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What inspired you to make this piece?
For two years I stayed at home with my infant daughter, Maya. I was inspired and enthralled by the universe of the small child, and found myself sinking into a previously unknown daily rhythm. Whereas I had been led to believe that fatherhood was reductive and prosaic, I found my senses and emotions heightened and challenged by the ebb and flow of life with my daughter.
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| From SWEEP. |
Tell us a little about the process involved in making this work.
I shot footage of the daily route my daughter and I took: playground, subway, walk in Lower Manhattan. Later I painted the actual negative, then I allowed it to degenerate in the humidity so various shapes and colors would intrude on the photographic image. Then I slowed the footage down using an optical printer. The sound is taken and edited from "home movie" videotapes shot during this period.
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| From SWEEP. |
Do you have any interesting and/or amusing behind-the-scenes stories about the making of this particular work?
A few months ago, I took my oldest daughter to a fancy Afghan restaurant to celebrate her fourth birthday. The couple next to us were enchanted with her and said, "You're like a movie star." She replied, "I am a movie star. I'm in SWEEP."
Is there a relationship between your work as a video/filmmaker and life in the New York metropolitan area?
I wanted the film to reflect the beautiful, vibrant cacophony that is New York City. I'm absolutely inspired by the juxtaposition of sights and sounds that accost us as we wind our way through the city. I liked the tension between the quiet, detailed language I spoke with my daughter and the loud, uncontrolled, and chaotic sounds of the city.
How has the burgeoning independent movement affected your life and work as a video/filmmaker?
People certainly have more categories in which to place different kinds of film experience these days. Audiences may be more tolerant at first glance of certain kinds of image manipulations, sound-image relationships, etc. I'm not sure the "independent movement" has shown people how to read or appreciate experimental film any better, though.
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