Featuring Lakshman Anandanayagam

Written by Emma Whitlock

For this month's 10 Questions, Morph interviewed fantastically talented, Auckland based Flame Artist and Director Lakshman Anandanayagam.

With a passion for all things involving visual arts, Lakshman spends a lot of his spare time moonlighting as a VJ and installation artist, creating, installing and performing visual backdrops for a variety of events including opening for Hextatic as part of the Supervisors duo with Mike Bridgman, VJing for Talvin Singh, Freddie Kruger and Dam Funk. Music videos are another passion for Lakshman and he has been involved with several over the last few years in a directorial or post-production capacity. Most recently, he directed a music video for Isaac Aesili entitled I'm all In.

Lakshman emigrated to NZ in 1987 with his family from Sri Lanka. Growing up in Ashburton and Invercargill, he considers himself a Mainlander despite living in the North. He graduated from Otago University in 2002 with a degree in Medicine.

Lakshman is currently working on a short film project for Auckland Museum. To see more of his work click here.

In terms of your accomplishments, which do you consider to be most significant?
Probably turning my childhood obsession with moving pictures into a career.

How would you describe your practice? Is it a profession, a passion, a calling?
A combination of all three. It doubles as my job for a lot of the time and it usually (not always) tends to be inversely related to the amount of money involved. I think you tend to do your best work when you’re doing it for the love of the idea. In the real world though, I do a mix of projects, some are more creatively rewarding than others, but generally I’m doing something that I’d be doing in my spare time anyway.

What are the resources, and who is it that keeps you supported?
I’m constantly discovering new resources and avenues to source funding – which is great. I’m a big fan of Helen Clark’s commitment to fostering the arts, this has created more funding opportunities for creative projects. NZ On Air have funded the majority of music video projects I’ve worked on.

How do you find the arts scene in NZ, what are its strengths and weaknesses?
I think it’s amazing given our population size. I’ve been very lucky to work with and learn from some amazingly talented creative types in NZ. The small population can also be a weakness in many ways, but the global village is making it easier to access international talent and audiences.

What is your vision for your career?
I would really like to be able to make a living doing only projects of my choice one day.

How did your latest collaboration with Issac Aesili come about (see below for further information on Issac Aesili)?
Isaac approached me to collaborate with him on his album release tour – I designed a visual backdrop for his live show and in the course of doing this I listened to the new album Eye See a lot. I found that I couldn’t stop listening to one particular track called I’m all In featuring a vocalist called Rachel Fraser. The production and the vocals were so good and so emotive I found I had a whole lot of inspiration flowing out of this track. I started talking to Isaac about a video and we started throwing some ideas around. Five months and an NZ on air grant later, we had a music video.

What/who inspired you on this project?
Isaac’s beats combined with Rachel’s lyrics and vocals were my primary source of inspiration on this video. There’s a lot of narrative in the vocals and I’m always inspired by the combination of good musicianship with lyrics that are actually saying something. I also drew a lot of inspiration from the crew. Their commitment to the cause really made me want to make something worth the effort.

Can you tell us about some of the techniques (such as the animation, lighting, etc) you employed on this project?
One of the technical challenges we had for several shots was to try to combine 16mm film footage shot at normal frame rate with high speed (slow motion) digital footage . I hadn’t done this before so the whole process was a learning experience for everyone involved.
Shooting on film also meant there was lot of latitude for our colourist Pete Ritchie to give the whole clip a really beautiful colour grade. I’ve learned that a good colourist is invaluable.

Can you talk us through your process of making this music video ie. research, funding, planning, shooting, editing?
I did some pretty intense planning for this video. Shooting and processing film is expensive so you have to really think about the best use of every foot of film. We still encountered some curve balls on the shoot but we were able to deal with them pretty well in the end. We achieved a lot over two weekends of shooting which is an indicator of what an awesome crew we had. Everyone really felt the tune and wanted to do a good job so we were all giving it a lot of love. The whole experience has left me with an irresistible urge to shoot more film soon.

What current/future projects are you working on?
I’m currently working on a short film project for and exhibition at Auckland Museum which opens in June. I’m also experimenting with projection mapping in live visual installations and VJ rigs and I’m trying to find a large building to do an installation on...has anyone out there got one lying around?

Further Information on Isaac Aesili

Isaac Aesili’s debut solo album Eye See is a rich tapestry of sound with R&B at its heart, and lashings of soul, reggae and funk woven within. Experimental and futuristic in some parts, warm and soulful in others, the album, an extension of its author, is a tribute to diversity. The album features collaborations with a variety of gifted kiwis; Aaradhna, Rosita Vai, Rachel Fraser, Mara TK and Deva Mahal.

A prolific collaborator, he has co-written songs with Aaradhna, Ladi6 and Tyra Hammond and done session work playing horns for Hollie Smith, Shapeshifter, House of Shem, Anika Moa and Crowded House.Over the last decade Isaac has been an integral member of: Solaa, Opensouls, Eru Dangerspiel and The Recloose Live Band. Isaac singed release deals for Eye See with Wonderful Noise in Japan and Soulab in France. He has recently also completed an album with his little brother Mark McNeill called 'The Karlmarx project' and is also producing songs for L.A. Mitchell and Rachel Fraser.

“One of the most exciting soul talents to emerge from the South Pacific!”
(Benji B, Soulful Deviation; BBC1 Xtra)

“R&B hustle and forward-thinking experimental soul”
(Scott Kara; New Zealand Herald)