Lorenzo Fariello Kerim zapsu Elsa Lama Maximillian Mueller gabriela molano
Juliana Echavarria Studio visits - fall 2014
My most powerful images or at least for me, are street photography of objects like body parts, or clothing, but they are kind of still life of objects that can communicate. I could take a picture of a shoe but it wasn’t the picture of the shoe it was a picture of that lifestyle.
LORENZO FARIELLO OCTOBER.18.2014 I used to take my mom’s camera a point and shoot. I wasn’t really interested in doing photos. The only reason I took the camera was to document the pieces that I was doing. I have huge regrets because there were many so great situations. I don’t even have a picture of me spray painting. I would of loved to have that. I was strictly documenting my work, a picture of my piece on the wall.. “PICTURE BLOG SAID WE ARE LOOKING FOR PHOTOGRAPHER, LET HIM SEND HIM AN EMAIL. I NEED TO CONVINCE HIM. I WAS TRYING TO WRITE THIS EMAIL AND THEN I WAS LIKE THIS GUY IS A PUNK. ‘YACOPO I SAW THAT YOUR LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, I TAKE PICTURES AT PARTIES TOO THIS IS ONE OF THEM’ I JUST ATTACHED ONE OF THE PICTURES.” -You were trained as a designer, how did you turn to photography-How has design influenced your work-Do you consider yourself a designer and a an artist or do you think they should be classified separately-You moved from Italy, how did you see your work change-I am aware you had an exhibit called Sex Monsters can you tell more about how the show came about-What works did you choose to present and why-Are you considering emphasizing your work in the erotic or has it always been part of your work -I know you were involved in the graffiti scene, has this influences your work in a way-You don’t have a website currently but you have a Tumblr why did you choose Tumblr-Why is it called one year probation-How do you distinguish your work from your commercial work-Are you working in any new projects at
“I was on the roof hanging out there, with my friend we had two beers. I was with this friend of mine from London. Of course my roof is full of tags. He said go get some spray paint lets put some tags. I went to get the spray paint. We were completly wasted like totally wasted. When we were going down stairs I tagged on the top of the door of this guy we came back upstairs and the guy came out was like Yo! Did you just tag on my door, I said nooo and I had my spray paint in my hand haha...SO OK SHIT THIS GUY IS CRAZY, My friend was common you live in a fucking shitty building its full of tags and now your complaining about us this guy lives here its alright. I repaint everything, the wall was newer than before. We start to hang out with this guy have some laughs, jokes, drink beers everything. I come back home and I get this, WHYYYY? Because the tag was showing off because the paint was not dry yet. I repainted again then I met him and I asked is it ok right now? And he said yea yea yea.
“SO BASICALLY HE WAS PLAYING TOUGH ON PAPER BUT THEN HE WAS BIPOLAR, COMPLETELY BIPOLAR. SO THIS I WANT TO FRAME IT, THIS SO GOOD.”
The concept was to depict all the sexual parts of the body and put them on a pedestal and make them something you have to pray to like a totem like a god. The pussy is a god; the penis is a god for the women. I try to make some irony that you put it on a pedestal. You make it a still life. I am not a still life photographer, I am not am erotic photographer, I am not a street photographer. I just like to give a message; I cant really express myself since I am speaking in English. “THEY ALWAYS SENT ME TO ALL THE BIG PARTIES BECAUSE I GET GIRLS NAKED, I GET GIRLS NAKED INTO A TRASH CAN, PICTURES OF ME GRABBING A GIRLS BOOBS, TWO GIRLS MAKING OUT IN BATHROOM, YOU DIDN’T REALLY NEED TO ASK THEM TO DO ANYTHING, BECAUSE THEY KNEW WE WERE “DIED LAST NIGHT” AND THEY ALL WANTED TO BE IN IT, IT WAS SUPER COOL..”
There’s is going to be another group book that is going to be called sunset and sunrise. Meaning east coast and west coast, but of course its not going to be sunset and sunrise pictures. It’s about depicting both coasts. Its not the difference between them its more about what they are. “I FEEL AS GRAFFITI HAS FORMED YOUR WORK, NOT DEPICTING GRAFFITI BUT THE IDEA OF GRAFFITI.” “YES OF COURSE, GO DO IT, GET IT, AND FUCK EVERYONE ELSE WHO CARES.”
KERIM ZAPSU OCTOBER.18.2014 -Your a fine arts student in Parsons how have you seen your work evolve during the program -Did you practice art before entering the program-You have done 2D, 3D, and 4D work have you found your medium or do you like to experiment between them-Do you spend a lot of time with your works-Do you consider your pieces machines and highly technological-These machines are constantly repeating an action could you tell me more about this constant loop-What relationship do you see your work in the space that its displayed-Do you consider your work interactive, specifically referencing you work titled “If the Machine is Not Functioning Can You Please Tilt it onside-Are you supposed to tilt it-What is your process of working with the material, how important is the materiality in your work-I have seen some of your work involve yourself and turn your pieces into performances do you consider performances-What is that connection between your physical body and your work-Do you see your Turkish nationality playing a role in your work-Do you find art to be political-Are you currently working on any projects or ex-
There is something about expectancy. You have a formula that is set, fans and paper, fans and plastic bags. You know what’s supposed to happen and you play with that idea like if it does happen or doesn’t happen or by it happening something stupid happens. Like two plastic bags crushing into each other there something it its fast, you play with expectation.
I have to spend time with my work. This piece has been here for a long time. You try understanding what you are trying to say. I am starting to become very confortable with this work so I accept it as a language. I don’t say like how going its to be this and the weight of the wood the softness of the sponge and the industrialiness of all of these objects, and keeping these tags on, those things come later. I think like I want this piece of wood here, I want water, I want a sponge and to move in the water and how I am putting all of this together. And when it does come together you can talk about what this wood means? Why is it slanted? Does it look purposefully? What is it doing? Sometimes they answer themselves. “YOU KNOW HOW I KNEW HOW I WANTED THIS TO WORK? WHEN I SEE SOMETHING AND YOU GET THAT YUM, IT’S A TASTE, ITS FUN, ITS ENJOYABLE ITS LIKE LISTENING TO OTIS READING MAKING A BEAUTIFUL PITCH. THE FANS AND THE CRASHING AND WHEN THEY DON’T CRUSH THE BAG PULLS INWARD AND THERE IS A SPACE BEHIND THE FANS.” I want to write a statement that annoys whoever reads it but they like my art still, so they question the statement, they question why a statement is a statement. Write a statement naming everything and then describing what it does because I have done that before but then I got in trouble. I got in trouble because I wrote statements like that. If I talk the bullshit then you wont read my work you will talk about my bullshit. When you give meaning to so many things that you don’t let people to get into it. That stuff is just discussion points to people that don’t understand, sometimes the piece is empty and it doesn’t matter. Like the two fans its pointless to have a conversation about. They are all machines, they all have a loop, a way to work. I don’t like the idea of somebody having to pull something in order to make it work. I like it functioning as it is. The question becomes what is this machine telling me? The loop signifies it’s a machine instead of its function. The loop is always a meaning infinity, space and time. But I did have pieces that drew things.
You have to watch it. How does that play in understanding the work? You expect the see saw to work perfectly, but it doesn’t work that way. It rarely works on equal timing. Thats what draws in people, it draws me in figuring out how things work. I don’t care about the balance and functionality. The functionality you can complete in your head.
“I LIKE THE IDEA OF BUILDING. I DON’T LIKE THE IDEA OF USING A PEN AND YOU CREATING BEAUTY. I LIKE PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER AND THE SIMPLENESS OF ACTUAL BEAUTY. THE FUNCTIONALITY OF UTILITY AND FUTILITY IS WHAT INTEREST ME. THE USELESSNESS AND USEFULNESS, FINDING THE FUNCTIONALITY WITHIN USELESSNESS OR BREAKING THE UTILITY OF IT AS WELL, THE POINTLESSNESS. IT CREATES AN IDEA INSTEAD OF A VISUAL PLEASURE.. THE FORMALITY OF IT THAT GOES AROUND THIS STUFF MAKES IT USELESS AND POINTLESS. FOR ME I HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE OF FINDING A REASON OF WHY I AM TRYING TO GET AWAY DOING THIS STUFF, WHY ITS INTERESTING TO ME, WHY I LIKE IT.” I want to get a generator and put it in a parking lot. I don’t know; see now I don’t know if I am lying to myself if I am making up the bullshit or if I am ok with the bullshit. A parking lot is a space that is very simply defined by lines but its functionality fits in a circle of people. Like you park the car there, you move the car, you get out, another car comes another car goes. Its like a clog in the machine in the of movement of people. People give its function, It fits. I question if the functionality of the piece if it does the piece as an art piece in the parking lot.
ELSA LAMA OCTOBER.23.2014 -Your a fine arts student at Parsons, how did you discover you wanted to be an artist-How have you seen your work evolve-I am aware you are also a music minor, do you feel there being a correlation between your music and your art-I have seen your 2D work, can you tell me more about your process, your technique and your fascination with the line-Do you feel more inclined towards 2D, 3D, or video-Do you like to cross boundaries between mediums-Your sculpural work is amazing but I could not help seeing their expression of grief and sadness, whats behind this-Do you like to touch base in the connection between man and nature, specifically refering to your work that is a sort of seed swolling a person-Where did this recurring figure come from-Is it supposed to be the same person-Why did you choose that specific color pallet and applying gold leaf, what is the significance behind the gold-Your video work is outstanding when and why did you become interested in creating minature sets with puppets and depicting them in stopmotion-Your video in these sets have an element of magical realism in it when I looked at it, specifically the work “Flores” using nonfiction and romantazicing with fantasy-Do you have any influence of your upbringing and culture background of Ecuador in your work-I saw a piece of you had in the fith floor a video of you discussing different tinder date experiences, could you tell me more about the piece and how it came together-It is very differnt to work, why were you eager to do it-Are you working on any new projects or exhibits right now.
I love lines. My first time drawing was in that class like still life a lot of shadows and making it realistic. Then I started doing a lot of ink, trying to make 3d figures in a 2d surface using lines instead of shadows. For shadows I use watercolors and colors. I don’t know I think there is something so beautiful about the line, it’s so simple and you can do so much with it, I really like. I am really inspired by Schiele and those kinds of paintings that is all about the line and achieving gestures through the line but that doesn’t look like a photographic gesture. Expressing movement and expression through lines instead of an entire rendition of reality. I am trying to use humans as elements instead of characters and individuals. There is something about my process that is all about repetition I am iinterested in the differences in the act of making and repeating something, since its all hand made and the process is the same they will all turn out differently. That has a parallel on humans and how humans reproduce and how were all the same but because of external factors were different. I am just trying to put them together, create relationship within each other and in a way a society like a group of people will work, and I am still experimenting with that.
“I LIKE TO GET RID OF GENDER, SO ITS NOT ABOUT GENDER ITS ABOUT HUMAN KIND IN GENERAL. THEY DON’T HAVE A GENDER THAT DOES NOT MATTER TO ME, IN THIS CASE OF HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER. THEY BECOME OBJECTS BUT AS I DRAW MORE OF THEM BESIDE THE ROLE THEY PLAY IN A BIGGER COMPOSITION IS ABOUT THE SHAPES AND FORMS AND STRUCTURE, BALANCE.”
I did that video to try to get out of my comfort zone like right now my struggle is to join my two practices, my video work and my drawings. My video work I feel its much more direct and my drawing are much more distant but they both touch the same subjects. All the constraints of society in groups of how certain things make you different but you have to fit in a certain place. I think that relates to all of my work. That’s why my next projects that I am working right now, I am trying to merge both of them to be clearer of what I am talking about. The piece began because a lot of my work is about behavior and people and groups and I started reading Evan Kauffman and how well he said, “Everybody is always performing and that everything we do is a performance.” Also how people have codes on how present each other so how [people do anything the way you act, the way you dress, things you say are little codes that we decipher and put people in different levels.
A friend of mine showed me Tinder I had never seen it before, and I thought that’s perfect you are telling so little about yourself that’s its so easy to fall into the stereotype and you can do whatever. You can respond to peoples codes but create your own codes as well, from this little information Tinder provides you. So, I made a profile and I responded to codes of other people and created these four personas that talk in my piece. These four personas that I portrayed, I went out as each of them and pretended to be these people. It was a response to their profiles. How I read their codes and these are my codes of whatever he expected. And it happens normally you have these personas. Like you have a different way of talking to your parents that you have to your friends. So if you like someone you change certain things. So that’s what I tried to do. These people are all me but they are not always the same. These are all me but just different parts of me.
MAXIMILLIAN MUELLER OCTOBER.25.2014 “I THINK FOR ARTISTS IN GENERAL NOT ALL BUT SOME; MANY OF THE CHARACTER DESIGNER ARTISTS DEFIANTLY HAVE ONE ICONIC FIGURE THAT THEY HAVE LATCHED ON TO. IT EVOLVES AS THEY EVOLVE. IT’S ALMOST THEM IN ART FORM, IN TRANSCENDED FORM. I THINK IT COULD REALLY BE THEM, THE EMBODIMENT OF THEM AND HOW THEY ARE EVOLVING AS WELL. MINE IS WILTY. WILTY” MY CRYING SUNFLOWER ITS EIGHT YEARS OLD, MY OLDEST CHARACTER AND ITS WHERE IT ALL REALLY STARTED.”
-How did you get involved in art-I am aware your currently studying product design, how do you defferentiate it from your art-Do you think they are different or do they relate to eachother-Since you are product designer what is your relationship with the medium and the materials you work with in your art-There is a strong element of surrealism in your work could you tell me more about your work process and the different elemnts of symbolism in it-You characters are mostly placed on a flat background, brown and blue, why is this choice so prevalent in your work-There is a strong symbol and character across your work which is the flower with the eye either crying or bleeding, how did this flower begin to be a part of your work-In your characters there is a generational apect to it, if I am not wrong, specifically with the chat bubble people, why did you decide to depict these people-There isnot much emotion in your characters gestures instead a sense of emptiness, why-You have prints and painting but I cant help seeing how different they are even if they have the same character the colors are much lighter compared to the saturated dark done in your painting, whiy did you decide this-What medium or ideas are you interested in depicting or exploring-WHat new projects are you working on
My art and my design are defiantly two different things. I even have two different websites. I even consider it as having two different egos, two different alter egos of myself. I fell like there is a design mode and there is an art mode. So in terms of when I meet a client in the different fields, there is a completely different business sense of me in both. Not one is more serious than the other but it’s selling yourself in a different way. In my design is not ornamented in the way my art is. There is an in-between on painting my work on design. I do see my self eventually mixing the two. I think they should be together but for now there separate. Basically I hope to one-day reach a point that I am recognized in both fields and I can actually mix them. So then it’s still this level of craftsmanship that I would want in both fields.
I embrace all aspects of product design but I definantly see myself as a maker. Yea I have defiantly seen myself evolve, I constantly think of new handmade technique, I think analogue is very important. I still stick to the materials that I have always done, which is wood. I have defiantly been experimenting with metal. I think product design had led me more into like sculpture, but I would never call myself a sculptor. But with something like 3D printing, I have something like this designer toy that I have made recently and I would have never been able to one 3D model it, have those abilities and also that’s a niche right now design toy world are pure vinyl and I want to possibly have my works 3D printed in the designer toy world. That is a prime example of any of my work that is the in-between design and art.
Wilty is about almost me being sad about not being with nature. Yea I am kind of the flower, a blossoming flower. Then there are many other questions that come up with the flower. If the flower is crying, or crying blood, I have gotten a lot of interesting questions from it. I don’t know how long into it I really decided this, but its actually crying love and that goes into many more motifs as well, because there is defiantly a lot of romance in my work as well, its all symbolism and iconography.
Its almost another wordly place. Some have guessed it’s a dessert or its even another planet. But for me like you said its stepping into the 4th dimension. Just seeing the world as I imagine the characters to be in but it is eerie hominess nothingness. But that’s the point I don’t want them to be in a specific site location. It’s more about the characters but like you said with the flatness of it, it actually brings the concept of looking into the horizon line, so basically its infinite. That always intrigued me its like your looking into eternity.
“I ALMOST FEEL, AS PEOPLE DEMAND NEW CHARACTERS. PEOPLE WANT TO SEE WHAT ELSE I CAN DO, WHAT ELSE I CAN COME UP WITH. ALTHOUGH I STILL LIKE TO STICK TO MY MAIN MOTIFS, ITS HARD. NOW I AM ALSO STRUGGLING WHAT CHARACTERS. ITS NOT ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WANT, ITS ABOUT HOW I WANT TO EVOLVE AND COMMUNICATE THE MESSAGE. IT’S NOT EVEN SELF EXPRESSION ITS SELF TRANSFORMATIONS. THAT’S WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT TO ME. PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK THAT ARTIST ARE EXPRESSING OR ALWAYS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING ACROSS TO PEOPLE, WHICH SURE. BUT SELF-TRANSFORMATION IS WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT, TO KEEP GROWING BESIDE JUST EXPRESSING YOUR IDEAS.”
This sense of recklessness is about coping. There is this painting; it’s a naked man holding a cigarette and a beer, alcohol in general, which are two coping mechanisms. It also has a boner but it’s just a dick. People freak out when they see a dick, which is very interesting to me. We always see women in paintings, photographs and in advertisements, but when you see a guy everybody people freak out about it. I had so many people ask me about that painting because of that. Maybe I should keep doing that to provoke people, but its coping with those three. In my teens and in everybody teens those are the things you cope with sexuality, drugs and alcohol. Are these representations of me coping, some possibly are. Although, if I didn’t have my titles it would look if I were glorifying substances. I add the title to clarify that I am not glorifying it, I am actually raising awareness, and it’s a commentary. That’s a huge word for me I think everything I do is a commentary on something.
GABRIELA MOLANO OCTOBER.28.2014 Growing in Colombia I never really understood why I lived such a great life and I had so many things in my life and I would go outside and I would have a car with a driver and I would see people on the street without food, so much poverty. I could never understand this wide social gap, and I wanted to document it. I thought it was so unfair. I was from this different worlds but I was living in another world. For me it was defiantly a way to try to bridge the gap, by connecting with them, and try in make them more relatable. They were so socially shunned by everyone. -How did you get incolved in photography-What inspires you-I am aware you recently transfered from Pratt to SVA why-Have you seen your work change in a certain way-You do both film and digital which do you perfer and why-Your work is extremly street photography but specifically capturing capturing the human essence-Where did this facination come from-Do you like to cross boundaries or sticke to street photography-How has your upbringing in Colombia influenced your work-You try to comunicate with your subjects, do you think interacting and photography should be together-Do you plan on moving to photojournalism to stories besider your phographs-Do you think text or captions are necessary to explain the work-You use photography to establish relationships with your subjects, do you think photography mises this social practice-Do you talk to your subjects, how do you approach them-You had an exhibit over the summer if I am correct could you tell me more about it and how it come about-What work did you display and why-Are you working on any new projects right now-What are you eager to exlore in the future
In the future I do imagine myself going back home and trying to help the social situation, because it’s completely unfair and because we grew up with the opportunities that we have and we can help. I think through images, it’s the way to show people without having to necessarily have an imposing message. You can show what you feel, and if you so transmit a message your doing something right. I want to use my photography in an activist way. Unlike words that are so easily thrown around and specially with all the politics and all of these things that are written but don’t mean anything, but if you show people an image or a video there is no denial, its reality. It doesn’t have a language its universal. With my work it’s a give and take of how I interact with my subjects and how I am able to penetrate some layer of their guard that they will let me capture with my camera. For me its always a dialogue. If it’s a whole dialogue with body language or if it’s an actual dialogue with words, I always learn something when I photograph them. Photography is a very aggressive sport. It’s very morally questionable, especially with documentation. Many people have a lot of problems with it, specially if you’re dealing with poverty. But I think that regardless of it there is an interaction weather it’s a very aggressive one and you put your camera in someone’s face, there is always something that happens.
In photography there are so many layers to an image and the best way to transfer a message is by not being obvious. And when somebody really connects to an image they will dig deeper and they will understand its layers. I think photography can inspire change when people relate to a very basic emotion or a basic principle. You can show death and other negative things but if there’s no connection there, nothing is going to change. I think in the very core it’s the intention. If you intend to understand certain groups or understand a certain situation and you really want to document so that other people can connect to it and understand it, that’s where the difference with an iPhone. People take picture compulsively. It’s the intention, how much you give.Like digital photogrpahy they want instant gratification.
Now I am starting to think if it’s that bad that my presence is known. Before I thought that I had to be invincible but now doubting that and maybe its not that bad if my presence is obvious. Becuase when I am shooting, something caught my attention about a person and I want to understand why. Clearly there is something there and like trying to bridge that gap and built a little bit of information and proximity. I want to understand about myself and the best way is talking to my subjects and see and understand what role I play. I iapproach them, interact with them and take their picture. I try to show the camera from the approach so people know my intention and the pressence of the camera. By doing this I dont give people the time to think and pose how they want to be percieve, i want to capture the genuine.
“WE GROW UP IN WAYS THAT WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S AROUND US AND LIMIT OURSELVES SOMEHOW. MOVING TO NEW YORK HELPED ME SEE NOT JUST THE OBVIOUS BANALITY OF POVERTY BUT SO MANY OTHER DIFFERENCES THAT PEOPLE ARE REJECTED IN SOME WAY THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO DO WITH CLASS.”
With an image like this one of the cane, you really do need a context to it. I think its esthetically pleasing and it’s a nice image but there is so much more and this is where e the words could come in. The subjects in the picture, is this man that speaks against the Colombian government and denounces it for its corruption. He’s homeless and finds all these trinkets and toys on the street and puts them together on this cane. The cane symbolizes how capitalism has screwed our nation up so much, how the government is taking advantage of its people. Like the bottom is a little baby shoe and all of this on the top, these heavy things all come down to this small show, to this small person and we have to carry it on our bags. It has this whole intricate meaning. It has weight.
“The idea of the studio visit is that somebody is coming that you need to impress but it’s different since you’re my friend.”