ARTiculAction Art Review - January 2014 by ARTiculAction Art Review

SPECIAL EDITION January 2014

JAKE KELLEY BRUNO COLIN KIRSTEN JOOSTE ALEX GOODMAN JESSIE OMAMOGHO NATALIA GROMICHO NEVENA VUKSANOVIC CLOTILDE BOURGARD WILSON GALVAO 21358SMart MARK DAYBELL

Nevena Vuksanovic, Serbia

SUMMARY

ARTiculA Action ART J A N U A R Y 2

Feel free to submit your artworks: just write to articulaction@post.com http://articulaction.yolasite.com/submit.php https://www.facebook.com/articulaction.artreview

IN THIS ISSUE

Clo Bourgard &

(Portugal) The weaknesses of our society in a profound analysis of what drives us today, why do we survive to so many aggressions and why do we camouflage our thoughts and behaviors based on pre-established concepts.

Mark Daybell

(USA) I am forever fascinated by the power of myth. I’m interested in myth as an unproved or false collective belief often used to justify a social norm.

(Portugal)

22 on her inner world, inviting us to join her on a journey of discovery of the essence of being, depicting new truths of the meaning of existence.

Jake Kelley

(USA) “My work is primarily an exploration of materials in an effort to create images of lasting conceptual and emotional effect. As an abstract painter, engaging in a cultural dialogue is also a concern. Therefore, perception itself is always a primary subject.”

21358SMart

(The Netherlands) “21358SMart can be seen as our study and reaction to a society that is often based on individual thinking. By working together from a distance we noticed that our works are subjected to the phenomenon of culturation and deculturation.” (Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam)

SUMMARY

(Serbia)

Nevena Vuksanovic

“To build a sculpture we need physical involvement, great immediacy. Forms mature upon their long being created in imagination. At the moment of personal separation from them, during the tension of my overall sensibility, My body is released from something that was up to then part of it.”

(The Netherlands)

Kirsten Jooste

“I like to explore different designs and textures. With my crochet and knitwear, it’s about creating something that is body positive. I work closely with my clients to help them create something unique. My main goal is to create something that is limited edition, or a one of a kind.”

(France)

Bruno Colin

“En 1976 j’entreprends un apprentissage chez Mr Pierre

bourrelet qui lui conviens. ”

(Germany/Romania)

Jessie Omamogho

“When you create something, and you work on it, staring at it over and over from every angle, seeing every flaw. You convince yourself that it could be better, or you could have done it differently. “

(United Kingdom)

88 “ am a poet, printmaker, producer and performer. My work uses story as a medium to document and draw images of escape. I am also one half of Hope & Anchor, a collaborative project with artist Joanna Hope Bricher. ”

(Turkey)

“ My artwork is based on personal history, on relationships and memory (dreams, space, geography, land). It is broadly related to memory, dreams, space and connotations. These topics are drawn from daily life as much as from unconscious thoughts. Essentially, I’m attempting to create images according to my own psychological needs. “

Alex Goodman

ARTiculAction

Clo Bourgard & Wilson an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

Julian's heads is a journey into the universe of intellectual senses in the most satirical way, 10 sculptures of heads with transparent objects of our everyday lives in the brain area . The weaknesses of our society in a profound analysis of what drives us today, why do we survive to so many aggressions and why do we camouflage our thoughts and behaviors based on pre-established concepts. An anachronistic and contemporary analysis based on patterns of intuitive inspiration and pragmatic right so that this demand is art . So have winning looks sculpture figure , retaining its organic splendor and metaphorical so. The content has been growing at the hands of Clo Bourgard and Wilson the Palacio do Egipto in Lisbon . By its interaction with the public, by surprise, by "dazzle", incised by the light works naturally arose other invitations to new exhibitions, including the Gallery Municipal do P. Real in Lisbon, in the Lx Factury in Linbon and later invited by Gallery Rosso Tiziano in Piacenza and Gallery Emmuas in Milano.Recently at auction of contemporary art in the Renascimento Leiloeira, also in the exhibition at Ribeiro in Lisbon Julian 's Head's come to life itself, traveling at the speed of visualization needs

ARTiculAction

An interview with

Clo Bourgard & Hello Clo and Wilson, welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

Any attempt to define a work of art has the risk of being reductive however in our concept the definition of a work of art resides in its essence and in the way the expressiveness of the artist is transported to the work , which gets their own character in the relation-ship with the public and acquires a multiplicity of possible readings that provoke interactivity, and somehow excites or sensitizes the deepest instincts of the human being. Concluding is a coded message that is read from a personal way to a whole - that is humanity . Would you like to tell us something about your backgrounds? Both of you graduated at the School of Visual Arts Antonio Arroyo, in Lisbon... How has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Contemporary art processes those stimuli unequivocally with what surrounds us today. The conductive line that we are experiencing at the moment s an inspiration based on cruelty that contrasts with the society structure. In this sense we think that this dichotomy really exists, especially in what has been the evolution of thought, the canons and the production of art over the centuries. The Art School Antonio Arroyo is one of the most prestigious art schools in Portugal, and the influence it has in our work is very relevant. In this school we could learn to observe and admire the most important artists nationally and internationally, and with his teaching

Jennifer Sims 6

ARTiculAction method we could also learn to have the most thoroughly respect for materials and techniques as well as the making process. In our opinion will undoubtedly influenced our work with this artistic spirit lived, experienced and shared. This school has a richness that marks undoubtedly a line of thinking and a way of being in the arts very genuine. We believe that there may be some constraints on creative freedom when the teaching method is governed by very strict principles and canons, we do not believe that this school had suffocated us in the academic path, the characteristics of this school has the intention to stimulate creativity freely, only guiding the inner way for this trip. Before starting to elaborate about your produc-tion, would you like to tell to our readers some-thing about your process and 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?

The process of the work and concern starts from a concept that relates to the various "obsessions" of our Era. Once created the concept, the choice of materials and how would materialize it went through various chemical conflicts and complex technical experiences that in the specific case of julian's heads focused primarily on the process of knowledge on the chemical crystal resin reaction and its final finish. The crystal resin is a difficult material to work with. Hanging objects inside as if by magic was exhilarating and exhausting, but the satisfaction of the results strongly outperformed, when we discovered that we could overcome our initial idea - the human form, with objects in the brain area. It was great happiness that we feel when first sculpture was born to the world ourselves were overwhelmed with the magnificence of the work! Between weeks of dedication and hopes... and technical work. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Julian's heads, that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

The initial inspiration for this work coincides with the deepening of our partnership, whose process involves an exchange and sharing of ideas that we were matu7

ARTiculAction

Carry, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head series, 2013, crystal resin

ring about how to approach the inside or intellectual feel of the human being and how it carries into the interior of our pieces, based on extra sensorial seeking, the most hidden human motivations, money, beliefs, dominance, needs and primary instincts. Quickly became much deeper when we discovered that this issue could bring us to infinite questions about how our brain works and the multiplicity of that the sculptures transparency itself could convey to the viewer. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, Julian's heads is a journey into the universe of intellectual senses in the most satirical way... I can recognize such a socio political feature in it, and I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion, but I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can steer people's behavior... what's your point about this? Do you think that it's an exaggeration?

The satire is intrinsic in our work very consistently, obviously has a very strong socio political component, concerning to the actual global economic conjecture, however some sculptures have a distinctive reading of emotional nature, which leads to philosophical tracks when observed by different people. Each person sees the sculptures its own meaning, which amplifies our own purpose. We are aware that can stimulate clarify or develop intellectual strains and responses of coexistence between the transparent and the opacity. 8

Ilda, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head series,

ARTiculAction I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together as you did, especially because this often reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between two artists?

Our partnership is based on several important points: respect and mutual admiration, kindness in observing the contents and sharing functions, during the creative process and execution, a very deep connection of two minds merging and confront the fluidity of thoughts, which brings superlative atmospheres to the concept of "journey" together. Complicity, animus, and willingness to produce or invent something unique generates a renewed energy, like a new ray of light entering through a dark space suffering some kind of mutation, generating a new perspective of "being". We fully agree with Peter Tabor, once the results of our work and the materialization of our pieces intensifies this symbiosis of this enrichment in this fusion of ideas. In the case of a partnership, in addition to improve the growth of the work itself, requires us to give our best and to discover the limits of soul. Our communication is established continuously, without time stops. The idea can occur to any one of us, which is quickly developed by the

2013, crystal resin

Oliva, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head series, 2013, crystal resin 9

ARTiculAction other, thereby evolving the moments we produce in studio. As a line of imaginative production that slips away between poetry and achievement. Your art practice is strictly connected with the chance to establish a deep involvement with your audience, both on a intellectual aspect and on an emotive side... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

The excitement caused in the public as well be an objective, involves us in increased responsibility, and cannot be "turned off" our own experience, it is an extension of our being ... with the universe. All of us are a result of our life circumstances, social, emotional, so on, all these external and internal factors will necessarily be reflected in artistic production. Your artworks have been exhinited across your country and abroad, and I think it's important to remark that you have recentlly received the 1st Honorable mention in the completion Com.arte... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

Alice, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head series, 2013, crystal resin

Laurent, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head 10

ARTiculAction

Exhibition at Egypt Palace Museum - Oeiras, from the Julianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head series, 2013, crystal resin

I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Our work has been exhibited and appreciated in many cultural events, competitions, biennials, exhibitions and auctions. It has become extremely serious and important. It is an honour for us to feel this growing connection to the world of contemporary art, motivating our public and especially in other international cultural environments, assimilating the same form and enthusiasm to this outstanding delivery with the objective to take it farther and farther. We think that could exist a genuine relationship between business and art, by itself, is a challenge, but it has to be seen naturally. The purchase of a work of art is the objective of setting up osmosis to reality. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts Clo and Wilson. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

We do appreciate the invitation and was a pleasure to answer your questions, about the future is our intention to continue deepening this work in collaboration, we are developing several new projects, within the theme discovery the human being, new concepts and original, a direct action of freedom expression and the frontal impact with the stereotype, creating restlessness with innovative instruments that our work demonstrates precisely a rupture with traditional concepts, if possible introduce a new "alphabet". series, 2013, crystal resin

The art became a vehicle that " informs " the world, the order of life, reason and emotion. 11

ARTiculAction

Mark Daybell (USA)

an artist’s statement

I am forever fascinated by the power of myth. I’m interested in myth as an unproved or false collective belief often used to justify a social norm. Through language, images and ideas, I explore myth’s influence on conscious and unconscious behaviors, attitudes and desires. Masculinity, romance, “the artist” and “the American Dream,” including: home ownership, marriage, escapism, celebrity and self-reliance, are areas I investigate to reveal the effects and consequences of mythical thinking. Mark Daybell 12 1

Mark Daybell

ARTiculAction

Celebrity Sighting Situation–specific Installation and Video Record 2013 and ongoing “Celebrity Sighting” investigates the myth of celebrity. Through stories of first-hand experiences, the installation explores relationships, behaviors and attitudes around celebrity culture. Installation Description: “Celebrity Sighting” is an ongoing situation–specific installation occurring at selected events. The installation consists of a small private room‚ interviewer‚ professional camera/lighting equipment and video projector. Over the course of an event‚ willing participants contribute to the work by sharing his/her favorite celebrity sighting. A live feed (image only) of each interview is projected in a nearby common space. At the conclusion of the event‚ the video recording is edited to create a video and audio record. The video and audio record can be exhibited as a stand–alone piece.

Mark Daybell

ARTiculAction

An interview with

Mark Daybell Hello Mark, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual icebreaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark an artwork as a piece of Contemporary Art?

First I would like to thank ARTiculAction for selecting my work and Rhizome for announcing this opportunity. As for what defines a work of art, well, I think that’s tricky. Art is a very sweeping subject and although I might have an operational definition that has evolved with my education and practice, I don’t assume for a second this is any kind of last word. Art is a language onto itself. And like any language there are rules but the rules are always changing, evolving and sometimes reemerging. Contemporary Art is all the more challenging to define because we lack the perspective time and distance provides. Would you like to tell us something about your background? You hold a BFA in Applied Art and Design and a MFA that you received form the California State University, Fullerton. How have these experiences impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Mark Daybell

of 3-years, I received insights and support from a dozen or so diverse points of view. Those experiences very much still inform my work. 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, 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 credit my education for introducing me to art, art history and the creative process. I was not one of those artists who started at a really young age, carrying around a sketchbook, etc. I really came to art through the backdoor. I was an architecture mayor and the program required a series of foundation courses in the visual arts. I found myself working much harder at my art projects and never looked back. My graduate school experience was also transformational. I was at CSUF at a special time. Not only did I have great advisors in Eileen Cowin and Darryl Curran, I also had a different studio instructor each semester. So over the course

I don’t know how other artists work, but for me, it all starts in my head. I see something, hear something and start drilling down. Is there an art piece in this idea? Is there an image, sound, experience I can create or manufacture to exploit the idea? How does this fit in to my body of work?

Jennifer Sims

Mark Daybell

ARTiculAction

Celebrity Sighting, 2013 and ongoing Situation–specific Installation and Video Record

this article: Would you like to tell us something about the genesis of this work? What was your initial inspiration?

Celebrity Sighting took place/was created in the context of an art exhibition I had at Trunk Gallery in Venice, CA. The title of the exhibition was, “If you can’t join them, beat them.” I was exploring ideas around inside/outside culture through the prism of celebrity. The piece has several compo-nents but hinged on viewer participation. Visitors to the exhibition were invited to share their favorite celebrity sighting. Real-time images (but not audio) of the storytellers were projected on the gallery’s exterior wall. The stories were also recorded and edited into a single channel video and stands as a record of the event. I’m pleased with this work. I believe it represents where my art is headed.

How does it compare to other bodies of work? At some point, and this could be years or days, I start to move on my idea. Since I don’t work in any one particular medium, the next step varies dramatically. It could involve sending out Facebook requests, calling my video editor or contacting a talent agent.

Another work of yours on which I would like to spend some words is Please call - an important message is waiting for you that you created in collaboration with Kevin Jenkins: it's an interesting interactive piece that works to compare romantic notions of “the artist” with a contemporary reality... By the way, I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together, especially because this reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is wor-

At this point, I’m committed to the idea and really just try to serve it and give it the best chance to succeed. Details will change, certainly, but I typically don’t abandon an idea once it’s become a project. The production process is actually the least exciting part for me; it’s that original spark that really keeps me in the game. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Celebrity Sighting that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of 15

ARTiculAction

Mark Daybell

(USA)

Please call - an important message is waiting for you Situation–specific Interaction and Exchange (in collaboration with Kevin Jenkins), 2011

king together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between two artists?

“Please call - an important message is waiting for you” explores ideas and myths around “the artist” and the practice of art making. The project works to compare romantic notions of “the artist” with a contemporary reality.

I agree, although art is stereotypically seen as a solo endeavor, collaboration always adds an x factor. Kevin Jenkins and I head the design program at College of the Canyons so we are very familiar with each other professionally. However, we had never collaborated on an art project. We conceived the piece over various lunches and actually finalized the details long distance via email.

Description: “Please call - an important message is waiting for you” is a situation–specific interaction and exchange consisting of a business card‚ female assistant and cell phone answering machine. The work was set in the context of an exhibition entitled Chain Letter (a group exhibition featuring sixteen hundred artists held at a prestigious Los Angeles Gallery) and performed only once. At the exhibition’s opening reception‚ the assistant was instructed to discreetly distribute business cards to all reception goers who answered‚ “Yes” when asked‚ “Are you one of the artists in the exhibition?” If the answer was‚ “No” the assistant was instructed to say nothing and casually walk away. In either case‚ she was instructed to politely decline all inquiries.

The most surprising part was how quickly we came to an agreement. We decided, rather than bring work to the exhibition, we would make work about the exhibition. That is to say, work that explored the absur- dity of an exhibition with no real curation, for 1600 artists, held in a space designed for solo exhibi-tions. It was an interesting event.

The card encouraged recipients to call 310 435 4939. If called‚ the number went straight to voicemail with the message: No gastes tiempo desperdiciando tu talento. El trabajo que haces ha sido muy admirado por muchos. La fama y la fortuna es ciertamente tu destino. Gracias por llamar.

The video You Make Me Sick investigates the space between art as protest and the artistic license taken by artists who create the exact thing the work is supposedly protesting against: I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part

Mark Daybell

You Make Me Sick

ARTiculAction

“You Make Me Sick” investigates issues and myths around “the artist” and the practice of art making. The piece investigates the space between art as protest and the artistic license taken by artists who create the exact thing the work is supposedly protesting against.

Single Channel Video and Sound Loop, 2010 of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Description: “You Make Me Sick” is a single channel video and sound loop of a seemingly endless montage of acted vomit scenes appropriated from a range of B-level to Academy Award-wining films.

My work certainly represents ideas I’m interested in but it’s not me. To give the work depth, I do research beyond my personal experience. I read, watch interviews, listen to podcasts, etc.Otherwise I’m having a conversation with myself, which is rarely interesting to a viewer. With You Make Me Sick, one of the things that attracted me to art is its self-criticism. In 1990, I remember walking through the John Baldessari retrospective at MOCA. Baldessari’s Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell spoke to me in this way; it’s both art as subject and medium. I found that fascinating and still do.

challenge art in its conventions of exclusivity and question the audience’s role as passive consumer: I can recognize such a socio-political feature in your Art: and I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion, but I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can steer people's behavior... what's your point about this?

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you are interested in myth as an unpro-ved or false collective belief often used to justify a social norm... Your works seek to

It’s a fine line because you’re right, I do have a point of view but I’m not comfortable with the idea of artist as soothsayer. This doesn’t mean I think 17

ARTiculAction

Mark Daybell

Collector, Installation, 2012

“Collector” questions the nature and value of artistic endeavor. The installation explores viewpoints around art as a form of personnel expression and vehicle for ideas‚ art as product and commodity and art as an object of desire. Untitled (Roman Holiday), Site–specific Installation

Installation Description: “Collector” an installation consisting of a neon sign in “cool white‚” a limited art shouldn’t be used to persuade, I just think it’s an element I’m less drawn to. My artistic thrust is really in the exploration of how these false collective believes are both generated and propagated and less in the dispelling of myths.

numbered machine printed posters‚ platform‚ glass bowl‚ #32 black rubber bands and laser cut plastic letting. At eye level‚ a neon sign shaped in the form of the word Collector hangs on the wall. Directly beneath the sign is a short platform with a stack of posters.

It goes without saying that your artworks as Untitled (Roman Holiday) and Collector are strictly connected to the chance to create intellectual involvement and a deep interaction, since rather than modify the space, your artworks are the space in which your audience, a large number of people, enjoy your pieces: how important to you is the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

Each poster has the word “Collector” in a typographical fashion similar to the neon sign but done in black lettering on white paper. A small glass bowl of black rubber bands rest near the posters. Viewers are welcome to take a single poster and as many rubber bands needed to safely transport it. In the event all posters are taken‚ a laser cut of the word Collector styled in the exact typographical treatment as the posters and adhered to the top of the platform becomes visible. The laser cut will remain as a stand-in for the posters until the close of the exhibition.

I don’t know if I think about the enjoyment of the viewer but I’m always thinking about their expectations and context. Context is everything. In fact, it’s difficult for me to work without a known con18

Mark Daybell

, 2013

ARTiculAction

Untitled (Roman Holiday), detail

“Untitled (Roman Holiday)” investigates the myth of celebrity. The installation explores perceptions of “exclusivity”, “cool”, “glamour” and inside/outside culture.

text. I mean, I do send work out for group exhibitions but those are the least satisfying experiences for me. My ideal art experience is when I get complete control of the exhibition space. I obsess about every detail, down to the music that is played, wine that is served; even what I wear can play a part.

Installation Description: “Untitled (Roman Holiday)” is a site-specific installation consisting of white paint, drywall, studs, speakers, stereo receiver and house music. At an odd angle, a walled off space was created in a normally rectangular gallery. The space was designed, built and finished to match the gallery’s existing interior walls. The space had no obvious points of entry and no wall plaque declaring it as a work of art. Once within the gallery, viewers could hear loud but muffled music. As the viewer walked around the gallery and got closer to the space, it would be obvious the music is emanating from behind the walls. At a close distance, the music could be felt as well as heard.

Untitled (Roman Holiday) was a kind of hidden piece. I was trying to create a question in the viewer’s mind as to whether this was an art installation or just part of the gallery. I’m not sure of its success. Collector was maybe the opposite with its bright neon glow acting as a beacon. It drew people in but once they got close, that’s when the piece changes.

Mark Daybell

ARTiculAction

And I couldn't do without mentioning We do not accept unsolicited submissions, which I have to admit, is one of my favorite pieces of yours... I question, but all in all, an important one... what are in your opinion some of the challenges for a sustainable relationship between the business and arts?

As I mentioned, art is a broad subject and I believe there is room for everyone. My practice, however, comes from a particular academic and art historical tradition. In that tradition, we study artists who significantly impact the trajectory of art history. The subject of commercial success is never really addressed. It’s as if the two worlds are separate. But they’re not. They overlap and influence each other and that interests me as an artist. For the record, I’m not against commercial galleries. I think individuals have every right to buy whatever they find inspiring and commercial galleries provide us that service. My concern, if that’s the right word, is when commercial interests dominate the discussion. That’s when things become unsustain-able and innovation suffers. I don’t purport to know where that line is and that’s why it interests me as a subject. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Mark. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I’m currently in a show at Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL., entitled LA Stories: Videos from the West Coast curated by Tim Wride. I will also have some work in BorderBody Mixing Identi-ties exhibition taking place in Spain and Bari, Italy. Finally, I’m a finalist NordArt 2014 in

We do not accept unsolicited submissions (Installation and details)

exhibition of interna-tional talent. Finally, I want to thank you for this opportunity, I appreciate the questions, effort and commitment to advancing ideas in contem-porary art.

“We do not accept unsolicited submissions.” explores issues and myths around “the artist‚” the art market and the practice Jennifer Sims of art making.

An interview by articulaction@post.com

Mark Daybell

ARTiculAction

Installation Description: “We do not accept unsolicited submissions.” is an installation consisting of 36 sets of limited edition postcards‚ postage stamps and attendant. Focusing on Los Angeles-based commercial art galleries‚ sets of postcards were created with gallery addresses on one side and its corresponding submission policy on the other. The postcards were for sale through the run of the art exhibition‚ “If you can't join them, beat them.” If participants elected to mail their postcard(s)‚ pens and an on-site drop box were provided.

ARTiculAction

an artist’s statement

is simultaneously lyrical and myste- rious, jubilant yet poetic. Employing these paradoxes, she skillfully applies her raw talent into different mediums and styles from nature and the landscape to culture and individuals she encounters on her travels, and transforms using dramatic ploys such as contrasts in scale, shifts in focus, mirrored reflections, staccato images, and multiple or layered surfaces. Sensory perception nature and culture—this thought process points to a new kind of realism—one that is engaged with the actual processes of life. Yet, it also references the theoretical avant-garde conceptions of deconstruction emerging during Modernism. Her work is intense, yet moving, powerful yet sensitive. Gathering her subjects in her field of vision, she draws on her inner world, inviting us to join her on a journey of discovery of the essence of being, depicting new truths of the meaning of existence. Drawing us into an enigmatic and luxurious world of imagination, seduction, and spirit, she creates organic shape and flowing shapely contours. Her luscious approach is inspired. Layered shapes and elegant color distinguish her recent body of work, executed in a strongly stylized painting method. The energy and vigor of her explosive potraits haunt the viewer with a dynamic juxtaposition of both playful, yet eerie implications. Studying Arts and Crafts, including ceramics, the Portuguese painter, also graduated from the private ArCo School of Art in Lisbon, where she undertook Intensive Painting. Multitalented, Natalia has additionally, specialized studies sculpture under the Cuban artist, Hans Varela, before finding her focus withing painting. Her is often described as magical. From her rich application of paint, the balance and flows created on the canvas surface, all represent a zealous vision of an ardent enthusiast. Relying equally on her unconscious, and the world around her for inspiration, she employs a philosophy and approach embraced by many poets… Personal experimentation and an openness ate these images with fervor on the surface, gorgeously applying the medium of paint with beauty and sensitiv- ity, capturing something so special and rare. Caught between transforms the natural world into poetic visions and fantasy, while still utilizing symbolic elements to convey psychological ideas and emphasize the “freedom” of art from traditional culture. With more than 50 solo and group exhibitions, and in international art collections from Brazil, Spain, United States, UK, France, Italy, Holland and Australia, it is very easy to see why respected collectors across the globe are choosing to invest in her unique asthetic.

Natalia Gromicho

ARTiculAction

An interview with

Hello Natalia, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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?

Hello to everyone and thank you for the interest in my work. In relation to the first question is a very personal opinion on a particular subject or idea. For me a work of art is what the viewer makes of it, if he like it or not, this is for me, the best definition of artwork. A contemporary work for me, is to break the pre-established canons with the past. Moreover, do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

Yes, I think there is a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness if not the contemporary would become meaningless, that's the difference between past and present in art.

thing about your process and 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?

Would you like to tell us something about your background? After graduating at the Fine Arts faculty in Lisbon, you studied also Arts & Crafts and Intensive Painting and then you attended a Sculpture course with Cuban artist Hans Varela.. How have these experiences impacted on the way you currenly produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kindof formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

I am an expressionist artist, the creative process is very fast and intense. My main objective is always criticize what I see, this is my inspiration. As I mentioned in the previous question, I spend a lot of time in the atelier painting, I have some rituals but nothing important, motivation is the main "ingredient" if we can call that, to start a work.

We're always learning, it has been in error and in his contestation, that I propose to be an artist. I'm self-taught. I'm always learning from mistakes, criticism is most important to innovate.

As you may know, I started a recent project called meetiNG Art Chiado, where I propose to the audience, not just a view to my recent works, but also my live atelier, where I create everyday my works, so, the best way is to visit me, here in Chiado, Lisbon.

Most importantly, in addition to the basic training, is the experience gained in the work of every day, paint, paint, paint... Using an expression from one of my favorite painters, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working." (Pablo Picasso)

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Ambiente comunicacao and Na Mira, that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these pieces

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers some-

Jennifer Sims

Natalia Gromicho

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Na Mira

and what was your initial inspiration?

A feature of Crazy Fool Times Around and especially of Lisboa A Cair that has mostly impacted on me is your capability of creating a deep intellectual interaction, communicating a wide variety of states of mind : even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I have to admit that in a certain sense it unsettles me a bit...

The 2 paintings are unique and singular works, Na Mira (In Sight) symbolizes aggression to what is alive and aggression arises from the unexpected. If you look closely can extract this feeling. Ambiente comunicacao (Environment Communication) is a more complex work demands more of the viewer because it is not as exposed as the other, for example think of a multinational company, which transmits their product around the world, a core that spreads an idea overall. The aim of this work is to appeal to a form of mass communication, however the work is more complex and as said earlier, requires more observer.

it's an effective mix between anguish and thoughtless, maybe hidden happiness... I would go as far as to state that this piece, rather than simply describing, pose us a question: forces us to meditation...

Let's imagine ourselves in the center of the world, 25

ARTiculAction where there are ideas, colors, smells, spread everywhere. For me it's the overall vision of the world as a mirror of humanity. These two works are very recent, were prepared at different times but with a common meaning, this polarity feelings, which sometimes are experienced but very complicated to externalize for a work. I think the combination of the various phases of the work can show the feelings I had at that time.

Jennifer Sims Lisboa a Cair

Natalia Gromicho

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The Rock

I noticed that in your recent pieces, the colors have such a delicate -I daresay "thoughtful" nuances as in Esfinge and The Rock, while other elder pieces as New Orleans, Rain and especially Roman Woman seem to reveal such a struggle, a deep tension and intense emotions... Has your approach changed during this last year? By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

As a Expressionist I don't want to do similar works, always different, I want to be identified only on my Simsme as an observer, I had signature... NewJennifer Orleans struck to carry to the canvas the review of this disaster. The 27

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Esfinge

original name of Rain was Blood Rain, but as it was so strong I ended up just putting Rain depicts the bloodbath of al qaeda, I do not think it is worth writing more about it... Roman Woman is a important work for me, was created for my first solo exhibition in Adelaide, Australia and was sold five minutes after opening, is a work very direct, have some eroticism, was the work that illustrated this exhibition called "Human Being", that speaker about homophobe, homosexuality and so was very strong and intense. The result was the sale of half of the works in the Vernissage night and an installation that was created at Adelaide, a restored and hand painted chair. It was a magic night. During these years your works have been exhibited in several occasions and moreover you have been also awarded -among the otherswith the "Best Rolling Stone Alternative Logoâ&#x20AC;?. It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award-or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever

New Orleans, 2012, Acrylic on Canvas, 100 x 100

exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Not me, that's not what motivates me. I never think of selling a work, moreover I'm a terrible

Jennifer Sims

Natalia Gromicho

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Rain, 2012, Acrylic on Canvas, 100 x 100

Na Mira, 2012, Technique, dimensions

salesperson, so give this task to a person who do know. It is very important the feedback from the public, is the feedback that comes with the criticisms that make me motivated, make me paint, to continue in this journey...

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Esfinge, Year, Technique, dimensions

Cloud

Another interesting pieces of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Clouds and Anoitecer which I have to admit is one of my favourite work of yours: moreover, as you have stated that "My art is my soul" I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Clouds is an idea that haunted me for a long time, every day she was there in the sky and it was a work that I really enjoyed doing. It is a work that joins 3 canvas, was a longer process than normal but I liked the result. Anoitecer was sold recently to a collector from London who was in Lisbon and visited me in my Atelier at Chiado and it was love at first sight. Expressing feelings is my life, this happens only in the light of experience, so I think that expressing feelings is more a consequence of experience.

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Natalia Gromicho

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Exhibition

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Natalia. What's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

The next year is very important for my career, will be a very full year, especially the first half, I have New York's exhibition in Soho NYC in March with the exhibition "The power of preception", The Biennial Verona and also Human Rights? in Italy, Bordeaux with an exhibition at the invitation of the Portuguese embassy are some of the international projects for the first 6 months of 2014. For the second half, Moscow for some thematic exhibitions, in the summer Zurich with "Visual Narratives: The art of abstraction", India with several exhibitions where I will be also at the Kochi Muziris Bienale 2014 and a return to Miami, this time at Art Basel in December 2014. In addition to these exhibitions, I also hold some exhibitions in Portugal and several projects in my gallery, meetiNG Art Chiado, such as Downtown Chiado and Lisbon International Contemporary Exhibition which are 2 international exhibitions that go together in different periods, artists from around the world in Lisbon. All details in www.nataliagromicho.com or through social networks.

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Jake Kelley an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

My work is primarily an exploration of materials in an effort to create images of lasting conceptual and emotional effect. I utilize a wide variety of mediums and techniques that have developed organically from hours of experimentation. I am also interested in mark-making as a method of exploring the inherent tension between opposites such as Euclidian/Platonic, organic/geometric, painting/drawing, etc. As an abstract painter, engaging in a cultural dialogue is also a concern. Therefore, perception itself is always a primary subject. Jake Kelley

EDUCATION M.Ed., University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN, BFA, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN, 2007 SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012, Piss Business, Woo Kelley Gallery, Chattanooga, TN TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS 2011, A Disturbance in Mirrors, B+B Gallery, New York, NY AWARDS AND HONORS 2013, Featured Artist, Four Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, TN 2009, Best in Show, Doubt,Chattanooga Theatre Center, Chattanooga, TN 2008, Best Emerging Artist, Four Bridges Art Festival, Chattanooga, TN 32

Jake Kelley

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Jake Kelley

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An interview with

Jake Kelley Hello Jake, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

For me... the very act of "naming" something "art" makes it art. Anything goes. I guess Duchamp changed the game in that regard. It's like the garden of Eden when Adam went around naming everything. That's how it works if you ask meâ&#x20AC;Ś Which you did. As far as the traditional/contemporary dichotomy goes... I tend to think of those artists who are pushing the envelope a bit as contemporary which generally includes some sort of reference to the game/dialogue that is painting itself. So... Post modern if you will. Self aware/conscious Metacognitive art making. Would you like to tell us something about your background? You have graduated at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where you received a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing. How has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Jake Kelley

tools and then go back in with charcoal and edit out information until I felt finished. It was all about the positive/negative spatial dialogue. 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, 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?

Well first of all let me say that as with most students (perhaps especially those of art) your professors are going to have a profound influence on you. With art school you either start by mimicking your teachers or rebelling against them. I was very influenced by my teachers and tended toward mimicry during the early years although I didn't realize it at the time. I guess I started to find my voice during my senior thesis which was made up almost entirely of black and white drawings. (You can see them at jakekelley.wordpress.com) I would lay down a constellation of marks with a variety of

Materials are probably the most important thing for me. They get me started. It is within my process that meaning is made manifest. I paint on aluminum with baked on acrylic so it is very smooth and non-absorbent that in and of itself is

Jennifer Sims

Jake Kelley

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lic, latex, resin, and ink on aluminum) and it was very much the product of experiment. It was a huge break through and really set the bar for me. Tiger/Tiger came about a year and a half later and was much more premeditated. I knew I wanted to use an animal of some sort as the subject and I eventually settled on the tiger. At some point I decided to flip and repeat the image which not only made it more interesting compositionally, but also injected it with a sort of ambiguity of meaning that i found compelling. Tiger/Tiger took on a real spiritual direction...something I have become interested in lately...The artist as shaman...finding that trance state and returning with a higher understanding. "My River Runs To Thee" and "Doppleganger" also utilize the flipped and repeated or "mirror" image as a way to commu-nicate the dichotomies of the "self"â&#x20AC;Ś body/spirit, good/evil, simple/complex, etc, etc.

very important to my process which involves everything from cutting back in and removing particular layers of paint skeins to water manipulation, sanding, screen printing, etc. many of these techniques I simply couldn't do on canvas. I really don't like the toothiness of canvas either. I usually work on one painting for about 2 months or so. I tend to spend a lot of time waiting for paint to dry. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Tiger Tiger and Soul-crusher that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

Soul-crusher was the very first painting I made using this particular combination of materials acry-

The Sun Dissolves 35

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Jake Kelley

Tiger/Tiger

A recurrent feature of your works that has mostly impacted on me is the intense, almost flooding tone of red in Contemplating A World Clear as Water and in The Sun Dissolves, which seem to reveal such a struggle, a deep tension and intense emotions... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

to "elevate" them to something more. In the end we both win (or lose) depending on how you look at it. It is a compromise between to waring factions. It is in that struggle that visual/conceptual tension is createdâ&#x20AC;Ś and that is the stuff of good painting. Another interesting pieces of yours on which I would like to spend some words are the diptych Aquatic Nocturne and especially Cross Section which I have to admit is one of my favorite work of yours: moreover, I would like 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?

I used to think that color was arbitrary...an "extra" that had little more than a decorative role in painting. Of course, I was wrong. I now view color as perhaps the most important choice/choices that is/are made during the painting process. I certainly don't feel the need to make "easy" appealing color schemes but I do strive for a certain "Matissian" harmony in my pallets. Like good music, this usually includes dissonant tones as well as harmonious ones. As far as your reference to "struggle" goesâ&#x20AC;Ś yes, I view every painting as a struggle between myself and the materials. They want just to be themselves...paint as paintâ&#x20AC;Ś I generally am trying

I do believe personal experience effects the creative process. I have found that growing older and going through the many hardships and joys of life have made me a more reflective person and if painting isn't a reflective process then I don't know what is. I am glad that you asked about Cross36

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Cross Section II

section as it has grown to be a favorite of mine. Like Soul-Crusher, it too was largely the result of blind experimentation. Thus the name Crosssection, as I tend to feel like a mad scientist sometimes alone in my studio doing things that honestly make little sense outside of those walls.

Contemplating A World Clear as Water II

During these years your works have been exhibited in several occasions and moreover you have been recently chosen to be the Featured Artist 2013 at the Four Bridges Art Festival. It goes without saying that feedbacks

and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art... I do try my best to make what needs to be made without thinking about who will like it and who won't. But in all honesty, it is hard not to catch yourself making choices that you have to question... " am I doing this because it is pushing the painting in an Aquatic Nocturne (diptych)

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Jake Kelley

And I couldn't do without mentioning your piece At length the Man perceives it die away, And fade into the light of common dayâ&#x20AC;Ś It shows a stimulating synergy between the apparently contrasting ideas of circularity suggested by the circular shape and the straightness of the lines on the border: this gives a sense of rhythm to the canvas...

I am indeed very interested in the visual and philosophical/conceptual friction caused by the cohabitation of two apparent opposites...organic/geometric, flatness/depth, reality/illusion, warm/cold, and most recently reflective/nonreflective. At Length...was one of the first paintings on which I screen printed an image after having applied the resin finish. This created a very interesting positive/ negative play between the two surfaces and really changed the way I make painting.

Piss Business

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Jake Kelley

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Fizzle Pop

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Jake. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

Well let me end by saying... Thank you and your publication for allowing me to share a few of my thoughts with my fellow art lovers! I do have a few shows coming up in my hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee and I will be featured in a show of contemporary abstract painters in Sacramento, California in the fall. Other than that I will just be in my garage trying to make decent paintings. You can keep up with my success and failures directly at my website jakekelley.wordpress.com P.S. I am looking for gallery representation at the moment if anyone has any good suggestions! 39

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21358SMart (The Netherlands / France) an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

It was at the end of December 2012, in a social context fueled by doubts about the end of the world, that we met each other by accident on the internet. Looking back, that episode marked the beginning of our collaboration and we saw it as a new start. It was clear to us that we both use the same creative language, and our influences show that correlation. We are both interested in art movements like Abstract Expressionism, Informal Art and Cubism. Also Dada, Gestural Art and Neo Expressionism have an impact on the works we create. Since we met each other through modern technology, we often implement this in our way of working together from a distance. This means that for creating new images, we make frequent use of the modern technologies available to us, such as the computer, a scanner, Skype, et cetera. In addition to this, we also work traditionally, creating paintings, drawings and photography. It is a mark of our wide interest in expressing ourselves through varied styles. At first, our project was an experiment based on telepathic communication, without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interaction. After a while the project slowly evolved into a mutual consciousness about the effect that modern communication tools -like social media- have on our society. The fact that we met through a social media site gave us the opportunity to see what the strengths and the weaknesses of this kind of tools are. We use the tools of our time to testify of that current individuality, where everybody tries to connect with the wide world from behind their computer screens. In the end we are often alone, even if we think we have thousands of friends around the world. 21358SMart can be seen as our study and reaction to a society that is often based on individual thinking. By working together from a distance we noticed that our works are subjected to the phenomenon of culturation and deculturation. By combining our artistic voices we are pushed to think not only for ourselves anymore, like we often do with our computers or smartphones. Often we exchange visual messages. Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

Paper Mmm Mmm, from the Hybrid SMS Remix Series 100 x 70 cm Hybrid

www.21358smart.com

2013, ÂŠ 21358SMart

info@21358smart.com

Natalia Gromicho

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Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

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An interview with

Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam Hello Sander and Marijah, and a warm welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

M: In my opinion a work of Art is an artistic creation that is characterized by more than only its uniqueness, originality and exemplary character. A work of Art can transcend understanding by its aesthetic power, shapes and message. Ugliness can become beauty and spontaneity of a clumsy gesture can be a stroke of genius. S: Yes, I think it is not the task to only please the observer, but also to use our voice to communicate a message. Art is about content and creating dialogue, it is a way to “talk” and express feelings. These days a lot is being said about the difference between contemporary art and traditional art. It is a never-ending discussion and in my opinion this is something irrelevant while creating art. As artist we are a product of the time we are living in, so actually somehow we can see all art as contemporary.

Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam Would you like to tell us something about your backgrounds? Are there any experiences that particularly impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

M: Previously, a work of art was defined by its means of implementation, its beauty and also its spirituality and genius. Contemporary art marks a rupture between art and beauty and also between the artistic approach and the aesthetic approach. Today the question is not only what is a work of Art but what is Art? To this question I would say today that this is an ongoing personal process ... Art is not static nor satisfactory… Art has the power to transcend the mind and states of consciousness… It is an individual research suitable for the masses… for anchoring in generality ...only for a time. Art must evolve because… it must be able to question and participate in the evolution of human consciousness.

S: I have no particular background in art and I am completely self-taught. In my childhood I always was creative kid. As a teenager I drew a lot, but never took it seriously. About 10 years ago all started when I bought a digital camera. I used Photoshop to manipulate images and worked as a professional photographer for about 5 years. I got more interested in using Photoshop my own way and started scanning images to use them in colla-

Jennifer Sims

Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

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and acculturation. Because I grew up with many and varied origins, my personal expression necessarily undergoes cultural mixes. I am in constant search and my art openly expresses what I feel in contact with new influences or even new technologies. And as a professor in plastic arts I also learn a lot from my students. One can say that I am permeable and evolving. Of course a formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... that's why I had to stop creating after my studies during almost 4 years to come back at art as artist painter...and almost virgin of all knowledge. S: But these days there is also a risk to use all freedom, because of the massive amount of choices we can make. All is available and if we want we can be surrounded by art each moment of the day. Somehow it is to each of us to find the right balance. Some people need to be more formally trained to keep focused. In my opinion it depends a bit on your personality. 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, 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?

S: Our process is something varied. Since we often work long-distance we use modern technology to stay in touch with each other. Besides that we also use traditional techniques when we paint... sometimes we do that together and sometimes we send the works to each other by post, so each can finish them.

ges and hybrid art. For that reason I also started to draw and paint again, to use these fragments in new works. The last few years I realized that people started seeing me as an artist... something I never planned before. Nowadays I paint, doing collages, computer art and photography in all different kinds of projects and series. Art became my life and 21358SMart is one of the projects I personally like the most, because all different techniques are included.

M: The 21358Smart project started with individual works that consisted to paint sepa-rately on the same vision and same subjects. Quickly we felt the need to share our works and to paint with four hands and also because we saw a similar language in our lines...

M: I started with the applied-arts before studying fine arts at the university. The autonomy of the artist was essential to me and the search for personal expression. As a visual artist I learned to respond and participate in the artistic evolution on the issue of art as a phenomenon of culturation

S: And it was for us the start of explorations in different techniques and concepts. I don't know if we really focus on technical aspects in our works. This may sounds strange, but for me personally I really never focus on these aspects . Of course I am aware that these aspects are important, but 43

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Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

After All, from the Hybrid SMS Remix Series 100 x 70 cm Hybrid 2013, © 21358SMart

somehow I never really think about it that much, even though I often use technology in art. M: We often work very spontaneously. we start a topic that sometimes has a connection with the news or on a discussion between us and we try to answer each in turn...we are very fast and productive… We can create in an almost compulsive way. But some projects can take more time, sometimes with several weeks of preparation and organization. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Hybrid SMS Remix series, that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of this stimulating project? What was your initial inspiration?

Free Full, from the Hybrid SMS Remix Series, 100 x 70

in many different ways with our art.

M: SMS comes from "Short Message Service" and is also a pun with our initials S for Sander and M for Marijah...S can mean secret...because at the debut our collaboration was a secret... but quickly we decided to show the project to the public...S can mean Show now…”The Sander & Marijah Show” (haha)

M: Our inspiration now is based on varied subjects and projects. Often inspired by a starting image or a social topic like "Myths And Legends Of Eastern Europe”, “The Vintage Style” or the contrast between “Country Living and City Living” etc... S biggest inspiration. Jennifer Seen Simsfrom a social context to a very abstract point of view.

S: Instead of text we decided to exchange visuals. In the beginning we sent each other digital images to manipulate. We blended our lines and imagination together and during the process of creation we were in contact with each other trough chat. Exchanging messages is still a big part of this project as well, because we like to communicate

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, by creating your works you try to inspire people by the idea that art has the power to change the world and can help to reach other levels of thoughts... I can recognize such a so44

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Sunshine, 2013, © 21358SMart from the May We Do Art in June? Series Mixed Media on a A5 fine art bamboo paper

cm Hybrid 2013, © 21358SMart

cio political feature in it, and I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion, but I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can steer people's behavior... what's your point about this? Do you think that it's an exaggeration?

Major Blue Gradient, 2013, © 21358SMart from the May We Do Art in June? Series Mixed Media on a A5 fine art bamboo paper

S & M: "By creating our works we try to inspire people with the idea that art has the power to change the world and can help to reach other levels of thoughts.” Yes indeed art can maybe steer people's behavior. Modern art is a blur...the reflection of our fast and furious consumer society. The images are more and more important in our life, and figurative art can still have much success.

We mean that art is always a reflection on our daily society. The way advertisements and commercialism influences our way of thinking is getting bigger by the day. This influence also hits the art world, so in that aspect you can see a comparable effect as advertisements have on people. In the series May We Do Art In June? which is again a pun with a question and the period when we created it 45

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Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

Correspondence In Lines

Science Storm

between May and June, we kept our initial expression which is abstraction lyric. The use of an abstract language can be seen as a sort of escape from a systematic set of rules that is often used in daily life. It allows us to interpret subjects in a free way; Codified, expressive and also esthetic. This as an opposition against the fast consuming of images often observed on social media, TV and internet.

cause our way to create is an exchange of inspiration and an interaction. I can agree with Peter Tabor but in our collaboration we naturally harmonize our practice by the fact that our lines, shapes and ideas are almost similar. Our slogan being "Two Artists, One World" explains that simulta-neously we found a similar langage. This artistic langage is produced to be One. To no longer be able to distinguish who did what.

I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together as you did, especially because this often reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between two artists?

S: But art always is a form of communication anyway... whether you work on your own projects or in collaboration.

S: A collaboration between two artists always brings something new, because even when the style can be similar, the minds are always different. I think we both were curious to see the results of blending our lines together with our minds. M: Our collaboration is indeed based on a form of communication. Because it uses direct technological tools to keep in touch at distance but also be-

Upside Down Stairs To Heaven 100 x 70 cm c-print

Jennifer Sims

Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

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Layered Motion, from the Minimal Mechanic Series, 100 x 70 cm c-print

Maybe because I have myself a scientific background, a feature of your art practice that has particularly impacted on me is the deep synergy that you are capable of establishing between traditional techniques and digital technologies ... what's your point about he contamination between Art and Science... I sometimes happen to realize that Science and Art are going to assimilate one to each other...

art. With our project we are fully aware of these new methods to create and work together longdistance. It is the task of artists to figure out how to use technology and science to produce and explore new directions. M: In my opinion art and science are in question as well as science and faith. Two entities that can oppose and also respond and contribute to each other. Technical science that we use in our special series Minimal Mechanic is interesting because it allows us to achieve the opposite of what one would expect of science in general. I mean some logic. Yet we manage to get random effects. Science becomes art because it has no more purpose than to rave about.

S: Since technology cannot exist without science we can say that science has a very important influence on modern art and art in general. It is not only about the modern tools we can use to create art, but also the new possibilities to study, as well to digitize and even reproduce traditional 47

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Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

Aliens From The West, detail

Paper Roll, detail

Moroever, I have read that at first, your project was an experiment based on telepathic communication, without using any of your known sensory channels or physical interac-tion...I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespen-sable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Your artworks have been exhibited across your country and abroad... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

S: For me creating is an experience and this can also take place without any physical interaction. Even dreams are a way to create images in our minds. So in that aspect a creative process can somehow also be sort of disconnected from direct experiences. Sometimes a creation can happen unconsciously.

S: We are living in a society in which is more built around receiving feedback and comments. We are able to stay in touch directly with each other 24/7. It can create pressure and competition. The large amount of awards and contests where you can win becomes a new business of its own. This fact devaluates feedback, comments and prizes in my opinion. Of course good and valuable feedback is always appreciated, but for me it is more useful as inspiration for new subjects than the actual feedback influences or motivates me as an artist.

M: I often say that "Art is a manifestation of the divine momentum that remain in us." By this I mean that each personal experience can indeed influence and even be the cause of a creative process. This divine manifestation is nothing religious in the strict sense of the term. I use it to express our most primary and internal creative momentum. In our work it is no longer just a question of personal experience but finding to hear the same creative process. The agreement does not always pass through verbal communication but said telepathic language. The creative process that is born from it is itself out of our own experiences. It arises from a purely creative and ultra-sensory communion.

M: I'm sure some rewards Jennifer Sims can indeed motivate, also slightly influence the normal process of an artist. As a mandatory topic for a contest is an exercise that requires adapting to a question. But it is interesting to adapt our own creative process to a different topic that we usually adapt to ourself. The feedback of an audience is interesting at diffe48

Sander Steins & Marijah Bac Cam

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Paper Roll, detail

rent levels. We could have the choice to share our creations on social media and receive a lot of feedback but more important for us was to be confronted directly with professionals and jurors...Maybe we needed that to start our project which is still fresh and also to motivate ourself to go even further...

try that brought us this capitalist system. A system that is doomed to fail. USA is already a third world country where 1 in each 6 people are living below the poverty line, and that still has billions of dollars left for weapons to try to dominate the world. Money will almost never bring out the best in people...

S: Of course we are aware for whom we create our work and with what intention we do this, but we prefer not to talk about this in depth. Our project is still fresh and in full development... and it can suggest ideas to people (haha).

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Sander and Marijah. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

M: Today the artist is also a businessman. Working his art as a small business, doing research for exposures, customers, and sustainability. The world of art due to the economic context is gradually being transformed into an art business...Andy Warhol said "Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art." We see that he announced this revival. S: But yes.. that was also something you could expect from an artist that was coming from a coun-

S & M: First we would like to wish you all a happy New Year! And also to our project which celebrates its first birthday... We ended the year 2013 with encouragement for our future projects. And for this year we continue to work on varied projects, which we can't tell too much about in detail right now. But to stay updated you can follow the news on our website www.21358smart.com which will be updated frequently. If you are interested in our works feel free to contact us directly at: info@21358smart.com 49

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Nevena Vuksanovic (Serbia / France) an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

Animal nature, complete but without identity, stands opposite the human inadequacy and susceptibility towards personal development. Animals I admire but I look at people critically. The humanlike beings point out the human deficiencies I myself possess while creating them. On our way of development and growth, we are, as people faced with personal shortcomings. These deficiencies may seem terrible, dreadful, insurmountable. Nature is what directs us towards out inner landscape, towards our ability to achieve completeness. To build a sculpture we need physical involvement, great immediacy. Forms mature upon their long being created in imagination. At the moment of personal separation from them, during the tension of my overall sensibility, I become one with the created object. My body is released from something that was up to then part of it. During its creation, the sculpture builds into itself memories, dreams, fears, aggression, a sense of helplessness.

Nevena Vuksanovic

Cheetah, 2008 Wire, Wool 1,20m x 2m

Nevena Vuksanovic

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Nevena Vuksanovic

Flea, 2011 1,5m x 2m , Metal, rubber, leather, vinyl, paper

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Nevena Vuksanovic

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Nevena Vuksanovic

An interview with

Nevena Vuksanovic Hello Nevena, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

An art work is always a sum of artistic aspirations. For me personally it is a man's search for something that is everlasting, transcendent, meant for the world beyond, a pursuance towards spiritual heights and universal goals. I think that an artwork should be an act of selfgiving, a sort of self-surrender, irrelevant if it is about contemporary or traditional art work. There is a bond between tradition and contemporaneity, namely one refers to another. Would you like to tell us something about your background? After graduating at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrad, you attended lots of workshops, and you have recently been in Abu Dhabi on a residencial program... How have these experiences impacted on the way you currenly produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Nevena Vuksanovic

is also my first international residency experience. I was privileged to work with a team of hard working, smart and competent people who provided trust and gave support to each other. They were always there to accomodate us with everything that we needed and I have learned a lot from them. I will always remember my experience from Abu Dabi.

I was born in Belgrade, Serbia. Since my early age, I was attracted by art. After my third grade in high school I attended private lessons of painting and drawing at the same time. I have finished high school for graphic design where my professor discovered my talent for sculpture just two months before my the entry. In 2007.

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, 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 enrolled in Faculty for fine arts in Belgrade â&#x20AC;&#x201C; department of sculpture and 2012 I finished master studies at the class of professor MrÄ&#x2018;an BajiÄ&#x2021;. Art residency for Eastern Europe at ArtHub in Abu Dabi has finished at beginning of January this year. That

Usually in the beginning I do a lot of sketches and drawings trying to find the right composition and

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Nevena Vuksanovic

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Dream Of Shiver, 2012, Par foam, pulp, silicone, wire

measure. I concentrate on proportions , anatomy and that initial feeling of the very idea itself. After that everything kind of opens itself , I just do the corrections and take care that the sculpture contains intensity , strength and energy that have initially motivated me to create it.

creepy feeling to run through my body and then I woke up crying in fear not to fall asleep again.I wanted to reflect the same feeling to the audience. The sculpture ,,Flea" is a display of a flea , a hundred times enlarged. I wondered what impression would we have if we ever came across such a creature.First I did a series of drawings and then I decided to do the sculpture.

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Dream of Shiver and Flea, an interesting work that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

Under the material there is a metal construction, followed by sponge, leather jacket stitched with a woolen rope with a peaces of paper on the back side. I always build my memories, dreams and fears in the sculpture while I am creating.

The sculpture ,, Dream of shiver " is in fact an illustration of one of my dreams. I was dreaming that it began to shiver from my toes all the way to my neck , tingling through the entire body. I felt great pain and fear, helpless I had to wait for that

A feature of Chaos that has mostly impacted on me is your capability of creating a deep intellectual interaction, communicating a wide variety of states of mind: even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I have 55

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Nevena Vuksanovic

Chaos, detail, Gypsium, branches, paint, 2m x 1,5, 2012

to admit that in a certain sense it unsettles me a bit... it's an effective mix between anguish and thoughtless, maybe hidden happiness... I would go as far as to state that this piece, rather than simply describing, pose us a question: forces us to meditation...

train his temper, defects,passions, vices, weaknesses feeling of nothingness, because all of this inevitably causes downfall. That is man's attempt to resist decadency. Should one give himself up to decadency, indulge himself? By progressing, it could possibly deplete and allow the emergence of another forms!?

With the sculpture ,,Chaos" I have tried to present balance that a man is eager to achieve through his whole life. I have always found biologically unchaste beings very interesting because chaste beings keep staying away from the depths , they are incapable as such.

As you have remarked in your artist's statement "to build a sculpture we need physical involvement, great immediacy. Forms mature upon their long being created in imagination" I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespen-

The sculpture reflects a person who is trying to res56

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tone of red with solid shapes... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

,,Fatherhood of hunchback"s is an illustration from the story of the same name that has been written by Anry Misou from the book ,,In the land of magic". The story starts when a small hunchback is being pulled out of another hunchback who is obsessed by fatherhood and than it comes to a strange face off between two hunchbacks which are both cripplesâ&#x20AC;Ś I tried to express that intense moment through my sculpture. The smaller hunchback disappears after a couple of days without a trace, while the older hunchback stands up straight. The shock was needed. The shock is primarily important, galvanization of individual which makes him shiver above all. But if hunchback looks upon a new being raising out of his hunch with a sense of indifference , the whole effort is in vain and his state would not improve.

Chaos, Gypsium, branches, paint, 2m x 1,5, 2012

sable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Personal experiences can help by giving an artists own personal mark to his work while genuine creativity comes not from memory but from consciousness. Another interesting piece of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Paternity of Hunchback which I have to admit is one of my favourite work of yours: I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging intense -but at the same time thoughtful-

Paternity of Hunchbacks, gypsiun, patina, 2011 Illustration of story by Anry Misho

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Nevena Vuksanovic

In that case we are talking about a real, genuine hunchback. I find this story very interesting and every time I read it I find a new meaning and message...I used red color out of my inner feeling, because I somehow thought that it can evoke this intense and painful moment of separating one hunchback from the other in the best way possible. Your works have been awarded in several occasions and moreover you have recently had the solo ,,IDENTIFICATIONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; at DOB Gallery, in Belgrade: it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist... I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Exhibition ,, Identification" in Belgrade's Youth Center is my first

Paternity of Hunchbacks, gypsiun, Illustration of story by Anry Misho

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Work in Abu Dhabu Art Hub

solo exhibition right after finishing my faculty. I have exhibited seven art works which were completed during my studies and which I find highly important in my artistic maturation. Feedback was positive which I find it very important. I can't believe that an artist can create his works only out of ,, self expression". Self expression is useless if not followed by the answers of others. For me the creation of spiritual bonds with other is utmost important. The internal fulfillment that I get while creating is the most important for me, something that is priceless. Awards have meaning only if you don't love your work, in which case they represent some sort of replacement for that. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Nevena. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

My artistic work so far has also been my own personal development throughout I gradually became more and more aware of myself and my assignment. My motive is to keep on growing and eventually develop into something within. That is why I think it is important to move and travel in order to keep up with the events in connection with my work.I plan to go to art residencies in as many places as possible in order to bond with other credible people, learn from them and collaborate with them.

patina, 2011

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Kirsten Jooste an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

I like to explore different designs and textures. With my crochet and knitwear, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about creating something that is body positive. As we all come in different shapes and sizes, I work closely with my clients to help them create something unique. My main goal is to create something that is limited edition, or a one of a kind. I use time-consuming, intricate stitches and hand-executed techniques. I like to use luxurious Eco-friendly yarns, in various vibrant colours. In my art, my subject matter and materials can vary greatly. I have recently started playing with the idea of simplicity and music through the use of line, colour and shape. Finding a way to create a mental picture and physical work of art, a picture that can carry across the raw power of emotion, but still capture a moment in time. I express this feeling in abstract works or through my ink portraits. I like paying close attention to detail and finish; this helps me to create an individual look in all my arts and crafts.

Kirsten Jooste

Ballroom dancers quick study Sold Ink on rice paper 28cm x 23cm / 11" x 9" - 2011 60

Kirsten Jooste

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Kirsten Jooste

An interview with

Kirsten Jooste Hello Kirsten, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

What defines a work of art for me; an imaginative process by which people or a person creates something that can be perceived as an external stimulus, sight, sound, hearing or taste. I am not sure what would â&#x20AC;&#x153;mark an artwork as a piece of contemporary art.â&#x20AC;? As Contemporary art is relative to time and location, it is really an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice, because what could be conceived as a modern idea of style or design here, could be out-dated and disregarded elsewhere. Would you like to tell us something about your background? I have read that you have studied both Art and Management, and moreover you attended several classes... Are there any of these experiences that particularly impacted on the way you currenly produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Kirsten Jooste

individual. While some were excellent in getting us to think for ourselves and being self-sufficient in our arts practice, others would dictate and project their ideas and expectations. I would personally recommend trying different approaches to developing art skills and creativity. To find the way that best works for you and brings out your creativity, whatever that may be.

Having lived and been educated in many different countries throughout my life, I am heavily influenced by those experiences, and this can sometimes produce a contrasting effect in my work. I think that learning is a lifelong process and I have been fortunate to be able to attended art classes in South Africa, Australia and to be mentored in Ireland. A lot of my skills are self-taught, like the crafts. The classes I did attend were privately run and the majority were practical based. They focused on skills and the practical application of these skills. I could not say whether formal training stifles creativity, however I did find that each country has its own unique approach to teaching, as does each

Preparation and time can vary depending on what

Jennifer Sims

Kirsten Jooste

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Adam Shapiro - Ink on rice paper - 33cmx23cm / 13"'x9" - 2010

admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

is being made. In my crochet and knitwear, it can take a few days before I am ready to cast on stiches, I start by sketching a basic design, I decide on a colour scheme, I look at stitch patterns and decide which would best suit the design of the garment. I then decide on what yarn to use.

With the ink illustrations, inspiration is taken from around me. The illustration of the violin player is of an Irish traditional musician, Adam Shapiro. Who plays in many of the local pubs, hotels and charity benefits in the area.

I look at how the yarn and stitch pattern will create the fabric, if it will drape and move in the right way in relation to the overall design. I then draft a pattern, I chose the correct hook, work out the tension and I begin crocheting. I try and make most of my crocheted items reversible, but sometimes that is not possible because of the design. Once it is finished, I block and press the item if it needs it.

With the ink work, I draw what captures my eye at the time, sometimes, I also use it to focus my art skills, like the ballroom dancers. Your art practice ranges from drawing to textile, and I would suggest our readers to visit directly http://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/JustJuiced in order to get a wider idea of it: while crossing

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from your ink works, and in particular from #1 and #2 that our readers have already 63

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Kirsten Jooste

Harmonica Player - Ink on paper - 2013 0 x 15 cm

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?

Sure, synergy can be a way to achieve results in some aspects, but it is not the only way to achieve results and express concepts and ideas. By the way, for your textile works, as you have remarked in your artist's statement, you like to explore different designs and textures and moreover, you use time-consuming, intricate stitches and hand-executed techniques... Does your process let you to visualize your works before creating? Do you know what it will look like before you begin?

Yes always, I visualize the textiles before I draft a pattern. This makes it easier to draft a pattern and to get the correct tension and stitches. There is a limit to this visualization; sometimes I do have to undo many

The red capelet - sold - six different crochet 64

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stitches in the middle of a piece of work, because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not working. I then have to rethink, and sometimes it is easier to create the garment then and there, without following the pattern. Far from being static, your art practice is strictly connected to the chance of creating an interaction with your audience, establishing an intellectual involvement also with other artists as you recently did in The Gathering Ireland, a voluntary non-profit fibre art collaborative project... I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together as you did, especially because this often reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of several practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between several artists?

My work rarely demonstrates communication with other artists. The best example of work I have done that would be considered a collaboration, was the fibre art project. I asked people, anyone, artists, crafters and whoever wanted to join in, to send in fibre art pieces that would

stitch patterns used - 2011

Pink poncho - five different stitch patterns used - 2012

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Kirsten Jooste

be sewn together to create a larger instal-ation. I based the idea on yarn bombing in which anyone could participate. Instead of covering a structure with knitted pieces, I wanted to create a fabric fusion, a juxtaposed effect of many ideas and art skills from around the world. Another series of yours that has particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words is your Watercolor series : by the way I notice that your recent tones are a bit lighter, if compared with other pieces of your as #6: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

The series of watercolour paintings were based on Gustav Holst’s seven-piece orchestral suite, The Planets. He called his symphony “a series of mood pictures.” With that in mind I tried to create a series of paintings that represent human characteristics of mood, and use the idea of mind maps and memo-

Venus, from the Planet series, Ink, water soluble pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper. 39.5cm x 29.5cm / 15.55" x 11.60"

ry to create the lines and structure of the paintings. The lighter palate and simplicity were based on the music and the planets themselves. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Kirsten. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I am currently working on a children’s, rhyming book series; Mrs Dorian’s Hat Emporium. These books are aimed at younger readers to help aid

Untitled - Monoprint - 2012 Pigment ink on paper 36cm x 27.5cm / 14" x 10"

Jennifer Sims

Kirsten Jooste

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Neptune, from the Planet series

Mars, from the Planet series, Ink, water soluble pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper. 39.5cm x 29.5cm / 15.55" x 11.60"

early learning language skills. I am collaborating with a local musician and poet Dave Shapiro, of 30+ years music experience, to help edit and get the rhythm and timing of each story. I am creating bright vibrant illustrations to help bring these stostories to life. These illustrations will be very different to the art I have created in the past. I hope that adults and children alike will enjoy it. An interview by articulaction@post.com

Saturn, from the Planet series

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Bruno Colin (France) an artist’s statement

En 1976 j’entreprends un apprentissage chez Mr Pierre Lattes,

militaire. De retour en 1982, j’ai 21 ans. L’embauche devient difficile

confectionnons les supports pour les artistes peintres. Au final je

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Le Roi Scorpion

Bruno Colin

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An interview with

Bruno Colin Hello Bruno, and welcome to ARTiculAction. 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

Bruno Colin

c'est cela qui forcera mon admiration et de ce fais Would you like to tell us something about your background? I have read that In 1976 you began an apprenticeship with Mr Pierre Lattes... How has this experience impacted on the way you currenly produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

construit tout au long de sa vie;je voudrais citer pour exemple dans un autre registre Jean Giono ,

En effet , en 1976 j’entreprends un apprentissage la seconde guerre mondiale.Donc de ce fait les pour moi assez floues et sujet a discutions. En ce qui concerne la relation, ou non relation qui sentiment pencherait plus vers une relation de ration militaire. De retour en 1982, j’ai 21 ans. je reprends la tapisserie par intermittences. J’ai paternels pour ce rassurer. Leur relation repose plus

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a blanc pour voir si le projet en cours est

travailler est l'acier ou du fer entre 4 et 5 mm en

faire chanter l'enclume. Mais pour la plupart de

partie du jeu .

Marquise de Pont du Loup et compte tenu du fait de faire quelque chose de nos mains ou pas. Les travaux artistiques sous toutes leurs formes

heures par jour . Now let's focus on your art production: I would

naturellement sans aucune formation dans ce

an interesting work that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the 71

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genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

Pour le Roi Scorpion

terre son pungi en bouche faisant sortir son serpent d'un vulgaire panier. Roi Scorpion et le Cobra dans l'impitoyable et impartiale Rois du Pour la , comme je l'ai dis plus haut, les personnes se construisent avec tout ce qui se passe dans l'enfance et laisser parler instinctivement la nostalgie qui

A feature of Deux elfes amoureux that has mostly impacted on me is your capability of creating a deep intellectual interaction, communicating a wide variety of states of mind: even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I have to admit that in a certain sense it unsettles me a bit... it's an effective mix between anguish and thoughtless, maybe hidden happiness... I would go as far as to state that this piece, rather than simply describing, pose us a question: forces us to meditation...

fragile,sur le fil qui nous fais parfois ressentir la honte d'un

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Deux elfes amoureux, detail

fugace et magique.

Just few times ago an artist that I happened to interview tild me that "to build a sculpture we need physical involvement, great immediacy. Forms mature upon their long being created in imagination" I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

et j'ajoute que la fiction, l'irrationnel, l'imaginaire sont pour

donner un peu de la sienne selon moi.

C'est pour moi pratiquement indissociable . Bien sur la

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Bruno Colin

Cobra,

Another interesting piece of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Martin animals... I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging intense -but at the same time thoughtful- tone of colors with solid shapes, as in la marquise de pont du loup, which I have to admit is one of my favourite pieces of yours... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

nature.La nature est sans concession et vous offre

Comme lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;humoriste s'inspire des fait divers ,moi ma source d'inspiration se trouve entre autre dans la

sujets.La reproduction du cobra ainsi que le martin-

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histoire qui n'est pas la mienne pour le moment du moins.J'essaye toujours de m'approcher au plus

sculpture sortie tout droit de votre imagination si

comme un animal ,un personnage ou tout autres

ou tout simplement avoir une attirance pour le fer

je ne veut pas mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;enfermer dans un concept de

simple filet de vent fait bouger le feuillage. detail

Si l'on recherche une finition plus parfaite on va 75

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Bruno Colin

It goes without saying that positive feedbacks are capable of providing an artist of the indespensable moral support to go ahead with his art production an artist... I was just wondering if it could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

aboutie.

forgeron pour rester dans mon domaine; celui ci construction que des armures ou autres armes. Certains

les artisans affectionnent ce qui n'ampute absolument pas

sens selon moi. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Bruno. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? la marquise de pont du loup

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Le restes viendra tout seul. ARTiculAction

nes qui auront pris le temps de lire l'article .

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Jessie Omamogho an artist’s statement “When you create something, and you work on it, staring at it over and over from every angle, seeing every flaw. You convince yourself that it could be better, or you could have done it differently. “

However you stop, you let it dry and then you hold your breath in wait of a reaction. And that someone who views the end result, which to you is never finished, tells you exactly what they see and what they think of your work, this piece of you that you have smeared onto paper for the world to see. And as you both stare at the same painting, both seeing completely different things, it is a rare and magical experience for this someone to see apart of you, and describe that part back to you in a way you would have never pictured yourself. To have the opportunity to connect with people through such a simple act is something I value deeply and have become very attached to as a growing artist.” Born in Adelaide South Australia, and currently residing footsteps away from the beach in Gold Coast Queensland. I have always been obsessed with expression in any form. I have been practicing and creating in Watercolor and Ink based mediums for less than two years. Teaching myself to paint and draw without guidance has been one of the hardest and most rewarding gifts I could have ever given myself. To me my work has two sides, which I represent through the chaotic dripping paint and the fine structure of ink lines that coexist on paper. I have always had a wild imagination, I still find myself stuck in a daydream for hours on end. However I believe there must always be balance in anything you do, which is why amongst the vivid colors and unpredictable splashes of paint, I use the fine lines of ink pens to bring a sense of calm and discipline to my work. Carnivorous,_Watercolour and goldleaf_

When starting a new project I try to stick with a theme or a symbolic attribute to guide me through the process, however I also try to plan the layout of my work as little as possible. I enjoy finishing apiece and being happily surprised that the artwork on the paper has come from my mind. Forming my identity as an artist has inspired me to face challenges, make mistakes, and push the boundaries of what is possible. Exploring

Jessie Omamogho

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75cmX40cm

creativity has led me to some of the most beautiful places around the world and within my imagination. After returning home from a 3-month trip around Europe where I participated in a group show exhibition, in Berlin Germany, for Berlin Art Week.

I found myself completely broke and full of inspiration. I have already begun a new collection of work, which I intend to sell before returning to Berlin in mid 2014. Jessie Omamogho

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Jessie Omamogho

An interview with

Jessie Omamogho Hello Jessie, and a warm welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual icebreaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

To me a work of art can come in many forms, it’s simply an action, the spirit of the body, a melody, or in my case the continuous movement of materials on paper. Art is one of the only things in life that is not confined to a box, because it is infinite and I think that is why people are so drawn to it. In todays modern society “Contemporary” is a vague description of what is popular and what isn’t, and to me, my taste in art makes me slightly biased to what I perceive as relevant and meaningful. I have always been drawn to pieces with a past or a story behind them, something that makes me think or question myself. Artwork that leaves a lot unsaid. I think, like most people, we just want to connect with something on a more personal level, in comparison with the constant streaming of media we object ourselves to on a daily basis. In some ways I think there is a big difference between traditional and contemporary art, but not so much in the technique, rather in the presentation and the different ways we have of objectifying our meaning and choice of display. Today’s generation of graffiti artists and digital designers are rebranding and modifying the meaning of traditional art. The use of materials, objects, and places for creativity to be displayed has grown rapidly, and the thought of following modern and new ideas of style and design is becoming increasingly attractive to a much larger audience. It isn’t enough to be represented in a gallery anymore, people want to be seen and heard all over the world, and thankfully in today’s society we have that opportunity. Would you like to tell us something about your background? I have read that you have studied at SAE Institute: how has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, as

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a self-taught artist, I would like to ask your point about formal training: I sometimes happen to wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity...

I’ve grown up on the shore of northern Australia, and ever since I was very young I knew I would never follow a normal career path, it just wasn’t something I wanted. Studying Film at SAE Institute straight out of high school was a real eye opener for me. I learnt a lot about myself and about the way the creative industry works for an employee. Until then I had no idea how much effort and hard work it took to be successful in anything you do, and that sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are if you aren’t selling and promoting yourself. Which as such a young inexperienced filmmaker, I found extremely daunting. It wasn’t until a year later when I started working a full time job and volunteering at 19Karen Art Gallery that I really started applying myself in my creative field of film, which eventually led me to painting. I believe studying at SAE Institute, as well as the people I met there, was definitely a starting block for my success, however it was the real life experience that made way for me to grow as an artist. One of the main factors about formal training, however, is that it can sometimes alter or hinder your own creative style, based upon someone else’s point of view. Who is to say that what you create is less or better than the person beside you? Art should not be something you can give grades to, because no artist is the same. There are many different situations where I believe formal training can be an asset or a disadvantage, however it depends on what the artist is looking to achieve and how determined they are to succeed. For me I would very much enjoy studying and expanding my skills along side other growing artists in a curriculum environment, however I feel as if it would not be as challenging or rewarding as achieving those goals on my own. I have grown up with the belief, that everything you do must be earned and worked hard for, or else it isn’t truly deserved. 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, 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?

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fore I start a new piece. I will often flip through books on; fashion photography, plants, and tattoo art, really anything that gets my mind thinking and catches my eye. I then place these images into folders upon folders on my Mac computer like a creative database of ideas and information. I like to focus on a few images that either posses the colours or shape of the body I wish to create and I start from there. Once I have a rough outline of a figure or background I like to put everything away (such as the photos I draw inspiration from) and focus on creating something more personal to my taste and style. I usually like to leave my work unfinished for a few days, often turning it over or placing a blank piece of paper over it before returning with fresh eyes. After finishing the painted areas I tend to go back in with my ink outlines and detailing. Ink has always been a very important part of my paintings, when I started drawing with ink I really liked the idea of exploring objects with lots of layers and depth. Sometimes giving my paintings an almost 3D effect. Using pen is a very soothing and relaxing process for me. I really enjoy the repetitive motion of ink strokes on paper that display a collective end result. I strive on the delicate concentration and patience it takes to complete the ink illustrations. Big City Dreams

Where as watercolour is an exact contrast to the ink detail, it gives me the freedom to let my hands move without restriction or rules. Which can sometimes mean the outcome isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always as you hoped it would be, but it does make every piece unique and have a curtain amount of personality.

ted on the busy streets and colourful people, the bustling traffic and crowds of suits, ties, and designer labels, the subway tubes and tunnel escapes. I walked the seedy streets of Soho where the sneaky retro shops wait, hidden from the touristâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lenses. It is the capital of all things dirty and seductive, which is why so many people are drawn to it, yet at the same time I felt like it was sucking me dry of money, energy, and innocence. Carnivorous represents something you crave but is unmistakably bad for you.

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Carnivorous and Big City Dreams that our readers have already admired in the starting pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

Carnivorous is my interpretation of infatuation, of the sticky prickly chaos you find underneath the surface. My inspiration for this piece came from my time in London while travelling overseas last year. In my short time there, I became temporarily fixa-

Big City Dreams however, is a piece that I am very attached to, as it is the largest artwork I have created so far, and was done so on the floor of a ten bed hostel room in Berlin while I was backpack82

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Carousel Corpse

ing by myself. By shear coincidence I happened to return to Berlin during my travels on Berlin Art Week for a short stay before going home, however after being offered an opportunity to participate in the event on my first day of arriving I decided to extend my stay in order to be apart of such an amazing experience. Big City Dreams was displayed in a local art gallery called Box32 Galleria for the opening show along with many other local and international artists.

more the means of picking an idea that represented, not just Berlin, but myself on a more personal level of how this place had effected me, opening my eyes to so many new possibilities and opportunities. In saying that however, I was also very limited to the materials I had at my disposal, as I was down to my last few euros and living off a handful of grapes and a croissant per day. I had only a small travel paint set and 2 small paintbrushes to work with as well as the gold leaf and paper I purchased from a local art supply store. Taking me 4 continuous days in total to complete, I have to say it was the most challenging and most rewarding piece of work I have accomplished so far.

Berlin being the unrestricted artistic metropolis that it is, I found myself highly and pleasantly overwhelmed by the art culture and unique lifestyle. I had no trouble whatsoever finding inspiration for the piece I wanted to create, it was 83

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Reminisce, Watercolour and Ink, 35com x 60cm

The gold leaf outlining of berlins silhouette city is like the shining beacon of anticipation, contrasting with the clouds of cigarette smoke that surround the girl, which represents her doubts and fears of a new journey. Everything about this piece is a statement to where I want to be in this New Year.

to say more than I anticipated. I enjoy the dazed and confused look in their eyes, yet I like to think that once the rest of the face is complete, that the eyes change slightly, contradicting the innocence so that they almost look detached or even menacing. I cannot count how many times I have heard people call my art slightly creepy or unsettling, and in a way it pleases me that their expressions unsettle, because it means I have successfully evoked an emotion within my audience. I have never wanted my work to be just pretty pictures.

A feature of Reminisce and of Carousel Corpse that has mostly impacted on me is your capability of creating a deep intellectual interaction, communicating a wide variety of states of mind: even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit na f, I have to admit that in a certain sense it unsettles me a bit... it's an effective mix between anguish and thoughtless, maybe hidden happiness... I would go as far as to state that this piece, rather than simply describing, pose us a question: forces us to meditation...

Another interesting pieces of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Remini-sce and especially Day Dreamer which I have to admit is one of my favourite works of yours: I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispen-sable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Honestly I am always surprised after finishing the eyes on each of my artworks, they always seemed

This piece was sold at the beginning of the New 84

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Day Dreamer, Watercolour and Ink, 35com x 60cm

Year and thankfully they appreciated it as much as I do. Reminisce is exactly how I picture my dreams if they were to pour out of my ear and on to paper. She is colourful, and faded, she is beautiful yet slightly off centre, she is like a wonderful dream you can’t quite remember. Blurry at the edges, while her ocean coloured eyes look through you with dazed confusion. Her black singlet is like a hold on her, a sharp curve of reality slowly slipping away, and as it slips, her breast is exposed, just like her inhibitions.

complete freedom about her that I am constantly envious of. Painting/drawing Day Dreamer was a very long process, her hair taking over 7 hours in total over the space of a week, and more then 7 fine-tip ink pens. I remember not being able to use my hand properly for quite a long time. But it was worth it. I think that for most people, painting or drawing isn’t something you can do perfectly, without any prior experience or practice. Everything takes practice and pacience. I could describe countless times where I wanted to give up or didn’t believe I was good enough (honestly I still do sometimes), but every time you pick up a pencil or a

On the other hand, Day Dreamer is a piece I have trouble parting with, sometimes I’m still surprised that it’s my own work. She has this innocence and 85

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paintbrush and try again you are improving just a little bit more. So for those people who painting or drawing doesn’t come naturally, it doesn’t mean you will never be good at what you love, it just means it will take a lot more effort, which personally makes me appreciate what I do so much more. Experience is gained over time and right now I have only been painting for less than 2 years, which to me, says I still have a lot of learning to do, and experience to gain. I also think that experience isn’t just about how well or how long you’ve been practicing your medium, but also where you draw your inspiration and ideas. There is only so much you can create from your imagination without leaving your surroundings. Personal experience isn’t so much about the places, and actions you take, but more about how they affect you as a person, and inspire you to change and experiment with what you know. For me I found the courage I was looking for thousands of miles from my home surroundings. I tra- velled around Europe exploring new cities and meeting new people. Freedom and motivation, for me, was the key to being creatively fluent and having a better understanding of my capabilities and growth compared to other artists around the world. Expectations

One of the features of Expectations that have mostly impacted on me is an intense tone of blue, which seem to reveal such a struggle, a deep tension and intense emotions, in opposition to the white background... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

heavy, emotional colours that seem to depict the message I wish to display. However with this piece in particular I was trying to create something in exact contrast to its title.

Expectations is a representation of continuous disappointment, I find blue a great colour to use as a calm yet depressed tone, also mixing it with black gives the piece a much darker more supressed emotion, which was the image I wanted to portray. And the fact that her eye is almost the lightest gradient of blue, to me embodies a sense of sadness and hope amongst the black and coloured chaos.

I had no idea what I was going to paint, nor the outcome, which personally, is sometimes the most rewarding way to start. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, the opportunity to connect with people through such a simple act is something I value deeply and have become very attached to as a growing artist. It goes without saying that continuous feedbacks - and especially positive ones- are capable of supporting an artist... I was just wondering if the expectation of a posi-

Blue and purple tend to be my strongest colours throughout my work, mostly because they are 86

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Reminisce Watercolour and Ink 35cm x 60cm

what “your buyers” would want to purchase or what people would find appealing, but I’m learning quite quickly that creating artwork for other people, in hopes that it will be successful, hardly ever works. Whatever you create has to resonate with your own personality and passion or else there is no emotional attachment or deeper connection for the audience to relate to. Anyone can view a piece of art online, copy a photo and pin it to a wall, but what makes people go to art galleries, murals, installation pieces and physically buy these pieces? It cannot be because they are just attractive to look at or popular (however I’m sure sometimes that is the case) there is usually a deeper connection being made between the buyer and the artwork. And that is why I prefer to create work more for myself then for anyone else, because when I do sell my work and my buyers do have that connection, it is much more rewarding.

tive feedback could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Jessie. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I agree, positive feedback is like a long-winded love affair for an artist, the high usually lasts long enough to start a new piece and sometimes even helps you finish something you didn’t think you had the talent to complete. Positive feedback is a link to confidence, and with confidence, I think almost anything is possible. And of course, I also think for any struggling new artist it is very hard not to picture

Well hopefully you will be seeing a lot more of my work in the near future, in a few months time I will be returning to Berlin to continue my work in hopes of becoming a resident artist there. Following my passion with courage and determination. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my work and the thoughts behind it with a wider community of art lovers. 87

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Alex Goodman (United Kingdom) an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

I am a poet, printmaker, producer and performer. My work uses story as a medium to document and draw images of escape. I am also one half of Hope & Anchor, a collaborative project with artist Joanna Hope Bricher. To date Hope & Anchor have worked with combinations of performance, letter-press and linocut publications, fuelled by collaborative writing. Hope and Anchorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is concerned with taking performance out of traditional theatre venues or galleries and into public spaces with new audiences. Our recurring themes are centred on characters in small rural situations, from small fishing villages to small agricultural communities. My work has often been nomadic, by virtue of motion and in search of adventure. After jumping onto an old Cornish boat to France in 2012 my practise and life shifted towards a more settled life by the sea. The culture and tradition of sailing has influenced my practise and is my main source of inspiration. Over the past four years I have instigated and carried out arts based projects that have toured across the UK, Europe and North America to festivals, galleries, cafes, car parks, gardens, basements, pavements, farms, homes and nonsites. My collaborations and solo works aim to be accessible and inclusive to all who are curious enough to observe and converse with them. They seek to challenge art in its conventions of exclusivity and question the audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role as passive consumer, while trying to balance a bread and butter lifestyle.

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An interview with

Alex Goodman Hello Alex, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker 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? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

I suppose what defines a work of art is the viewer. My family are not artists, and I can’t forget the time I sent my Aunt up on the farm a letterpress poetry chapbook I had printed, she said ‘Very nice, but I’m not sure about those wolves... maybe next time you could leave out the wolves’. Her comment, is of course ridiculous, and me and Joanna laughed about it because most of my writing is about wolves which came from working for my Aunt up on the farm and being so frustrated that I imagined a pack of wolves who were the anthropomorphic symbols of my desire, they did whatever they wanted. The wolves were freedom.

Alex Goodman (photo by Joanna Hope Bricher)

For me the label of Contemporary is just a way of trying to explain where we are now, our collective consciousness as a society, or as a group of artists. I only use it when trying to describe theatre.. and implicitly it means inaccessible to un- art-schooled people. Which is a very negative thing, but often art only feeds art, or perhaps other artists. I don’t really think anything we make now can be a traditional art, unless its something like blacksmithery, woodwork or pottery.

be a contemporary artist, because there is so many things to dip your fingers into. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any experiences that particularly impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

I feel that there is so much more value in these crafts because they have survived and have that primal relationship with the elements, touch and local resources. These can of course be contemporary arts, but it depends where you are placing your work, for who, and why for them? I like to borrow aspects of traditional crafts, arts & stories but really it is just borrowing because I’ve not invested enough in them. I don’t belong to one tradition or craft, and perhaps that is what it is to

I grew up firstly in Cornwall, in a valley that was quite isolated and surrounded by bluebell forests, a river and a disused railway track. Then we moved to Dartmoor and lived just inside ‘The Danger Zone’. What I’m getting at is, my childhood was quite idyllic and isolated. This type of upbringing breeds a dreamer, and I think sometimes my art work is similar to letting your imagination play itself out, like I did as a child running Jennifer Sims 90

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Carolina, and then hitched up the East Coast and across to Edmonton, Canada to work on the project. This journey is something I’m still processing, I’m putting together a poetry publication about it. My ten day voyage on the cargo ship made me fall in love with the sea, so when i washed up in Cornwall I got into sailing. My experiences and dreams about sailing are were most of the symbols and imagery come from for my work. Sailing taught me to live in the moment, while still thinking three ahead. I wonder where I would be now if I hadn’t fallen into it like i did. If someone asked me if they should go to art school , I would say.. no.. don’t bother... I think its important to have a supportive and critical community around you and maybe sometimes art school is the only place to find it, but i think a lot of it is contrived, competitive and in many ways a waste of time. I think having a mentor (or several) is the most useful way to gain support for your work as a young artist, that could be anyone though, your Mum, your grandad, your neighbour, someone you’ve never met, as long as they have unrelenting belief that you are brilliant and your work is going somewhere, thats not so much to ask is it?

around the forest, climbing trees and making up stories. I think this need to communicate through art is part of being that lonely kid who really needed to share something, through words, voice, song, visually, and structurally. I studied at Dartington College of Arts on Performance Writing and that guided my work a lot although it was so open, it was a magic and mad point in my life, but really I don’t think I could of gone to another art school. I had tried London but was disappointed and left. Growing up in the southwest I’d had such a romantic idea of what it was to be an artist in london. Dartington’s main teaching was context.. where, how, who, why. So when I left all I wanted to make was art that worked towards positive social, political and ecological change. I started a project with a friend called the House of Incorrection which was about vagrancy and homelessness and took a cargo ship from France to North

I like to make work as fast as possible, I spontaneously get fixed on an idea and normally I won’t stop until its finished. I spend a fair amount of time collecting and storing materials, dragging hauls of driftwood miles down the beach and back to the studio. It might sound romantic to use found materials but I have found a way of suffering for it. In the process of making I have to use that energy fast before doubt sets in or else the piece will never get finish91

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From the Kinetic Caravan

ed, I return to ideas but rarely a part built piece if the energies gone. It is easy to have ideas, following them through is another matter. I don’t have particular technical aspects that I focus on, for me it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as its communicating the story or the emotion that I’m fixated on in that moment. Its like trying to bring this intangible thing into existence, because if I don’t it will only exist in my complete restlessness, and I find it hard to be calm without making it exist. Its not enough for something to just exist in my head, it’s too frustrating. I am trying to change this in order to make the theatre piece I’m currently devising. Its harder because it requires a committed and consistent process, which I don’t normally use.

ship, or adventures we’d had together. This then lead me to dream of building a romany style caravan, and creating a museum.. but not a museum of dead things, sterile and lost to the past but something alive, something in-motion. Sophie Utting and I built The Kinetic Caravan after dreaming and talking about making a traveling show. I became obsessed with ideas of pedalling poetics and playing with that idea. Sophie built us

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from The Kinetic Caravan, that our readers are starting to get to know in these pages: would you like to tell us something about the genesis of this piece? What was your initial inspiration?

I have been making little worlds in boxes for some time. They originally were gifts to friends, small secret worlds which celebrated parts of our friend92

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wide and devoured everything. Everything was for adventure, this is quite a difficult maxim to keep up with but we did pretty well and got into a few scrapes. I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together as you did with Joanna Hope Bricher forming the Hope and Anchor duo, especially because this reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between two artists?

Joanna and I write, edit, print, carve and perform together. In 2009 we toured a letterpress printing

a bicycle powered super- eight cinema with an old bike i found in a hedge. We showed old super eight cartoons and films weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d made. We housed our letterpress print-works there for a period of time, the walls where painted with blackboard paint, we did writing, poetry and storytelling performances and workshops. It was at this point where life was quite manic and the thought of living by virtue of motion consumed the project and the road opened

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Coney Island Paradise Ends Here

(Jesse Darling Mermaid Parade)

(Movie Poster)

machine in a tiny red van around the UK, printing 100 words of poetry for each spot we stopped in. On this journey we found the cold hard edges of what collaboration can be. It was editing which was the hardest part. Jo described editing collaboratively as standing at opposite ends of the room, closing your eyes and throwing daggers at each other. Collaboration is a delicate thing and it tests friendships and relationships. I think you have to be careful because artists can be so volatile. Joanna and I have totally different approaches but we balance each other out, and we are striving towards similar things in the wider picture. We enjoy the same things in life and are really good friends. I guess our writing has depth to it because we draw together two very different perspective.

As you have remarked in your artist's statement your work has often been nomadic, by virtue of motion and in search of adventure and that the culture and tradition of sailing has influenced your practise and is your main source of inspiration, as I can see in Coney Island prints - Paradise Ends Here and in The Sailor and the Tiller of the Soil... I would like 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?

Most of my work is either an embellished version of something I have experienced or its expressing a yearning for adventure, or stability, depending on my situation at the time. I really love the wri-

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Coney Island Paradise Ends Here

(The Animal King & the Lion Baltimore)

(Henry on the pier)

ters Henry Miller & Richard Braugtigan and their advice is... to write about what you know... or to live first and then write, and I think this could be relevant for most art forms. I made the Coney Island Prints when I was in New York and took the subway down to Stillwell Station most days. I think its better to be making work about experiences rather than just imagining, but in some way it depends what life throws at you and what you throw back.

teller (which described these two tribes) that we should write a poem and make some images for it and print it as a chapbook (our prefered medium). The threads of these ideas have continued and it is our experiences, and the influence of the essay on how we view our own experiences (as well as each others) which is what our current work deals with. Your works seek to challenge art in its conventions of exclusivity and question the audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role as passive consumer, while trying to balance a bread and butter lifestyle: I can recognize such a socio political feature in your Art: and I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion, but I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can even steer

The Sailor and the Tiller of the Soil is about two characters who stand for two tribes of storytellers. Those in motion and those settled. When we wrote this, I had just started sailing and Jo had begun this brilliant garden project, so it just became obvious after reading Walter Benjaminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essay The Story95

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As the crow flies

Alchemist Diver

people's behavior... what's your point about this?

I would like to mention your current performance project, the Hope & Anchor mechanised shadow theatre show... As a performer, it goes without saying that your artworks are strictly connected to the chance to create a deep interaction, since rather than modify the space, your artworks are the space in which your audience, a number of people, enjoy your pieces: how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think about who will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

If you have a story, and you know how to tell it, you will be listened to. Thats important. Stories are a way to connect with people, to share what you’ve learnt, to share questions that you haven’t yet answered, or can’t answer on your own. Its an ancient art, and I feel that this has a place in making positive social change today. I don’t want to steer anyones behaviour, when I was more involved in activism I guess I thought more in that way, but now I just want to gently make what I make, go sailing, and share it with people. I guess change can come in many ways and with good intentions, good actions (both small and large) we can all be a part of building a more positive world.

Yes, its really important that my work is accessible. In some ways I can’t really be responsible for making work that people ‘like’, because enjoyment is often a matter of taste. I make work that 96

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Flower Sellers Hand (photo by Jono Whitehead)

Sculling (photo by Jono Whitehead)

I hope my community enjoy, because they are often the ones who inspire me to make it, that and our shared landscapes. The Show is provisionally called ‘As the Crow Flies’ and I’m drawing out plans now ready to build the shadow theatre box. It is a story about a feral child who goes out into the world and finds a lot of wild adventures along the way. Although it nods towards traditio-nal storytelling, the way in which its being written is trying to use traditional storytelling tactics in order to break its own archetypes. It is inherently feminist and is about autonomy outside the romances we’re traditio-nally fed. We haven’t got to the ending yet but I hope that the child goes out and finds her happily ever after, but it being of her own invention.

Printing at the AArdvark Cafe, St Leonards-on-Sea

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Assemblage print shrines (photos by Patrick Jennings)

Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Alex. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? I have read that you are currently working on a new performance entitled The Storyteller- As the Crow Flies...

Yes, I’m really excited about it. Joanna and I are doing a residency at the Performance Centre in Falmouth in February so we can start putting together the show. It’s going to be a portable one woman show, consisting of a wooden box that you can wear like a rucksack. Its form is harking back to victorian lantern shows, fantascopes and peep-shows which were sometimes toured like this by travelling performers. I’ll be playing a troubadour & operator character and hoping to take it to different small venues and village halls. We’ll be looking for hosts, venues and unusal places to take the show from Spring onwards. The next month is pretty busy as the Coney Island prints are on sale at Artopia in London and I’m putting together a small poetry publication of work from my travels in North America and life in Cornwall which will be on sale online in the next couple months. More info at www.hope-anchor.co.uk www.alexinpenryn.tumblr.com kitedaggeranchor@gmail.com

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Assemblage print shrines

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