Our current interview is with our featured artist, ReadyMade7777.

Check out our featured page for more details!


Chris: When did you decide you wanted to be a film maker?

ReadyMade: The truth is that I was literally born and raised in "Hollywood" (California). I've been surrounded by "lights, camera, action" as I grew up. My family friends tended to be a mixed bag of artists, actors and filmmakers. My father is a lithographer of fine art prints, so I have been bombarded with a certain kind of artistic influence as I grew up. When I would travel to other places to live or visit, I would find myself always coming back to Los Angeles. It's not that it is particularly the most beautiful city in the world, but it has a certain energy via ideas and thinking (not to mention a vast amount of cultural diversity).
 
 Naturally, when it was time to pick a degree in college, I went with filmmaking. In the end, my degree was for film criticism, so I took my degree to the streets and dove straight into the studios trying to get any kind of job I could that involved film production. This is where I realized that there is no TRUE independent thought on the generic film set. After working in film for about three years, I got seriously depressed, as my creative thought and thinking were being zapped. I tried my hand at making a few of my own little short films, and enjoyed the reaction ,as well as the process. Soon thereafter, I tried my hand at acting in Hollywood, as well as modeling. While I got a couple jobs here and there, they struck me as being rather empty and vapid. I really don't mean to knock anyone who is successful in all these ventures, but they are personal opinions I developed based on my own experience. For the last few years, I have been making mixed media art, and have been relatively successful at getting shows and being seen. The ironic thing is that part of my art includes finding found objects (like soda cans or cell phones), and crushing them until they transform into something different and beautiful. It is in this altered state that I would start painting them and creating works. It was with this same concept, that made me want to expand into my old medium of film. I grew up in LOVE with film, and TV, and even the commercials on TV. Readymade777 + 7 was soon born thereafter.


Chris: Did you find any films/film makers in particular that inspired you, or was it more of the essence of film itself that was captivating?

Readymade7777: Growing up, my mom decided that she wanted to subject me to art films, and not discriminate according to my age.  I have a very vivid memory of going to see an Ingmar Bergman film called Fanny and Alexander when I was 9 years old.  That film was the first of many to rock my world and shape my perceptions of what film was, and truly could be. At 14, I saw Wings of Desire, and it also seemed to have a profound effect on me.  I used to love to go see all the Sidney Lumet gritty New York crime films too.  At home, we had the Z Channel, which mostly showed avant garde films.  I used to run home every day throughout elementary school so I could see what film they were showing.  I think that the fact that A Clockwork Orange was one of my favorite films of all time at age ten was very telling of how I viewed films.  I didn't seem to get overwhelmed by violence or horror, but rather  broke it down in a critical and analytical way.  I was amazed by camera angles and certain shots that the cinematographer chose.  This is why I loved Kubrik so much.  His films were ear and eye candy.  His direction was unrivaled.  

 

Honestly, I could write a novel about how film shaped me (I think I might have but it's on an old (obsolete) floppy disc somewhere.

 


Chris: Do you find that your art is directed at a specific audience?

Ready Made777: My readymade art videos, in particular aren't directed toward anyone specifically, any special group, nor should anyone ever feel as though they are excluded from an audience that I am trying to reach.  I put in a myriad of different images that specifically speak to my own thought process.  What others get out of my work is their own unique experience.  We are all raised in different environments and so mass media effects us all differently.  I am mostly interested in hearing what others get out of my pieces, as it is always different.  This is the reason for the "I am Readymade" piece.  It is a way of me telling others that everyone is invited to become my work.  Sure, some of my personal messages may be picked up by certain people, but I would never tell someone how they should or shouldn't feel as they experience my work.

Chris: How much does music influence your work?

ReadyMade: I grew up with music as being an inspiration. In almost every stage of my life, music probably helped shape it.  I was one of those CD junkies who couldn't get enough.  Growing up, all I could think about was going to record store, and getting my next fix.  Old, new, pop....you name it.  As far as the effect on my art videos go, it is pretty much 50% of my inspiration.  I have a bit of a commute, so I listen to my vast library of thousands of songs randomly play on my iPod, and allow the music to help dictate my visuals as I drive.  I imagine scenarios, and consequently make them come to fruition when I sit down later to work on my videos.