INDIVIDUALISM & INTEGRITY FROM XRIS
CUNNINGHAM VS WARREN BUFFETT
Integrity: noun
1.adherence to moral and ethical
principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2.the state of being whole, entire, or
undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3.a sound, unimpaired, or perfect
condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with
Warren Buffett vs Jay Z for for FORBES a while back here you go:
 |
| Having fun doing the Jigga sign are we? |
For those of you unfamiliar with what I
think was the coolest video-maker of the late 90’s early 00’s Xris Cunningham’s
work here you go:
AFRIKA SHOX:
ONLY YOU:
And of course 'come to daddy' by Aphex Twin.
(soz windolicka):
Just this week I came across two interviews
by these two that had bits of inspiration for the independent musician trying
to get paid, get a deal or recognised. And
even though Chris and Warren are at opposite ends of the
popularity/fame/financial spectrum they both herald the view that we should be
single minded in our pursuit for what we are doing.
But first let's listen to this track on integrity before riches by NEW JERUSALEM EDUTAINMENT - (15 plays so far):
Warren Buffet On being Individual (listening
to yourself):
"You have to be able to think independently,
you have to be, you have to be, when you come to a conclusion you have to
really not care what other people say, you have to follow the facts, follow
your reasoning. And that's tough for a lot of people, that part I think I was
really lucky with, I was born that way."
Later he says:
"I cant really tell you the answer, I didn’t
learn it in school or anything, it never bothered me when people disagreed with
what I thought as long as I felt I knew the facts, there's a whole bunch of
things I don’t know a thing about, i just stay away from those (laughs), so I stay within what I call my
circle of competence."
I chose this bit of an interview by Warren
Buffett for Forbes, not only because he is cool enough to accept to be jive
talking or making himself look smarter than he already his next to Jay Z, but
also because he highlights the principles of listening to yourself to
breakthrough in your career, social life, and decision making. He is upholding
the power of the individual. Albeit by saying he looks at the facts but nonetheless
if he got to where he is by not listening to his advisors, and networks of
friends telling him expert advice on the consequences of him making wrong
decisions then who are we to listen to the nay-sayers around, under and above
us?
FOR FULL INTERVIEW:
Chris Cunningham On Integrity:
(When asked if he would take the offer to
direct the movie A.I. after working with Kubrick):
"No. I've been offered some
pretty big stuff but if I'd been offered that I would have had a conflict
because, on one hand I'm struggling to establish my own identity and I'm a new
filmmaker and I've just made a few videos-- I was just finding out what I was
about starting to understand my subconscious. I feel like each time I do
something I want it to be more and more recognizable that it's me so, by the
time I do a film, my films will be as recognizable as someone like David Lynch
or someone who's got their own thing going on. So if I had fucking done A.I.
that would have been the end, I would have never been able to get rid of that
Kubrick connection."
(When asked why he chose to only put half
the number of videos he made on a DVD 'masters' collection):
"Because [the other ones] are absolute shit.
I only put stuff on there that's worth putting on there. In order to make the
DVD not seem ridiculously small I had to put a couple videos on there that I
hate. I felt like it's my DVD and I want to put something out that isn't gonna
make me cringe even though you can't hide anything in this day in age. If
there's something you've done it'll be on the fucking internet. But I don't
want it on the DVD. I'm sure most people in that position would feel the same
way. If you do an album you just want the best tracks on there. Those other
videos are like outtakes or experiments."
(On being 'bit' copied by others):
"They say you're supposed to feel flattered
but I never do. I'm normally pissed off. I think the thing that's frustrating
is [the copycats] normally have a big audience and I don't want those audiences
to think that I've copied them-- I don't want someone to come up to me and say,
"The robot in your Björk video is copied from I, Robot." The biggest
problem is if you do something and everyone copies it, that year becomes known
for that look and people get sick of it and you're lumped in with that.
I went through a period of being pissed off
at so much stuff looking like mine and that's one of the reasons I didn't do
anything for a couple years, because I got so depressed because my style had
become so ubiquitous and it made me lose confidence because everything looked
like what I was doing. It's pretty rough doing your learning in public, the
first video I ever made was the first piece of film I ever made; I'd never made
a student film or anything before, the first year of doing videos. I'd do
anything to erase those videos but I can't. That's what I envy about people in
the 20th century, they could destroy their early work and once they get good
they can treat that as year zero. But these days you've got some bastard
that'll turn it up on the internet [laughs]. I wish I could dredge up something
of theirs and get them back. I'm constantly trying to find ways to make stuff
that really neutral. That's something I like about Spike and Michel, they're
very neutral stylistically so it's very hard to imitate them but my stuff is
very visual so it's easier to copy."
I chose this bit from an interview of ChrisCunningham with Pitchfork ezine, because 1# I love everything to do with
Pitchfork (as a student of graphic design) but their polls, and 2# because I
love everything to do with Chris Cunningham (aside from his 3rd
Aphex Twin video). In this interview I
was astonished to read about how Chris Cunningham – probably the most hailed
innovator of music video late 90’s next to Hype Williams, Gondry, Jonze – was
telling it as it is as an artist, and saying stuff as he would never work with Speilberg
though he worked with Kubrick, he turned down lots of offers from famous
musicians labels to make a video for them, he wouldn’t even include some of his
famed work for a DVD selection and only chose some to make up the numbers, and
that it takes he will only work on something if he believes in it. In this
interview he is triumphing the creative spirit as something that should not be
commoditised.
Signing off:
Rae Burnz
