This workshop at the Mendocino Art Center in California invites participants to discover their voice in experimental filmmaking through hands-on exercises and discussions. We will explore the creative processes behind experimental cinema and video art, learning from influential filmmakers and artists. By analyzing and deconstructing our influences, we'll push the boundaries of audiovisual storytelling and refine our creative practice.

The objectives of the workshop are to:

• Improve our understanding of our own creative process.
• Take steps to find our own voice in audiovisual creation.
• Learn about the history and creative processes of different figures in experimental cinema and video art.
• Explore, analyze, and deconstruct our influences.
• Create a collaborative piece of video art and/or experimental cinema.

This workshop is open to participants interested in film as well as other types of artists, writers, musicians, or film curious.

Instructor: Rodrigo Courtney
Title:   Videoart and Experimental Film
Dates:  June 20, 21, 22
18 hours instruction total
Structure of Class: (3) 6 hour classes
Location:  In Person
Level:  All Levels
Tuition: $555, members $500
Minimum: 5 / Maximum 15
Registration deadline: June 6, 2025

Sign up here: https://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/workshops/p/rodrigo-courtney-videoart-and-experimental-film-w-rodrigo-courtney-june-20-21-22

Required Materials list:
Students should bring any type of video camera (can be your phone), a notebook for notes, a laptop computer is optional.

Optional Materials list:
Bring any sound equipment, film equipment, lenses, or audiovisual gear you may want to explore with.

INSTRUCTOR BIO: 
Rodrigo Courtney, also known as Fangs, is a Mexican experimental filmmaker and video artist from Guadalajara. He began his career as a documentary filmmaker, developing an unconventional directing style influenced by Gonzo journalism. Over time, he transitioned into experimental film and video art, using these mediums to express and share his unique perspective on life in this beautiful yet chaotic world.

Many of his audiovisual works include strong references to his personal life and his own healing processes. Social justice, addiction, dreams, human virtue, art, spirituality and mysticism are often topics of his works. Much of his work is informed by his own experiences and visions from the use of sacred plants such as peyote, ayahuasca, and psilocybin.

Rodrigo is currently researching alchemy, the exploration of the subconscious mind, and mythology and myth creation, to create otherworldly audiovisual pieces. For the last 3 years, together with his partner, performer, jeweler and multidisciplinary artist Hanna-Katarina, they've been creating video art and experimental audiovisual pieces that dive into dreams, myths, memories, visions, and our perceptions of reality.