Catherine Owens is a New York-based Irish artist known for creating U2's last four world tour video installations. She has also directed their music video for "Original of the Species" and recently premiered her feature film directorial debut, "U2 3D" at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Having garnered well-earned praise for the 3D concert experience, in between panels and press conferences, I caught up with the glowing director to wax poetic about life in Manhattan and her early influences.
Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?
Always... well I mean I was drawing, I was scribbling, I was a major scribbler when I was a kid. I suppose when I was 14, I finally took some good classes. I think I took art classes for the exams I was doing.
My father was quite a brilliant advertising man and great ideas person and great thinker and a lovely draftsman so I would take after him in my drawings and he would encourage me. We grew up in a house full of artwork. Every inch of every wall was covered in art.
Is your mother creative?
She wasn't visually creative but she was a very clever woman and would make sure we were all immersed in the arts.
What brought you to the States?
I got an Arts Council Grant after college to come here, to come to New York. It was a travel grant. I received it upon graduation and at that time, New York was the place for artists. It was post punk but during the East Village art boom. It was a very active arts group including Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, and [Keith] Haring. You know, a very, very active group.
That was when fine art crossed over with street art and was also heavily influenced by music.
Yes, the former Talking Heads.
Deborah Harry. Madonna.
Danceteria! I clubbed for a whole year out there. Just clubbed. Area, Danceteria...
How long have you been in New York?
20 years.
So you're a New Yorker, is that the longest you've lived anywhere?
It's true but I have a house in Ireland so I come back [home].
Have you ever considered living elsewhere?
Why would you want to live anywhere other than New York? I mean there is no reason. Perhaps Paris, but really, only under duress.
Tell me a little about your current fine arts project.
I'm currently working on a piece of outdoor installation for 2008 for the Kinsale Arts Festival in Ireland. I'm collaborating with an architect and we're going to build an island out in the harbor and it's going to be a little media island.
Will it be functional?
Yes. It's a sailing port so it can be built like a dock. Hopefully
we're going to be able to have it so that people can come in to this
little wooden dock from everywhere. We're not sure what we're going to
do on it yet but I'd love some performance abilities. The title of the
piece is called, "Beacon".
What have you seen that's been visually stimulating or inspiring to you recently?
I'm a huge Bill Viola fan. Everything he does I love. I love early Laurie Anderson, Kathy Acker, the New York performance artist, just people who were, ballsy women. There's another women, Nancy Spero - an incredible feminist artist who's hugely inspirational and her husband Leon Golub, he died a few years ago. Nancy's still alive. She was an amazing political artist during the 70s and 80s. She had beautiful draftsmanship and is a collage artist, political feminist... very interesting. I can go on and name a thousand artists but they would be really early influences. Now I love Matthew Barney's work and Michel Gondry's work.
When I saw the film for the first time and realized the potential for what you could do with the new technology, I thought of director Michel Gondry.
Yes, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham, his work I love.
It seems as though it was very organic how you became a filmmaker. Do you have future plans to direct other films?*
I think I would like to do a couple of more 3D films. I'd love to work with a couple of people I spoke to today. But you know, I was talking to Edge about this last night and we were talking about how careful you have to be once you do a project like this that's really a success but what you do next. We were just talking about being in the service of creativity and letting the creative idea come to you. So whatever life has to offer. I think I'd actively seek to experiment with 3D cameras and then see what can come of that.
Working in the male dominated entertainment and new technologies industries,do you feel it is necessary to mentor young women?
I think just by being there, women will be encouraged. But I think I really want to encourage students, men and women to think in a very conscious way about why they're doing the work they're doing and what they can contribute to a bigger picture. To a socially conscious experience as well as a creative experience.
What do you think the biggest lesson you learned about the creative process was when you made this film?
The biggest lesson really is that you've got to have a good team and you've got to trust that team.
I think [VFX Supervisor] Dave Franks along with my editor Olivier Wicki and our music producer Carl Glanville made a decision that they were really just going to serve the creative intention above all else. And Dave's guidance to the rest of the 3D team was always focused towards whatever the creative demand was. That has all of its own inherent tensions because people want to go one way and others want to go another way. But at the end of the day everybody really served the film first, and the band first, and my vision. We really had a very strong working relationship despite any of the technical ups and downs or the budgetary ups and downs.
Any last thoughts?
Coming to this as a non-traditional filmmaker, hopefully will encourage others to feel the man made barriers need to be pushed aside really. I would encourage people to break barriers because that's what U2 have done all their life and that's what I do. And it seems to work.
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