Peripheral ARTeries Art Review - April 2013 - SPECIAL ISSUE

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2013 April

Summary

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"An artwork doesn't communicate anything: it simply creates a mental space. Language, gestures, or rather a masterly brush-stroke of a painter are nothing but ways to invite us to explore our inner landscapes".

Thirty years have passed since this Borgesean deep and at the same time provocative statement has been written by the fine Italian writer Giorgio Manganelli. Our net review presents a selection of artists whose works shows the invisible connection between mainstream art and new trends.

I S S U E

We have focused on new trends in Contemporary Art, especially by encouraging young artists: anyway, the distinctive feature of our project is to discover creative potentials .

Apart from stylistic differences and individual approaches to the art process, all of them share the vision that art is a slice of the world to be shared. peripheral_arteries@dr.com

In this issue

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S P E C I A L

(Hungary)

“I don't need inspiration to start painting, my only need is a material to work with, because I think that the time or brainwork doesn't help to make better art. I don't try to make masterpieces; I give them a chance to create themselves. I just let art work.“

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Robert Zielinski (Poland)

“When the idea is born, I also try to tell its story in the easiest possible way, reducing all unneces-sary additions to minimum. On the other hand, I pay much attention to not showing the world literally. ”

Antonio Keserdzhiev (Bulgaria - France)

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“My current projects explore the soul as a substructure of the universe, its transformation in relation with the technology and the way that this metamorphose changes the world. The digitalisation inspires me to translate stories.”

Kadir Avci

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(Turkey)

“The cycle time. Everything is repeated again and again, as a reminder, as if I myself observed from a distance. As I look at my actions may be like repetitive or can be like different each time.”

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Richard Alexander Heckert

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“ Art has lost the pathos of antiquity, and since Andy Warhol, the cult of personality has become a top-topic. Since that time, art requires only a transmitter and a receiver without the justification of philosophical super-structure. “

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(Germany)

April

Summary

Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira

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(Portugal)

Josefin Rasmuson

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(The Netherlands)

“In my work I choose to make visible that which is already out there. The image sources are almost random; personal photos found in people’s blogs, stills from popular films, own photographs, news clips.”

I S S U E

Cindy Leitner

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(Austria)

“To me, a work of art is a kind of human creation that interprets our world with its own unique way. A genuine work of art offers new fields of action both in senses and mind and therefore, it helps people to gain knowledge and experience. “

Angela Tang

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(Austria)

“To me, art is a process of creating a reflection of the deepness of one’s soul. I manifest the situation I see in my inner world. The feeling I have during painting guides my hands to create a piece of work that shows the audience my emotions.

I often use a photo reference; however, I never copy a photo exactly the way it looks like.“

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Weigang Song (China / USA)

“My artistic practice always starts from a reflection upon my personal experience. Through an aesthetic communication, my work displays a personal vision of urban space, private life and cultural identity. I have a strong belief in the power of art as an accurate depiction and profound critique of complex contemporary issues.”

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S P E C I A L

“A work of art is something that changes your view of the world, something that means knowledge. You become aware of something that previously didn't exit for you, and the world and life grows bigger.”

Peripheral ARTeries

(Hungary) An artist’s statement

“I like to make my pictures about the future and science. That's why I use math symbols and numbers. Painting is the last thing I like to think about, when I make my pictures. I just let the artwork born by itself, because that's the way how things work for me.

I don't need inspiration to start painting, my only need is a material to work with, because I think that the time or brainwork doesn't help to make better art. I don't try to make masterpieces; I give them a chance to create themselves. I just let art work.“

2004-2009 West-Hungarian University - Visual Arts Awards: 2012 Kodaly-Award (visual art category) Exhibitions: 2010 Budapest, Pszinapszis XIV. 2012 Budapest, Syma Centre, Decoration Society Contest II.

2012 Budapest, Bakelit Multi Art Center 2012 Budapest, Abszurd Flikk-Flakk, Alle Center

2013 Los Angeles, NAMM Show / Fibenare Upcoming shows/Events: Guitar Connoiseur Magazine New York – next issue cover (http://www.guitarconnoisseur.com ) 12th April – 20th August Budapest Art Expo Friss 2013

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an interview with We would like to start with our usual ice breaking question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be the features that characterize a piece of Contemporary Art? Is it just a matter of making Art during these last years?

Art is something that tingles the soul of the people.

Contemporary art does the same, just it is more expensive.

We would like to ask you something about your background. We have read that you have studied Visual Arts at the West-Hungarian University. How in your opinion training has impacted on the way you make Art? And how your Art has developed after you left school?

I met some undiscovered Hungarian talents there, who helped me a lot to develop my thinking. Until the end of my studies I lived a life of a monk. To get real experiences, to have a good mojo in my art I had to leave the University.

By the way, do you think that artists with a formal education have an advantage over selftaught artists? I would go as far as to state that a that a certain kind of formal training could stifle an artist's creativity... what's your point?

Yes and yes. Everybody can benefit from formal education, but it depends on the individual that how these possibilities are used.

Another work of yours that I have found very stimulating is Green - Tao-Szemerédi Theorem.

A visual that has impacted on me is the similarity between "squared" formulas and the central white shadow: could you tell us more about this interesting piece?

I have to admit that I’ve been googling for a while and I’ve read somewhere that it's strictly connected to prime numbers theory...

Now let's focus on your works: I would start from "Hungaricum". Can you tell us about your process and set up for making your artworks?

In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work?

This painting is about Jenő Osváth, a forgotten Hungarian chemist who invented the modern soap and revolutionized the cosmetic industry.

Unfortunately the picture disappeared in a gallery three years ago. I tried to use my subconscious mind while I was working on this piece and I closed out my girlfriend from my flat, because I was not well-mannered in that state.

Green-Tao Theorem With Endre Szemerčdi is about the process how these great thinkers are transforming the reality around us. It's not about the primes, but maybe it helps the viewer to understand the joy of mathematics.

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Oliver Sin Fibenare-Sin Guitar NAMM 2013 USA painted guitar 80X120cm

Not to mention that Art and Science have common elements: even the great theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein recognized this.

Do you think there still exists a dichotomy between Art and Science?

your Guitars Works... maybe because I love to play the guitar, but I find these piece enormously interesting. How did you start this fruitful collaboration? By the way, do you play the guitars that you design?

In my opinion science is an another reincarnation of art or vica versa. Scientists are artists too.

Check Brian May, my great astrophysicist friend, who plays the electric guitar in a band called Queen.

Sometimes I play the guitars, but mostly I think of guitars as canvases rather than musical instruments while I'm painting on them. I started to use guitars as canvases when I hadn't got enough money to buy new materials and I had too many guitars that I haven't used. But this collaboration with Fibenare Guitars Co. was another story. We made a contemporary artwork that can be hanged in MoMa, New York and be played by B.B.King too.

Hey, that’s what I was thinking about: even though this has nothing to do with our interview I personally love Queen‌ !!!

And so we couldn't do without talking about

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Green-Tao Theorem with Endre Szemeredi, 2012 acrylics 160X110 cm

Some of the most recent and popular applications of mathematics in Art involves fractals and Chaos Theory. In particular Chaos Theory was thought up in order to explain what classical physics could not. It's an is an extremely fascinating field and I cannot forget that I spent lovely hours in reading James Gleick's bestsellers when I attended colle-ge, years ago. This reminds me an interesting aspect of your art: the "balance between the rational and emotional": what's your point about this?

Moreover, is there a particular exhibition that you would like to mention?

You are like me. Ha... My works are rather emotional than rational as I use subconscious methods for my works.

There's a clichĂŠ question, that we often ask to the artists that we interview: What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction? But in this case I would go as far as to say that the act of painting itself gives you an intrinsical satisfaction, isn't it?

Each exhibition is a new opportunity to share art, get know new faces and learn new things. It's like a self-help training. Both for me and for the visitor.

I had a special exhibition at the university when someone spit on my paintings and burned my guestbook. I was satisfied because I became a true contemporary artist who can induce strong feelings like rage.

You works have been exhibited several times in Europe, and recently also in Los Angeles, at NAMM Show/Fibenare: I would like to ask what impressions you have received from these experiences.

I am always out of my mind while I'm painting but

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Planetary Resources with Asteroid Mining Squadron, 2012 acrylics 160X110 cm

I enjoy the full process, I like to see how my works affect different people. Some people would try to kill me and some of them would sell cars to buy an original. The funniest thing is that when they are the same people.

Thank you very much for this interview, Oliver.

Our last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

It was a great pleasure. Plans? Check my website..

I will make some videos soon about the birth of a masterpiece hopefully with some good Balkan music.

Hopefully with some good Balkan music. http://oliversin.eu Oliver Sin Official Website http://www.fibenare-guitars.com Fibenare Guitars Co.

Oliver Sin Untitled (n) detail oil, pastels on canvas 50X60cm 2009

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Robert Zielinski

Robert Zielinski (Poland) An artist’s statement “I am trying to follow my own path, without emulating trends popular in contemporary photography, or, for that matter, art generally. Nor am I interested much in references to social, or political contexts. I feel that any context, also space and time, make art extemporary and as such, it becomes nonexistent in the long term. I also do not care about creating contemporary art – I want to create art which is my own.

“Most of my photographs are portraits. Even if they do not show faces, I try for them to say something important about the person depicted. I do not pick models for ready projects, as they are always preceded by long, personal and sincere conver-sations. It is during them, that the idea and concept are conceived and very intimate issues often come to light for the first time. It is more like a psycho-therapy than preparations for photo shoot.

The very process of taking photographs is normally much quicker than these conversations. I never get tempted to retake the shoot with a different model – it would be fake and without any sense.

“When the idea is born, I also try to tell its story in the easiest possible way, reducing all unnecessary additions to minimum. On the other hand, I pay much attention to not showing the world literally. I think that taking photographs of what can be seen with naked eye is boring and, actually, makes no sense at all. What is of vital importance in my work, is the art of composition.

“I am inspired more by experiences from painting than from photography and my actions are more like composition than framing and cropping. I look for the best pose which will symbolically express what I want to say and, then, work on it long and hard. I repeat the given shot numerous times, until I get the satisfying outcome. Rarely do I take more than a single photograph at a time. I do my best for this single photo to tell the whole story.

Robert Zielinski

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Robert Zielinski

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Robert Zielinski

Peripheral ARTeries

an interview with

Robert Zielinski First of all we would like to ask you what in your opinion defines a work of Art.

I think that what is most important, is the very process. Something happens on the point of contact between the viewer and the piece. For some people, a urinal, even Duchamp's, remains an object and nothing more. Others, look at the same thing and sink into reverie and fascination. A work of art is like an invitation to deliberations, reflections, the world of aesthe-tic, spiritual and emotional experiences.

We might either be ready to accept it, or walk by uninterested. It is tempting to quote Wang Wei, a Chinese poet, philosopher and painter , who created 1300 years ago: "If a given thing does not express spirituality, then what it expresses does not work." Such a concise sentence presents the essence of art, not just Chinese, but any art. It is this spirituality which is of the utmost importance to me and which differs art from advertising, even the one of the highest artistic quality.

Robert Zielinski

stands on appearances. The challenge is in not being taken by them and reaching a deeper level. There is this well-known portrait of Henry VIII, the king of England, by Hans Holbein the Younger in Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.

Sure, you can see the majestic power in it, but Holbein reached further. I am a bit surprised that he did not pay with his head for it, probably the king got fooled by its appearances. I do not know the golden rule, maybe there is no such a thing. You need to observe with caution and search. Think, analyse, be attentive. Step by step, taking all the curtains down.

By the way, I am wondering what would have Rudolf Arnheim or Kandinsky said to that. I also read Wang Wei's words as a clear, but powerful message to the artistic milieu: "Dear citizen, if you cannot grasp these spiritual matters, grab your stuff and look for something else to do."

And one more thing – God, please give me the power to do so.

How would you describe your photographic vision? What are you trying to create in your photos?

Almost nothing is as it seems. Investigating the truth, finding a way to show it in an interesting manner is fascinating to me and I guess, this is what it is all about.

Awareness is important. I always try to define what and what for I do what I do. I look underneath. Taking photographs of what can be seen with the naked eye is boring; the world

Besides your studies in Fine Arts, you have also studied Psychology at Warsaw Univer-

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Robert Zielinski

sity: how has this artistic outreach impacted on the way you make Art?

Peripheral ARTeries

Secondly, I think that knowledge and experience in psychology helps me in my work with a model.

Yeah, I think that my studies in psychology play a great role in what I do, maybe it is even twofold. Firstly, it is the issue of my interests and how I approach the topic. My topic is most often a human being and what is happening within – that is always the core of what I do.

Aesthetics, composition...

These are often long conversations, building trust and a joint search for what is valid. It sometimes is like psychotherapy. I am not trying to use my psychoanalytical skills, but they are hidden in me and help a bit.

Maybe, if I studied biology, my pictures would be much different.

They are also there, but they are not the topic itself, this is a psychological approach.

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Robert Zielinski Now we would like to focus on Mirabilia Project. By the way, "Nudity as such is not its theme" you have stated, "it only serves as tool to unveil the truth about the characters portrayed".

Artists could play the role of revealing hidden sides of the world, especially our inner worlds.

Just wondering if in your opinion Art could play as a substitute of traditional learning...

In my opinion, this question is about the difference between knowledge and recognition.

Art will certainly not substitute science, but science clings a bit too much to the limits of measurable reality and has no courage to cross them. In this respect, art is free. It does not have to formulate and verify hypotheses. It can speak on every subject and it does so often, but sometimes, such freedom is a dead end.

I have a feeling that the 20th-century art's main aim was to set boundaries and cross them. This, of course, is important but not the most important and, in reality, only feeds artists' egos. Both science and art can serve the purpose of understanding, but they do it differently. Knowledge is something of a readymade quality, something you need to acquire, understand and accept.

To the contrary, art is an opportunity, provokes reverie, your own discoveries and experiences.

Every person experiences in their own way, as art is a meeting between what is inscribed in the work and what I carry inside myself. This meeting, this magical bond can become enlightening. Sometimes it soaks in you, takes you over. Supposedly, such a thing happened to Dostoevsky, who had to be almost dragged away from the Holbein's "Dead Christ".

It might be how the rule "the more you give, the more you get" works. So the more attention and thought you devote to the painting, the more you have in yourself, the more you will get in return. Dostoevsky had much to offer, you can only envy him.

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, your actions are more like composition than framing and cropping so I won't ask you how do you feel about cropping an image.

My question deals with the differences between creative processes: do you think that cropping or editing an image could be considered as a post-creativity process?

No, not at all, I had something else in mind.

Photographers – using the Jeff Wall’s classification – can be divided into hunters and farmers.

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Robert Zielinski

the decision of the photographer. It is more composing. Coming back to the question, editing is obviously an important part of the creative process and the term "post" does not seem appropriate here.

This is one of the tools in the hands of the photographer, like working in the darkroom for analogue photography. It cannot be separated from the process of creation. Sometimes, at this stage, you take decisions valid for the image and it is no less creative than just shooting.

Most probably hunt for situations and record them in their pictures. This is usually what happens in a reportage. Then, only cropping is at stake – a decision which part of the reality should be covered within a frame, from what distance, angle, etc.

For example, for various reasons, I like the square format, but mostly I use the camera with different proportions of the matrix. When shooting, however, I assume that I will later cut the picture to be squared. Still, sometimes in the editing process, it appears that I was

In studio photography, you have much more freedom. This is the reality which you create thinking about a particular image. Arrangement of all elements is at will and depends on 15

Robert Zielinski

A sequence of stills from Laburynthos, video

present in the sacred Judeo-Christian art nowadays. There is a cross of course and apart from it, very little, maybe just a fish. In the architecture and ornaments of Gothic cathedrals, symbols can be encountered at every step. One of the most notable was the labyrinth. Its roots go back far to antiquity, but in Christian art it played a really important role. Going through a labyrinth was necessary part of the coronation ceremony of the kings of France.

wrong, the dynamics of the forces acting in the image might be better distributed at different aspect ratios. Perhaps I could predict that before, but I am not always successful.

Your video Laburinthos deals with a synergy between symbols. This reminds me some of Cattelan's pieces...

Could you explain to our readers how you did come up to the idea for this wok?

Today, I cannot accurately reproduce the way of thinking that led me to juxtapose the symbols of a fish and a labyrinth. The idea, when it had appeared, pleased me a little, made me laugh a little, too. I was wondering what was going to happen. I recorded the scene several times with the participation of various "actors." I chose one shot. I changed nothing, the clip made itself.

I have always been interested in symbolism in art. There is a touch of mystery and intellectual challenge to it. It is inspiring to me.

Today, most of the symbols present in the ancient art, and especially medieval, became a little forgotten. But it was once an important language of communication between the artwork and the viewer. It stimulated the imagination and allowed to decipher the hidden meaning of a work of art.

You have marked that for this piece that you did not fall prey to the possibility of time manipulation, nor did use any techniques of computer animation.

Do you think that there is still a dichotomy between Art and Technology?

In your opinion, is there the danger that an "excess of technology" could "overwhelm"

All the objects, colours, poses, gestures present in it never were simply accidental. It all made the painting readable in a way. Not much left from the rich arsenal of symbolism 16

Robert Zielinski

and consequenly stifle an artist's inspiration?

In this particular case, the lack of manipulation seems important to me. I wanted to show what really happened, but I know that one might think it is a computer animation, as it looks a bit like it. Coming back to the question – no, I do not have any worries. On the contrary. Art has always collided with technology and always left enriched from such encounters.

There are many examples. The invention of oil paint did not hurt painting, though before, egg tempera was used. The invention of tubes allowed artists to leave the studio and go out of the studio. In part, it is because of that that Impressionism was born.

The same is true with photography. Its appearance did not destroy the art of painting, although some heralded its quick death. Until recently, we have witnessed a reserve in conservative circles in relation to digital technologies. These discussions were futile in my opinion. Previously, same wars were waged between the followers of glass plates and celluloid film. Tomorrow there will be new technologies and art will gain, not lose. But there is another problem. The new always connects the group of fierce supporters, fascinated and tied to a single technology.

Untitled, 2008 from The Lycra Project, digital print

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Robert Zielinski

Untitled, 2008, The Lycra Project, - digital print

or cause partial blur. It is a useful tool to enhance the impression of movement.

Sculpture cannot do such things, especially sculpture in stone. There are always sharp edges; it cannot be otherwise. However, often sculptors were able to perfectly express the dynamics of the movement, there are many examples. In these photographs, the edges of bodies are sharp and frozen in studied poses, as in sculpture. The shape, however, is somewhat hidden under the smooth translucent fabric. That is photography using non-photographic tools.

Untitled, 2008 from The Lycra Project, - digital print

It is a dead end. This is evident from the example of computer graphics. The computer in the hands of a graphic designer can be and is a creative tool. The computer in the hands of a "computer graphic designer" is usually a different case.

Another work of yours that we couldn't do without mentioning is THE LYCRA PROJECT that we suggest to our reader to admire on your website. The feature that has mostly impressed me is the sense of motion, not only of plasticity of the image...

Your works have been often awarded. It goes without saying that awards are capable of supporting an artist, but do you think that an award could even influence the process of an artist?

Photography is indeed a still image, but we have a lot of opportunities to include the dynamics of gesture or movement, as such, in it. Controlling the shutter speed can freeze the picture in a way,

In fact, I am not at all sure whether participation in various competitions helps in anyway.

There are lots of competitions and it is also a business in itself.

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That many for me to have any ground for generalis-ing. Different countries, but different cities, galleries, exhibitions, etc. Too many variables to understand, I do not want to play a wise guy. The most experience I have, comes from my own country, Poland. Often, it seems to me that the opening is the most important.

The audience comes in crowds. After that the crowd is just not there. That happens also with exhibitions more important than mine. They could be shorter and it would not change anything. On the other hand, I am not Marina Abramović and that it may also play its part.

Untitled, 2006

Now here's a clich we're always interested in hearing the answer to. What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

from The Wind series, digital print

Participation in these usually equals paying a fee, and the benefits are difficult to quantify.

Organisers usually attach more importance to the promotion of themselves than their happy winners.

It is not about satisfaction. It is hard to put it, because it is almost physical sensation that accompanies creation. It is a moth, which flutters in my throat, somewhere, maybe in my heart. It appears when you find a solution. Each topic, each project is a challenge. It drags me in, pushes other issues aside. I struggle with it, sometimes without an outcome. It is exhausting, discouraging, but it is impossible to stop. Suddenly, the simplest idea appears, out of nowhere, out of the darkness, like a moth. This moth is what I like most.

The real success is usually determined by someone else – curators, critics, galleries.

Most of them, I guess, do not bother keeping track of competitions. Their mailboxes are full every day with applications of "emerging artists". Most probably are thrown away. On the other hand, competitions are useful because every success reinforces the belief in what you are doing and adds strength. And that is sometimes very necessary. Even losing makes sense and allows for a more critical look at what you are doing. The question of what is wrong with work, so that judges ignore them, may be an impulse for creative exploration. It is not always possible to keep the distance.

Thank you for this interview, Robert: our last questions deals with your future plans.

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

Normally, I get attached to my own projects and it bothers me. I do not want to follow my own footsteps. It leads to nowhere. Changes are needed, even to let fresh air to your mind.

I have many new projects, but I not always find the time and the possibility to implement them.

At the moment, I am working on installations.

Both video and photographic ones. I feel like toying a bit with exhibition space. I am very curious myself what will happen.

What experiences have you had exhibiting in different countries? What is the difference between exhibiting, for example, in Europe and exhibiting in the United States?

I do not think I can say anything interesting on this subject. These exhibitions were not

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Antonio Keserdzhiev

Antonio Keserdzhiev (Bulgaria - France) An artist’s statement

“I work with media arts in search of new visual forms that could surprise and please me.

“My current projects explore the soul as a substructure of the universe, its transforma-tion in relation with the technology and the way that this metamorphose changes the world. The digitalisation inspires me to translate stories. With every translation we enhance our collective imaginary universe and its memory. This memory upholds our present. Every story is a translation of the world. We translate the time, the space, the love, the form, the way, the emotion ...

“The life is a divine translation. And it has to be re-translated again everyday.

For me the creating process of a new world always starts from worlds already on hand.

“TRANSLATIONS is a collection of digital graphic stories that have rearranged the world. Trough images, sounds and motions 20

Antonio Keserdzhiev

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I create situations of seeing trough the senses. The major concern in this work is questioning the space and how people occupy it, his memory and how it change the world. I examine the space in relation to temporary structures and potential collapse. As long as we have a vision of the world we retain the freedom to break out of it and offer alternative views.

The collection of translated stories is expanding continually. Some of the stories are recreated by interactive situations in real spaces trough digital installations – image, sound and motion.

They put the human body in a leading role of exploring the unexpected future.

Antonio Keserdzhiev was born 1989 in Burgas, Bulgaria. Since 2008 he studies, works and performs in Strasbourg, France.

Selected participations & exhibitions Alianz Francais Exhibition Sofia 2008, Puzzle Festival Burgas 2008 , Humorate Art Festival Italia 2010 , Ulitza Otetz Paisii Plovdiv 2012 , HiiiBrand Illustrations China 2012, Project Window in gallery LUNA Burgas 2013 Koshmart / Varna , 2013 Institut Fur Alles Mogliche / Berlin, 2013 Daybreak video installation , 2013

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Antonio Keserdzhiev

an interview with

Antonio Keserdzhiev We would start this interview with our usual ice breaking question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art?

Human sees in the world what he brings in his heart. Art is an alternative vision of the world.

And if taken seriously, it can be seen as a way of re-making the world.

Tell us something about your background: we have read that you moved from Bulgaria to France. How has this impacted on your art practice? Can you tell us your biggest influences in art and how they have affected your work?

I was born in 1989, and grew up in an enchanting environment, full of futuristic stories, trips around Eastern Europe, abundant of excellent examples of contemporary art and antiques, because of the occupation of my both parents. This is how I really started to build my bridge between dimensions. My art comes from life.

Antonio Keserdzhiev

that combine different mediums. Now I’m focused on the digitalisation as a process of translation.

My leitmotif in the project is the state of the human soul and its encoding in a new form.

It is perhaps not that easy to translate a state into every language, but if Edouard Glissant, a major theorist of poetic migration and transformation, is right, the translation act itself is a way of making our shared world richer.

By the way, I know that this question might sound a bit rethorical, but I do think that our readers would be pleased to know what are main differences that you have experienced in being an artist in Bulgaria and in France.

It doesn’t make any difference to me. It’s true that the environment inspires and provokes but no matter where we are, the power to revive this world is still there. Everything is in the heart.

With every language we lose, the imagination of the world is impoverished. The translation is a way to transform the world through one new vision.

Now we would like to focus on your artwork "TRANSLATIONS": what was your initial inspiration for these pieces? By the way, could you take us through your creative process when starting a new project?

TRANSLATIONS deals with an effective syner- gy between symbols, and moreover we can recognize a clear reference to technology and its impact on us.

I’m constantly looking for ways of expression 22

Antonio Keserdzhiev

Code : Daybreak , digital graphic , 2013

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Antonio Keserdzhiev

NEW TIME from TRANSLATION's online series

By the way, do you think that there's still a dichotomy between Art and Technology? Or between Tradition and Modernity?

expression, but I personally I do not agree with this common analysis. What's your point about this?

By the way, do you think that art could play a role in social questions, steering people's behavior?

The visual language developed for this project shows how the most well-known symbols, like the letters and numbers, can be broken down into basic visual shapes that display unexpected painterly qualities. A new visual language emerges that allows for repetition and difference producing infinite variations.

Everyday, opening our eyes, we restart the world. We create it by the senses and translate it by emotions. And there is a need to save information about the present moment.

The expression is a frame of the moment. It defines the limits of the time. Art is playing a major role in the social life.

The techno way of making art is more than a process of creating an object or a commodity.

It is a way to translate your vision, idea or faith in the world into a new form that could be decoded by another form of life.

Your idea of divine translations suggests me a stimulating parallelism with the idea of an artist as a who can play the role of revealing hidden sides of the world, especially our inner worlds... Could you elaborate a bit this concept for our readers?

One of the deepest thought that we can read in TRANSLATION is a well-known Monet's quote:"I am increasingly obsessed by the need to render what I experience". At first sight this might suggest that he considered art as a self-referential platform for his own

New worlds emerge where worlds meet.

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NEW WORLD from online TRANSLATIONS project

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Antonio Keserdzhiev

NEW WORLD from online TRANSLATIONS project

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, your collection of translated stories is expanding continually and some of them are recreated by interactive situa-tions in real spaces.

How important is the role of the location on your performance?

By the way, when you conceive a work do your think to whom will enjoy it?

You works have been exhibited in Europe, have been recently shown also in China: we would like to ask what impressions you have received from these experiences. Moreover, is there a particular exhibition that you would like to mention?

Last month I’ve participated in a very innovatory project organized by in Berlin. All artworks were presented trough USB drives in series of projections in three days. I like to be inspired in some alternative ways by the very conception of the project. It makes you think about a specific kind of new form of art, generated by this possibility.

Translation is a collection of stories and all of them exist in different languages: some are digital, others are living matter; but the space is always important. It makes the context.

You are a prolific artist: how many works do you usually produce at the same time?

Do you think that there's a "channel of communication" between different works that have been produced at the same time?

to the artists that we interview: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?

What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I don’t know when the process of translation ends. I’ve never stopped doing it so I don’t know how it would come to an end.

I always starts with the question. And when I find the answer it isn't that important.

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Antonio Keserdzhiev

Correspondent : Desire, digital graphics from series PARABOLA, 2013.

KOSHMART exhibition. And every month I present a new story in gallery LUNA in Burgas, Bulgaria.

I love the way, the process ... it makes all the sense.

Thank you very much for this interview, Antonio. Our last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

You could find more information on my personal web profile. Thank you and I wish you a very creative spring time.

You can view the TRANSLATIONS web project at: www.cargocollective.com/translation-s

This month one story from TRANSLATIONS is exposed in Varna, Bulgaria during the

Correspondent : Nova, digital graphics from series PARABOLA, 2013

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Kadir Avci

Peripheral ARTeries

Kadir Avci (Turkey) An artist’s statement My works are a short story of the communication of human beings and nature. Each of my paintings is a part of that story. The motion starts from “reality”. By adding “unreal” elements; deconstruction is thus created. In addition to that, sometimes positive, sometimes negative criticism is added.

For me, the priority is visual attraction. I do not have concerns such as plausibility; logic takes a secondary place. My first aim is to gather the attraction of the audience, to arouse suspicion amongst them, to stimulate their feelings and to make them believe in this world because therein lies magic.

Our fears and concerns have been changing as time goes by. This situation pushes me to create new worlds: by using words from the real world, I play games in the created one. I feel that nature is perturbed. I too feel perturbed because of what we have done as human beings.

In the series of “My World is Yours” the world is pessimistic and dark. The process of the creation is positively correlated with the development of technology.

The other side of the utopia is shown, indeed: dystopia!

I add fantastical figments of the imagination which are resultant from concerns, regarding the images I have taken from nature. In this phase, creating contrast with colors and figures is important for me. Generally, I paint outdoor spaces. My aim is to create new spaces. Within them exists on occasion serenity, otherwise tension. And these creations result from seeking; they are related with the scope of the imagination. Suspicion harbors curiosity.

Curiosity triggers the imagination. Consequently, questioning starts; because one starts seeking a more positive and happy world than the one which he/she lives and within his/her mind conjures an image of his/her sometimes clear, obvious and harsh. And it must remain independent at all times.

“Dear imagination, what I like about you most of all is that you are unforgiving.”

Kadir Avci

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Kadir Avci

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Kadir Avci

an interview with

Kadir Avci We would start with ourusual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And do you think that being a contemporary artist it's just a matter of being born after the half of 20st century?

A work of art, comes out from creative imagination. It’s a form of experssion and the artist makes it ‘’ consciously ’’. In order to make it needs to emotion, passion and free imagination. And i think a work needs audience to become an artwork.

I don’t think it’s enough to be born in the second half of 20st century to become a contemporary artist. It’s important to create up-to-date artworks, joining art organizations and being in touch with audience and reviewers. Of course it’s another way to watch the art community from a distance, being isolated but researching and following can also keep you contemporary.

Please tell us something about your background: we have read that you have studied Fine Arts focusing on painting at the Dokuz Eylul University, in Turkey, your native country.

How much formal training has impacted on the way you make art nowadays?

Kadir Avci

and enterprising person. There are many national and international artists who had been graduated from this universty and this makes me happy.

I’m glad that i’m graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey.

Because it’s one of the important universitys in Turkey, we have been trained by qualified lecturers like Mumtaz Saglam, Ramazan Bayrakoglu (and so on). In Dokuz Eylul, the education style leaning to contemporary art and our freedom during this education process to choose between practice, theory and creating helped me a lot to become a creative

By the way, how has your art practice developed since you left school?

What are, if any, your biggest influences in art and how they have affected your work?

I worked as an assistant in “ Artist Ramazan Bayrakoglu’s workshop” for two years, after I graduated. That gives me a lot of contribution to become a professional. And i also kept wor30

Kadir Avci

Peripheral ARTeries

Kadir Avci was born in Eskisehir in 1987.

He started to Dokuz Eylul University Fine Arts Faculty Picture Department in 2006 and he completed his undergraduate education in 2011.He has been going on pictures in him workshop.

Also,he has been doing assistantship in Ramazan BAYRAKOGLU’s workshop…

Exhibitions • 2012 Personal Exhibition, Alacat? Art Gallery, Izmir • 2012 “Turgut Pura Competition of Paint and Sculpture” Exhibition • 2012 Personal Exhibition, Turkey Is Sanat Gallery, Izmir • 2010 “Look Inside – Icine Bak”, Soyer Kultur ve Sanat Fabrikas?, Izmir • 2009 “9. Competition of Sefik Bursal?” Exhibition • 2008 “Seylerin Duzeni”, Dokuz Eylul University Fine Arts Faculty, Koridor Gallery, Izmir • 2008 Personal Exhibition, Koridor Gallery, Izmir • 2007 “Exhibition of Figure”, Dokuz Eylul University (A photo by Kamer Incedursun)

king in my own workshop, became more active in producing and had two personal exhi-bition, take part in one group exhibition. I think being inspired is about opening your senses. I have to go out and look around. if there is anything called "inspiration", i have to find it myself. being in the search, watching, reading, following the daily matters and sometimes passing transform future…

Reinterpreting those is an inspiration for me. Of course, everything which impressed me to not return to work of art. I always have a question: How can I transform it into painting ?

Now let's focus on your artworks that our reader can admire in these pages: we would start from your stimulating series entiled "The World is Yours": what was your initial inspiration?

Could you take us through your creative process when starting a new project?

The series "The World is Yours" is a matter of being sensitive to nature beside that is is a social criticism. I love nature. For example sometimes i try to see the perspective of a cloudy weather, feel the coldness of water, the speed of wind. I admire the power of nature 31

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Kadir Avci

From the series “The World is Yours”

a narrative project... By the way, any comments on your choice of palette or how it has changed over time?

and i’m also grateful to it. The process of this series creation is about that, I had a problem with human – nature interactions and would like to paint it with a scenario.

Thank you for your nice opinions. My choice of palette is of course about the general picture and my way of expressing myself. When i look at any kind of visiual material intensity of colors and ( if there are any ) light explosions attract me the most. I try to use those on my own work. I like light explosions and the deepness of dark colors. I try to use more contrast colors in this serie. I’m trying to put them on forefront. I’m using this method since my early work.

Being outside makes me excited, perspective, millions of colors, eternity there is a lot to use.

The color of the sky changes every day. When i watch a movie (expecially if it’s a fantastic or science – fiction movie) the outdoor designs draws my attention the most and i get excited.

I want to improve myself on this area. That’s why i try to use my imagination and excitement to produce something.

A visual of your painting that has impressed me is the mix of the colors, moreover I can recognize a cinematographic feeling and a sense of motion: sometimes it seems that a painting could be a frame of a film, a part of

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, in “My World is Yours” you have shown a pessimisic and dark vision of the world, and I have to admit that some of your

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good, but not losing our human emotion and without demonizing.

(As a consequence, we correspond thanks to technology, and we are appreciated for this.)

It goes without saying that there is a clear social criticism in this series. Do you think that Art could play a role in facing social questions, steering people's behaviour? And what in your opinion is could be the role of an artist in the society?

Yes, there is a social critisim. And there is also a self criticism too. I can not say that art has to be interested about social problems but they intrest me as an artist and helps me with

From the series “The World is Yours”

pieces has suggested me a post-atomic scenario. Do you think that there's a dichotomy between Technology and Art?

When you look at the serie almost every painting has a dystopic view. Because the scenario is telling that. Actually i didn’t made a story over post – atomic scenario but it’s true that there are resemblances.

I can not talk about a clear break up between technology and art. After all – when you look at it on the bright side – it has both their parts.

And it is really easy to use it for wrong causes.

That is what scares me the most! The things that it’s taking away from us. And almost everything is feeded by tecnology.

For example art has been nourished by computer technology and digital arts were born. Of course, there should be technology is very

From the series “The World is Yours”

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Kadir Avci mean that also the background plays a crucial role... Do you agree with this?

The paintings i had done and want to do, vision is really important. Because i want it to be the way i imagined in my head, the summary of the story i have thought. But i also want that everyone to wrote their own story after looking at the painting. I think making the freedoom possible is more intimate in a world full of stereotypes.

The education from art school, a movie i have watched, a story i have read... these are just the small parts of groundwork. Then the point of view, being able to interpret with a modern approach is involved and the paintings became the way they are today. These paintings are a result of my preferences and i’m turning my accumulations into practice as i can.

From the recent 2013 series

my work. When i’m in the process of creating an artwork i’m not ‘’ devoting ‘’ myself to social problems but i think my sensors should be open on this area too.

I can’t direct peoples actions though. It gives my conscience a little relief. Instead of being senseless, i prefer being sensitive.

From the series “The World is Yours”

You have stated that your first aim is to gather the attention of your audience, but as the same time you have remarked that imagination must remain independent: when you conceive a piece, do you think to whom will enjoy it? And how much the interaction with your audience does impact on your process?

Your paintings have a very relevant feel in relation to contemporary art sensibilities.

Especially in your recent production, you have incorporated a lot of nuances, that suggest real or imagined places and times.

What is the significance of the landscape in your art?

Actually i’m talking about the independency during the production process. There isn’t a certain group that i targeted to draw attention

I would as far as to state that in your paintings there's no background function, and I

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because i don’t do my work just thinking about drawing attention. The attention i want is actually a visiual thing, when the audience first saw my work, i like my work to give them joy. This creates communication, intimacy.

My goal isn’t showing them a path, of course. to the artists that we interview: What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I want to answer this question with the most humanly, intimate way i can. That toile is carrying a visual that i imagined in my brain.

I can look at it over and over again. There is mind, eye and pallette cooperation there. And if the result became as i want it to be, it makes me really happy to watch it. There are many things that gives me satisfaction. The critics ( positive and negative ), propagation of the painting, the viewers comments and approaches to the work in an art gallery.

From the series “The World is Yours”

Thank you very much for this interview, Kadir.

Our last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I’m going to work hard to be a more active, more creative person and do better.

First of all i would like to be a part of a guest artist program in Europe, i’m making applications for that. Working hard and being sincere will turn out well for me, i believe that.

Thank you for the nice conversation.

If i need to give another example, the work i had done is going to be published in a magazine and people are going to see it. That makes me really happy.

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Richard Alexander Heckert

Richard Alexander Heckert (Germany) An artist’s statement

Imagine that your brain is a collection of scraps of thought. This restless mind, which restless ticking. Memories formed in the aesthetics of advertising spots. The Modern Humanity has everything except the future.

Our thoughts are always shorter and faster.

Our memories shrink to spot length. People can not remember the past. We will become part of the moment and live for the moment.

No future without a past. Through technology, life accelerates quickly. We have no more time for the future. Our lost innocence of the generation Teletubby and the corrupt superheroes devour our world.

Andy Warhol is dead and we are ghosts in his tomato soup. In a world in which people are torn between the brave new world and dreams of consumption between home entertainment technology and myriads of TV programs, the critical mind of mankind is disturbed. A change in thinking needs more fantasy and a new thinking about resources.

That means a big change of paradigm. Only then we can organize better the world.

Consume Yourself for example documenting the tragedy of our pop culture life, where people consume themselves. Greed and the insistent pursuit of consumer dreams distorted the most creative powers of people and prevents lasting change. We need to back our senses and our minds to recognize the factical problems of consumption.

Shangrila Technokratika 70 X 50 cm Mixed Media auf Karton Entstehungsjahr 2011

The character of our culture needs a big change or it remains for ever "Consume Yourself"!

In the world of Pop Amok we celebrate ourselves to death. The party is in full swing and nobody dares to to go home. The spot is aimed at the dance floor. Everything is so beautiful as colorful like candy. The doubt and fear remain outside.

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The Pop Amok shows the beautiful horrible world like in the work of Duality. We will stumble and Walt Disney ends in a disaster. The Madness of colors, shapes refer to the unity of all cultures, under the dictates of the Pop Amok... Do you want to see the result?

The work of Richard Alexander Heckert is the bomb that goes off ...

My addiction to document the modern life in detail, is the joy of nonconformity.

Illustrations about the present can be refined by the detail and performed to excess.

The Pop Amok is a kind of update of the poster-art aesthetic of the counterculture of the late sixties. This art is committed the generation of the second cry. The themes that emerged from twisted shapes in different colors, have a basis in the ego problem of the consumer society in which we live. It is the culture of video games, of industrialization and religion of money.

A prism of vanities that are not suitable for the boardroom! An art that hopes and loves! In this rusty tin drives the Pop Amok, looking for Warhol, Keith Haring and James Rizzi. Richard Alexander Heckert is the fourth member of the Popmachine!

Richard Alexander Heckert is an independent fresh urbanpop artist from Krupp-City, Germany.

The victims are in the dark and be forgotten until we ourselves fall into the deep black of the end!

The real world shrinks to the size of a small screen.

His works are supported by some well-known artists of the international art scene like the famous american illustrator Frank Kozik, the californian streetartist Skinner, the established painter Jonas Burgert and the popart painter Jean Marc Calvet.

Our hands are joysticks and our thoughts will be data. The love mutates a bestseller and all slide cheerful on the oil traces of life! The world of the brain rockets.

http://heckertart.com/

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an interview with

Richard Alexander Heckert Hello Richy, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We would like to start with our ice-breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, do you think that we really need of a formal definition of Art?

Anyone who studies the history of art, will realize that the definition of art has a tendency to change over the times. If there were a clear definition, a clear essence, a simple derivation of the concept of art, we wouldn't need to talk about it. Although it can't be defined on a similar level like mathematics, there can't be any doubt, that art is some kind of language, which leaves it's mark in the sands of time and is capable to represent the divine light. You spoke about an icebreaker question, and I think this metaphor fits, because the art is like an iceberg on rough seas.

Richard Alexander Heckert

I have read that you have studied Fine Arts: how much in your opinion formal training influences art?

We were wondering if in your opinion a certain kind of training could even stifle one's creativity...

While you see only the tip of the iceberg, the largest part of the iceberg is unexplored.

Although art isn't an explorable puzzle, it's still part of human existence. A clear definition is not possible. Today, art has no more limits.

We assess no more art to aesthetic aspects.

We no longer search for truth in art, but we accept the relativity of existence.

Yes I have studied design and Fine Arts in Germany. This has given gives a good basic training to me, a good Curriculum Vitae, a good name, you are a master student, ready to manage connections to gallery owners and important personalities in the artistic field.

The art has lost the pathos of antiquity, and since Andy Warhol, the cult of personality has become a top-topic. Since that time, art requires only a transmitter and a receiver without the justification of philosophical superstructure.

This all looks like a good life insurance and a good self-promotion. But the whole atmosphere is old-fashioned and has an odour of good old familiar style. Beside this exclusive world exists an enormous potential of an art,

This makes the art free and yet vulnerable – due to the duality of being!

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Richard Alexander Heckert Who or what inspired you to develop the style you are known for?

I could write a long list of old masters of the classic art, but that would go much too far at this point. The style of Pop Amok continues the art of pop art and regards itself as a critical observer of his aesthetics. An aesthetic that has permeated not only the art, but also the whole thinking of modern life.

Quite in the tradition of the countermovement of the last century, the Pop Amok created an aesthetic of colorful neurotic restlessness. The hustle and bustle, with which I stumbled through my life, was also the

POP Amok, Mixed Media auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2012

50 X 70 cm

that defines itselve more freely. This movement is unfortunately banned from the lucrative commercial art market. I think of Keith Haring, James Rizzi and Andy Warhol.

Would their genius and creativity could have been able to develop, if they would live today?

I'm not sure. The trail would be onerous for them today. The world today has more artists than ever. That is another reason that artists today have to fight for survival. There are fewer sponsors and supporters for innovative autodidactic career changers. Such artists like Max Ernst, Francis Bacon, Jean Michel Basquiat, Heckel, Kirchner and Warhol would perhaps have no chance today to ascend into the Olympus.

Herzfehler, Tinte auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2011

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Urban Stream, Tinte auf Karton, Entstehungsjahr, 2007

50 X 70 cm

Can you describe how living in Krupp-City, Germany influences (or doesn’t) your art practice?

symptom of a lost and restless generation of techno, ecstasy and entertainment. The shock of a missing future was not just a phenomenon of a generation in the last decade, but it is adequate to the whole modern age, who, set to exist in the light of a dying world, is unable to see any point in the morality of their fathers.

Krupp City is just a synonym for Essen, an industrially defined city in western Germany.

You can compare the evolution of Motown alias Detroit / Michigan with my city. Detroit and Essen suffered identical fates. The automobile industry in Detroit and the production of coal and steel in Essen after the postwar period in western Germany. The famous Krupp family was and is an integral part of the city history.

This city hasn't coped with the economic change. High unemployment and lack of pros-

The Pop Amok is an aesthetic, emotional and authentic expression of the concrete world in which I grew up. The works of Pop Amok constitute a communicative bridge of apparent legibility. On closer inspection you can see the pull of the abyss, which is inexplicable. Just like the pop world!

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sing and the infrastructure crumbles. I was born in the neighborhood of "Segeroth", where the tough guys come from. I could not fight well and I could not run fast, so I started painting to save me from this harsh world.

Since my youth this city and the many millions of people in this region are the fluid of my inspiration

Consume Yourself, Mixed Media auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2008

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pects make this city superfluous. People move away and look for work elsewhere. The cities crumble and the Ruhrregion has a bad reputation. It is poor and dirty! Essen is currently the center of many supermarkets, shopping malls and business parks. On the benches at the parks you can see burned out faces.

Zivilisation ist Punk Mixed Media auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2010

50 X 70 cm

Now we would like to focus on your artworks, that our reader can admire in these pages.

Let's start with Consume Yourself which as you have written in your statement, documents the tragedy of our pop culture life, where people consume themselves. By the way, what is your creative process like?

All people remember and think about the wealthy past. Only an idealist in love could insist, that this city is beautiful. After 2nd World War nothing beautiful remains. The reconstruction was progressing rapidly and the architects forgot the soul of the city. Now, money is mis-

Hopefully and scary at the same time, I feel

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my own life. I feel the social and cultural life as organized and adapted. Our modern world loves the concept of freedom, protecting it as the highest good and yet we subject ourselves, to follow every obvious trend without reflection.

George Orwell's 1984 is more complicated and more sophisticated than the Big Brother-motive.

We define ourselves more then ever about our worldly status, but never about inner values. The right shoes, the right outfit must correspond to the right technical equipment of a Smartphone, MP 3 Player, the new car. The people has a much better understanding about fashionable and trendy life as on the main contexts of human interaction. I sit in the train and watch how people defie reality. They world consists of headphones and small screens.

This world is virtual and artificial. The world is presented dicing for the length a commercial.

We believe, that this could enable us to individualize ourselves and to speak more and more in our own language, but we don't notice, that the more, the technology is interacting between us and this beautiful world, we ourselves change. This brave new world requires nothing else from us, than to be available.

Increasingly, this world of POP is a life of the moment. The real world, the planet on which we live is based. The modern man with all its possibilities, its communicative and technical achievements now is bound now so close to them, that he can't dissolve any longer from them without losing his world.

Mankind is so much into this process, that it sets the stage, on which it acts, in flames. The speed, with which we force ourselves through life, could hardly get any faster. It looks as if the great collapse will take place very soon. The children have disappeared from the streets of our cities, and with our perfection, masquerading as life, Duality, Mixed Media auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2008

50 X 70 cm

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this colorful world will disappear from us. Life itself is only simulated, stimulated and homo-genized.

On the surface, the human being is perfectly, but on the inside we are empty and afraid of loneliness. We celebrate ourselves to death, and we're much more ready to consume ourselves, then to turn off the pop machine in our heads.

Who regulates the carousel, on which we've taken place and rotate faster and faster?

Nobody regulates it, and we bounce drunk and happy and dizzy from adventure to adventure.

Sacrifice Alien Pop, Fineliner auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2013

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On Air, Fineliner auf Karton, Entstehungsjahr, 2012

35 X 35 cm

Could you elaborate a bit for our readers the concept of Pop Amok? How did you come up with the name?

Yes, the name is not chosen without reason.

The title is not a marketing strategy, but a bitter truth about the state of modern humanity. I see my art settled in the traditions of Pop Art and the Posterart of the 60s countermovement. The art of Pop Amok should be understood as a resonance filter for the Zeitgeist. The Art of pop has influenced a global commercial mass culture and has changed the way of life and thought. We run the risk, that the pop culture completely devours freedom of choice. It is a disastrous development.

The lifestyle of the pop around the world is to aim for perfect surface, while everything around us and inside us rotten. Our affluent society does not reflect the internal and external misery, because our minds are reduced to commercial length. Pop culture des44

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cribes the state of a mental condition, that is no longer able to act independently. We see the world only through small screens and hear them via headphones. The real world out there is replaced by a simulated world. Between mankind and the world lingers technology, entertainment and a hectic culture of the moment, which produces restlessness. Pop culture produces plastic people. We can not extricate ourselves.

The planet is dying and we dont see it ,because we want to enjoy ourselves and distract us ... as long as it lasts. Andy Warhol said, he felt privileged to be part of a mass culture. So far so good, but the mass culture runs the risk of cannibalizing its own children. The concept of Pop Amok wants to document a snapshot of a world with no future and explore the madness of everyday culture. The limitless customization is reaching the limits of what is possible.

The hedonism of an empty and garish lifestyle produces mountains of waste, over-fisheds the sea, pollutes oceans, detonates atomic power plants and takes control over human responsibility. This is the Amok in us, the revelation of the destructive and infantile side of pop culture. Only when people decelerate their life, we will realize as grown-up individuals to cope with these A feature of your pieces like Zivilisation ist Punk and Herzfehler that I enjoy a lot is the liveliness.

It seems that you constantly ask to spectator to actively participate, not simply to enjoy your artworks, which look like more as a spur than a mere guide. By the way, when you conceive a work, do you think to your audience?

Exactly. The Pop Amok is a living art. This art style should inspire the viewer and activate his imagination and consciousness. I want to get away from the museal art. My art transmits a light Love Techno, Fineliner auf Karton, Entstehungsjahr, 2013

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and is a revitalizing panopticon of our life.

Esta-blished art prefers formats and art styles that are suitable for villas, boardrooms and museums. This corresponds to the requirements of Art invest-ment. I have deliberately chosen the format of a poster. My statement: stop the madness of the megalomania of biggest artworks, end the mechanized warfare!

Does it really need high screens and gallons oil paint in order to impress the audience? You should not buy art on the metre, but as a unique piece. You buy the soul not the body!

I make it like Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Only a paper pad, a few pens, brushes and watercolors and the whole universe is art!

Postersizes are communicating media but oversized canvases are no longer up to date.

Oversize harms the vitality of the arts, because it is tied to large spaces. The work of the Pop Amok want to communicate with the viewer, they are looking for the exchange of thoughts and feelings, they want to please, to dance with the viewer, they want passion, they want commitment and attention of the audience. At this level, the Pop Amok can create a connection to the viewer. My art demands a lot of time and peace and invites to a personal encounter.

BrainStream Mainstream, Tinte auf Karton, Entstehungsjahr, 2008

70 X 50 cm

It goes without saying that your artwork express a deep social criticism: but I can recognize not only a criticism, but also a proposal, maybe a kind of way out from the consumerist society we live in. In my opinion your artworks are not just the diagnosys of our time but also offer a therapy... do you agree with this?

The Pop Amok understand itself as a visual documentation of our mental status within the cultural context of Pokultur. No, it's not primarily a social criticism, but the unconscious is a important sujet of Pop Amok. My works animates the viewer to ask the question about his perception and imagination. It is a universal criticism of our philosophy of life and the undignified treatment with the general philosophy of a life without this superstructure. Pop Amok has enough power for a very special kind of interaction and aesthetics. I would say this art isn't a therapy but a defibrillator. The Pop Amok wants to point out the enormous potential of the people and criticized the channels into which the forces disappear.

The work of Pop Amok appears at first glance wild, witty, punk and flashy. On closer examination, you will recognize a passion and a perfection of detail. After a time, the elements move to an amorphous story. This story is like a filter. The message disappears and the viewer finds a personal story too. He embeds itself in a higher level of story: the eye moves, the heart beats quickly and suddenly a story, created by another person, wells up to a pool of thoughts. It detects fragments and discovers his own life, the madness, the chaos, the whole essence of our modern times.

By the way, what in your opinion is the role of artists in our society? Do you think that Art could steer people's behaviour?

Of course not. Never! That is not the job of 46

Richard Alexander Heckert me challenges for a sustainable relationship between Art and Business.

Man has exceeded a strange border, that des-troyed the balance of nature. So what basis has the willingness to wanton destruction? The loss of dignity. The loss of responsibility. The loss of limits. Sustainability requires a dignified life in responsibility and with moderate requirements of a vision of a better future. Formulated in terms of the art business, my statement means more enjoyment of the arts to allow more heart for art and more creative risks in art. The art needs more mentors and supporters and less insurance agents. Gains of course, because gallery owners and artists live by art, yet more enthusiasm of all participants.

Thank you for this interview, Richy: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

Love magazine I signed up for the interest in my works and for the support. With this interview, I hope to increase awareness of the art of Pop Amok in the United States. I believe in the incredible creative potential of the American art scene. My artistic inspiration comes from the USA and I would be the greatest honor to be discovered as german painter and illustrator. I will exhibit in 2013 nationally and internationally. An exhibition in Girona (Spain) and another Exhibition in Manchester/Cheshire (UK) in autumn 2013 are planned. I try to promote the commercial marketing for my artstyle in Germany. Maybe I will be visiting in the coming years, the United States, to present the Pop Amok to a larger audience. I hope that people in the USA discover the Pop Amok. I greet all friends of art in general and the supporters of my art especially!

Rosen, Tinte auf Karton Entstehungsjahr, 2008

50 X 70 cm

a painter. Show me only one artistic movement that could change the behavior. Art has always been just an expression of an epochal lifestyle. After the 19th Century art was a reflection of the mental condition of modernity. This is precisely the Pop Amok reflection of the zeitgeist. The freedom of art is still in search of pulses not attempt to explain. Art never explain the world. Art lives by their intuition. It is not the task of art to praise or criticize a period but if necessary to stage an mental, aesthetic or emotional impulse.

Now, since we have talked a lot about our consumeristic society, we cannot do without asking you what could be in your opinion so-

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Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira

Ana B. &

Nuno M. Pereira (Portugal) An artists’ statement Ana B. and Nuno M. Pereira are two Portuguese artists who have working in Lisbon since 2011.

Ana B. is also a Phd candidate in Film Studies and Nuno M. Pereira is a professional editor working in video art, video mapping and motion graphics.

Their works have been projected in several countries in videoart festivals and in art galleries (Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Holland, France, England, Serbia, Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina).

As a team of directors they have already finished two video works: “Continuum” (2011) and “The Kingdom” (2013) Nuno M. Pereira works as editor/sound designer on the videos “Staircase #1” and “Ballerinas in a quiet place” by Ana B. Continuum Synopsis Continuum is a film about the fragment and the illusion of the continuum. Shot at the Port of Lisbon the film is also a metaphor voyage where the movement of reality and time turns into a synesthesia.

Fragment and totality overlap within the same frame and calls for the spectator close attention to details for the construction of an endless narrative as the different perspectives of the real move within the same frame. How does the real become fiction?

A still from “Continuum”

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Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira

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Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira

an interview with

Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira We would like to start with our usual ice-breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And why you have chosen video as media for your art practice?

Ana: I suppose a work of art must speak for itself and if you have to explain what it means maybe its value is shakable. a work of art is something that changes your view of the world, something that means knowledge. You become aware of something that previously didn't exit for you, and the world and life grows bigger. Video is the most accessible and experimental media. I love literature and also moving imagines. Video got in the way by chance and became a wonderful media to work with.

Nuno: I would say that is an expression of questioning life and the world. The use of video comes from my training and personal taste to be inherent in the medium of expression with which I decided to raise the issues on which I think of.

In these last years we have seen that the frontier between Video Art and Cinema is growing more and more vague: do you think that this "frontier" will exists longer? By the way, do you think that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology?

Nuno M. Pereira You have a formal artistic training in painting: moreover, you have received Master Degree on Cinema studies from University of Lisbon, Portugal, which is your native country. How much in your opinion training influences art practice? We were wondering if in your opinion a certain kind of training could even stifle one's creativity...

Ana: Well, actually I've always liked to mix the two.

And more and more films are shown in museums and art galleries and videoart is shown in movie theaters. So apparently the former frontier between the two is disappearing. But eventually film and videoart will reclaim for their own place, I think. But it will be something more like a nostalgia feeling.

Maybe for memory sake.

Ana: Well, actually I have a degree in literature, not in painting. I've always loved cinema so I decided to take a Master degree in cinema and now I'm taking a phd. I like writing and theorizing about cinema and it helps me to think about it.

It gives me a theoretical framework that is interesting for my work.

Nuno: I think this apparent fusion arises when there is a language of film in video art and when there is an artistic expression within a narrative. Deep down I believe there will still be elements that characterize each one, just in a more complex and perhaps less definable way. As for the use of technology it can be a support for the art object itself, it can also be a driver for that question, but the premise of each may not change.

Nuno: In my case, my training was “Sound and Image�, and when I was faced with a school that gave too much importance to the survey questions and the act of experiencing I soon

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Ana B. began to feel that learning is a way to create, a stimulus. I'm not aware of many casesl in Portugal.

said, the technical level is always trying to create something that we have not yet seen.

All this work should add something to the work but it is also dispensable. Otherwise I'd suggest only that the technical possibilities to get what we want and create this magical moment.

Can you tell us about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work?

Ana: Well, it depends, but usually the work is very organic, not at all planned. There's an idea, then the shooting and then Nuno and I carefully discuss the concept and we start all the editing work. Nuno is a great artist. He always comes up with great ideas that greatly improve the aesthetics of our work. I know absolutely nothing about editing and sometimes i can't realize technical aspects that are fundamental to our work.

Now we would like to focus on your video "Continuum", that you have produced in collaboration with Nuno Pereira. What was your initial inspiration? And how new technologies as DSLR and digital editing have impacted on your process?

Ana: Well, the idea came up when I friend of mine invited me to go to the port of Lisbon with her. I took the camera and I did the shooting. Then Nuno and i watched the ima-

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Ana B. & Nuno M. Pereira

A still from “Continuum”

rate a bit this concept? It's very stimulating...

About this subject that a question that we couldn't do without asking you: why in your opinion is still permeated by the concept of voyage? I have admit that this is more than a bit stereotyped concept...

ges and we started to work on the possible ideas we could develop. Nuno can better explain about the technical details and the editing process.

Nuno: Since we had different perspectives on the same object, we set out to compose a sort of "cubist puzzle." We present different temporal moments that complement the same object.

Ana: Well, the concept comes from a portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa. His heteronym, Alvaro de Campos, wrote about modernity, voyage and synesthesia. He wrote this great poem "Ode

You have established a fruitful collaboration: could you tell us something about this effective synergy? How did you two meet? Did you have similarities in your Art at the time?

we though about it…. all the movement, the sea, the departure- and we wanted to to put these ideas within the frame, so Nuno had this idea of the movement within the moment and we started to discuss it. But Nuno can maybe tell a bit more about it.

Ana: Well, Nuno and I met by chance and then we started to collaborate on a regular basis. I had some previous work and I used to work with nonprofessional editors. Nuno has a great experience with video and he has collaborated with some artists. As we talked we realized that we had some ideas that we could develop together. And that was it. I think we are a great team. Even if we work full-time in our jobs we always manage to get together and develop our projects.

Nuno: Any movement of each "piece" was obtained by reversing the movement of the camera. The object in the image is now fixed and the whole movement of the moment of image captured has become of the "piece."

Nuno: It was a happy meeting. I feel from Ana immense creativity which also motivates me to create. We also try to have respect for the time that each has as well as the opinions and decisions of each other. Perhaps this has been the formula that has made the work go well and this should be reflected in the final result.

Now let's dwell upon the soundtrack: the noise of the truck engines aren't just background: actually -and I hope you will forgive me for this comparison- it reminds me of the intro of Pink Floyd's "Money"...

Ana: Well, we didn't want any musical score, that's for sure… but we wanted something more mechanical and technological sounds but that sounded a bit like a soundtrack… but Nuno is totally responsible for it. He can elaborate a little

You have described your film as a metaphor voyage where the movement of reality and time turns into a synesthesia: would you like to elabo-

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A still from “Continuum”

your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

more on the sound design.

Nuno: The sound of the film was the result of the concept. We have also created a universe that translates sound to the bustle of the mechanical movements of the visual elements. Right now I can think the sound of the truck was slightly stylized and it might remind some industrial musicality, hence the memory theme "Money", I say.

Ana: Well, all the aspects are great. The process of creating something is always amazing even when there is an artist's block. In the beginning it seems easy, then it's difficult and then, when the work comes to a point of no return is great. The editing process is always tiring but very rewarding. Working as a team is wonderful.

Let’s speak about influences. We would like to remember to our readers that your MA thesis concerned David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

By the way, have any Portuguese director from the older generation inspired you?

Nuno: I would say it is the first moment of conception and the final moment of post-production that arises in the final draft of the work.

Thank you very much for this interview, Ana. What are you working on at the moment? What are your future plans?

Ana: Well, Lynch is certainly an influence. There are many. And I'm influenced by everything: cinema, painting, photography but mostly literature. As for portuguese directors I love Pedro Costa's films. Truly inspiring. Even if his work is

Ana: Well, Nuno and me have just finished a new work "The Kingdom". The editing was very complex and we had to reshoot everything but the result is great. I love it. I think Nuno feels the same way.

Monteiro. His films are so funny!

Nuno: The latter work we have done back to feel a huge satisfaction at the end result and once again the teamwork with Ana.

Nuno: Well, I would also add Edgar Pera and Paulo Rocha the artists that we interview: what aspect of

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Josefin Rasmuson

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Josefin Rasmuson (The Netherlands) An artist’s statement

“I’ve been inspired by the following two quotes: ”What sweeps you away is the force of desire, what calls you is death” Jean Baudrillard

”To live ironically is to hide in public.”

Christy Wampole

“Noise!; the increasing volume of pictures, noise in the sense of speed and hysteria, and chaos, a buzz, a beat, a demand to pay attention.

“In my work I choose to make visible that which is already out there. The image sources are almost random; personal photos found in people’s blogs, stills from popular films, own photographs, news clips. There is a contrast here; between the immediacy and constant availability of images made possible with the Internet, and the slow and deliberate act of drawing. Sometimes I feel like it is my own life that is invested in the drawing to make it alive, give it presence.

“The process of drawing is the counterweight to the pressure of images. It makes some visible and gives them a force of impact.

“This is the position I choose as an artist; to see and to find patterns and bring out fragments that seem important, to invest life in these fragments. Throughout the process the picture always retains some of the resonance, the memory of its previous context, adding to the tensions that connect all the works. This juxtaposition of old and new connections invites for contemplation of scenes and situations that would otherwise just disappear in the general noise.

Josefin Rasmuson

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Underroom, 2012

Blue and black ballpoint on paper 70x100 cm

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an interview with

Josefin Rasmuson Academie, Amsterdam. How much has these experiences impacted on your art practice?

By the way, do you think that artists with a formal education have an advantage over self-taught artists?

Let's start with our ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art?

Wow. Quite an ice breaker. Well, I find that there are several answers to that question. I balance a wider definition that art is what the art institutions present as art with a more personal approach that is specific to each work I come across. I think I use the word “art� to describe a by people manipulated situation/object/space, etc that strives to capture something intangible, and that succeeds in doing so.

I think my studies taught me the importance of professionalism, hard work, and both stubbornness and flexibility in relation to my art practise. The Gerrit Rietveld Academie where I got my BA in Fine Arts has a very practical approach to the art world. In that regards I do think that artists with a formal education have a big advantage. First of all they have been in an environment where their work has been exposed to the support and criticism of people who are experienced in the field, and they have had opportunity to see and experience a lot of art in general. There is also

A good work of art shifts the world of the viewer.

You have formal training, and after having studied at Falkenbergs Art School in Stockholm, you have moved to the Gerrit Rietveld

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Ecstasy, ecstasy, black ballpointpen on paper, 70x105 cm, 2013 case... it goes without saying that also white canvas, acryls tube and pencil, they are all material that already exists...

Roaming and scavenging through "found" material to might happens to discover unexpected sides of the world, maybe of our inner world... what's you point about this?

no denying that the art world today is built up around institutions, amongst those art academies, whose function it is to define the art from the non-art. I think such a distinction in principle is good, even though it sometimes seems rather inflexible or even arbitrary.

However, I think it’s really important to point out that the art world is really big, and there are so many different platforms and audiences for different sort of work. I think it generally is a question how to fit into that.

Yes, using found materials is a very common practise, but, there are also differences in the use and the reason for using “found” materials. Finding used wood on the street to build sculpture with might acquire a certain contextual meaning, whilst using sampled sounds from television might acquire another.

But you are absolutely right in wanting a

You often use material ”found” materials: not to mention that nowadays this is a very common practice. I often wondered about the personal contribution of the artist, in such

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Lit 1 Black ballpointpen on paper, 26,5 x 34,5 2012

Lit 2 Black ballpointpen on paper, 26,5 x 17 2012

Lit 3 Black ballpointpen on paper 26,5 x 23 2012

cure a shift in the general mood. When I begin drawing its rather basic. Technical considerations are paper-type and availability of pens, light. There’s something very immediate about the start of a drawing.

distinction; ie What is really a “found” material? Perhaps, with “found” material, I consider stuff that one has found, but that were once used for a different purpose by someone else. In this case the canvas, acrylic tubes and pencil aren’t “found” (unless you found them on the street) merely by being materials that already exist, since their purpose is to be used for painting or drawing.

In the same way, I wouldn’t consider unexpected sides of our inner worlds, for example imagery from dreams etc, as “found” since this imagery never had an existence or purpose beyond the obscure workings of our bodies and brains.

Another stimulating piece of yours is "Underroom": what has impressed me the most is the cinematographic feeling. It seems to be a frame of a Von Trier's film and reveals a inner narrative...

Could you tell us something about your initial inspiration for this piece?

This piece is based on a couple of photographs that I made myself. We were renovating the family summerhouse and when I came there one dark evening in the autumn there was just a hole where the floor used to be.

Now let's focus on your artworks. I would like to start from "Boy and Divers". Can you tell us about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work?

It was very surreal; simultaneously fascinating and distur-bing. It made all the ordinary things like windows, lamps, and radiators seem misplaced, contrasted by this darkness and dirt.

There is the collection of pictures, a process that both precedes and parallels the actual drawing. I have large collections of pictures connected to each series. I often manipulate the pictures to enhance certain details or pro-

It made the idea of house and inside of house appear illusionary, as if this “inside” could only 58

Divers, Black ballpointpen on paper, ca 15x18 cm, Josefin Rasmuson 2012

Boy, Black ballpoint on paper

Divers, Black ballpoint on paper

2012, 15x16 cm

2012, 15x18 cm

tional space and the absence of people to fill it. It is as if we can suddenly see the space for the first time, and without people there the social code is interrupted. It becomes unclear what role the space has to us and how and what we are supposed to be in it.

coexist with its opposite, the “outside” but got confused when some sort of “in the middle” was revealed. And a notion of how fragile our idea of home and safety is. All the darkness of the outside night was manifested in that dark hole that suddenly appeared instead of the living room floor.

That is what I find fascinating – it is a moment of freedom to redefine what one wants to be.

Perhaps that is what the suspense is all about.

There's an interesting series of yours which is entitled "Waiting", that you have drawn using a black ballpoint on paper: actually I happened to run against these pieces by chance and the first sensation that has caught me was "Oh, where will it lead me?".

And I know that this might sound as a perfectly naif observation...

Would you like to tell us something about your recent experience at the artist camp ?

I was participating in a artist meeting at Gylleboverket in the South of Sweden. The space is a former scrapyard turned into contemporary art space and run by some very dedicated people.

I think those drawings work with that specific tension, the tension of waiting, suspense. But there is a difference between the two Waiting/Spaces series.

It was a fascinating and re-vealing couple of days, both in terms of the issues that were discussed and the aspects of my own practise that became obvious to me in the encounter with the other participants. I was very inspired.

In Waiting Spaces I the scenes are brighter, and the tension feels as if the space was somehow holding its breath, whilst in the Waiting/Spaces II it seems like the space is on the prowl. In both cases though, this tension is generated by the contrast of the bare func59

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Swimmer, 2012 - black ballpoint on paper, 15 x 16 cm

In your artist's statement you have remarked that one of the aims of your work is to capture a certain �tone� echoing through the cultural noise.

Do you think that Art could play a role in facing sociocultural questions? I might go as far as to state that Art could even steer social behaviour... what's your point?

asking questions, formu-lating answers as well as organizing direct actions. Sometimes a tendency in art can also be an expression of a more widespread shift in political opinion.

There's a cliche question, that we often ask to the artists that we interview: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction? But in this case we would go as far as to say that the act of drawing itself gives you an intrinsical satisfaction, isn't it?

I absolutely believe that some art plays an imimportant role politically, socially and cul-turally.

In fact I believe art can play several roles in terms of offering new perspectives on established truths

I think even more than the craft it is about making

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Corridor - form the series ''Waiting'' - black ballpoint on paper, 23,5 x 23,5 cm

something that has that presence and intensity, to feel it “happen�. To find that tone that vibrates through the work and the image and feel capable of holding it, of being in tune with it; this is very enjoyable.

expand into the space using installation, as another way of exploring the same concepts. I will just see what new questions arise throughout the process.

Another thing I hope to do in the near future is to explore different connection points to photography together with an artist and photographer colleague of mine. There are many aspects in how photography and documentation is used in today’s society that relate to my work and I hope together we can find new grounds to understand how art and photography intersect.

Thank you very much for this interview, Josefin.

What are you working on at the moment? What are your future plans?

I am currently working to finish the series around Ecstasy Ecstasy and Pet. There are also plans to

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Cindy Leitner

Cindy Leitner (Austria) An artist’s statement

A movie I like is "The Fountainhead" named after the the same called novel of Ayn Rand.

The main protagonist is an architect of integrity, who has an idea about how architecture should

want to compromise. He is honest to himself and to the others. His buildings need to stay authentic. I think honesty and authenticity are essential to art. Artworks, be it in literature, music, film or fine art, that caught my attention are based on these principles. Things created this way can bring us forward.

My works have its source in everyday-life. And so does the material I use. I grew up drawing with markers. I am familiar with them and I can identify with them as a medium. They are simple objects that are part of everyday-life.

Small, light, always on standby, clean and cheap. They are ordinary and unpretentious.

Markers are young and contemporary since they got invented in Japan in 1963. They talk about the now, they don't really have an artistic tradition. In the sense of Mc Luhans: "the medium is the message" I found the marker as a banal object from everyday life ideal for the illustration of my subjects.

From the I Am Ordinary series, 2012 lightfast marker on paper, 100x70cm

great performances, we seem to do nothing. In these moments we are just human. As part of an achievement-oriented society, these moments are critical moments, which we don`t often can`t enjoy whitout a feeling of guilt.

Recalling what it means to be human demands truth and honesty, beyond media-generated experiences. I direct my attention to ordinary situations to raise awareness for personal reality and to recall values of our own experience.

In the series of drawings "I am ordinary" simple, everyday situations find space. Moments where nothing special happens: trivial and inconspicuous. We assign them no importance. My work transforms these activities, which seem banal and unremarka-ble at the first glance, into events that get percieved. These situations are in consequence due to their banality actually existential situations. We are not accomplishing

The series "Portraits" on the other hand is in form and content a counterpart to "I am ordi-nary". The people are in a surrealistic setting which overflows with colors and patterns

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Cindy Leitner was born in 1986: she works and lives in Vienna.

Education: 2006-2012 Diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts, Graphic and printing technics (Otto Zitko, Gunter Damisch), Vienna.

2009-2011 Diploma die Graphische, College for Graphic- and Communication Design, Vienna, AUT prize and scholarships:

2012 First prize competition for drawing „E.O. Plauen verein Plauen-e.V. Vogtland, Plauen, DE 2012 Scholarship Sommerakademie Traunkirchen, graphics, class of Konrad Winter at Papiermuseum Traunkirchen, AUT 2008/09 Scholarship for special achievements, of Fine Arts in the academic year 2008/09 and 2007/08, Bozen, IT Upcoming exhibitions:

May: solo show, Raum 8, Kunstforum Ebendorf, Vienna April Berlin

It is about portraying individuals from my environment, not about representing people in a social situation.

The distinguishing characteristics of the depicted people, call it peculiarity or crankiness, are shown in a a cryptical way trough the birds that accompany them. In the portraits from 2011 you can find the birds in cages, but during the years the cages opened up, lost size and vanished. It reflects my way of working on the drawings, which became more relaxed and confident towards my flaws, as well as my opinion about trying to repress ones craziness in everyday-life. One should not hold back ones personality but it should spread its wings.

Contact: Kapaunplatz 4-5/13/5 1200 Vienna leitnercindy@gmail.com

(Cindy Leitner)

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Cindy Leitner

an interview with

Cindy Leitner We would like to start with our usual icebreaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art?

emotional, another time society-related, or political, or all of it.

Last year I saw a sticker in a graffiti-alley in Melbourne, which said: The arts are a proven platform for enriched and positive understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. I like that statement. I think people create things because they have the urge to do so. They probably want to discover something, even if they may not be able to define what exactly that is. As long as one is honest and authentic while creating art, in whatever form you can find it, art is part of a process of understanding. Sometimes the understanding is personal, like a catharsis, or

By the way, do you think that contemporariness it's just a matter of belonging to a "stylistic epoch"?

Even though it might seem a bit paradoxical, I would state that pieces of contemporary Art could even go beyond a time-based classification: what's your point about this?

I am O.K. with a time-based classification, but for me the meaning of the word contemporary implies more. Contemporary to me is something very positive.

I prefer contemporary art to other art because I like the thought that the person lives in the 64

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certain kind of training could even stifle one's creativity...

I think it is like when you want to learn an instrument. A teacher can show you how the instrument works, can show you techniques and maybe make you aware of your weaknesses. You can watch tutorials and read books. You can listen to a song and analyze the structure, and the timing.

But in the end you have to practice hard, understand, have ideas and put heart and soul in it. Nobody else can do that for you. What the song will sound like when you play it, depends on your technique and very much on the way you play it, and of course of your personality.

At the Academy of Fine Arts of Vienna profes-

From the Portraits series lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011 50x65cm

same time period as I do. It makes it easier for me to understand the meaning of the artwork, since I know vaguely more about the social and cultural background of the person who made it. Through the work I can learn something about the world I live in.

But surely one can find relevant thoughts in non contemporary artworks, since the basic problems of humankind stay the same over ages.

You have a formal artistic training and you have recently received your Diploma in Graphic and printing from the Academy of Fine Arts of Vienna, where you live and work.

How much in your opinion training influences art? We were wondering if in your opinion a

From the Portraits series, 2011 lightfast marker and crayon on paper, 50x65cm

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Cindy Leitner

professors at the Academy also gave everyone the freedom they needed. It was very good for my development, since it gave me space and time which I needed to experiment, to make experiences outside the academy, to travel, to read books, to see exhibitions, to talk to friends, to think about myself and my environment...thoughts that now are now manifest in my works. Learning is something active. It happens everyday, and mainly not at university, but in real life. You have to develop ideas and interest yourself, it can't be thought.

Now we would like to focus on the artworks that our readers can admire in these pages: let's start with your Portraits series which has immediately caught our attention... Can you describe a little bit about the creative process of this series?

In 2011 I started the series ''Portraits'', without planning to make it a series. It all started on a whim. I was tired of my reduced drawing style and wanted to do exactly the opposite: use patterns and decorate excessively. The idea was to do an overloaded drawing with clashing colors in a surreal setting. For the first picture I chose to draw a friend with strange objects on his head, namely cheese and birds.

Exhibition of the I Am Ordinary series, 2012 lightfast marker on paper, 100x70cm

The idea had its roots in real life, for we would often joke about these things. It is a personal symbolic portrait. This portrait on its own was so lonely, that I had to draw him some friends and now they are in there are twenty. It is a little bit like creating little Frankensteins. Or like Kokoschka, who ordered to build dolls of the woman he loved. Every person I depicted has different kinds of birds on the head.

on an acceptable level, or only let it out sometimes. During the two years i worked on the series the birdcages on the heads became more open, smaller and finally disappeared.

By the way, a visual of this series that has impacted on me is the deep, electric blue: this color seems to claim our attention, isn't doesn't it?

They represent the crankiness and peculiarity of their personality and character. Think of the saying "I am cuckoo". Those birds are in cages, since we all try to keep our craziness

I am glad you like it.

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From the Portraits series lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011 50x65cm

Now let's talk about your series "I Am Ordinary". One of the most interesting feature is blank that forces the spectator to fill with his/her own personal experience.

There's a deep emotional and intellectual involvement...

By the way, I noticed that most of the times there is "a little landscape" on these pieces... is there a precise reason for this?

jects, furniture, nature, clothing, hair and bodyparts, which are sufficient for me to describe the situations. Like you said, the drawings keep openness through reduction and gap. The spectator has the possibility to mentally continue the pictures.

But this openness also points to isolation, instability and emptiness. The drawings are carried with subliminal melancholy, which refers to the prevailing mood of the depicted people.

The drawings of "I am ordinary" are simplifications of complex pictures. I reduce people, objects and the room to the (to me) essential.

The setting of rooms is minimized.

The human figures localize themselves through the pose in the room. The little landscapes you refer to are the outlines of ob-

There's a suggestive sentence that we can read in your artist's statement: "the process of self-discovery can be extended, which gives the opportunity to constantly reposi-

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Cindy Leitner

an interview with

from the I Am Ordinary series, 2012, lightfast marker on paper, 100x70cm

tion". Would you like to elaborate a bit this concept a bit? It's very stimulating...

the advantage of this precarious situation is that they care about knowledge and experience, not about degrees.

Leisure time can be used for self-discovery and to follow personal interests. It is possible to "switch" between different worlds and and to learn about functional mechanisms in our world. We have great opportunities to explore the world and our role in it. The people are not forced into one identity like earlier i.e. when you became a carpenter and you stayed it for a lifetime. Nowadays we have more time to grow up, look for the fitting attitudes and more time to reconsider them. One can experiment with different ways of living and concepts of life. Far away form learning a profession, marrying, building a house and have a dog and kids.

The depersonalized figures in my drawings are representatives of a social situation. They are contemporary and in their 20s and 30s. The employment market reacts dismissive to these young adults with their education and values.

As workers they are not being fully valued.

Poorly paid, insecure, temporary employment contracts (keyword internship or stage) are offered. Work, that is representing their values does not offer financial and social security and vice versa.

These young adults are aware of the insignificance of their education on the employment market, but, paradoxically, the employment market urges them to lifelong learning. But 68

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From the Portraits series

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From the Portraits series

lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011 50x65cm

lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011 50x65cm

Your art practice seems to constantly seek for discovering, maybe revealing, a lot of things that are silenced by everyday's routine and social stereotypes. Do you agree with this? And do you think that one of the role that artists could have is to reveal hidden aspect of our society, of our life?

with personal interest. Sometimes these thoughts affect other people as well. They are social phenomenons. As far as I see, there are many problems people have to face, which are silenced. You are supposed to deal with them bothers them, there is no possibility to find out if there is someone sharing your thoughts.

As I said earlier, I think art is a personal research about different things, thoughts, feelings and situations. Sometimes arts can

The arts offer the spectator, listener or reader the possibility to find ones feelings and thoughts expressed. In the best case you feel affirmed and identify with (parts of) the statement. This is the first step towards a solution.

otherwise. It doesn't necessarily have to concern our society. Every idea has its eligibility. What I do is analyzing and trying to concretize issues, that bother me. Everything starts 69

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Cindy Leitner

From the Portraits series

From the Portraits series

lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011, 50x65cm

lightfast marker and crayon on paper 2011, 50x65cm

Do you visualize your Art before creating?

Do you know what it will look like before you begin?

to the artists that we interview: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

Every time I start a project it is very exiting, since I never know what will come out in the end. I have a more or less defined image in my head, but it never correlates with the outcome.

I love the electrifying, thrilling feeling I get when I have an idea or when I find the solution for a problem.

Thank you very much for this interview, Cindy. What are you working on at the moment? What are your future plans?

I learned to not to expect much and to take it as what it is, an experiment. Working on a project involves letting go, following your gut feeling, reconsider ideas, trial and error, and looking for solutions. Its good fun to go through all of the stirring stages being surprised about what the outcome is.

At the moment I am preparing for a solo show that will happen in may of this year in Vienna at Kunsforum Ebendorf. Also I started a project on Facebook that criticizes the Facebook policies. It is not allowed to post 70

Cindy Leitner

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Exhibition of the I Am Ordinary series, 2012 lightfast marker on paper, 100x70cm

Everyone who likes female nipples, in real life and in art, is welcomed to become Nip Les' s friend and post non offensive pictures of nipples. We will see how long it takes until Facebook shuts us down.

pictures of female nipples on Facebook. They make no difference between photographs, paintings or drawings. For example on a sketch showing Adam and Evae, Evae's nipples were censored with a black bar.

Further more I will go on with "bricolage", the

Artists who display works involving nudes get shut down their pictures or even get their accounts blocked. They say it is pornographic material, but I think it is sanctifying art.

We make accessories and sew clothes from recycled material. I design and do the prints for the textiles and clothes with handsilkscreen.

more offensive then male ones. Nipples alone

Find out more on: www.facebook.com/pages/Bricolage/.

why I post drawings of nipples of my friends and iI do it on www.facebook.com/lilly.ian.5.

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Angela Tang (Austria) An artist’s statement

“To me, art is a process of creating a reflection of the deepness of one’s soul. I manifest the situation I see in my inner world. The feeling I have during painting guides my hands to create a piece of work that shows the audience my emotions. I often use a photo reference; however, I never copy a photo exactly the way it looks like. In other words, I dye it in my own colors; accessorize it using my own decoration, adding my own kind of ‘magic’.

“I am going to turn 18 in May, and I have been painting since my early childhood, but I rarely painted after my 15th birthday. I never had the time to paint a picture I wanted. I was stressed and ended up in hospital, where I began to paint again. All in all, it took me two years to realize that art is my passion. I love experimenting with colors, shapes, styles and ornaments. I am currently exploring various techniques, acrylic paintings, pencil drawings, oil painting and others. I also do many experiments concerning materials to paint on; I tried to paint on normal canvas, bamboo, wood, stone, walls and clothing because I wanted to find out how the final picture will look like and how the colors appear.

“I am a self-taught-artist. I never went to any art schools, my only art teacher was Chinese painter Zhao Yusheng, who taught me the basics of Chinese painting for the duration of one week. I often use certain periods of time to explore different styles of painting; I usually paint or draw a series of pictures in the same style until I am inspired by something else.

“My biggest dream is painting an ‘Ultimate Painting’, which shares the whole story of my life, the colors I see, the feelings I have.

(Angela Tang) tang_angela@gmx.at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvii3NCuXHM

Don't Cry 2012 - 40x30cm

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Angela Tang

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Angela Tang

an interview with

Angela Tang We would like to start with our usual icebreaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art?

I look at an artwork, the first thing I look at is not the technique but rather the feeling I get from this painting, it’s ‘soul’. I love paintings that carry a deep meaning or personal story of the artist himself, even if the technique is average.

To me, art is the reflection of the artist’s soul and his perspective on the world surrounding him. Since his creations depend on him as a person, they offer insight into his inner being, which is why, in my opinion, the most important thing about a work of art, is its depth and aura. No matter how beautiful or technically refined a painting is, if it lacks spirit, it is not art and should rather be considered to be a work of practice. I have created many paintings, the techniques used vary depending on the time I spent on an artwork. However, if

You are probably the youngest artist that we are going to interview in the current issue, and we have read that you are self-taught... what's your point about formal training? Would you like to attend an Academy or an Art School?

I believe formal training is extremely useful since it offers the chance of familiarizing your74

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painter Gustav Klimt: by the way, when did you discover his works?

By the way, can you tell us your biggest influences in art and how they have affected your work?

My father is a big fan of Klimt and has a lot of books about him and his art, many of which I have read. His works blew my mind when I was younger and I am still in awe of the way he deals with ornaments. When I looked upon his paintings I felt inspired and also wanted to become a great painter who can fascinate others with my own creations. Aside from Klimt, Manga has been a great influence, since I started off drawing in the style of it. Even now it has made an impact on my paintings, since they still have some elements of manga in them.

In addition Chinese art has influenced me since my family is from China and my parents have supported my love of art, by taking me to Chinese Art exhibitions and bought me Chinese art books.

Nevertheless my biggest influence has got to be music. I adore classical music and have played the piano since I was seven years old.

When I play, I feel some kind of inner calmness, however I also feel the need to produce something that can last forever and is not as fleeting as a piece of music. Another huge musical influence would be K-pop, Korean pop, which I discovered three years ago and I have become a fan of the music videos, the singers and the overall K-pop style.

When I hear the music, I simply want to capture the magical moment of the peek of a song, just like in the painting “Don’t cry”.

Control, 2012 Acryl auf Leinwand, 60 x 40 cm

self with a wide range of techniques and will help the artist become more skilled. However I do not view it as a necessity and so far it has been very enjoyable and interesting for me to explore techniques by myself.

Due to this, I have been able to discover which ways of painting work best for me.

Furthermore I take great pleasure in having the absolute freedom of experimenting with styles and colours, without having to fulfil a given task. Nevertheless I would want to attend an Academy or an Art School some day.

Now we would like to focus on the works that our readers can admire in the pages of the current issue: let's start from "Luka" and "Sleep". Can you describe a little bit about your creative process?

We have read in your bio that one of your favourite artist is the Austrian symbolist

“Luka” is one of the few paintings in which I 75

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Angela Tang

Shadiness 2012 - 40x40cm

depicted a child. My original intension was to paint an advertisement for the development and social service organization “Caritas”, a charity that especially helps children who are affected by poverty. Shown on the picture is an androgynous child – Luka - with a magical gaze at the viewer. Luka should not only encourage the viewer to think about his/her situation, but rather show a magical gaze which does not reveal anything concrete.

“Sleep” is a smaller painting which shows a girl sleeping. I intended to make the painting seem monochrome to the viewer, to create a calm and quiet atmosphere to suit the title.

To achieve this effect and atmosphere I decorated the painting with small squares and dots. It was actually the first of my ‘monochrome dots series’ and it was also the first time I painted somebody sleeping.

Luka, 2012 Acryl auf Holz 60 x 50cm

reader why have you chosen this title? And what was your inspiration for this piece?

As I have previously mentioned, I am a big K-pop fan. One of my favourite singers has a song called “Don’t cry”, which tells the story of a woman meeting her deceased husband in a magical place. Before meeting him there, she felt depressed and wanted to cry all the time.

The painting captures the moment when her

We have been intrigued by your artwork entitled "Don't Cry": could you explain to our

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Angela Tang at the same time you also draw manga subject: do you think that there's a dichotomy between Traditional Art, just like Cezanne, Rembrandt and Contemporary Art? We were wondering if they would draw mangas, if they were working these days... why not?

In my opinion there is not a huge difference between manga and traditional art. Manga offers a wide variety of techniques, topics and styles and just as traditional artists can develop their own personal styles, manga artists can as well. I do not believe that manga is childish, easy and meaningless.

I am convinced great artists experiment with a lot of techniques and gladly explore new styles and ways of painting. Personally I think that manga is a good style to start painting with.

Would you tell us something about some of your artworks that you like the most?

I like the paintings, which are shown in this magazine, “Luka”, “Sleep” and “Don’t cry”, a lot, however my favourite paintings are usually the ones that have a very personal backstory. For example the acrylic painting called “I am beautiful” is actually a painting of myself, which shows me when I used to be anorexic. It displays that anorexia is not glorious, that eating disorders will not make a person happy and that the “Ana’s promises” are nothing but lies. Another painting, which means a lot to me is “Control”. husband gives her a kiss on the forehead and tells her not to cry; this makes her realize that he will always be with her and watch and protect her. To make the painting seem flourishing I used multiple colours and through the use of various ornaments I wanted to create a peaceful, as well as magical, atmosphere.

There are four “colour monsters” locked up in this picture. At the back of the room is a window and fresh colours shine into the room through that window. One of the monsters is desperate to get out through that window. The room itself is held in cold colours to create a gloomy feeling. I made the painting, when my heart itself actually felt locked up. To show this feeling, I decided to paint it unlike any of

You Art often has references to Pop Art, but

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Angela Tang

to paint, I never think about the audience, since I mainly paint for myself as a kind of meditation and I do not strive to please a target audience.

You live in Austria, nowadays. Would you like to tell us something about the Art scene in your country?

By the way, we have noticed that you have painted some interesting landscapes‌

To be honest, I do not know too much about the Austrian Art scene and I do not have many connections to other artists. However, when I go to see a contemporary art exhibition, I have the feeling that the modern Art scene in Austria is still rather traditional and not as eccentric as in other countries, nonetheless this is only my personal opinion.

I am beautiful, 2012

an interview with

Acryl auf Leinwand 24x18cm

my other paintings; it is personal and depicts one of the saddest moments of my life, just like “I am beautiful�.

Not to mention that the feedback of the audience is important for everyone who has something to communicate. When you conceive a work, do you think to whom will enjoy it?

Feedback is very important to me; I am interested in the opinions of others and gladly listen to their tips and I am open to hear what they dislike about paintings and what their reasons are for thinking that way. After getting input, I analyse my paintings and try to figure out how I could improve. However when I start

The Geisha, 2012

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Acryl auf Leinwand 24x18cm

Angela Tang

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Sleep, 2012 Acryl auf Leinwand 24x18cm

Yes, I do paint landscapes, but I do not do it very often. I always intended on painting landscapes, but it takes me a lot of time and concentration, in contrast other than human beings.

everybody knows. During this process nothing can distract me and aside from painting I am “useless� to do anything else; I do not talk to anybody or show any emotions.

Even though people do not see it, it gives me a lot of joy and the most fulfilling moment is when I get to finish of my artwork by signing with my initials A and T.

to each artist that we interview: what aspect of your art practice do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

What I love the most is the process of painting. When I paint, it feels like I have sunken into trance and I am not the Angela 79

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Angela Tang

Eri

Afterwards I stare at the completed painting for a long time and take my time to decide if it is a good piece or one of my not-so-good works. If I am truly satisfied, I am completely happy, however it is quite hard to please me. First I always look at the painting as the finished composition, then at the technique and lastly,

and most important of all, if it has got a soul or not. But whether or not I am satisfied in the end, the most essential thing for me, is to find my inner calmness while painting. Sometimes I do not even care if the painting does not end up as planed and I just enjoy the peaceful time while I paint.

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Angela Tang

Thank you very much for this interview, Angela. Our last questions deals with your future plans, as far as we know you are attending school: what would you like to do after this scholastic experience?

I am absolutely certain I want to continue pursuing a career involving art, therefore I would most of all very much want to get into the University of Applied Arts in Vienna or generally attend an Art School after graduating from high school.

I want to discover new methods of painting and get used to other techniques, and of course I would love to meet people who love art as much as I do. I am sure attending a university would help me create my “Ultimate piece of Art�, which is my aim in life.

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Weigang Song

Weigang Song (China / USA) An artist’s statement

“My artistic practice always starts from a reflection upon my personal experience.

Through an aesthetic communication, my work displays a personal vision of urban space, private life and cultural identity. I have a strong belief in the power of art as an accurate depiction and profound critique of complex contemporary issues.

“I grew up in a small town in Northeast China. In my childhood years, I witnessed the huge wave of urbanization sweep across all over China in early nineties.

Destructed buildings and construction sites could be seen everywhere in my hometown. A unique sensibility to drifting present and precarious landscape was shaped along with my reminiscence of childhood memories at a young age. My early practice was a direct attempt to document and understand the unique urban aesthetics of my hometown.

a still from Through A Tunnel

“My travels to Australia and the United States became crucial in my artistic practice. With a different insight into cities around the world, I shifted my focus back to my personal experience.

“After going to a prosperous city in Eastern China for college, I had a hugely different experience living in a populous and modern city. I tried to investigate the city’s economic conditions and social relations to understand the complex urban scenes.

However, I did not realize how to include my critical thinking in my artistic practice at that moment. I spent much time reading theory and literature work concerning urbanization, and I tried to explore the deep relations between the city and my daily life.

“My cultural identification, urban life experience and social criticism converged in my reflections upon my life and myself.

I gradually combined my personal perceptions into my readings of complex social and urban issues. I was trying to achieve an accurate communication of my acute sensibilities to my life experience through my work.

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Weigang Song (William Song) is a Chinese video and installation artist based in Syracuse, NY. He is now pursuing an MFA degree in Video Art at Syracuse University.

Primarily working with video and installation, Weigang's artistic practice also includes creative writing, photography and performance.

Weigang’s work demonstrates a personal reading of his experience living in rural areas in China and displays his own vision of public life, urbanized space and cultural identity. As one of China's “post 90s” generation after 89 Movement, Weigang always incorporates a personal and cultural view in his approach to the complex social and political issues in contemporary China. Living and working at Syracuse, Weigang’s current practice juxtaposes his cultural identification with his experience living in a post-urbanized area, pointing to the profound relations between culture and urbanity, and development and destruction.

Exhibitions/Screenings 2013 XL Project, International Student Show, XL Gallery, Syracuse, US Jan 31 - Feb 29 Celebrating RGB, Spark Video Festival, Spark Contemporary Art Space, Syracuse, US Feb2012

Living and studying at Syracuse for nearly one year, I start to juxtapose my memories of living in my hometown in China with my life in a post-urbanized area in America.

2012 Student Experimental Film Festival in Binghamton, Binghamton Univ., Binghamton, USA First Spark Video Festival of the Year, Spark Contemporary Art Space, Syracuse, US Sep 21

“My current practice is more concerned about how culture and urbanization influence on each other, and how they work together to playing a definitive and profound role in shaping my personal experience.

2011 Moores Project 2011, In conjunction – ALVA Internasionale Exhibition, Perth, Australia June 20 - July 21

(Weigang Song)

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Weigang Song

an interview with

Weigang Song

We would like to start with our usual ice breaking question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art?

A work of art should communicate an aesthetic experience to its audience. Whether it is more of a perceptual or conceptual concern, it has to suggest a different way to look at the world.

We would like to ask you something about your background. We have read that you have studied in three different Continents: China, Australia and USA. How this experience -an exciting experience, I guesshas impacted on your art practice?

Definitely, my experience of studying in different continents has a huge impact upon my art practice. My primary concern is about urbanity and culture, so living in three continents enables me to really engage myself in different urban landscapes. I think this is much more valuable than indirect experience like reading or watching films.

Also, I’ve developed acute sensibilities to different cultures, people and environments, which is really important for a visual artist.

Besides, I always think the experience of living in other cultures has a profound influence on a person in a long-term, which I can’t recognize now. Maybe in a future retrospective, I can understand how they affect the big decisions I make in my life.

Weigang Song

rience, I can’t comment on the professional aspect of being an artist in China and USA. But in terms of art practice, I do think there is a big difference. I grew up in China, so when I was making work in China, I always knew the shared experience and knowledge I had with my audience. I could directly bring these elements into my work and use their symbolic meanings.

By the way, I know that this question might sound a bit rethorical, but I do think that our readers would be pleased to know what are main differences that you have experienced in being an artist in USA and in China.

But in the US, I should think more about how to deal with my cultural identity. I’m willing to present my cultural identity as a Chinese, but I’m very critical of simply presenting stereoty-

Sure, as I haven’t had much professional expe84

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Ningbo residents against the building of a chemical plant in the city; the other one was the anti-Japanese demonstration that took place in Xi’an. Two incidents revealed very complex social relations and political issues in China. I just found that no discourse around it depicted the full picture of the events. So I turned to my own experience participating in large-scale social activities in China, I decided to include my personal experience in my readings of these events.

Then I came up with the idea of using an analogy between sexual maturity and collective behavior.

I spent some time looking for the footages, and I juxtaposed them on two channels to think about what my visual experience was.

Following the experience, I wrote the text.

With all these elements I had, I started to work on the final presentation, all I tried to do was to communicate both a strong aesthetic experience and a rich message.

Finally, two channel video, text and voiceover became my final formal decisions.

I always think the technical aspect should conform to what I want to say.

By the way, you have remarked that the pubic hair shown on the left channel conveys strong senses of wilderness: even though you might find this a bit strange I have to admit that my first impressions was of tenderness, and of fragility.

It reveals a inner way of being human that apparently contrasts to intellectual and active involvements, like political causes.

What's your point on this analisys?

pical icons and spectacles of China to the foreign audience. The best way, I think, is to make them feel my different identity though my work, instead of playing with my identity for its own sake.

Now let's focus on your work Pubic & Public.

Can you tell us about your process and set up for making your artworks?

In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work?

Thanks for this analysis first. Actually, different people gave me different feedback to the footage on the left. Some felt very uncomfortable, while other people said it was beautiful. So I do think your analysis make lots of sense according to your own sensibility

This piece starts from my thinking about the two protests that happened in China last year.

One was a large-scale protest organized by 85

Weigang Song

a sequence of stills from Pubic & Public

concern, I would say it’s more like an engineering creative approach.

In terms of the contrast you made, I would say you connected pubic hair scene to the physical experience of being an individual human, so it totally makes sense when you contrast it to one’s other intellectual abilities. By saying wilderness, I tend to make a point that when an individual is situated in a large group of people, he doesn’t have an intellectual control of himself, which contributes to the precarious nature of public space.

Another work of your that I have found very stimulating is Through a Tunnel. A visual that has impacted on me is the sequence of geometrical layers. In this video you have seemingly used a lot of editing.

How new techonolgies like DSLR has impacted on your process?

New technologies did create more possibilities to make work, but as I said in the previous question, art is powerful as a combination of both perceptual and conceptual process, over emphasis on new technologies always lead to a purely perceptual approach.

A recurrent characteristic of this piece -it goes without saying- is experience as starting point of artistic production: in your opinion, is experience an absolutely necessary part of creative process?

For me, I would say yes. Because the artist’s experience gives him or her an initial perceptual knowledge of what’s going on. And I believe that art distinguishes itself from other studies by its combination of both perceptual and conceptual approaches.

In Through A Tunnel, I would say my efforts in editing were still combined with my critique of urban destruction and urban experience, though the conceptual aspect is fairly vague in this work, I see it as a crucial part of this piece.

A creative process without the author’s experience is like a process without any perceptual

In these last years we have seen that the frontier between Video Art and Cinema is

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role in facing social questions, steering people's behaviour?

And what in your opinion is could be the role of an artist in the society?

growing more and more vague: do you think that this "frontier" will exists longer?

In terms of technologies they’re using, I would say the frontier already disappeared. Digital technology is replacing film-developing technique as it can accurately simulate film effects, so we are seeing more and more films made in digital devices.

In terms of aesthetics and screening context, I think the frontier will exist longer. Narrative is still the key concern for filmmakers, it’s still trying to engage its audience into the narrative it builds, there is aesthetic autonomy in every film. Video art, on the other hand, is a hybrid art form. It might start from painting, performance, theatre or any concern.

I do think art could play an important role in the way we look at social issues, but I think artists should never forget the polysemy of contemporary art.

If an artist is trying too hard preaching one voice, his work will probably become the propaganda tool of a certain institution. So as

By including interactive technology, its relations to its audience can also change dramatically. The context of video art is more various than cinema, but video art has difficulty in defining its aesthetics.

You Art is characterized by a clear social criticism. Do you think that Art could play a

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Weigang Song

a sequence of stills from Pubic & Public

An artist, I’m wiil to give my audience a different view to look at certain social issues, but not preach them to take any political or social position.

Thank you very much for this interview, Weigang. Our last question deals with your future plans..

to the artists that we interview: What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?

What gives you the biggest satisfaction? But in this case we would go as far as to say that the act of painting itself gives you an intrinsical satisfaction, isn't it?

As I still have two years to finish my degree, my current focus is still on my work, I really cherish my days in art schools when I can fully contribute myself in my art practice. I think I’ll try to apply for some residency programs in Europe before I make a decision about my future career.

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

I feel greatly satisfied when my thinking and feeling are accurately communicated through my work as an aesthetic form.

Thanks so much for all your questions.

The biggest satisfaction is of course when my audience enjoyed the aesthetic experience and also got stimulated by my voice. In terms of obsession with art practice itself, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but it does have the possibility to turn an artist into a craftsman. But for me, I enjoy the communication with my audience more than the production process itself.

peripheral_arteries@dr.com

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Weigang Song

Stills from “Through a Tunnel”

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