Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2006, Qupperneq 5

Þorsteinn J. is one of Iceland’s premier
media people. For two years, this former
host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire has
been running an independent web-based
TV-magazine called This Life, This Life.
Governed by his desire to break the barriers
and explore new ground, his short docs and
portraits of people have caught the eye of
the public for its originality and innovative
narrative.
/// How long have you been working in the
media really?
– Well, My mom was working for the
state-owned broadcasting company (RUV)
when I was young, and I remember taking
the elevator up to her off ice on the f ifth
f loor when I was 14 years old. I just felt as
soon as I came in that this was something
that I wanted to work with. There was just
something that caught me. All those sounds
coming from the studios, the smell… This
miracle really, to be able to be in one place
and talk, and it can be heard everywhere.
Soon after that, I started to read from chil-
dren’s book on the radio before Christmas,
and I have been doing this ever since, and I
f ind it just as exciting now as I did then.
/// What stands out during this time?
– I think what really stands apart is the
digital revolution of the media a few years
ago. When we f irst started to work with
computers to edit material. The media is
very traditional and conservative; every-
thing has always been done before. That is
just the way it is, you do an interview, or
take a photo, but when you are able to move
around more freely… That is really the con-
cept behind the web-based TV magazine,
this mobilization. I don’t need to plug in
anywhere. I don’t need any sort of institu-
tion, I just have my own permission to do
what I want, and more literally as well. I
don’t need to even plug into the electrical
socket in the wall. All I need is the video
camera, I take the material, record it, load it
onto my laptop, edit it, and upload it to my
website, without even having to plug into
220 volts. This is the big revolution in my
opinion.
The industry is just the same as it ever
was. News should still be about the facts,
what happened, where and when. Then you
have the other more news related material
and that gives you a lot more space to work
with. It is possible to put a lot more into it,
and to play around with the narrative.
/// Is there some aspect of this that you like
more than others?
– Yes… What I most like… How should I
say this without it sounding too bad? Is this
intimacy with people, and the curiosity you
are allowed to have as a journalist. You have
a reason to call people, or come by, and ask
about things. You have reason to look into
different worlds and see different situations.
I’ve always said that is a privilege. You are
always entitled to ask questions and follow
upon that.
/// You were the host of the Icelandic Who
Wants to be a Millionaire, and you go
from there to doing this type of stand-
alone journalism. These are pretty differ-
ent mediums.
– I guess. For me, Who Wants to be a Mil-
lionaire was just like doing a radio show
I used to do on RUV called Songs for the
Young, where the whole concept was that
I received letters from young people who
requested songs they wanted to hear. This
was just a regular format show. When the
offer came to do the show, I was a bit tired
of taking myself so seriously all the time, to
always be doing my own thing. I was ready
to try to do something different. It was a
good experience, those two years I did it,
a nice change. But I have always been do-
ing my own things on the side, to varying
degrees.
I have always thought affectingly of
when I was younger and was writing poetry,
I hand-wrote one hundred copies of my
poetry book in three months, which was
sort of a ridiculous idea, but it was a form I
felt was f itting at the time, and no matter if
I am doing radio or writing or now with the
internet, I like to do it based on my ideas,
because a lot of people just tell me that this
is never going to work, this is doomed, and
that is when I get excited to do it. You just
assume from the beginning that not every-
one is going to get the idea, not everyone
are going to think it is an exciting idea, but
if you know yourself what is that idea that
makes it exciting for you, then you are hav-
ing fun.
/// How do you choose your subjects?
– It is so strange, I sometimes hear people
complain that there is nothing happening.
But, oh my god, there is so much happen-
ing. I only have to walk down Vesturgata
to see at least three or four stories that are
just ripe for the picking. It is all relative to
criterion you use for the material. If you are
always looking for the big f ire or the big
political scandal, then there is probably not
much happening. I’m more interested in my
own surroundings, the people around me
and what people are doing. I used to have a
two-hour radio show on Bylgjan from noon
until two in the afternoon. I did the show
by going out each morning and f inding the
material and the subject in that same day.
I would never have any sort of plan before-
hand; I would just go out and f ind the mate-
rial. Of course, it was often a lot of pressure
to f ind the material, but it always surprised
me how much material there is around us.
The standard for the material in This Life,
This Life is really just nothing in particular.
I don’t start by shaping the box, and then
f ind the material to f it the box. I do it the
other way around, I start by f inding the
material, and then I shape the box.
/// How do you experience the material
yourself ?
– How would you classify it? There often
seems to a poetic undertone to what you are
doing.
I am always very much aware that what
I am presenting is just one perspective. This
is never going to be a defining description
of one man or one situation. This is always
my perspective. When I am working on
a story with someone, I try to do it very
spontaneously and unorganized. I try not
to direct the situation too much, but rather
to work with the situation as it is. I don’t
ask people to repeat, or to do a walk again
in order to capture it better. I have been
very inf luenced by my friend, the photog-
rapher Einar Falur Ingólfsson, and other
photographers. I just work with the material
that I am able to capture from spontaneous
situations. I think that is just as plausible
depiction as anything else. This is just my
modus operandi. The material really decides
the production.
/// How do see the future of media?
– I am always waiting for people to discover
the Internet as a medium in its own condi-
tions. The Internet is not a printing medium
and it is not just an archive to look for
information. It is a picturesque medium that
follows its own set of laws. I am waiting
for people to stop trying to use it to always
try to write text, and realize how it can be
used with moving pictures. If I need to f ind
information about China, I can do that, but
it is not like I need info on China every-
day. People have to realize the enormous
potential the Internet has as a medium in its
own right.
/// So, the revolution is just waiting to be
discovered?
– Yes, exactly.
You can access his This Life, This Life through
www.thorsteinnj.is
“When the offer came to do (Who Wants to Be a Mil-
lionaire), I was a bit tired of taking myself so seriously
all the time, to always be doing my own thing.”
The Revolution is Waiting to be Discovered
Interview with Þorsteinn J. Vilhjálmsson
by sveinn birkir björnsson photo by gúndi
“If you are always looking for the big fire or the big
political scandal, then there is probably not much hap-
pening.”