Each month, Chronogram’s resident filmmaker Stephen Blauweiss offers insight into our cover artists’ work through his video interviews. “It is really interesting to hear about an artwork or series in the artist’s own words,” says Blauweiss. “There is always so much more depth to an artist’s work than meets the eye initially.”
Blauweiss strives to keep his hand in the filmmaking process undetectable—he even edits out the questions he asks during the interviews. Blauweiss creates seamless three-minute films out of 23-minute conversations, with as many as 40 edits made in the process. “I don’t like to employ any fancy techniques because they would only detract from presenting the artwork,” he says. “These films are about the artist.” Blauweiss has filmed more than 20 videos for Chronogram over the past few years.
Blauweiss majored in filmmaking at the High School of Art and Design in New York City, and continued pursuing the field—along with graphic design—at the New School and Pratt Institute. In 2000, Blauweiss produced his first artist documentary, and five years ago, he created ArtistFilmDocs, a company dedicated to making films about artists. Blauweiss’s videos have received critical acclaim and recognition. His film on Joan Steiner screened at the New York State Museum and Mass MoCA, and his video of Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine’s “Rappin’ For Godot,” a satirical take on Samuel Beckett’s classic “Waiting For Godot,” has screened at festivals in London and LA and will broadcast this summer on WMHT.
This month, Blauweiss interviewed cover artist Joel Griffith, a Tivoli-based painter. Watch the video here. Blauweiss also made a video previewing an upcoming performance by a Montreal-based circus troupe, Cirque Éloize. Watch that here.
