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Konefsky
finds passion in people
Movie
maker connects with community
By
Brian Lucero
UNM
Media Arts instructor Bryan Konefsky abandoned the tag artist
for cultural worker.
I believe
that the title of artist is burdened with the connotation of a
genius or a primary individual, he says. While cultural
worker gives you a sense of someone who is trying to foster a
community.
As an adjunct
professor, Konefsky works hard to bring communities together.
In 1996, Ira Jaffe, chair of media arts, gave him the opportunity
to play an intricate part in the department. As an instructor,
Konefsky tries to show his students the brilliance of personal
cinema, noting that people dont have to be brought together
by a movie made on a multi-million dollar budget or by a big time
director.
Anybody
can make a movie, Konefsky says. Its a matter
of telling your story. Hollywood doesnt need to be the only
venue that tells our stories. Why cant we tell our own stories?
Konefsky
has been telling his stories since the late 80s when he
switched his focus from painting to the moving image arts.
I sold
my set of paint and brushes for my first camera because I felt
that when I hung a picture in an art gallery, there was a huge
sense of disconnection between me and my audience, he says.
I wanted to connect to them in a more intimate and personal
way.
Now his camera
collection serves as his paint brushes, each recording the world
in its own way to bring people together all over the world. He
plans to take his personal cinematic movies on tour through several
venues in the United States, Canada and Europe.
I like
traveling to connect one-on-one with human beings in the international
community of movie making, he says.
His passion
for forming connections also transcends to his students. He tries
to bring back to his students all the knowledge and experience
he gathers on his travels.
Unlike many
movie makers, it is obvious that Konefskys main goal is
not to be noticed in Hollywood, but rather to continue an exploration
in this work to bring people closer together with the hope they
might realize the value of their own voices and the power of their
creative vision.
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