Peter Land d. 6. februar 1994
VHS, PAL, color, sound
23 min.
Note on the video
"Before I entered the art academy in Copenhagen, my attitude towards art was pretty innocent.
I wanted to make paintings. I didn't have a clear idea why, but at the time that didn't prevent me
from doing it. Then, after entering the art academy, I was confronted with questions from my teachers as well as the more scholarly part of my fellow students as to what I wanted to say with what I did. What was the purpose? I have to admit that I'd never thought about art in that way before. After that, it went pretty much downhill for Peter Land the 'abstract expressionist painter'. I got more and more confused as to what I wanted to do (and what I wanted to say). In the end I decided that I had to abandon painting all together. In a sense I felt that I had worn out that possibility for myself.
Now trhge question remained, if I was not supposed to make paintings (which at the time was the only technique I knew), then what should I do. I got so far as to the point of considering quitting art alltogether.
This is when I encountered the early video works of Bruce Naumann and Vito Acconci as well as 'Heidi' by Mike Kelley and Paul McCarthy. That's about as close as I can go to the time when I decided to try out the video media on my own as one last resort. It had two qualities I was looking for. 1.I'd like what I had seen so far by other people working in the media. 2. It was total virgin territory to me.
After having decided on using video as a way out of my creative crisis (because I think that's the proper term) only one, but very important issue had to be settled: What should I film?"