Podcast 000: Why now a Podcast?
This project interviews creative minds from all fields, and originally wanted to only show these individuals - and not show their work. While every creator has thoughts and opinions, not everyone can easily show their work. The processes of a painter, musician, dancer, curator etc. differ highly in their visuality from, say, an astrophycisist, programming language inventor or neuroscientist.
My initial take on this subject was not to differ between such modes of creativity - to treat them identically, whether they mostly existed in the mental or physical realm. It felt right to do so - to appreciate the value of non-representative .. uhm.. representation, if you will =)
Testing short-form Documentaries
Now being half a year into this project, I accept that I don’t know how to best approach this. With the project being video-based, of course I got asked a lot about showing the creator's works, in those videos: of game developers, painters, character artists etc. I understand the frustration: using video portraits to then not show visuals - this kind of content curation goes against today's attention machinery.
I tried to adapt, and published longer-form portraits - something like short-form documentaries: of Claudia Six, Daniel Pitín, Stephan Hövelbrinks and Parkwaechter Harlekin:
(As you can easily see, the quality isn't where it should be. I like parts, and am specifically happy the portrait on Claudia Six - but overall, thinking about the level of awesomeness that these individual creators put into their work: these portraits don't do them justice. I'm trying though, which allegedly is half the battle.
I'm learning, but am new to videography nevertheless. I'll get better at it over time though, pinky-promise!)
Podcasts for Content-Agnostic Portrayal of Minds
Editing these longer clips was exciting, but immedately also frustrating - not just because the original idea got lost (which could be seen as an issue of self-rightousness - of ego); but rather because it felt off to have some people portrayed so vibrantly: with music, images, videos. While others would be shown mostly in the standard "talking head" format: medical doctors, athletes, researchers etc. The though alone made me unhappy - which is why I decided to investigate this a little further.
Expanding the project to an audio-based format now, means that I'm trying to find a kind of "content-agnostic" way to portray people. But also, it's me trying to find the proper medium for the project's content. To understand how best to reach you, the listener.
Because all the while, I’ve been listening to the audio of these interviews - whenever I was traveling. To understand what has been said, to dissect creativity. And I’ve been travelling a lot for On Doubt - to Berlin, London, Brighton, Seattle, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Jönköping, Prague and Vienna.
Listening to the audio-versions of the interviews (making notes, comparing things that had been said), it got clear that being able to LISTEN to the interviews offered a more focused, zen-style experience - exclusively zooming in on the person’s movement of thoughts.
So here we are, with me finally expanding the project to a podcast-format. I’ll continue publishing short-form clips on the YouTube channel - but you’ll hear the longer form versions, the complete interviews, as podcasts. Right here.
I'll try to publish at least two Podcasts per month - including my contextualization and interpretations, intros and outros. I'll slowly dig through the dozens of recorded hours of footage, and gradually make it available. It will take time, and not just of me - the interviewees will have a say in it as well!
Let's see whether that makes more people aware of what the bright and inspiring minds talked about, in these interviews..