The Interview as Medium

For the upcoming "Flag Mania" lesson, I.S. 187 students will conduct interviews with family members, community members, or mentors to help inspire their reinterpretation of a national flag.

But how is the interview used by artists working today?

See below for a video on Omer Fast, a contemporary artist whose work The Casting (2007) is based on an interview the artist held with a young Iraq war veteran. Fast uses the interview as a primary source and jumping off point for his own creative analysis and reenactments.

Mel Chin is a politically engaged artist who uses interviews in his work. For the video S.O.S. (Straight off the Street: Moment), filmed in 2004, the artist interviewed people on the streets of the Bronx, asking them to write a brief message directed towards President Bush. This April 2012, Chin exhibited a new version of the work titled S.O.S. RELOADED : Bronx 2012 where messages were directed towards President Obama.