Image by John Power.

When I was working as Special Events Coordinator at RMIT Union Arts, I co-edited the Union Arts newsletter with Fiona Parker. This was one of the interviews I conducted for it.

Originally published in Full Haus, vol. 15 No. 3, Sep-Oct 2000.

‘John Power: An Animated Guy’
Interview by Simon Sellars

The ‘Masters of New Media’ series of presentations, coordinated by John Power and Rhonda Smithies from RMIT’s Centre for Animation and Interactive Media (AIM) features an exceptional calendar: working artists, students and guest speakers from the ‘interactive/animation’ industry, with topics covering everything from research methodology to government policy to the internet’s disseminatory role. While the brief is to provide a forum for AIM Masters candidates to present and critique their research findings, the series is not just aimed at academics or interactive artists ‘Master of New Media’ is a must for anyone interested in new and innovative applications of recent and future technology.

Besides his academic work at AIM, and collaborations with Andrew Garton, John is part of the Chroma team (with Kim Boundes) which VJs regularly at the techno/electro orientated Centriphugal club as well as at more commercial raves and parties.

Power’s role at AIM is busy and varied. In first semester, he tutors 3D animation, digital compositing and digital effects; in second, he advises students on production and technical matters. He also supervises research for Masters candidates which, as he tells me, ‘means I’m there as a sounding board, monitor, mentor, administrator, coach’. John affectionately describes his students as ‘playful, experimental, curious about their chosen role, adventurous … and not at all polite. I appreciate them very much, especially as a community that supports my carrying on’.

Power is an advocate of his art: ‘When they hear “animation” most people, even most animators, hear “cartoons”: a bunch of child like characters interacting over a painted background’.

For Power, such misconceptions stem from a host of economic and social factors, chief among them the manner in which the big American production studios were corralled by WWII’s propaganda machine.

‘By the end of the’40s there were strict levels of censorship and distribution, placing 50s animation into a ghetto of children’s entertainment. Animation had to otherwise subsist on advertising dollars for several decades, assuring superficial content.’

Whenever I’ve caught John Vjing, I’ve been intrigued by the sourcing of his images. Are they sampled? If so, is there a particular philosophy behind their usage? Perhaps the aesthetic is similar to US media terrorists, Negativiand remixing invasive, ‘found’ culture…

‘My images are sampled from films, or video I’ve shot myself, or they’ve been generated from scratch in a desktop computer; I don’t really use found footage although I certainly encourage it. The Negativland issue is important, but seems to hinge more on publication and distribution rather than broadcast or diffusion — this distinction is significant when we consider the internet. I generally find that visual artists carry the policeman inside, if I can be so dramatic. I personally encourage visual artists to sample other work whenever possible but I rarely see it done unselfconsciously.’

John’s set up consists of a PC with a card used to accelerate the drawing of 3D objects. This gave him the freedom to filter sound and midi files through 3D Studio MAX, creating real time animation. In addition, he had VCRs and a mini DV camera running through a video mixing deck¬

‘Some of the images were on video tape so you could say they are as linear as sound from a vinyl record, although I occasionally intervene with the speed of play. Filtering effects, 3D animation and video feedback were all generated and mixed live through the deck to the various projectors.’

‘During our recent Live Time performance,’ John continues, ‘I spent most of the time panicking about the midi working, since it was the first time we’d used it live. When I’m mixing live, I’m worried about fairly formal issues like luminosity, colour and contrast and the timing for introducing each element Most of the subtle content issues are hammered out beforehand, although if a random element like feedback or filtering does something that seems to work at the time, I’ll enhance that. Chroma did a gig at the Bondi Pavilion this year where I had a pile of material cued up, but ended up visually dissolving it all into plumes of pure red. green and blue because it worked in the moment.’

For ‘Live Time’, Power and Andrew Garton performed four ten minute pieces ‘worked out for timing beforehand’. In the moment, live, John highlighted particular qualities in the visuals, to suit the acoustic of the room for example, or the brightness of the projector. Garton’s work has a crystalline emotional jolt relayed by the juxtaposition of disparate elements. This was intensified during ‘Live Time’ by a piece that used a sample from an East Timorese catholic mass underscored by sludgy, squelchy percussion from the computer. It’s these elements that often vivify Power’s own creative juices.

‘I use the energy level of the sound sent out from Andrew’s sound card. In the piece that sampled East Timorese mass, the ‘alleluia’ chorus rose and fell in intensity and as it did, floating geometry was generated on the screens. I also generate visuals from controllers in the 3D environment, linked to a midi track that generates many of the musical sounds.’

What does John appreciate about Andrew’s work?

‘It’s convulsive, guttural aspect he often uses human voice to originate a lot of sounds. Andrew is very interested in how electronic networks affect communities for better or worse. Even after more than a decade on the net he can still be a bit awe struck by the displaced relationships that arise between people and I think this emerges in his choices of evocative sounds and samples. The way Andrew uses voice and how he refers to electronic communication has a burlesque qual4. It suggests an aesthetic where “playing up” or using sudden elements to shock or surprise is always an option a powerful strategy in all art.’

As part of Chroma, Power has a weekly residency at Centriphugal, innovative in Melbourne’s club scene for its electro/booty musical policy and support of Garton’s experimental ‘exp’ sessions a few months back. My experience of VJs is that I’ve found they often tend to feel a little under appreciated by club and rave promoters and even the punters themselves. What, then, is Power’s take on the perception of visual artists and animators at clubs and raves?

‘My do it yourself theory is that about 30% of clubbers are truly into the visual aspect, and are not afraid to tell you if they approve of what you’re doing. At the other end, there are about 30% of people who are seriously into the sound if you lined all the walls of a club with diamonds and painted the place with light, they’d be pressed to recall what they’d seen the next day, because they’re very attentive to the music and are very absorbed in it!’

What does Power, the visual artist, get out of working with techno DJs and aesthetics?

‘The techno culture has always struck me as supporting an experimental visual element, with its do-it-yourself clothing and decoration of spaces, as does hip hop culture with spray-painting and tagging. These days, such styles have been co opted by the media, so no doubt the time is ripe for a younger generation to arise with their own intuitive approaches.’

Any predictions as to what new styles might emerge?

‘Maybe a combination of punk, bossa nova and really wide brimmed hats’.