User:ThomasW/interview

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Interview on we with Joana and Benjamin Li 03.06.2015

Please introduce yourself

My name is Thomas Walskaar and I am a Norwegian designer with a focus on graphic design and photography. At the moment I'm exploring video and bit of coding – some would call this 'multidisciplinary'. I see myself as a generalist, I don’t really like to keep my interest and skills narrow. I try to learn something new. My inspiration comes from all over: pop culture, design history, theory, science, filmmakers, photographers... or even walking down the street and seeing something new that makes the brain tick.

You are at Piet Zwart now, what did you do before that?

I did my BA in Graphic Design at Ravensbourne University in London. Before that, between 2007 to 2012 I worked back home in Norway in all kinds of jobs: as a postman, warehouse worker as well as graphic designer and photography jobs. A solid mix things. But I needed to find some new inspiration and get away from Norway.

What are you working on now?

I am working on the Video Grinder, it's a basic video mixer, where I can feed two or more video signals into one feed. I plan to make a narrative going between two different video sources, my plan is to use old VHS videos. I found some old VHS ads, one of them talks (or actually sings) that the video tape will last a life time, something that is far from true. The second part of the piece may be an old home movie. The frighting thing is that a lot of people have home movies on VHS but few people still have a VHS player. VHS is interesting since it got this layer of information, some football matches, half of a movie, vacation trips or homemade movies. Its this patch work of footage, a palimpsest, which reflects the owner's past. Today we are told to get all our information up on to the cloud. There is always a battle amongst formats and services to be the best. I think that looking back on this gives hindsight – not only can it be the information on a particular medium, but also the formats themselves. We put things on storage formats and they get left there because people don’t bother to move them to anew format.. Few people still have a VHS player at home.

What is the decay you talk about?

It has many levels, the decay of the medium, the players or you don’t have the texts no more, you have a stack of family videos on VHS, on a format that none got access to no more because of does factors.

Access ?

Ye, access.. if you have a book thats 10 years old, you can always read the book.. if you have a VHS, then you need a VHS player and then you need to have tapes that work. There is many things that can decide if you get to the footage or not, the same goes for text information, like a printed book vs digital documents..

What the point you want to make?

I am developing it, got an urge to make something interesting but also something more than cool visuals, but communicate that we need to be morethouhtful of the history we are making, if we are not careful we will have no history to send forward to the next generations.. There are all the different companies that want to get you to trust new formats or send them to the mystical cloud of computer storage: “you can trust us, it WILL last a life time”

So you not only interested in the video itself. But also the physical objects?

The VHS not only has a lot of footage on it, but the VHS as an object itself is interesting. Show a VHS tape to any 20year plus person and they will remember things.. Friday night with friends and family; going to the rental store with mom and picking up a movie for the weekend. I rememberer the fun.. its nostalgia really, but VHS was also a pain to use; it was hard to skip parts of the movie, there was hard-coded subtitles, it was a mix of pain and fun.. I know there is the thing of nostalgia in there, but I want to use the power of nostalgia to inform people about the subject.

How does this connect to your previous projects?

They all connect to history, an old semi-lost history or knowledge that most people don’t know so much about, like micro-plastics in the ocean or an old abandoned railway, or the story of the abandon infrastructure of the paper medium.

If you go back, to your graphic design background, reflect on how its now ?

When I was 14 I taught myself a publishing program and made a computer game magazine and sold it around school. There has always been a connection for me between computer technology and graphic design and historically it's been a connection between computer science and computer graphics.

How do you store your own content

He he, how I store my own content.. I've got multiple hard-drives in multiple places.. its not 100% safe but better then one copy, nothing is 100% safe, the nature of data is that it is ephemeral and unstable.

Is it easy accessible?

For me it is, but not for others..

Where do you see yourself in the future?

Thats a hard one, but hope to live a cool place, a major city. I just love cities, But working on some cool projects that involved a lot of different disciplines. I hope that some of the work I am doing can help people be more informed about how they store their private information and images.

Interview on we with Joana and Benjamin Li 20.05.2015

Who are you?

I am Thomas Walskaar and I am a Norwegian designer with focus in graphic design and photography, but at the moment exploring film.. I am quiet multidisciplinary

You said you are multidisciplinary , how come?

Well, I see myself really as a generalist, a potato or multitool, I don’t really like to keep my inrest and skills narrow. Try to learn something new, things that interest me. Also I am kinda handy and piratical

Where do you find inspiration?

My inspiration comes from all over, pop culture, design history, theory, sciences and other designers, film makers, photographers.. or just walk down the street and see something new.. strange how the brain can connect two things..

You are at Piet Zwart now, what did you do before that?

Before starting at Piet Zwart I was dong my BA in Graphic Design in London at Ravensbourne University. But before that I was working between 2007 to 2012 back home in Norway.

What kinda of jobs?

All kinds, postman, warehouse and graphic designer and photography jobs, a solid mix things. But I need to find some new inspiration and need to get away from Norway.. so backed my bags and moved out

Back to your work, what are you working now

I am working on the “Video Grinder”, its a basic video mixer, where I can feed two or more video signals into one feed. With it I am planning to get a narrative going between two different video sources, my plan is to use VHS videos.

What kinda of videos are you looking for?

That I don’t know yet. I have found some old VHS ads, one of them talks or more sings that the video tape will last a life time, something that is fare from true, and the other video can be maybe an old home movie.. The frighting things is that a lot of people have home movies on VHS time but few people have a VHS player still, or ads for VHS and DVD that battle it out to be the best. VHS is interesting since it got this layer of information. Like homemade, recorded tapes have this parts.. some football matches, half of a movie here and there. Its this patch work of footage and reflect the past owners. Not like DVD.

What do you mean with the best?

But is that thing with technology, we all want something new and better or we get told we need something new and better.. The old tech is okay, but the drive to developed something.. its briefly better most times By looking back on past, it gives you hindsight, not only can it be the information on the mediums, but the formats themselves. We put things on old formats and then they get left there and then we cant access them no more since we maybe do not the VHS player in 30 years time or we got, but the tapes have dies..

Is that the decay you talk about?

Thats it, but it got many levels, the decay of the medium, the players, you don’t have it now more and then you have a stack of family video on VHS, on a format that none got access to no more because of does factors.

Access ?

Ye, access.. if you have book thats 10 years old, you can always read the book.. if you have a VHS, then you need a VHS player and then you need to have tape that work. There is many things that can decide if you have the footage or not.

What the point you want to make?

I am developing it, got an urge to make something interesting but also something more than cool visuals, but communicate that we need to be more tough full of the history we are making That if we are not careful we will have no history to send forward to the next generations.. There is battle to get you to trust new formats as well. Just store them on “new device/service” you can trust us it will last a life time”

Why you see a battle? , they all deal with information?

The DVD is now going the way of the VHS, What happened with the VHS is happing with the DVD. They are all going obsolete.. the DVD is the new VHS, but personal I think the VHS have more of cultural impact as a medium then DVD.

So you not only interested in the video itself. But you want the physical object?

The VHS not only is have a lot of footage on them, but the VHS as an object itself is interest, Show a VHS tape to any 20+ person and they will remember things.. Friday night with friends and family. Going to the rental store with mom and picking up a movie for the weekend.. I rememberer the fun.. its nostalgia really, VHS was also a pine.. hard to skip parts, hard coded subtitles.. but mix of dread and fun..

How does this connect to your previous projects?

VHS is an obsolete format right now, also the physical of it.. you need to store it at home, it takes space Maybe the reason is that getting annoyed of companied wanting you to push you footage and information on new services all the time.. they never last for more then cupel of years.. so much is lost in the progress. But I been looking a lot on history in my old projects. Few projects on my bachelor did focus on historical events and en projects on a lost railway.

If you go back, to you graphic design background, reflect on how its now ?

When I was 14 I learn myself a publish program and made a computer game magazine and sold it around school. Always been a connection for me between computer technology and graphic design and historical its been a connection between computer science and computer graphics. But I like to share knowledge, if I have knowledge and I share it in a visual way.

How do you store your own content

Hehe, how I store my own content.. I got multiple hard-drives in multiple places.. its not 100% safe but better then one copy..

Is it easy accessible?

For me it is, but not for others..

Where do you see yourself in the future?

Thats a hard one, but hope to live a cool place, a major city.. I just love them, But working on some cool projects that involved a lot of different disciplines. Hope that some of the work I am doing can help people be more informed about how they store their private information and images.

Interview on we with Joana and Benjamin Li 22.04.2015

What are you making now?

Making, working on the video grinder, comes from mixing video signals re wiring the cabling, low and hight the signals Two video signals, VHS, or DVD go from etch device that merges into one cables and into the tv or the projector.. But where the signals meet where you can tweak with a nob.

What kinda of video are you looking for?

That I don’t know yet. Idea last night to show ads for VHS and one with ads DVD.. then they battle for being the best, but it really don’t matter, but in the end it don’t matter since they are both obsolete.

What do you mean with the best?

But that the thing with technology, we all want something new or better or they say we need something new and better. Its a flash feeling, they are going to go observable true pure time, or the technology being developed.. they need to sell you something. The old tech is okay, but the drive to developed something.. its briefly better.

By looking back on past, it gives you hindsight and learn from them, but old technology. We put things on old formats and then they get left there and then we cant access them now more since we maybe have not the VHS player no more and then the tapes dies..

Is that the decay you talk about?

Thats the, multilevel levels, the decay of the medium, the players, you don’t have it now more and then you have a stack of family video on VHS, on a format that none got access to no more.

Access Ye, access.. if you have book that's 10 years old you can always read the book.. if you have a VHS, then you need a VHS player and then you need a tape that work. So many level if you got access to the video or not.

What the point you want to make?

I am developing, urge to make something, interesting and find a way to fit it in.. I have the technology now and then find a way conway the message.

===GO back to the “Video Grider” you said something about the battle between VHS and DVD Can you explain better===

Well, think around the late 90s, early 2000s, Sony developed the DVD. And technical a better.. better colour, sound, multiple sub tittles. Pushed to get rid of you VHS player.

Economic, why you see a battle , they all deal with information The DVD is going the way of the VHS, What happened with the VHS is happing with the DVD. They are all going obsolete.. the DVD is the new DVD .. but still developing..

The Battle between VHS and Blue-ray or DVD..? o usb stick Well blue-ray is a newer technology.. so need to be the VHS and DVD. Need to be then BLUE-RAY and HD DVD.. know all formats got their old siblings.. like BETAMAX and VHS, BLUE-RAY and HD DVD.. you have things battle.. marketshare.

More about us putting our knowledge and memory on formats on physical formats and then for the pushing technology out the door and then we leave knowledge and memory on formats that get left with no way to access them.

Interesting on having a battle between storage medium?

You starting on a mixer between video?

Just an idea I had, and the conversation between or true the medium of medium, and then use VHS or found footage on VHS. If I can find.

What kind of video or footage?

Downloading VHS tapes, or commercial. VHS is interesting since it got this layer of information. Like homemade, recorded tapes have this parts.. some football matches, half of a movie here and there. Its this patch work of footage and reflect the past owners. Not like DVD.

Is this important for you video grinder?

Its part of the whole part of dividend content. The “Video Grinder” don’t need VHS, it can take whatever video feed you make.

Do you need two feeds?

No, I can have how many feeds a like, but the I can have many feeds I like, but for the “prototype” I am sticking with one. But I can expand on it.

Is that something you want?

Even that its kinda over done, I do kind like the video glitch ascetics, special if you do it manual, there at video giltching apps, but something you do yourself. Maybe more random.. funny

So you not only interested in the video itself. But you want the physical object?

Ye, maybe. Multiple VHS.. like a DJ thing.. got the scifi and then the romance one and comedy one... and then you can mix them.. still developing..

How do you decide witch two you want to mix from the pile you have?

First I need a pile of video in the first place Dependence on the content, the conversation is a prototype workshop. The Vide Grinder is just a side idea. I can make video for venus..

What kind of content are you looking for? Ads.. found footage can be really random.

Found footage, can look family video.. like one can be family footage and the other one can be ads taking about the benefits about VHS..

===How does this connect your previous work? You stared on the Video Grinder, can you describe in one sentence what the video grinder is? === The Video Grinder is a handmade mixer to mix video feeds.

How does this connect to your previous projects, you said something about decay.

VHS is an obsolete format right now, also the physical of it.. you need to store it at home, it takes space Maybe the reason is that I am annoy right now we are putting your memory’s on formats and we get a pile of obsolete formats.

Thats interesting, can you give a reason why we do that?

We can want easy access, we don’t don’t got the library.. still thinking about it.. we get a lot of promises.. just put it on the cloud.. its going to be safe.. we get fake prominences This ad about handing down their magnetic tapes, give it your your grandkids..but they really want it? Will the tapes be still readable? If you have a book you can easy give it away later.. if not like your house burn down or get flooded?

Is it really the access? False promises?

Ye, fake promises, its technology, I like technology. We all like the new and greats.. we all got dvd.. Like before you had the plough for the horse and then we get tractor and then a bigger tractor.. think we looking for something better and not satisfied with the reason.

=== If you go back, to you graphic design background, reflect on how its now ?  ===

When I was 14 I learn myself a publish program and made a computer game magazine and sold it around school. Always been a connection for me between computer technology and graphic design. I like to share knowledge, if I have knowledge and I share that.. with graphics. Visual it.

How do you store your own content

Hehe, how I store my own content.. I got multiple hard-drives in multiple places.. its not 100% safe but better then one copy..

Is it easy accessible?

For me it is, but not for others..

How do you store it?

I keep it in standard formats, like JPGS, Tif, pure text files, open text files formats. Think about You migrate it, every 5 years you put in on a new formats or device. No silver bullet. Not ideal solution yet.