ART Habens Art Review, Spring 2015

Spring 2015

H A B E N S C o n t e m p o r a r y

A r t

R e v i e w

JOSHUA WHITE SARAH BOULTON KRZYSZTOF KACZMAR JOSHUA MCQUARY NICOLAS HUGHES OLGA IVANOVA BOU LI LAO MARTIN GANTMAN Martin Gantman (USA) Empire, Installation

Special Issue

ART H A B E N S

We are glad to announce the winners of the third edition of ART Habens: this season edition has focused on a recurrent paradox in contemporary art: the vague and ambiguous but thoroughly entrenched boundaries between the different practices of new media.

In particular, we have selected artists dealing with process-driven changes in our society, who pair their observations with new media technologies to produce their art projects: this competition aims to give the impetus and opportunity to artists (fine art, media, architecture, design, music, theatre, visual communication etc.) to work between the boundaries of Contemporary Art.

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Martin Gantman (USA) "The growth of globalized interaction, though often questioned in terms of culture, economic development, and global economy, has never been in doubt. That is, the world will continue to become relatively smaller, and global interactions will continue to occur at all levels of society.

History dictates to us that cultures will continue to influence each other even in places as remote as the deepest Amazonian rain forest or as protected as the Galapagos Islands.

These interactive affects will moderate differences at the same time that they create conflicts." (Martin Gantman)

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Krzysztof Kaczmar (Poland / United Kingdom) Space appears to us as an impression.Is a word taken out of context of the sentence.Real relations between the words exist outside of consciousness, until they will be used in one, common sentence.

Every person is on a separate island of his own being. Between us spreads the night of mysterious darkness of Waters of Etiquette and Oceans of Conventions. Art is a message about the water that separates us, about the cognition of coordinates on the map of this errant archipelago.

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Joshua White (USA) I am fascinated by memory. I am as interested in theories of contemporary neuroscience that discuss the deterioration of our memories, brought on by the very act of remembrance. The title In Search Of Lost Time refers to Marcel Proust’s tome of the same name. It was previously translated as Remembrance of Things Past, and I can’t help but think that he would smile a little to know that even the title of his book has changed over time. Proust’s words about his memories, penned nearly a century ago, reflect what neuroscience is discovering now: that memory is malleable, imperfect, and ephemeral.

Olga Ivanova

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(United Kingdom/Russia) Under Pressure is the latest project by Russian born artist, Olga Ivanova.At only 17, her acute perceptions of the world around her create violent and physical pieces of work.

She injects an agitated texture, reminiscent of modernity and 21st century angst.

‘I try to reveal the fears of society like not being free to express yourself and the necessity of rude actions in order to survive.All my heroes are making their own choices and the most important thing for me is to show their feelings through colours and shapes.’'

Joshua McQuary

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(USA) I have been drawing monsters/creatures/weird things my entire life.It wasn't until I was deployed to Afghanistan, that is where my art got its color.When I was there in the shit I only had one way to escape and I think that when and where I was at the time kick started me into a whole new world.. I use highlighters as my medium.Every painting has a lot of meaning to me whether I love it or hate it. So I hope you enjoy my imagination and I hope you will keep checking up on my art on me so you can watch my growth, supportive comments are always encouraged, and any help you can give to pull me up this path is more than appreciated.

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(United Kingdom) Sarah Boulton (b.1989) is an artist and poet and lives and works in London. She forms works mostly through writing poetry, making videos and co-working with an other. She is often a vessel and her works companions or counterpoints. She is often exploring maintaining/ desire/ magic/ animation. She makes things that she wishes to exist.

Recent shows have included Birds Need Gravity to Swallow, an online work and physical installation (OPENYOURKIMONO/ Project Number) and epitaphae for Studio Parlor. Sarah’s work will be included in the 6th issue of Tender, a quarterly journal made by women, some time in 2015.

Nicolas Hughes

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(USA) Born and raised in sunny southern California, Patrick Santos was always interested in cameras.

Growing up, the thought of capturing anything with a camera interested him greatly which led him to explore film and photography Today, Patrick explores the ideas of the gatherings, parties, and group dynamics by using readymades, digital photography, and found photography in his conceptual art..

Bou Li Lao (USA) Creating organically inspired originals in graphite, color pencil, acrylics on canvas and mixed media.

Specializing in mixed media- acrylic masterpieces are drenched in Swarovski crystal, foil pigments, gold, silver and copper leafing, fiber, semi precious stones, and micro beads.

These mixed media creations are luscious light catchers that are as versatile as the lighting.

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Martin Gantman Gantman Empire, continued to morph as did its subject, globalization. The project strives to portray in a discernible way the seemingly contradictory end goals of bottom line economic performance and human benefit. At first, centered on Davos, Switzerland, where each year the World Economic Forum conference is held, the work projected, as a device for representing the above ideas, Davos as the capital of an economic empire, as was Rome its empire's capital.

After that initial portrayal, where the event (globalization) was envisioned as a semi-coordinated effort of interested entities, the phenomenon was later seen more broadly as the effect of the composite energy of entities predisposed toward a common interest; and I began to concentrate simply on the elements that testify toward the global metamorphosis.

At this point, however, in light of the recent and ongoing global economic distress, I began to feel that perhaps the concept of a concentration of energy has dematerialized into a state of disequilibrium or fragmentation. That is not to say that the socio/economic world will not continue to synthesize or that there are not still powerful entities and influences that are pushing toward an agenda of economic centralization and control. But that also is not to say that those particular entities that we like to see as having a sense of world interactivity really do have that oversight.

The growth of globalized interaction, though often questioned in terms of culture, economic development, and global economy, has never been in doubt. That is, the world will continue to become relatively smaller, and global interactions will continue to occur at all levels of society. History dictates to us that cultures will continue to influence each other even in places as remote as the deepest Amazonian rain forest or as protected as the Galapagos Islands.

These interactive affects will moderate differences at the same time that they create conflicts.

The primary debate has always been around the question of benefit, as in cost/benefit analysis; and to that end whether a unique entity, such as a nation-state or a local culture, opts to embrace or inhibit such global influences. One of the major issues, when speaking to globalization in the modern era, has been about the capitalist enterprise. Capitalism is difficult enough to discuss when referring solely to the consequences of the authority of global corporations.

But when the interests of corporate entities, democratic states, and monarchic and dictatorial powers become intertwined; the discussion becomes interminably complex. For most of us the issue of economic globalization or global empire revolves around our personal well-being. How do we as personal entities, members of a particular economic culture, and even as place-holders in a societal class fare in relation to similar others as well as to a ruling class or capitalist elite whom might increasingly influence our destinies? Is there still an historic progression toward more economic and political equivalence or is the sense of that progression merely a relative faรงade?

This project strives to break through some of the fog of political and emotional rhetoric around these issues in order to be able to construct and present a more vivid representation of contemporary cultural realities.

Empire (partial installation view)

Kristi Engle Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 201

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Davos, 2010

photo: William Nettles

Martin Gantman

An interview with An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator

One of the features of Martin Gantman's work that at soon impacted on me is the way he effectively combines conceptual and politicised practice, giving birth to a stimulating mix of pure art and a deep socio political engagement. Through his practice, he seems to aim to provide the viewers of an extension of the ordinary human perception, in order to manipulate it and releasing it from its most limbic parameters. In particular, his recent Empire project that we'll be discussing in the following pages, condenses the permanent flow of the perceptions of objects and the events related to them, questioning their inner nature in the socio politic context they are placed in. And since as me he has a scientific background, I'm particularly pleased to introduce our readers to his multifaceted artistic production. Hello Martin, and a very warm welcome to ART Habens: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any experiences that has particularly influenced you as an artist and on the way you currently conceive your works?

Hello, and thank you for your very kind words.

In terms of influence, I would like to begin by stating that I was born in Los Angeles. This is a city that is unlike any other. It combines the attitudes of western America, it’s attachment to open space and individual freedoms, together with the social politics of a somewhat progressive urban society. During my life, greater Los Angeles has grown into an international city, but its large geographic area still contains, within its boundaries, large communities that are primarily suburban in nature. And to make the situation just a bit more complex, growing up beneath the culture and façade of the film industry, one realizes that they must struggle, even harder, to discover and maintain a sense of what is real – that is real in the sense of how one is able to comport their lives.

Martin Gantman photo: Lynn Leatar

out by Communist policies and practices. He maintained a life- long anger about that, while also displaying an unbound sense of fairness – to a fault.

Finally, I want to mention that while, as you allude to above, there is a tendency to categorize some as, for example, a “political” artist or some other kind of artist, I think of myself first as an artist who generally, but not always, works with sociopolitical ideas Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and

Second, I want to mention the influence of my father, who was a Russian immigrant, forced

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Welcome to Davos, 2011 photo: William Nettles

set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

I printed out copies of about 50 historical odalisque paintings, beginning with Titian and going forward to contemporary artists, such as Yves Klein and Tom Wesselman. I pinned these prints to my studio wall and simply stared at them for about 3 months until I finally, perhaps belatedly, understood that this expression of sexuality, sensuality, and gender was primarily about the artists, themselves, and their personal attitudes, and had very little to do with the particular woman being painted. During that time I also journaled my own thoughts and attitudes on the subject.

In regard to my art production, I tend to work in terms of defined projects. That is, I will decide on an issue I am interested in, whether sociopolitical, perceptual, or philosophical and I will focus a series of works around that idea.

I once had a thought to create a project, The Odalisque Suite, around the history and production of artistic odalisques. I understood the obvious attraction that the female body has for, at least, heterosexual men, but I wanted to understand more deeply the necessity to produce these works, and also how they were manifested.

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The particular medium I use, though most of my recent projects are produced within the realm of photography and the computer, is selected in such a way as to best reinforce the portrayal of the original concept. For example, you

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Dissolution, 2011

mentioned the project, Empire. That project in its final manifestation includes two-dimensional works, sculpture, two books (one using an online outsourcing app), and postal communications, written and received.

ART Habens

photo: William Nettles

politically useful, they also can become divisive and, in terms of nationalism, sources of dispute.

I admired Buckminster Fuller and others who considered themselves internationalists. My interest in globalization is an extension of that viewpoint; and, while globalization may seem to be supportive of an agenda of integration, its manifestation, in terms of economics, is more questionable.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from Empire, an extremely interesting work that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit directly at http://gantman.com in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted artistic production.

In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

I began to take notice of the World Economic Forum conference held each January in Davos, Switzerland; and ultimately decided to do a project about that. This Davos conference is really a meeting of the CEOs of the largest international corporations, along with a smattering of political leaders, and sometimes a couple of celebrities. Ostensibly, it is a gathering of these people to discuss world economic

I have long been interested in maps and, particularly boundaries. While they may be 21 49

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Elements of Globalization, 2011 photo: William Nettles issues and how to improve the plight of certain underdeveloped areas of the world. But really, these people just meet to get themselves out front, and make financial deals. In terms of any of my production, and while I obviously have my

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biases, I always feel it is more effective to display, as much as possible, the facts of a situation and allow viewers to work out their own responses. I set about doing this with Davos, but a couple of years down the road (I

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of the headlines, there is also the occurrence of global migration, local armed rebellions, dislocating of young girls into the sex trade, black market enterprises, homogenization, and the amazing images of small local stock exchanges trying to emulate the NYSE, etc.

I am also interested in appropriation as an artistic medium, and images on the Internet were readily available for all of the areas that I could think to cover. The two-dimensional pieces all depict imagery that displays the Windows frames of the web pages where I discovered the images, as a way of indicating that even the production of this work was displaying the very issue, globalization, which I was discussing.

And just to round out the discussion of this project, I added two elements to try to act beyond my studio walls, and to elicit testimony from real world participants. I wrote letters to the heads-of-state of all the nation members of the United Nations, and to the CEOs of the 100 largest international corporations. I asked if they had attended the conference in Davos, what their impression of it was, and also their attitudes about globalization. The return letters I received are a part of the project.

In addition, using an international Internet outsourcing app, I was able to survey working people around the world. I asked them to give me a sentence or two about their experiences and/or ideas about globalization. These responses were made into one of the books that are exhibited within the project.

I think that Empire urges the viewer to follow not only your process, but even and especially the cultural and politic substratum on which you build your creations: I have particularly appreciated the way this forces us to evolve from being a passive spectator to more conscious participants to the act you perform...

By the way, although I'm aware that this might sound a bit na誰f, I have to admit that I'm sort of convinced that Art -especially nowadays- could play an effective role in sociopolitical questions: not only just by offering to people a generic platform for expression...

worked on this project for four years), I realized that this issue was beyond just the affairs in Davos, and was more about the effects of these economic issues on how the world actually works. While the heads of these CEOs get most

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I would go as far as to state that Art could even steer people's behaviour... what's your point about this? Does it sound a bit exaggerated?

I have become increasingly interested in what causes people to make the kinds of decisions that they do. Particularly here in the United States, it appears that many people actually seem to vote against their own personal interest. While the above topic is extremely complex and well documented, I think, perhaps also naively, that finding ways to communicate the consequences of certain behaviors, or the realities of certain situations, might begin to insert a more thoughtful awareness of these issues within people’s subconscious biases and into their deliberations.

Art is actually a mode of communication in the same way that word is. It is singular and unique, but it communicates nonetheless. Because of the multiple methods it has available to deliver its messages: purely visual, visuality together with words, activism, participation, emotive, conceptual; as long as it is done in the, difficult to define, artistic manner, it can be effective.

I would go as far as to state that your art practice takes such a participatory line on the conception and especially on the production of art, and this is clear in Atmospheric Resources Tracking Incorporated. Your political engaged creations are strictly based on the chance to create a deep involvement with your audience, both on an emotional level, as well as on an intellectual one: so I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Atmospheric Resources Tracking Inc. (partial insta

production is that, if one pays attention, they are able to actually learn more about themselves, and perhaps make alterations if so desired.

I have always found perplexing the fact that some artists say that they do not want to “know” anything about what they are doing.

They simply want to work from their instinctual or emotive side. That is acceptable as far as it goes, but if we acknowledge that it is almost impossible to not take in information while still breathing, how does one arbitrarily draw a line between taking and not taking?

Atmospheric Resources Tracking Incorporated was a response to the legislation that became known as the U. S. Patriot Act. This legislation was an official reaction to the tragedy we in the U. S. now call 9/11. Understandably, U. S. citizens were shocked, and it was easy to overreact – which happened in so many shameful ways. But the Patriot Act was a vehicle

In that vein, I think we can only express our selves. One of the side benefits of artistic

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llation view), Seyhoun Gallery, West Hollywood, California, 2007

that could be used to eviscerate so many of the institutions that we like to think define what we in the United States are supposed to stand for.

The project itself deals not only with the Patriot Act, but also how the media uses language, another interest of mine, for their own particular agendas.

Personally, as you perhaps can assume from some of my previous answers – and in relation to this question, I reacted to this legislation viscerally. And felt that it was absolutely

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photo: William Nettles

necessary for me to declare my take on the topic.

In The Tracking Project I can recognize a subtle but effective investigation about the emerging of language due to an extreme experimentation, and what has mostly impacted on me is the way you have been capable of bringing a new level of significance to objects, re-contextualizing the concepts behind them: and I would go as far as to state that in a certain sense your works force the viewers' perception in order

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From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

Tracking Identity (partial installation view), HAUS Gallery, Pasadena, California, 2007 photo: William Ne to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a wayto decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

able to see that which we previously haven’t; or to augment that which we previously have.

Within the Tracking Project, I composed a sort of manifesto, the Tracker Statement, which alludes to life lived with awareness, to what is going on around one. While I am hopefully not sounding pompous, overblown, or cosmic about this, I personally believe that at least trying to pay attention to one’s self, one’s surroundings, and to others leads to a more interesting and rewarding path.

That really is the point. Whether it is inner nature or the world around us, the idea is to be

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way of heightening the issue of the artist’s presence within any work; perhaps even the artist’s dominance or supposed authority.

But since you bring up this idea of cultural relativism, it is true that while I might propound the idea of, say, democracy in a project such as The Democraczy Album, it is with the understanding that not everyone is in agreement with that system of social and political alignment. It is particularly interesting that within my own country, there is a strong misunderstanding about the difference between democracy and capitalism, to the point of not seeing a difference at all.

Before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a clichĂŠ question, but an interesting one that I'm sure will interest our readers around the world... During your long career you have exhibited in several occasions, both in the United States and abroad: so I would like to ask you what are the main differences that you had the chance to notice between the European scene and the US one... By the way, how would you define the nature of the relation with your audience?

While in Berlin, in particular, and in London, I was a bit disappointed to see that the work shown in main line contemporary galleries was very similar to what is being shown in the United States. That said, my experience at Werkstadt was enjoyable and unfamiliar to me.

Whereas in most venues in the U. S. the audience will simply look at the work, have a glass of wine, and socialize; at Werkstadt it was very different. First, there was a lively young audience who were intensely interested in what I was attempting to state in the work. They were from several different surrounding countries, from Finland to Iran, and, given the nature of Werkstadt itself, many remained after the official hours of the opening reception to have a beer and query me even more. I found this enormously stimulating and rewarding.

ttles In your recent project entitled Intersection you accomplish a deep investigation about the process of perception: while you stimulate the viewer to create a space consistent to the sensation of spatial misallignment -and you remark that "the artist is continually present"- you do not seem to suggest the existence of such an inertial system of reference related to perception process... could this be a subtle metaphor of cultural relativism?

In reference to your final query, my most valuable relationship to the viewing audience is in a learning capacity. That is, I am aware that viewers will often have a different understanding of my work then I intended. In addition to seeing people respond to the work in ways that I had hoped, I am often pleasurably

My statement about the artist, I think, was a

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From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

Intersections: Rosewood Elementary School (detail), 2014

future projects. How do you see your work evolving?

surprised that some actually see a different possibility in the work, or have an interpretation, that never occurred to me.

Thank you for a very stimulating conversation.

The primary project I am working on now is an extension of some of the issues that we discussed earlier. It is entitled Worldview and is

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Martin. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

an attempt to delve deeper into that question of how people see the world and make decisions.

And I am collaborating with a fellow artist, who is a Chinese immigrant, on a project relating to Los Angeles’s Chinatown, which pertains again to importation, globalization, and the façade that sometimes defines Los Angeles.

In addition, I am working on a translation of the United States Bill of Rights into the hieroglyphic Akkadian language, the language of Hammurabi, which is now for all intents a dead language.

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Krzysztof Kaczmar Kaczmar Space appears to us as an impression.

Is a word taken out of context of the sentence.

Real relations between the words exist outside of consciousness, until they will be used in one, common sentence.

Every person is on a separate island of his own being. Between us spreads the night of mysterious darkness of Waters of Etiquette and Oceans of Conventions. Art is a message about the water that separates us, about the cognition of coordinates on the map of this errant archipelago. If water does not interest us – its smell, color, density which puts on our hand – than how we can send a bottled message for it to successfully reach its destination? Only deepening these variable factors, that are influencing its route, could give us the possibility of conscious improvement.

In submergence lies the cognition of sea currents. In sinking lies achievement of parallel state of coexistence with the essence of depths of water, allowing mutual communication.

"Orientation – hovering and descending", series of

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video, 2013

b&w photography, 2014

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Krzysztof Kaczmar

untitled 2013 collage

"Orientation – hovering and descending"

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series of b&w photography, 2014

Krzysztof Kaczmar

An interview with An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator

The Polish multidisciplinary artist Krzysztof Kaczmar explores the tension between perception, space and subjectivity in the postmodern age: through a wide variety of medias, his works investigate about everyday gestures and situations, revealing their unexpected central role. By stressing the way in which perception depends on cultural perspectives, he provides the viewer of the convincing proof that, although our response to the world is unavoidably conditioned by the exposure to artificial images and concepts, there's something essential, which is part of our inner life, that needs to be discovered and revealed.

So, I'm happy and honoured to introduce our readers to Kaczmar's work. Hello Krzysztof and welcome to ART Habens: to start this interview I would you like to ask you how has your history influenced the way you produce art? Are there any experiences that have particularly influenced your developments as an artist?

Moving houses seem to me as a very rich experience, especially getting rid of stuff and replacing it with other. That makes me revalue and understand components of my surrounding.

So far two persons in particular have had a special influence on me as a person and as an artist. These people are Michał Hyjek and Patrícia Corrêa and on this occasion I would like to thank them both.

Krzysztof Kaczmar (photo by Szymon Andrzej Nowak)

Your artistic practice is strongly marked with a multidisciplinary approach: you often focus on the synesthetic qualities of different techniques in order to provide to the materials you use an enhanced quality of communication experience. Could you introduce our readers to this aspect of your work? In particular, do you consider yourself as a post-disciplinary artist?

a joint, complex experience. I don’t see sense in making art work differently, narrowed down to just one type of stimulus, although I understand the case of theoreticians and historians who need disciplines for better reasoning about art. Having said that I prefer to use prefix „inter” disciplinary than „post”, because I find the first one to state more firmly its values, directions and properties.

Every perceptible stimulus, after it occurs, goes through the process of recognition and categorization. We can realize that we HEARD a sound, that we SMELLED or SEEN something, however events of the reality are perceivable as

A recurrent feature of your work is the exploration of the blurry boundaries between perception and memory, with a subtle Bergsonian touch, in a way that has reminded me of some Gregor Schneider's early works: in

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this sense, can you tell to our readers your biggest influences in art and how they have affected your work?

Jerzy Grotowski, Yves Klein, John Cage and Marcel Duchamp are the artists that undeniably have influenced me deeply, mostly because of their meaningful attitude. Each one of them have worked on their unique methods of extending language of artistic expression by contradicting strongly established symbolism and significance of components of the world – such as human behavior, items of everyday use or ambient sounds. They have crossed the borders imposed by cliché rules of communication, to research how far they can depart from them, and to examine the results detached from their basic significance.

Recently I am developing the concept which I call „Resphering”. This term basically means: process of combining components of various contexts, where the outcome product is characterized by new, distinctive properties. Cage and Duchamp not only posed a question WHAT?, but more importantly WHEN? something can become art work. They have showed that what is valuable may not essentially be secretly hidden, nonetheless it still requires to be pointed out in a gesture of the artist and exhibited. In „Resphering” I do not necessary seek objects themselves, but relations between them and their contexts. Outside of our consciousness everything constantly interacts with each other. By showing examples of such relations, I aim to draw attention to this matter and its unique, hidden values.

The first work of yours that I would like to discuss is entitled Unconscious moments of being inside of what’s external, that is focused on the way a human perceives his closest surrounding: by providing of a sensory system, you seem to offer such an Ariadne's thread that leads the participants through the dynamic and often erratic labyrinth of our perception.

How did you developed the ideas behind this interesting project?

"Unconscious moments of being inside of what's exter

the basis of their observations, that they have made during relatively short time spent in Poland.

I had to correspond with works which I could not see fully – with the exception of sketches – before the opening of the exhibition. I decided to base my idea on the question: „how the process of observation of an unfamiliar space proceeds?”. I

This project has been made for the purposes of a collective exhibition with three other artists from Spain. They had to execute art works founded on

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nal", multimedia installation, video still, 2013.

used medium of video to visually suggest experiences of touch, taste, hearing and smell. I aimed to create the sensation of empirical experience of a mirage. Broken mirrors that were set on the floor, were reflecting particles of the environment and its spectators – inscribed into them.

I think all the content that we perceive in our surrounding is like a mirror, in which we view ourselves. If somebody would cast a glass of water upon the floor, it may inspire a thought: ”who is going to clean it?”, or „I’m happy this is not my house”. As another example, if we would notice somebody in the street who is looking us

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"Unconscious moments of being inside of what's external" multimedia installation, Instituto Cervantes, Warszawa 2013.

which seems to be not conceived as a classical balance, as the relationships between solids and voids in architecture for example, but a sort of coexistence between past and present in imagination and perception. How do you achieve this balance?

straight in the eyes, and passes us very closely, it may cause a reflection: „who does he think he is?” or „I hope he will not want to beat me”. We observe and perceive our environment constantly – emotionally commenting, comparing, judging, remembering, imagining. I think that environment develop its spectators to such an extent, that it could be used to reflect and create their complete psychological profiles.

This work has been inspired by the poem by Polish folk artist Henryk Biła. He described his travel through the forest where suddenly he encountered Rusalka, a beautiful female goddess from Slavic mythology, who disappeared after he tried to approach her. The

A feature of Thirst for the past time that has been particularly impacted on me is the balance between absence and presence,

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"Unconscious moments of being inside of what's external" multimedia installation, Instituto Cervantes, Warszawa 2013.

manner in which he wrote this poem, as for me, indicates Intangible beauty of nature and his strong desire to stop time, and her along with it.

My installation has been set in the window and everyday it has been slightly changing. Passersby could see a static human figure made of little mirrors. Inside of it there was a flower withering away, while slowly turning around hanging from second hand of a clock. A text in the background written on a thin sheet of wax, crumbling under the influence of motion, caused by a blow of wind of a ventilator. I wanted to

show a motionless, reflective form, that could everyday contain in itself a persons – older by one day. So that they could watch themselves, a flower drying out continuously, as passing seconds to which it was tied, and slowly disappearing text.

Communication is a crucial concept in many of your works, and as you have remarked in your artist's statement, Art is a message about the water that separates us, about the cognition of coordinates on the map of this errant archipelago. I daresay that

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Gemma Pepper

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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"Thirst for the past time", installation, Ars Nova, Bielsko-Biała 2014

Sandra Hunter

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

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Krzysztof Kaczmar

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

"Orientation – hovering and descending", series of b&w photography, 2014.

there's such a relevant socio political aspect in your artistic practice, and in particular in Orientation – hovering and descending, a project that I have to admit is one of my favourite work of yours: not to mention that art should have an effect, should communicate something. Besides providing an artist of a versatile platform for expression, do you think that Art could play a

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really important role in changing our society?

I think that arts in general exist as a reaction to the world, to it’s needs, problems and matters.

Can express emotions or state observations. My work you mentioned can be an example, because I stated my concept of orientation as a difference of heights in relation to sea level. I presented my view on verticality which in my

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issues that he or she feels, does not necessary guarantee that will reach its desired objective.

Art like any other domain gives two options: deriving from geniuses or refining opinions after uncertainties of imperfections.

To me, art is like a real friend because it accepts my life, I can let myself loose thanks to it. I learned a lot from concepts carried by art of others, what gave me the proof, that this flow works in both sides. However, simplicity of this state of affairs is disrupted by a certain problem, that may be understood through the same metaphor of art personified as an understanding friend – you cannot earn somebody’s friendship just by passing through his house once or twice a year, during The Long Night of Museums. I think that for many people art still is that strange person in the corner of the room that maybe is enjoyable, but without exaggeration.

I daresay that your recent intermedia installation Innocenty Liban urges the viewer to follow not only your process, but even and especially the cultural and politic substratum on which you build your creations.

I have particularly appreciated the way this forces us to evolve from being a passive spectator to more conscious participants, to the actions suggested by your creations: what is the nature of your relationship with your audience?

In my opinion, installation allows viewers to see itself expanding, and lets them influence that process. This art discipline triggers sensations of presence of the author – resembling traces left by performance art action – and his absence – reminding distant video art objects, projected on-screen. Thinking about the reception of the audience does not abandon my mind, especially when I am determining the outcome form of my work. I think that, in a well done art work, values reveal themselves in the process of steady communication with it. Consequently, good artist should be able to schedule phases of perceiving time of an art work for the viewers, by driving focus with its subsequent layers.

Video and film takes good care of selected images and sounds, by pushing them into a

opinion can let us find ourselves (not only in a matter of geographical location) – stepping on high heels as on podiums of social privileges, looking up for landmarks, growing up followed by maturation of consciousness etc. We continuously hover and descend.

Art has definitely the purpose to affect society, but „rostrum” on which stands the artist – as a person who lives to express – lecturing on

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Gemma Pepper

"Innocenty Liban", intermedia installation, MOS, Gorz贸w Wielkopolski 2014.

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Krzysztof Kaczmar

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography "Nod you, London", performance documentation, London 2011.

that you have established together is today an ever growing force in Art and that the most exciting things happen when creative minds from different fields of practice meet and collaborate on a project: could you tell us something about your experiences in this sense?

strictly determined timeline. Performance is defined in time by its beginning and ending, but without limitations to sensory experince. One image can be viewed for many years, but most likely nobody will do it. This are reasons why an artist should be a good strategist.

In your performative projects as in Nod you, London you heighten the tension between reality and theatricality, which gives birth to a deep interplay between directness and distance. In this sense, I would state that your approach takes such a participatory line with the viewer: in this sense the viewer becomes directly involved in the creation process, as the artist himself... by the way, interdisciplinary collaboration as the one

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Sure, as for me, I really enjoy collaborating with artists from different fields and I try to do it often – although, logistics of work of visual artists, in my opinion, could sometimes follow the example of musicians or filmmakers, and their means by which they divide work among themselves. I like to know what plays in a head of a musician during watching my picture, or

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"Nod you, London", performance documentation, London 2011.

what is the opinion of an architect on my concept of the space.

A group consisting of different cultures, ages, sexes is what can bring more diversity and objectivity into their creating process, because it broadens the spectrum of possibilities for interpretation.

several works I have done over the last three years, that will be accompanied by presentations, lectures, discussions and a catalog on this subject. Furthermore, I plan to continue working with Flaming Lips of Love art group, on the new project that will be displayed this year, and continue study on the Time Strategy management.

Before taking leave from this interesting conversation, I would like to thank you for this interview. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

I will continue working on the subject of Resphering. I prepare a project composed of

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Joshua White In Sévres, France, a vault with three separate locks contains, under three glass domes, the 132-year-old platinum-iridium cylinder that represents the standard mass of a kilogram. It has been measured against replica standards at approximately 40-year intervals, and it has been different each time. If this supposed scientific constant is in a state of change, how could we hope that something as evanescent as our recollections could remain immutable?

I am fascinated by memory. I am as interested in theories of contemporary neuroscience that discuss the deterioration of our memories, brought on by the very act of remembrance, as I am in Honoré de Balzac’s opinion that the attempt to preserve a subject through photography physically diminishes it.

The title In Search Of Lost Time refers to Marcel Proust’s tome of the same name. It was previously translated as Remembrance of Things Past, and I can’t help but think that he would smile a little to know that even the title of his book has changed over time. Proust’s words about his memories, penned nearly a century ago, reflect what neuroscience is discovering now: that memory is malleable, imperfect, and ephemeral.

The idea of the search is key for me.

Rather than approach art making with hopes of finding an answer, I love being led by the question, stumbling upon a new thread, and following the questions that that new curiosity generates. I invite you to share in that process, and thank you for taking the time to look.

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video, 2013

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Joshua White

untitled 2013 collage

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An interview with

Joshua White

An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator

Joshua White's work explores the notions of the Memory and Experience: borrowing techniques from several disciplines such as photography, digital technology and sculpture, he creates an effective symbiosis capable of translating direct experience into a parallel dimension, providing the viewers of an augmented sensorial experience. To reach this ambitious goal, White does not need an extreme technology: in his work entitled A Photographic Survey of the American Yard that we'll be discussing in the following pages, he focuses his thorough investigation about tiny details of nature, using a simple iPhone, giving the incontrovertible evidence that inspiration plays the most crucial role also in the technical sphere of Photography.

From the first time I have got to know his works I have been impressed with the stunning way he conceives photography as an anthropological tool to explore the incommunicable, so I'm particularly pleased to introduce our readers to his artistic production.

Joshua White

Hello Joshua, and a warm welcome to ART Habens: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background?

You hold a MFA that you have received from Arizona State University: how does this experience influence you as an artist and on the way you currently conceive your works?

Joshua White uses photography, sculpture, and digital technology to address themes of memory, loss, science, and nature. He received his MFA from Arizona State University and lives and works in West Jefferson, NC, where he is an Assistant Professor of Art at Appalachian State University.

Thanks very much for inviting me. I have a BFA in Studio Art/Photography from Northern Kentucky University and an MFA from Arizona State.

Both schools taught me to be a self reliant artist, and use whatever tools were necessary to make the work I want to make.

I struggled in graduate school with the idea that I wanted make objects, things that were not entirely photographic, but Mark Klett especially pushed me past the idea that I had to have some kind of permission to make the kind of work I wanted to make.

technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

For A Photographic Survey of the American Yard, the process is as simple as the images.

I look for specimens that are formally interesting, and I photograph them either on a light box or in front of a white piece of foam core.

I edit the images on the iPhone and use Instagram to upload and share the work. I usually collect several specimens before then photograph them all at once.

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what

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Joshua White

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

For the series In Search of Lost Time, the process was very different. The pieces all started as sketches, and many of them took several iterations to finally decide on the final piece. There was a lot of research about materials and techniques and concepts for that series.

My work before graduate school dealt primarily with family, and specifically with themes of loss and grief. When I moved to graduate school, I left almost everyone I knew behind, which was difficult for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was that I was leaving all of my subjects behind. I had no idea what I was going to photograph, so I spent the first year making photographs that didn’t matter to me a great deal; they were maybe technically fine, but I just

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from In Search of Lost Time, an extremely interesting project that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.joshuawhitephotography.com in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted

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had not personal connection with them whatsoever.

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Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer, which lead me on to studies of neuroscience, Marcel Proust, and memory.

A large part of my BFA Thesis show was the desire to break away from an exclusively digital workflow and get my hands back into my work, as well as control the way in which viewers interacted with my pieces. I decided to try different ways of guiding that interaction, and I started to coat some of the photographs I was making in beeswax, scented with various oils. I wanted to trigger a memory response in viewers, the photographs acting as a catalyst to begin a conversation rather than the focus of the conversation. During a critique, one of my fellow grad students mentioned the book Proust Was A

I still haven’t read all of Proust’s book, In Search of Lost Time, from which my title was taken; it is very long, broken up over several volumes, and is not easy reading. That being said, the title and many of the vignettes in the book are beautiful meditations on how our memory works, and how it fails us.

What has mostly impacted on me of In Search of Lost Time is the way your investigation about manipulation is capable of bringing a new level of significance to the

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Joshua White

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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necessarily the answer to a question, but the start of a conversation or investigation. My favorite response to the work is when people approach me and tell me about their memories, or how this series caused them to recall things from their past. Much of the work has to do with my father, and naturally carries a much more personal meaning for me than it will for most viewers; but when people come to me after seeing the work and tell me how it made them remember, I feel like I have achieved what I set out to accomplish. I like the idea of forced perception.

I have appreciated the way you have you deeply explored the theme of Memory: your investigation about the act of remembrance takes such a participatory line with the viewer: so I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

People make art for all kinds of reasons. The art that has affected me most deeply always seem to come from a personal place, whether directly or indirectly. Some art is a commentary on the art world, or a reaction to one movement or another. I make work that comes from my personal experience, and I can’t think of any other way to make it. If the work isn’t personal, I don’t know how a person could sustain the level of energy or interest required to keep making it. an image, and I would go as far as to state that in a certain sense your works force the viewers' perception in order to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a wayto decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

Another aspect of In Search of Lost Time that has mostly impressed me of it is the way your approach seems alter individuals' perception of space and time in a Bergsonian way, which urges us to explore the boundaries between identity and the perception of the Self. Do you agree with this analysis?

It is a very interesting question, and I think do agree. In so far as I am familiar with Bergson, he theorized that the spirit and the body are separated in time, with the past being the domain of the spirit, and the body being engaged in the present. I am very interested in the poetics of that idea, that the spirit, that which animates us and makes us human, is

I really want people to have to go through a process with some of the pieces, to consider how their own memory works. As I said above, I want these pieces to act as catalysts for viewers, not

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generated by and exists because of our past, that the past is not just a collection of our remembrances, but makes up a significant part of our idea of ourselves.

ART Habens

undoing that liminal space that is created when one is actively engaged in viewing. I love digital technology, and I love alternative, analog, historic processes as well; the key is to always use a process or processes that serve the work.

When there is a disconnect there, the work suffers.

Regarding to That Which We Have Held you stated once that you didn't make these images, time did: in these last years we have seen a great usage of digital technology, in order to achieve outcomes that was hard to get with traditional techniques: do your think that an excess of such techniques could lead to a betrayal of reality?

I have to admit that I'm sort of convinced, as the German photographer Thomas Demand once stated, that these times photography can no longer rely only on merely symbolic strategies: maybe that contemporary experimentation has instead to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead... what's your point about this?

I often tell my students that if the first thought that occurs to someone upon looking at work is, “I wonder what they did to this picture?� then the artist has failed, at least to some degree. If you leave edges for the viewer to lift and break the spell that is created by your work, you are

There is still a lot of room for images to be made that stand as documents, that show a certain beautiful light or an abstraction of form, that are

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Joshua White

expectation of positive feedback- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

really fulfilling. But I am also very drawn to how photographs function in relation to our memory, especially now that photographs are being made at such an unprecedented rate. There has been some research recently that shows that photographs actually replace memory in our society, that something didn’t happen if it wasn’t photographed. Every photograph represents the death of the present moment, and acts as a container for that memory. Even if artists using photography don’t make work about those ideas, it is important that they consider how the medium works in our society.

That is a question I have thought about a lot lately, especially with my series A Photographic Survey of the American Yard. I am posting that series to Instagram, and part of that platform is the ability for viewers to like the image and follow me. I have found myself in the past questioning whether I thought an image would be liked as much as the one before, and strategically posting a different times of the day to see if that would gather more attention. I don’t know how I feel about that, to be honest. I think artists are always at least somewhat

Now I would pose you some questions about the relation with your audience. It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or just the

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professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

sensitive to the audience, but I don’t think the audience should dictate the work. At much higher stakes than I am currently facing, it absolutely does influence the work. I am speaking from inexperience, but I can’t imagine artists who sell their work for tens-of-thousands of dollars not thinking about whether or not what they are making will sell. Maybe I will face that dilemma some day, but I won’t hold my breath. I don’t think that the relationship between business and art is inherently disingenuous, and I don’t think people who sell their work are selling out, but I think it adds a different element to the process.

I am currently approaching various venues to begin showing A Photographic Survey of the American Yard, and have a solo show coming up at the Griffin Museum of Photograph this summer.

The series is still ongoing, but I think it is time to start showing it. I am also working on a new series that focuses on the New River, one of the oldest rivers on the planet and originates very near my home in western North Carolina. I also haven’t finished with the sculptural pieces, and am working on several pieces that fit with the work from In Search of Lost Time.

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Joshua. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you

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Olga Ivanova Ivanova Under Pressure is the latest project by Russian born artist, Olga Ivanova.

At only 20, her acute perceptions of the world around her create violent and physical pieces of work; the paper crumples beneath splatters of acrylic and her figures appear taught with tensions and repressed desires.

By providing an additional layer of collage in her pieces, she injects an agitated texture, reminiscent of modernity and 21st century angst. ‘I try to reveal the fears of society like not being free to express yourself and the necessity of rude actions in order to survive.

All my heroes are making their own choices and the most important thing for me is to show their feelings through colours and shapes.’'

Frames

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video, 2013

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Olga Ivanova

untitled 2013 collage

Crucifige Winter 2015

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An interview with

Olga Ivanova

An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator

Olga Ivanova's works could be defined as small cosmologies, where everything is shown to be connected to everything else: in particular, I have found interesting the way she triggers a process of translocation and violent leaps in time and space, in which the viewer's perception of the meaning of objects is ruthlessly put to an incessant process of revision.

Her multidisciplinary approach allows her to get free from the restrictions of a particular technique, conveying the expressive potential of painting, photography as well as digital editing in a consistent unity. So it's with a great pleasure that I'm introducing our readers to her multifaceted artistic production... Hello Olga, and a warm welcome to ART Habens. To start this interview would you like to tell us something about your background? In particular, are there any experiences that has particularly influenced you and impacted on your evolution as an artist?

Thanks a lot for showing an interest in my art, I am really glad to be part of this new edition.

I had a passion for art since I was a kid, my mother used to spend much time with me painting and then decorating the works. We were mostly drawing characters from the fairy tales and probably because of that creating imaginary situations has always been much more interesting for me rather than depicting still-lifes.

Olga Ivanova

sources of information and being surrounded by various social networks we sometimes get the illusion that it’s possible now to have the whole world knowledge stored in one place. Losing the interest in the real life talk we believe the face from the screen and let unknown people from the web control our tastes and habits. Changing the surroundings even for a short time always pushes me to start analyzing who we are and why we behave in a certain way. I like it assembling stories and getting to know people from totally different backgrounds, thus I conduct my so-called ‘human research’. The choice of expressing my thoughts

Being influenced not only by visual forms but also by literature, theoretical texts and musical pieces I find the connection between different forms of arts incredibly evident and when doing my own works always take in mind the variety of ways ideas can be represented.

My interest in art has grown significantly when I started traveling alone at 16. My biggest impression wasn’t connected with any cultural specificity, but with realizing how much we still need to learn about each other. Having the access to all

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and showing the results of this research was very natural to me – art doesn’t require scientific facts or calculations yet it might be much more powerful and persuading.

I’m a student of an Applied Arts faculty in SaintPetersburg now where we mostly do crafts so I often say that I’m self-taught in terms of fine arts.

I don’t see lack of professional education as a problem though; I even find it good in a way to have a personal art plan. Nevertheless I value the significance of learning directly from the master of a chosen profession, so I don’t exclude the possibility of studying fine arts in the future.

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your works? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

It always works differently when creating a piece. A bigonetwo, painting can done in ainside/out few days frombethe series and a small collage can be hanged on a wall for several months waiting for the final detail to be attached.

I’m never without a sketchbook and my camera, thus I try to catch every precious moment of life that made me once feel the hidden structure or how I call it ‘inner relationships’ of our surroundings. I also make many notes every day: a random word, a piece of advertisement, a beautiful song by a street musician or just a title of a favorite book – they all may end up in a whole story, so I try to write down short descriptions of anything I find quite interesting.

I try unconcious painting and drawing from time to time. Always having an extra pack of paper and enough paint I make sure I could test a new technique whenever I decide to practise.

I mainly focus on the color combination and that’s usually the only ‘component’ I know before the work is started. Colors for me are equal to words sometimes. Every story if not

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Olga Ivanova

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from 'Frames' and 'Crucified' an interesting couple of works that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I

described by certain facts, but expressed in emotions can be pictured with it’s own color palette. The more time passes, the less evident the storyline seems to be, but emotional part is still remembered much better.

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would suggest to visit your website directly at http://ivanova-olga.blogspot.it in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production.

In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this

ART Habens

interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

Frames’ and ‘Crucified’ were created practically at the same time, though the size and the

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Gemma Pepper

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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painting methods differ so much. However, I can’t name any specific source of inspiration – most of my works come out as a result of my philosophical positions and a personal research described above.

Nevertheless, I find it quite important mentioning writers whose works have particularly influenced on my creative process in general: Sergei Dovlatov, Milan Kundera and Franz Kafka.

ART Habens

yet and I think of my works ‘The Zero Station’ and ‘My Inner Vision’ as of mostly unconscious digital editing. I’m really thrilled by the way some artists operate with digital effects and it’s obviously great in terms of correcting the layers or just coming back to the original image. I don’t find all the digital works touching but my personal judgement criterea as a viewer are mostly the same for all visual arts, so I can’t say that style or technique matter much for me. And as I like it myself working on these ‘real-surreal’ feelings and stories I don’t see any danger in the development of this art medium.

I have appreciated the way you go beyond any artificial dichotomy between tradition and experimentation, taking control and advantage of different and sometimes opposite techinques, as in #3 and especially in #4 which has particularly impacted on me: I daresay that you have effectively borrowed a subject from such a digital abstract imagery, elaborating it with a pictorial technique. Multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your approach and it's remarkable the way you are capable of creating such an effective symbiosis between elements from different techniques, manipulating language and re-contextualizing images and concepts: while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

As you have remarked, in your recent project entitled 'Under Pressure' you have tried to reveal the fears of society like not being free to express yourself and the necessity of rude actions in order to survive I can recignize in this a radical attempt to unveil the principles on which the artist's smooth functioning in society is based... although I'm aware that this might sound a bit naïf, I have to admit that I'm sort of convinced that Art -especially nowadays- could play an effective role in sociopolitical questions: not only just by offering to people a generic platform for expression... I would go as far as to state that Art could even steer people's behaviour... what's your point about this? Does it sound a bit exaggerated?

Synergy between various disciplines indeed gives the freedom of expression. We already have too many restrictions in our daily life so I guess it would be cruel to set certain boundaries between artistic fields as well. While ceating pieces in different techniques I analyze the outcome of this synergy and I would mainly agree with you that it’s sometimes the only way of achieving some results. Robert Rauschenberg with his unique experimental approach has always been the best example for me of how one can develop his own artistic language while working in multiple disciplines.

By the way, in these last years we have seen a great usage of digital technology, in order to achieve outcomes that was hard to get with traditional techniques: do your think that an excess of such techniques could lead to a betrayal of reality? By the way, have new technologies as DSLR and digital editing impacted on your process?

We can see from the past century that art was often used for expressing some popular ideas, proclaming new ideals and really ‘steering people’s behaviour’ (e.g. social realism in the Soviet Union and Art of the Third Reich) and though I understand that you probably mean the opposite effect with helping people to get free of some prejudices and clichйs we have because of the mass media production I always point out that I’m not aming to influence on anyone through my art. Knowing that my artworks have helped someone to get through painful life memories would be the best achievement for me, but what I’ve learned so far is that every single person should always make decisions all by himself. Even if understanding some life’s wisdom would take a long time full of barriers, Art for me is still kind of a ‘horn of plenty’. A horn filled with the questions, but not the answers.

I haven’t tried much of the digital techniques

One of the features that has mostly impacted

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Olga Ivanova

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

on me of your approach, is the way you have been capable of giving a new meanings to the subjects that you elborate: and I would go as far as to state that you Art in a certain sense forces the viewers' perception in order to challenge the common way to perceive symbols as well as our environment in general... I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

improved the ‘rules of the game’: you don’t need now to put them in any certain order, every combination is unique and meaningful in a way. The idea came to me from the street walls – they are sometimes incredibly informative. I really loved street art in Berlin and so every time I go there I appreciate it more walking in the district I haven’t been before rather than going to an exhibition of even a famous artist.

There’s so much information hidden around us indeed! A person who prefers getting around always with a transport loses his observation skills and might miss something that could have been important for him. But I don’t leave the role of a ‘proficient observer’ for myself, I prefer thinking of art as one of the ways to share your own experience and stimulate the others to remember something from their personal

I always liked puzzles, so it’s probably because of that my paintings are sometimes full of symbolic icons. I would even say that I’ve

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

knowledge.

the viewer to have a similar life story. However, being a viewer for me is a work itself, you sometimes need to reveal not the most pleasant sides of your character, be ready to confess and accept something you don’t agree with.

As you’ve described, I like the audience taking part in the piece, that’s why I usually leave the details like the sticker styled signs unexplained – having my personal interpretations of them I let the others create their own explanations.

Your work is intrinsically connected to the chance of creating a lively involvement with your audience and I daresay that it reveals such an Ariadne's thread that lead the viewers to evolve from a passive audience to an actively involved part of the piece of Art itself... so I would ask you if in your opinion personal experience an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process, I mean both for conceiving a piece and for enjoying it... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Many contemporary artists as the Edward Burtynsky and Michael Light have some form of environmental or political message in their works. Do you consider that your pieces are in a certain sense "political"or do you seek to maintain a neutral approach?

Personal experience is, to my mind, genuinely important. Even when creating an abstract work I always have a story behind that. I don’t expect

I was born in Russia just a few years after the

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Gemma Pepper

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

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From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

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Olga Ivanova

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

Soviet Union completely collapsed and though of course I wasn’t able to analyze the processes happening in my county when I was a kid, I still was an evident of how a new country was formed and what it led to in the present days.

Being quite interested in politics I still keep my art apolitical, and even when speaking on the

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topic of freedom in my works, I’m thinking of it in more mental sense, rather than a physical one.

Society is what I’m interested most of all so I mainly find the message of my works social.

Now let's deal about the relationship with

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your audience: it goes without saying that positive feedback, although are not definitely indespensable, are capable of providing an artist of an important support. I sometimes wonder if the expectation of positive feedback- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

ART Habens

ence). However, I never think about feedback when creating a piece. I feel that expecting a positive feedback beforehand may lead you to becoming just another one Banksy emulator.

The real creative for me is the one who focuses on his own perception and elaborates his style – not the one that receives thousands ‘likes’ on Instagram. The more personal and sincere the work is, the more followers you would gain (and not only those ones in the Internet).

Relationship between business and Art is still a mystery for me, and as a creator myself I’m always facing a difficulty when setting a price for my works. Well, perhaps, art management studies might help to deal with that.

I’m always interested in how people see my works and I like it when they tell me about their thoughts (not only comments on colors or shape, but something from the personal experi-

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Sandra Hunter

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technically skilled, but there’s nothing a human being can’t learn, right?

I try not to make long term plans to leave myself the freedom of switching to anything unexpected but having a life motto ‘trying to do my best’ seems to be already a plan. Well, might be too abstract for someone, but when doing abstract paintings the term ‘abstract’ sounds like the whole world of possibilities!

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Olga. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

So many ideas are still only shortly described in my notes! I would definitely try it with 3D works, I find the idea of having a chance to walk around an object amazing. You just need to be more

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Joshua McQuary McQuary I have been drawing monsters/creatures/weird things my entire life.

It wasn't until I was deployed to Afghanistan, that is where my art got its color.

When I was there in the shit I only had one way to escape and I think that when and where I was at the time kick started me into a whole new world.. I use highlighters as my medium.

Every painting has a lot of meaning to me whether I love it or hate it.

So I hope you enjoy my imagination and I hope you will keep checking up on my art on me so you can watch my growth, supportive comments are always encouraged, and any help you can give to pull me up this path is more than appreciated.

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video, 2013

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untitled 2013 collage

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An interview with

Joshua McQuary

Joshua McQuary produces stimulating mixed media paintings whose main feature is the way they resist all arbitrariness and reveal his interest in exploring the Surreal dimension, enlighting the difference between archetype and copy, sign and signified; these are probed by McQuary in defiance of the onslaught of decoration: it's with a real pleasure that I would like to introduce our readers to his stimulating works. Hello Joshua, and a warm welcome to ART Habens. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? In particular, do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

I define a work of art as as something that someone creates for their own enjoyment, or the enjoyment of others. I mean it’s a really open question and people can interpret it differently depending on the person. I personally feel that traditional art is more rule based (composition etc.) Contemporary art to me is more lawless, anything goes.

Joshua McQuary

Would you like to tell us something about your background? In particular, are there any experiences that has impacted on you and that have infuenced your evolution as an artist and the way you currently produce your artworks?

colors that I got from the highlighters. My significant other at the time had done a little experimenting one day while I was at work. She had taken the felt out of the center of the highlighter and cut an X on the top, and then she folded down the plastic and turned the felt into a neon paint brush.

The felt gave me nice smooth even stroke lines and I used a dry wash rag to blend the colors nicely into each other, for example, all of the forgotten experiments are done out of highlighter brushes. I don’t really play with much canvas these days; I mainly use water color paper.

Instead of using highlighters as brushes, I now soak the highlighters in water overnight and then I drain the ink out of the felt into their own containers and use the ink and water as a sort of water color type paint.

I have been drawing and painting my whole life but it wasn’t until I was stationed in Afghanistan (thanks Obama) that my art got its color. Drawing was the only outlet I had in the desert, and is probably the only thing that kept my sane while over there.

The only problem was, I had no paint, no colored pencils, I didn’t have anything. So when I had time I would go around to different offices and ask for their highlighters and I would use them to color my drawings. When I returned to the states I still found solace in drawing, I had now moved up to much larger pieces but using highlighters as a marker on canvas was tedious and inefficient, which sucked because I still wanted to keep the neon

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular,

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Joshua McQuary

what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

I have about thirty sketchbooks lying around that I am constantly doing quick sketches of ideas and themes. Then I will go back and choose something that really jumps out at me and I will draw it 10 or 20 times until its exactly how I want it, I will then draw it a final time on water color paper. I outline it with a fine tip sharpee pen and stipple it as well. Once the outline is complete I lay down the colors I want to use for the specific piece, and bing, bang, boom that’s it. Sometimes I like to alone when I paint, being left alone with my thoughts and my ideas, but I really enjoy painting around other creative people, for example most of my friends are musicians and I love to sit down at a table while they jam, I feel like we feed off of eachother and the creative juices just start flowing.

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start with The Monarch and Dr. Jeckyl / Mr. Hyde, an interesting couple of paintings that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to visit http://www.bluecanvas.com/cacophobicmonst er in order to get a wider idea of your current artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of these stimulating pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

Both Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde and The Monarch are rather older paintings done back in 2010, and back then my process was a lot more organic, instead of planning out my pieces, these were strictly free style. I had a small idea of what I wanted to convey through these two, but I had no real structure or plan for what I wanted to do.

For example The Monarch, all of the color was laid first. I intentionally put down a lot of purple because I wanted this piece to mean royalty.

The image that I came up with was basically just me outlining the shapes and colors until it formed an image, and this case it happens to be a 12 foot tall cyborg king, with a unicorn spider spinning his robe for him. Dr. J and Mr. H, I used a watered down black acrylic ink instead of The Monarch

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Dr. Jeckyl / Mr. Hyde -and I would daresay "oniric"- luminosity that seems to flow out of these canvas that communicates such a tactile sensation, as in No Title... to by the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

color. The whole piece is just a happy accident. I was playing around with a couple of different styles and well when I was finished I thought It was rad and decided to keep it.

Another interesting pieces of yours that have impressed on me and on which I would like to spend some words are Sammy and Live in New York: in particular, I have been struck with the intensely thoughtful nuances of red that has suggested me a sense of dramatic

Spring 2015

Well I use to play with a lot of different mediums, acrylic ink/ different types of markers, I even went through a period of time where I would add a little bit of bleach to the color to

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

Sammy

everyday life. So I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience from real world is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

kind of pale it out. Now I pretty much just stick with highlighters, I know how to use them and they tend to get a lot of positive attention.

I have particularly appreciated your way of subverting traditional portraiture and I daresay that your works investigate about the concept of human experience, in a sense that goes beyond the mere idea of emotional involvement: I would go as far as to state that in your series entitled King Am I and Andarrow you explorate the implication of experience itself, the impossibility of a description that could prescind from

Yes, of course, creativity is 100% spawned from personal experience. My older work is a lot darker and a little bit creepier, at the time I was in a pretty dark place and yeah I may have even been a little creepy as well. These days my work is brighter, more vibrant definitely less chaotic

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Joshua McQuary

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

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From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

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and also a little more comical. I believe that this is because I have never been in a better situation than I currently am right now.

I surround myself with beautiful, bright, talented people, I live in the pacific North West which is just absolutely breath taking, and I live a very happy life and i know that shines through in my work.

I have to admit that the first idea that I received from Ender was the concept that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I feel that this is the only true role of a visual artist. When you look at a piece of art you should be able to understand what that person was feeling or trying to express without being told directly or having it be completely obvious.

But once again this is open to interpretation, what one piece makes me feel, might make you feel completely opposite.

And I couldn't do without mentioning your onetwo, from the series inside/out series entitled The Forgotten Experiments: by the way, as you have stated once, Art has been for you a way to escape and that kick started you into a whole new world... although I'm aware that this might sound a bit naĂŻf, I'm sort of convinced that Art in these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion about socio political issues: I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can even steer people's behavior... I would take this chance to ask your point about this. Do you think that it's an exaggeration? And what could be in your opinion the role that an artist could play in our society?

Honestly I feel that in the past, art played a way larger and more significant role in communities and on society. I am not saying that this isn’t true for today, I just don’t feel like it has nearly as big of an impact as it used to.

This is a huge bummer because I would love to live in a time where this was still happening.

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Joshua McQuary

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

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onetwo, from the series inside/out

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Joshua McQuary

From From "Gaol" "Gaol" 2013 2013 Photography Photography

From "Gaol" 2013 Photography

King Am I

Now I would pose you some questions about your relationship with your audience: it goes without saying that feedbacks are capable of providing an artist of an important support, which is for sure not absolutely indespensable, but that can stimulate to keep on with Art... I was just wondering if the expectation of positive feedback could even influence the process of an artist... how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will

Spring 2015

enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I can’t speak for everyone, but for myself YES, I love hearing what people think, I really enjoy getting to hear peoples thoughts on what I do and the way they look at it once they find out how it’s done.

I am always caught off guard by who is intrigued by my paintings, I usually expect young angsty

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GOD

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Joshua. My last question deals with your future plans: how do you see your work evolving?

Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

This whole year has been a huge evolutionary fromtothe series inside/out process for me.onetwo, From trying techniques and then refining those techniques, I can only imagine that my work will become more solid.

Professionally, I am over booking myself with art shows, trying to really get into the circle of the Portland Art Scene.

Also, I work with a tshirt company out of Chicago called ImNoRotter, it is a artist collective type project and the idea behind it is so unique and refreshing, I urge everyone to check it out. We will be holding an event in the middle of May and if you’re in the Portland area please come check us out.

Besides that, I am going to keep putting in the work until hopefully one day I can do this for a living.

teenagers to be the main source of all my feedback but that’s just not true. I get compliments from every type of person under the sun and that drives me even more, when a 65 year old man from Belgium tells me he really appreciated my work it throws me for a loop and yes it motivates me, I don’t really see how it couldn’t.

If I am enjoying what I am doing and so is everyone else, that’s a double win for me.

Thank you for this beautiful opportunity.

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