Marco Brambilla Quotations

I'm a huge cinemaphile. My interest in filmmaking came out of experimenting with different genres, and I wanted to go back to working in a way that was more personal, which, for me, was artwork. Commercials and films are more collaborative.

I like controversy. The more controversial it gets, the more interesting it is.

Usually, the energy in elevators is so awkward; I mean, I can't imagine the politics in the ones in the Conde Nast building.

I never intended to become a commercial filmmaker in the first place. What I do requires time and experimentation. Commercial work is often not the best way to get the most innovative work, because it's about money and marketing. Although advertising is now embracing non-commercial people.

A lot of very popular mainstream artists are products of record companies and marketing companies, and any time anyone can stand outside of that, that's interesting.

I love the idea of bringing my work to the general public, not just people who go to gallery openings.

Just doing a project because it's an opportunity won't create meaning. As an artist, I need something to communicate.

Thematically, most of my work deals with transition, our culture's constant acceleration, and emotional connection and disconnection through technology.

I'm very obsessed with the energy of New York and the idea of the way people behave in the city versus the way they behave in a natural environment.

I think in America there's this free flow between fashion, art, architecture, music and design. In Europe it's more segregated between those different disciplines I think.

I think that in a weird way, as technology gets more sophisticated, people have become less aware of it. It's become part of our day to day life. We're seeing large-scale projection mapping, like on buildings. There's video everywhere. It's much less noticeable that we're actually looking at technology.

Being able to make work - if it's on your terms, and it's a good fit with the people who are supporting it - can be a very interesting exercise. When it doesn't work is when an artist just connects with a brand, and they try to take advantage of each other.

For me, a lot of my work has dealt with what it means to be at the center of the universe and how alienating and kind of seductive it is. A lot of my work is very aggressive and very visual, but at the same time, it has a lot of tension in it and makes you kind of uncomfortable sometimes.

Most of my work has no conventional narrative, so it's not essential to have a beginning and an end - your attention can flow in and out of the experience rather than having a set entry point.

The art world has become the R&D department for so much fashion and music, so knock-offs are getting better and better.

[While] physically traveling someplace or experiencing someplace firsthand, physically versus - which is what a lot of young people do - the experience is mitigated through technology and through social media.

I've always been interested with the idea of technology and the way technology affects our ability to communicate - our ability to have a rewarding experience with technology versus a kind of dehumanizing experience with technology.

When I'm approached by brands I use the kind of philosophy - I don't really get into a project unless I feel I can make something that will be honest for me.

Just doing a project because its an opportunity wont create meaning. As an artist, I need something to communicate.

The durational aspect of video art is very different from photography or sculpture. The idea of looping things interferes with that a little bit. It eliminates that finite viewing period which I think is not so expressive sometimes.

Usually, the energy in elevators is so awkward; I mean, I cant imagine the politics in the ones in the Conde Nast building.

The art world has become the R&D department for so much fashion and music, so knock-offs are getting better and better.