Jeremy Blake: An Interview

Jeremy Blake (1971-2007) used digital media to create works that function on a flexible spectrum between being more painting-like or more film-like. He created continually looping digital animations with sound to be projected or presented on plasma screens. Blake often began by making the digital C-prints, which he conceived to be somewhat like paintings; if the imagery and idea of one of these works lent itself as such, he might extrapolate from and expand on it to begin creating a digital animation, which could range from 3 to 20 minute repeating loops.

Blake's work did not rely on overt displays of technological complexity. Rather, through his talented and insightful use of relatively basic applications, he created compelling visual narratives that operate on a variety of levels. Blake's works typically have a color field as well as an architectonic foundation, with a sense of neo-modernist design and film noir-like attitude combining the representational and the abstract.

"I do think that adapting to new technological speeds is part of an artist's job," Blake notes in this interview with Romi Crawford.

A historical interview originally recorded in 2004 and re-edited in 2008.