^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

Interview with Danny Germansen

Luca Curci talks with Danny Germansen during FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES, second appointment of BORDERS festival, in Venice on August 2016. Danny Germansen is born and raised in Ribe on the west cost of Jutland in Denmark. Danny has had a difficult childhood with two paralyzing operations in his spinal core at the age of 9 and the age of 14. This has left him paralyzed for the rest of his life and maked him use a wheelchair. Danny spent much of his childhood in and out of hospitals. Problems from childhood and living a lonely life make him not able to work and to have difficulties getting around and meet people. The time in loneliness was too long for Danny and he started slowly to break down. Around that time Danny was attending the EFC the EUROPEAN FILM COLLEGE in Denmark but he had to stop before the end because of too many problems and sickness. When Danny got home from there, he gave up on life and just sat in his apartment and the breakdown was complete. The walls literally caved in on him. Danny started in treatment for his mental problems and soon later he started to work on his first amateur film MANIFESTATION, which was shown on DR 2 in the year 2000 (Danish national television). Danny Germansen is nowadays working as an artist and has had exhibitions and screenings of his work around the world.

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

 

Luca Curci – Please tell me about your art/the artwork shown during our festival…
Denny Germansen – My videos are inspired by a life with disability, depression and mental breakdown. My work with my videos are a theraphy for me, it helps me work mentally with my emoitions, problems and situation. ALIENATION & LONELINESS .. Should maybe had been titled isolation & loneliness. After many years living in isolation in my apartment with an depression and disability. This video from 2009 has opened many doors to me, when I started to upload my video on the net and started meeting people, who invited me to be in some international video collaboration projects, like ECVP and TEA IN A THUNDER CUP. I was invited on tours with this video by Alison Williams and her HEP project and a tour of TIME IS LOVE 6. Curated by Kisito Assangni. There was other shows and festivals who also showed ALIENATION & LONELINESS. So with this video I broke out of my isolation and continued to make further work who also has been shown around the world. BEATEN SYNOPSIS: The pain and feeling of a mental breakdown. Beaten shows how I, since my childhood, have been fighting with set backs, which continues until now. I had to fight with many physically illnesses which, since my childhood, make my disabillity worse and worser and the feeling of menatlly to take all that beaten I had to take in life. This under here is an artist statment about most of my video/shortfilm work: tales from the down below of society.

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

 

L.C. – We were attracted by your last artistic production, has the artworks presented been created for the festival  or as a part of pre-existent works?
D.G. – The videoes was made as a seires of 1 minute videos I did and I made a collection out of it together with two older experimental short films. The collection I call “inner projections from a broken man” and can be seen on vimeo or brujoart.com

L.C. – When do you start practicing art and why?
D.G. – I started playing music when I was 13 years old. I always was a film fan and dreamed about making my own films. Which I first started to do when I was 21 years old. But also making films since my breakdown in the early 20´s has been a kind of survival for me, about having something to do with my life, giving my life some contens, about creating a hobby and work for myself, since I have not been able to work in a real job. So my life has a meaning and life quality and I have something to focus on.

L.C. – Can you talk about your artistic work? Which are your inspirations?
D.G. – I´m inspired by the minimalisme of Carl Th. Dryer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jim Jarmusch and Lars Von Trier. I try to get my messages thru as simpel and naked as possible. So the message stands clear. The emotions shown in my artwork are feelings that all people can go through if there where similar situations and not unike for the mentally ill.

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

 

L.C. – What’s the art tip you usually receive? Do visitors’ suggestions enrich yourself and your art?
D.G. – The only tip that I’m getting is that people tell me I should continue what I´m doing. Some people react to my art videos with shock and disgust, I guess because they don´t understand it. So its good for me that some people support what I´m doing and want me to do more.

L.C. – What art themes do you pursue? What are your preferred subjects if any?
D.G. – I do anyhting as experimental filmmaker and video artist .. it should just have a deeper meaning. It should have a punch line, say somthing about life, the human condition and so on. But I also do pop art poster art – which have another playful and naif agenda.

L.C. – What do you think about It’s LIQUID Platform?
D.G. – Organisation is professional and the people working there are nice and polite and very service minded.

L.C. – Do you think It’s LIQUID Group can represent an opportunity for artists?
D.G. – As Isaid It’s LIQUID is a great good opportunities for artist. I think the metod in which the artists contribute to the expenses and the work of It’s LIQUID is a good combination.

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

 

^{Image courtesy of Denny Germansen}

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