Connecting in today's world...
Mishka Kornai
July 23, 2020
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Hi Mishka,
Thank you for joining our HocTok community. What are some of the favorite hats that Mishka Kornai wears? How have you found them? What best explains most if not all of your passions? At this point, I have more hats than I can count, but today I’m wearing an old Subaru cap that a dear friend gave to me after a road trip a few years back. |
Photo: courtesy of the artist |
As a filmmaker, I’ve always struggled to consolidate seemingly disparate passions for documentary, fiction, and experimental cinema, because each of these domains exist within their own creative and professional spheres.
Gallery owners aren’t particularly interested in box office numbers and fiction studios don’t really care about docs. That being said, it’s all cinema to me, and as an artist I feel like all of my projects stem from a singular fascination with how people connect to one another. Specifically, I find myself drawn to the ways in which technology is constantly creating and recreating the infrastructure of human connection. Smartphones have utterly transformed the ways in which we communicate, live, and love over the past decade alone, and every few years we can count on a new app to arrive and rewrite all the rules yet again.
Growing up in Silicon Valley with parents who worked in computer research, I wasn’t so much fascinated by technology as I was immersed in it. The further I was able to get away from that bubble, the clearer I was able to see the far-reaching impact these new technologies were making in the world.
Looking at your preferred list of collaborators, what do they all have in common? Who are some of them that you are happy to share the spotlight with?
It sounds a bit cliché, but the number one thing I look for in a collaborator is passion. I don’t care if someone has all the credits, awards, followers or experience under the sun; if they’re not earnestly excited to be part of a project, then they’re not the right person. My favorite people to work with are those who might not have extensive experience quite yet, but are itching for the opportunity to work with new resources and be trusted with new responsibilities.
My entire career has been made possible by a vast number of collaborators, but recently I have been lucky enough to work some really special people. Odette Mattha, Luke Orlando, Will Niava, Rachelle Fleury, Letty Houldsworth, and Melody Micmacher are incredibly talented artists who really made an impact on me through our collaborations.
What do we all need to do more of and less of in order to show that we truly believe in humanity?
Eat food with people who are different from you. Don’t be afraid to taste new things or listen to new perspectives. Your life will be better for it.
Do you have a message of love, compassion, and unity to heal our broken hearts and join the voices of protesters for justice and peace?
This feels like quite a tall order in today’s day and age. I think one of the most trying aspects of our current moment in history is just how fractured the public consciousness has become. The filter bubbles created by social media and entertainment platforms have sorted people into such idiosyncratic silos of information, that it feels like the only way to effect real change is in a precisely targeted manor.
No one person, leader, celebrity, activist, or artist can strive to be ‘universal’ in today’s personalized digital landscape and I think this is especially true of the political sphere. A single speech or message that might inspire one group of people to take to the streets and protest, could repulse another group of people, igniting hatred and vitriol instead. Because of this, I believe it’s our duty as individuals to seek out and enact actionable change within our immediate communities, focusing on changing and inspiring the hearts and minds of those directly around us. What that actionable change looks like is different for each of us, but one difficult conversation with someone you care about can often go further than a hundred social media posts.
What virtual experiences have you enjoyed most during the pandemic?
I watched a live-streamed concert from one of my favorite up and coming artists in Montreal, a band named Paradis Artificiel. I even invited a friend in California to virtually join me at the concert and it was beautiful.
Have you discovered any artists in recent weeks? How?
Yes. I discovered an incredible collage artist who goes by the IG handle @darkheart.jpg She creates haunting and stirring collages and recently created a powerful body of work inspired by the George Floyd protests.
What are some helpful ways of supporting contemporary artists?
This feels like quite a basic answer, but give struggling artists your money! Most artists don’t make enough from their work to support themselves, which means every time you support them financially you are giving them more time to make art instead of working a day job to pay the bills.
I’ve been lucky enough to carve out a career in the film industry that allows me to support myself, but so many of the artists who inspire me don’t have that privilege. Buy that print from their Instagram, or that zine, or that vinyl. And if buying isn’t an option for you, follow their careers, remember their work, and share their art with others.
#BeatTheBlues – What do you do to take care of your mental health?
For me, physical activity has been really important, and specifically riding my bike. During the height of the pandemic restrictions here in Berlin, I would ride my bike for a couple of hours every day. These rides were good exercise, but even more so an opportunity to get outside of my apartment and explore other parts of the city without putting others at risk.
Your favorite word of the day:
Verantwortung - the German word for responsibility. I’m learning German now and what I like about this word is it’s parallel to the English word despite sounding completely different: Antwort means answer or response, so just as the word responsibility can be broken down into "ability to respond" so can the word Veratwortung be broken down into that which you must “answer for”.
What upcoming projects, live or virtual, you’re proud to share with us?
At the end of last year, I created this music video - NOAH, and released it just before the global onset of Covid-19. It was shot in 3 different continents within a span of about three weeks and is the type of project that would be utterly unproducable now in the era of Covid. The video explores the lives of three different people in three different cities, Montreal, London, and Berlin.
I’ve always been fascinated by phone booths, how widespread a communication platform they once were and how obsolete they are for most of us now. The ways in which we connect with one another are shaped by the tools we use to communicate. When the old tools disappear, those forms of connection die with them.
Thank you and good luck!
Gallery owners aren’t particularly interested in box office numbers and fiction studios don’t really care about docs. That being said, it’s all cinema to me, and as an artist I feel like all of my projects stem from a singular fascination with how people connect to one another. Specifically, I find myself drawn to the ways in which technology is constantly creating and recreating the infrastructure of human connection. Smartphones have utterly transformed the ways in which we communicate, live, and love over the past decade alone, and every few years we can count on a new app to arrive and rewrite all the rules yet again.
Growing up in Silicon Valley with parents who worked in computer research, I wasn’t so much fascinated by technology as I was immersed in it. The further I was able to get away from that bubble, the clearer I was able to see the far-reaching impact these new technologies were making in the world.
Looking at your preferred list of collaborators, what do they all have in common? Who are some of them that you are happy to share the spotlight with?
It sounds a bit cliché, but the number one thing I look for in a collaborator is passion. I don’t care if someone has all the credits, awards, followers or experience under the sun; if they’re not earnestly excited to be part of a project, then they’re not the right person. My favorite people to work with are those who might not have extensive experience quite yet, but are itching for the opportunity to work with new resources and be trusted with new responsibilities.
My entire career has been made possible by a vast number of collaborators, but recently I have been lucky enough to work some really special people. Odette Mattha, Luke Orlando, Will Niava, Rachelle Fleury, Letty Houldsworth, and Melody Micmacher are incredibly talented artists who really made an impact on me through our collaborations.
What do we all need to do more of and less of in order to show that we truly believe in humanity?
Eat food with people who are different from you. Don’t be afraid to taste new things or listen to new perspectives. Your life will be better for it.
Do you have a message of love, compassion, and unity to heal our broken hearts and join the voices of protesters for justice and peace?
This feels like quite a tall order in today’s day and age. I think one of the most trying aspects of our current moment in history is just how fractured the public consciousness has become. The filter bubbles created by social media and entertainment platforms have sorted people into such idiosyncratic silos of information, that it feels like the only way to effect real change is in a precisely targeted manor.
No one person, leader, celebrity, activist, or artist can strive to be ‘universal’ in today’s personalized digital landscape and I think this is especially true of the political sphere. A single speech or message that might inspire one group of people to take to the streets and protest, could repulse another group of people, igniting hatred and vitriol instead. Because of this, I believe it’s our duty as individuals to seek out and enact actionable change within our immediate communities, focusing on changing and inspiring the hearts and minds of those directly around us. What that actionable change looks like is different for each of us, but one difficult conversation with someone you care about can often go further than a hundred social media posts.
What virtual experiences have you enjoyed most during the pandemic?
I watched a live-streamed concert from one of my favorite up and coming artists in Montreal, a band named Paradis Artificiel. I even invited a friend in California to virtually join me at the concert and it was beautiful.
Have you discovered any artists in recent weeks? How?
Yes. I discovered an incredible collage artist who goes by the IG handle @darkheart.jpg She creates haunting and stirring collages and recently created a powerful body of work inspired by the George Floyd protests.
What are some helpful ways of supporting contemporary artists?
This feels like quite a basic answer, but give struggling artists your money! Most artists don’t make enough from their work to support themselves, which means every time you support them financially you are giving them more time to make art instead of working a day job to pay the bills.
I’ve been lucky enough to carve out a career in the film industry that allows me to support myself, but so many of the artists who inspire me don’t have that privilege. Buy that print from their Instagram, or that zine, or that vinyl. And if buying isn’t an option for you, follow their careers, remember their work, and share their art with others.
#BeatTheBlues – What do you do to take care of your mental health?
For me, physical activity has been really important, and specifically riding my bike. During the height of the pandemic restrictions here in Berlin, I would ride my bike for a couple of hours every day. These rides were good exercise, but even more so an opportunity to get outside of my apartment and explore other parts of the city without putting others at risk.
Your favorite word of the day:
Verantwortung - the German word for responsibility. I’m learning German now and what I like about this word is it’s parallel to the English word despite sounding completely different: Antwort means answer or response, so just as the word responsibility can be broken down into "ability to respond" so can the word Veratwortung be broken down into that which you must “answer for”.
What upcoming projects, live or virtual, you’re proud to share with us?
At the end of last year, I created this music video - NOAH, and released it just before the global onset of Covid-19. It was shot in 3 different continents within a span of about three weeks and is the type of project that would be utterly unproducable now in the era of Covid. The video explores the lives of three different people in three different cities, Montreal, London, and Berlin.
I’ve always been fascinated by phone booths, how widespread a communication platform they once were and how obsolete they are for most of us now. The ways in which we connect with one another are shaped by the tools we use to communicate. When the old tools disappear, those forms of connection die with them.
Thank you and good luck!
