the day i didn't turn with the world...
GUIDO van der WERVE
2007
GUIDO van der WERVE
2007
GUIDO van der WERVE, at Marc Foxx now.
(introduced to a new artist yesterday,
spent the afternoon watching some films.)
thanks r.....
Interesting interview at Metropolis here about his work, and the beginnings,
with Laurence Lowe.
How did you get involved with visual art?
Guido van der Werve:
‘When I was 5 and people asked me what I wanted to be, I always said an inventor. Later on, when I was 16, I got all these parts and I made my own moped. Just that boyish stuff. So I decided to study industrial design at the technical university in Utrecht. But the problem was it’s a university known for rocket science and physics. I mean, I was always pretty good at mathematics, but this was a little too much for my taste. So I quit after two months and decided to do the preparatory year of the conservatory in Rotterdam for jazz and blues. My playing skills were okay, but there was all sorts of other stuff you need to know, like how to sing scales. I really lost interest and most of the year I was just hanging out in pubs with my friends, and by the end I had no idea what I should do. I always had this obsession with Alexander the Great, so I decided to study classical archaeology in Amsterdam, and I immediately began to feel at home there. In fact, I kind of divide my life in two parts: when I was living in the shithole where I’m from, and when I moved to Amsterdam. Anyway, I did that for a year, but archaeology just wasn’t for me. Then I started to think about the industrial design again – I thought maybe I should do that in art school instead, because there’s less math and you don’t have to work in groups, which was something I really hated. If I want to make something work, I should be the dictator, you know what I mean? [we both laugh] I got all these assignments to build up some portfolio. I was always painting and drawing a little bit, but nothing really remarkable. I mean, I really stink as a drawer, I can’t draw anything.’
Laurence Lowe:
Is that the reason you decided to choose film as your medium?
Guido van der Werve:
‘When I was 15 or 16, I went to a theatre school on the weekends. I had a lot of fun doing that. And when I was playing in a band, even when I was playing piano, it was always nice to perform. I liked the action of me doing something, but I didn’t like to do it live in front of an audience. So I asked my friends to make a simple video registration of it. That’s where those works come from.’
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