist is lke a seismographic needle-one who feels with acute intensity the slightest changes that occur around her, one who remains keenly alert to what tends to go unnoticed or to be taken for granted in daily life. Artists are often threatened by the common opinion that a society can very well do without art and that their activities in urgent political situations are of little value. But throughout the course of history, across cultures and nations, one also knows that the artistls activity is considered suspect because it disturbs the status quo or the comfort and security of stabilizedmeaning and normalized practices. I believe one should struggle at the front where one is best. Art is form of production. Aware, however, that oppression can be located both in the story told and in the telling of the story, an art critical of social reality neither relies on mere consensus nor does it ask permission from ideology. The works I have been producing can be viewed in general as different attempts to deal creatively with cultural difference. They seek to enhance our understanding of the heterogeneous societies in which we live, while inviting the viewer to reflect on the conventional relation between supplier and consumer in media production and spectatorship.
Extract from artist statement, Trinh T. Minh-ha