Giet ’t zo met? Crossmedia Design student Judith made a moving documentary about her local supermarket
- Design
“Did you know the supermarket in the village is closing down?” Judith Odink, fourth-year Crossmedia Design student, was sitting at the kitchen table in the village of Lutten, where she was born, when her mother told her the news. As it happened, she was just looking for a subject for an assignment. It was a no brainer. You don't have to go halfway round the world for a good story, points out Judith – staying close to home can be just as profitable: “There are great stories to be found everywhere, they just need to be told.”
Crossmedia Design is not the first course that Judith has followed at ArtEZ. She started on the Fine Art and Design in Education course in Zwolle, but it wasn't a good match for her: "I think I was still too young. On top of that, being a teacher has to suit you. Being able to communicate what you are enthusiastic about to others effectively and understandably is a special talent.” By way of a detour via Art History in Groningen – "too theoretical, I missed the making side" – she ended up on Crossmedia Design at the AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design, although she was still debating whether to do Fine Art at AKI. Judith was accepted for both courses. “But ultimately, Fine Art was too independent for me. Crossmedia Design is also a self-directed course, but you are expected to work within certain boundaries. The work does have to communicate something. That makes the course truly unique".
Sense of community
In Crossmedia Design, the form you choose for your work is secondary to the message. That means you may be working with graphics, photography, video and all the other art forms that exist. Judith: “By doing a lot of experimentation, you find out what suits you, what your formal language is. I was drawn to video because it is a very direct and strong medium.” So the video assignment that prompted her documentary ‘Giet ’t zo met?’ was perfect for Judith. It gave her the opportunity to tell the story that had her village in its sway. Judith: “As a result of competition and high energy costs, more and more local supermarkets are closing down in small villages, and that's a shame. You can’t measure the value of the local supermarket in money; it lies in things like a sense of community. So when the supermarket closes down, that role disappears too. I wanted to show that in my documentary.”
Talked round by classmates
Fired up with the idea, she approached the former supermarket owners Bernhard and Jarina Veldman with the concept of what she wanted to do, but she initially met with little enthusiasm: “They didn't want to do it, they had too much else to worry about. If I hadn't listened to my classmates at that point, who told me I absolutely had to have another go at convincing them, this work would not have happened. In the village where I'm from, people won’t go to the papers. They don't complain. But I thought it would be a pity if this story were not to be told.” When Judith called at the village supermarket a second time, she didn't have to do much persuading: “The previous time, I had come at a busy time. But by now, Bernhard and Jarina had read my initial concept. They saw that it wasn't just looking to cobble together a film for an assignment, but that I was generally interested in what they had to say. So they were keen to get involved after all.”
As an artist, you have a creative and critical spirit. That is a gift you can use in so many different ways. You can hold up a mirror to society, offer a different perspective."
Holding up a mirror to society
According to Judith, it is your duty as an artist to position yourself at the heart of society: "Every profession performs a role in society. I don't think you can say ‘I'm an artist, so I'm going to sit in my attic making paintings. I actually find that a bit ridiculous! As an artist, you have a creative and critical spirit. That is a gift you can use in so many different ways. So why would you disengage? You can hold up a mirror to society, offer a different perspective. That's what I wanted to do in my documentary. After watching the documentary, Jarina’s father Jan Bouwhuis, who started the shop, said it had helped him process what had happened. He said: ‘It's a kind of mourning process. When I look back at myself a year ago and realise that it has all turned out OK, that is so valuable for me.’ Of course it's nice that by making a documentary like this you learn what you are capable of, what you are good at and what you are less good at, but it's even more special to be able to help someone else through your work. That was my biggest motivation: the responsibility for dealing sensitively with another person’s vulnerability. The credits for this assignment were secondary to that.”
Statement
Judith needn't have worried about her credits, as the response from the course was very positive. Judith: “Someone asked me, could you have made this about something less personal? Now that I have seen how emotionally invested you can get in an issue just by working on it, I know that the answer is yes. At some point in the process, I lost my objectivity. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You can start with a journalistic approach, but ultimately it’s your personal work and a documentary like this says something about you. It turned out to be much more of a statement than I would have thought at the start."
Making something that doesn’t turn out the way you wanted, is that so bad? As long as you don't say ‘no’ to new ideas."
Making and thinking go hand in hand
While making the documentary, Judith was helped by the approach she had learned on the course, in which making and thinking are equally important. Judith: “That means you don't spend a lot of time thinking before you start work. You just get on with it. In the first year of the course, you have to make loads of stuff, and it doesn't matter whether you always achieve what you set out to do. Besides, making something that doesn’t turn out the way you wanted, is that so bad? As long as you don't say ‘no’ to new ideas. Creativity is more than just making beautiful things, above all it's a way of thinking. It's about being curious, investigating, and sometimes taking risks".
More hard-hitting
Judith is keen to continue working as a documentary maker in the future: "This time I did everything myself, but my dream is to be able to choose my own subjects, be in control and ask all the questions – and leave someone else to do the camerawork and editing. In terms of subjects, I would like to be even more activist and critical. Even more hard-hitting.”
More information about Crossmedia Design
More information
Interested in this course? Judith has a tip!
“Be bold; that way you’ll enjoy it more. An art course is so self-directed that you can make it easy or hard for yourself. The most fun place to be is at that point between ‘I'm getting the hang of this’ and ‘this could go either way’. You kind of need to jump in at the deep end."
