Landescape Art Review - October 2013 by LandEscape Art Review

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October 2013

ISABELLE LUTZ TATSURU ARAI BIANCA BONDI SANDRA TURTLE KAI WELF HOYME THOMAS C. CHUNG MAITE RODRIGUEZ LOURDES PENARANDA ANASTASIA SAVINOVA THOMAS MARCUSSON JOHNATHAN HERZBORG The Worryball, Interactive Artwork artist: Thomas Marcusson

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Summary

Our net review presents a selection of artists whose works shows the invisible connection betwen inner landscapes and actual places. 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. 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.

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Kai Welf Hoyme

O c t o b e

Bianca Bondi

2 0 1 3

(Germany)

(France)

How To Keep Bees

Isabelle Lutz

(Switzerland)

Vaginal Stressless

Through her artistic practice, Isabelle Lutz reveals her growing concern about the evolution of our post-modern world and more specifically the ambivalence to emerge, where alienation and emancipation are no more readily recognizable.

(Venezuela)

Thomas Marcusson (Australia)

Summary

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Thomas C. Chung

(Australia)

(Spain)

Maite’s artwork gives a fresh and vibrant interpretation, and is often referred to as a unique collaboration of classic and contemporary. Maite takes inspiration from the world around her, often using nature to add originality to her contemporary artwork

O c t o b e

My practice draws inspiration from folk tales, childhood memories and events from my personal relationships. I devote myself to labor-intensive and handmade processes.

Maite Rodriguez

Jugando en la Playa (2004)

Anastasia Savinova (Russia / Sweden)

Sandra Turtle

2 0 1 3

In my works, I compose a binary system, where one pole is monochromatic, minimalistic and non-objective and the other is colorful, detailed and figurative. “Vibration” is my goal. I aspire to create simple, yet touching pieces and to find a fine line between clarity and mess, simplicity and richness, void and fullness.

Genius Loci

(Canada)

Johnathan Herzberg (USA)

I tend to start with a very general idea and see where it takes me only to finish when it seems right. There is a subconscious flow to how it comes together. I enjoy the in-the-moment awareness and incremental addition to a project that has no projected direction Abstraction

Tatsuru Arai (Japan)

Vitruvian

To create or make a work is a Design of process on the time and space,that till it is percepted by audience. Especially I’d like to compose systematic, geometric and mathematically process,but most important things are Imagination, inspiration,guess for this Design and what will be happened on the perception. Submit your artworks to http://landescapeart.yolasite.com/how-to-submit.php

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Kai Welf Hoyme (Germany) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

I am interested in crossing the borders of different artistic fields. Working with video, performance, installation-art, photography and sound. Often I collaborate with dancers and theatre groups to explore the intermediate space between different artistic disciplines. Due to my background in philosophy and cultural theories I am drawn to topics and phenomena like e.g. time, movement, gestures; ideas and imaginings of the body, the society, natural and cultural spaces. Nocturn is a short hd video work from 2012. It combines choreographed movements and handdrawn animated sequences to depict the inner landscape of a woman. The fragmented plot gives an insight into the mental landscape of the figure. The inner landscape of the figure is characterised by an ambivalent condition of aphasia and metamorphosis. This scenario is supported by sonic cracks and flaws. The set-design and lighting design create a reduced and low light atmosphere. The dancer is Anika Bendel and the director of photography is Justyna Feicht. It is animated by Pauline Flory. I am responsible for the script, direction, editing, sound composition and set-design. It was produced in collaboration with the Filmlab Duesseldorf, Germany. It was screened and exhibited in Japan, the USA and several European countries. #196 Winter

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Kai Welf Hoyme

A still from Nocturn, Germany 2012 HD, colour, stereo, 16:9, 3:58 Min.

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Kai Welf Hoyme

An interview with

Kai Welf Hoyme Hello Kai and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Hello, thank you for inviting me for this interview. I am of the opinion that art has to do with a closer look at something. Its always an involvement with a phenomena. And it brings togehter your sensible, rational and emotional thinking. Finally this involvement assumes a form e.g. text, moving images, paiting. I believe that art always has some connection to the contemporary time. Because its created nowadays. Probably it sounds banal, but this is the basic connection an interview with to other contemporary art practices. It doesn`t have to be part of a movement, or a trend like e.g. Political art. More precisely to say, art making could reinvent individual and social freedom and the power of acting. The claim of an autonomous space within a society provokes freedom. This is a political act itself besides speaking for a political ideology.

Kai Welf Hoyme tist's creativity: what's your point about this?

The involvement with different scientific views on the world and the human existence helped me to develop my artistic personality. It helped me to see the limits of rational and the other thinking. And it gave me an overview how world was created and designed by ideas of different people. Eventually it showed me the fragility and interweaving of those nets of ideas, pictures and practices.

But besides that, art has have to do with developing a new view on something old. If only its a new tiny change that you make.

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

Would you like to tell us something about your background? Besides your studies of Audiovisual Media at the Academy of Media Arts in Social Anthropology and Philosophy: how have these apparently different expe-riences of formal training impacted on the way you produce your artworks? By the way, I often ask to myself if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young ar-

In the first place I`m interested in ideas and phenomena. The sciences help me to get a structure out of this. But this process is mixed 6

Kai Welf Hoyme

A still from Nocturn, Germany 2012 HD, colour, stereo, 16:9, 3:58 Min.

with artistic thinking and acting. I often read and watch a lot of stuff that could have some

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

working on. I listen to music and dance or do a walk to bring my imagination into action. It takes some time to develop a strong idea. When I have a certain concept I start to organise. I choose the appropriate technical tools. This decision has to do with budget questions, too.

My initial inspiration was a story my father told me once: He was a child and for a couple of weeks he could not speak. There was not a psychological cause for that aphasia, but a somatical one. This story brought me to the idea to find a sonical and visual space and atmosphere for that state of mind. But I liked to add an other mental process to this negative scenario. I liked to show the opportunity of change and metamorphosis. It should not be a portrait of my father`s past child ego, furthermore it should be a universal glance on the phenomena of aphasia and metamorphosis. These aspects I brought together with the fascination with the night. Thats where the title comes from. From the Nocturne (night piece) to the Nocturn. And there is a reference to one of Ovid`s metamorphosis storys: Echo and Narcissus, too.

The idea has to have become the right tec project. But I prefer a good technical realization. Especially in the aspects of timing, camera movement, sound compo-sition and performance. Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your interesting work Nocturn that we have selected for this issue and whose stills have been admired by our readers in the starting pages of this article:

Kai Welf Hoyme

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Another still from Nocturn, Germany 2012

One of the visuals that have mostly impacted on me of Nocturn and also in Habitat, is the skilful usage of the black, which does not play the mere role of a background: and it suggests me a reference to Bill Viola... Would you like to tell us something about the development of this video and -if any- the works that have influence you?

The scenographic space of the video provides the whole atmosphere. The usage of the black focuses on the body and her gestures. But it also stands for the mental landscape and opens a field of interpretation to the viewer. There is no hierarchy of the visual and sonic elements of the video. Of course I know Bill Violas work and I like the theatrical staging and the slowness of his works. But in this case there is no intentional reference to his videos. Probably I was more influenced by performance art and the japanese Butoh dance.

Habitat, Performative Video, Animierte Typografie, As you have remarked, Nocturn -as most of modern films- is the result of a fruitful collaboration that you have established with other three artists: I personally find absolutely fashinating collaborations that artists can established together: especially because they reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between several artists involving different disciplines?

Habitat is a light installation in public space. Produced for a special reason. It was created for a group exhibition. The usage of animated types and the projection in the dark create a special effect to the black. Due to this the dark, urban space becomes very important in its aesthetic apperance. The bright types and the black space make a contrast. The projected words come from people, who have told me something about their feelings. Feelings about their quarter. The way they live and move in Buchforst, Cologne.

Moving images are so complex #196 Winter that they need 8

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concept changes it in a positive way. Pauline Flory`s (the animation artist) artistic style was important for the video. Finally the personal working process and authorship make it different from the industrial way of filmmaking. Nocturn is a product of the communication of different people, but I try to defend and preserve my vision. Moreover there is always the knowledge, that you a part of a long history of artistic ideas and works. This aspect of intertextuality. And there is the viewer with their power of interpretation. While crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts? By the way, 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 exist longer?

No, I don`t think its the only way. But if you like to reach a certain level of artistic energy, its better to collaborate. I believe in the autonomous artistic gesture. But to claim absolute autonomy is an illusion. Especially if you crossing the boarders, you need some helpful skills and inspiration.

DVD, 2 Min loop, 2011

I hope that the frontier will shrink more and more. Probably Cinema needs some refreshment concerning new forms of storytelling. But I think there will be always a line between more artistic ideas of film- or videomaking and commercial productions.

some collaboration. Mostly I like to work alone on the concept. The design of ideas, the structure, the sonic and visual form. And I like to produce as most as I can by myself. Especially the sound, the set, the directing, the editing. The design and the staging of the camera I often realize together with a camera woman or man. In this video it was Justyna Feicht. I think it is important because you get some new ideas and technical skills from this kind of collaboration. And I like to work with dancers, because their have this special training of their bodies. The same it is with the animation drawer. I am a bad drawer, so there is a practical need for an artist of this kind. But besides this aspect the different view on the

Another still from Nocturn, Germany 2012

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Kai Welf Hoyme

You have received many awards and moreover your works have been screened in several countries: from Europe to United States, to Japan: it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

Of course its nice to have a good feedback on my work. But I don`t produce art in a strategic way. Its my way to get involved with the world. I never include the viewer into the creation of the concept of my work. Finally I know that the viewer creates the work. Because they make their own imagination of what they see and hear. And I like art works that are open to different kinds of interpretations. Otherwise it would be design, or political propaganda.

A still from Nocturn, Germany 2012 HD, colour, stereo, 16:9, 3:58 Min.

an interview with

Kai Welf Hoyme

The Thread,

The installation deals with the conflict of the photographic and cinematic image, on the other hand its about the question of mental representation and bodily expressions.

Film-Installation Germany 2008 16mm on DVD. colour. Stereo. 16:9. 25 - 30 sec. loops.

Concept and Direction: Kai Welf Hoyme Actors: Alexandra Stern, Esther Fischer, without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since -even though it might sound the simpler one- I receive the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

DoP: Sebastian Woithe Postproduction/Editing: Kai Welf Hoyme Music: Kai Welf Hoyme Producer: Kai Welf Hoyme Production

First of all its a great pleasure to create things that have no â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in a contemporary meaning of the word- usage. I play and deal with ideas, sounds and pictures. I don`t want to force somebody to see, hear and act different. I enjoy the whole creation of the concept. The way it transforms. From the idea to the realization and the final form. Yes, I like the transformation.

It`s about the phenomena of absence. I hope it will be finished in december 2013. I hope I can show it on many exhibitions and festivals. Nocturn will be shown in Ehime, Japan on the fourth of October and will be part of the Espacioenter exhibition in Teneriffe, Spain from the 29th of november to the first of december 2013.

Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Kai. Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

So, dear reader, if you have the time. Come and enjoy! An interview by: landescape@artlover.com

I thank you for your nice questions, too. 11

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Bianca Bondi (France)

An artist’s statement THE MOUTH KISSES, THE MOUTH SPITS; NO ONE MISTAKES THE SALIVA OF THE FIRST FOR THE SECOND. SIMILARLY, THERE IS NOTHING IMPURE ABOUT DIRT. WHAT MUST BE DETERMINED ARE THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A SURFACE MARKING IS EXPERIENCED AS A STAIN. – Mostafavi/ Leatherbarrow, On Weathering

The inherent power of art lies in its ability to take on the role of catalyst for the word, breaching the gap between sentiment and plastic result. Face to face with an art experience, one finds oneself confronted with a suspended moment wherein memory and imagination come into play. A moment that though existing intangible to language, is constantly incited for a portrayal by words. What interests me, and what I try to push forward are the moments in our lives, which are inexplicable yet certain, and which can exist without a need for designations. An art that culminates in an exaltation of the essence laying dormant within that which is the hidden and the humble. I work in various media, with a focus particularly in Installation, Sculpture, and Video art. My art is obscure. I am interested in promoting a dialogue created upon an encounter of the organic and the inorganic. I find it essential that an artwork be multidimensional, therefore I focus on evoking issues that are important to me, most often that of an environmental discourse. I try doing so in a way whereas, as a spectator you either see it or you don’t, the intrigue lying in the artwork’s latent potential, and in what is seen otherwise. When I’m not alluding to a presence beyond what is being presented, I am attempting to evoke contemplation by experimenting with fragments of situations as they happened upon me. Like all art, offering up these new states for completion as ready to be played off the personal experiences of the person with whom it is now confronted. I aim towards a revival of the status of the unknown. I take pleasure in conjuring a subtle perplexity in what we have previously seen as the ordinary and like the idea of returning to a time when daily life was riddled with the unascertained, and to not know was ok. One way of approaching this idea would be that upon contemplation of an artwork, one would recognise the signs, and become aware of a multitude of significations but there would perhaps be an irking confusion causing the spectator to linger just a while longer. It is in this moment when an artwork is at its most vulnerable and thus for me, its most intriguing. Events in life are always situation related, and highly dependent upon context. One cannot properly assess a viewpoint unless directly involved, or informed from all angles, and sometimes only from being completely removed. I play off this, and take the risk of remaining ambiguous. Yet I feel that should an artwork spark even the slightest bit of curiosity, it will be remembered.

Bianca Bondi 12

Bianca Bondi

The Tree that Fell that No One Heard, 2012 rouleau de casse, texte, Dimensions variable

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Bianca Bondi

An interview with

Bianca Bondi Hello Bianca and welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Hello, it is always wonderful to meet people who are doing something concrete to encourage young artists and promote emerging Art scenes, so thank you for having me! As we well know, anything can be Art, should it have been selected and 'charged' by an artist. So maybe a better answer to give is my idea of what defines a good work of Artâ&#x20AC;Ś and to that I would answer that a good artwork is an artwork that a public feels worthy of defending. It is something that stands the test of time, and by that I mean through memory or in a process of continual recollection throughout ones life. You cannot forget good Art. an interview with As for what makes an artwork contemporary, now that is a big debate, but to sum it up I would have to say that I have always seen this as something that becomes apparent despite an artwork. One can never separate an artwork from its context, and I find it hard to imagine Art that does not reflect its time even without trying to. There are too many external factors involved. Art that is nostalgic for another era is not the kind of Art that lasts.

Bianca Bondi

jects to explore beyond these constructed ideas. We had some amazing guest speakers such as Marina Abramovic. Actually the formal theory training has had more of an impact on my thinking and work than I previously realized, classes such as those on semiotics and Africain Art are fundamental for any aspiring artist. Most influential though was the very situation of the school, in the heart of the cities CBD, it was extremely stimulating as it was a constant reminder that Art needs to be connected to the real world in order to search for truth. Like typical Art students, young and passionate, whenever there was a protest or a situation we were there, or talking about it through our Art. In our golden caged homes we

Would you like to tell us something about your background? I have read that you have studied Fine Arts at the WITS University Johannesburg: how has formal training -and especially moving to Paris -impacted on the way you produce your artworks? By the way, I often ask to myself if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity: what's your point about this?

Although the WITS school of Arts in South Africa was modeled around formal training the irony was that we were encouraged to in our personal pro14

Bianca Bondi

self and all those classes on African Art theory, well I wish I'd properly listened then. And as for those aquarelle classes, well I see them as much needed moments of meditation. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

My artworks dwell in the back of my mind sometimes for years. I call it the incubation period. I walk around with at least two notebooks and am constantly photographing or sketching elements that catch my eye. I then use these notes as reference points when I am fine-tuning a piece before its "birth" so to speak. I am above else a conceptual artist, so I am always looking for the best vector to transport the idea.

Memorium for the Unremeberable, 2013 Technique mixte

lived in protective bubbles, but during the day we were part of that inner city beat. I moved to Paris on my own when I was 19. I think in the long run the impact of shifting to such a different way of living, ironically has made me realize even more the importance of Art being synonymous with bettering society and talking about real problems. Paris helped me to become more aesthetic, and less obvious in my approach. As for a certain kind of training potentially stifling a young artist, I think it is unsaid that art school doesn't stop after art school. The training one receives is just one layer in many, and only in retrospect can one see this impact. For some it can boil down to wasted time, where as for others, such as my-

Untitled (She Gave Her Body to Science), 2013 Triptyque, technique mixte

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Bianca Bondi

Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your work The Tree that Fell that No One Heard, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: it goes without saying that there's a clear reference to a well-known Zen's koan... would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

The Tree that Fell that No One Heard, traces the global epidemic of animals dying in mass which I documented daily for a period of two years. The initial inspiration for this piece was the overwhelming amount of mass animal deaths being reported at one stage. This was being linked to the end of the world as it was december 2010. It was especially bizarre as these deaths would involve a singular species and on an extreme scale. Imagine walking onto the beach early one morning and as far as you can see there are thousands upon thousands of dead bodies of a singular species. And then a wave comes and washes them back into the ocean. Its rather dumbfounding. The worst part about this was that no one could clarify as to why, only hypothesize. Having researched and worked on this piece for such a long scale of time, the information starts to clarify itself. Off hand, the actual effects of the Gulf oil spill only really started showing up a few years into the actual event. But this list wasn't just about fish, there were mysterious mass bird deaths across the US, where information later emerged that the government in certain states had been involved in undercover culling.. In the realization of this piece, I decided to typewrite the information, so as to emphasize every tremble, and mistake, and any of my attempts to cover them. This was an important procedure in order to emphasize ideas around the relaying of information, and of what we pass of as fact vs. fiction. Perhaps certain events were repeated, or exaggerated, or understatedâ&#x20AC;Ś but more importantly I had been thinking about how many similar events had gone undocumented, unwitnessed. How many events did people talk about to their neighbors, but not talk about in the media or publish on a blog for me to discover in my research. The poignancy of the typewritten paper, and the tin box from where it emerges, is that the both of them will eventually disappear. The ink was printed on a roll of cashier slip and will eventually fade, and the box is in a gradually process of corrosion. A feature of your recent piece Untitled (Ode to Virginia Woolf) that has impacted on me is the way you have been capable of establishing such a dialog between the tenderness of a veil with and the rigid hardness of a stone... I can recognize an 16

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Resistance to Stillness or The Anxiety Subdual Room aka Rembrance

effective symbiosis, rather than a contrasting dichotomy also in Resistance to Stillness or The Anxiety... and even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, but this stimulating work makes me think to the concept of Yin and Yang...

Symbiosis is an appropriate word to use. So to explain a bit more, Untitled (Ode to Virginia Woolf) is comprised of a large boulder-like soapstone which has been positioned on the edge of an actual "coat" made from latex. Soapstone, although heavy, is so-called because, depending on its particular talc content, it can slowly be eroded away at by a finger nail. Something that is not immediately apparent through the still-image though, is that i created a textural exchange between the two entities. Half the rock is in fact covered in beeswax, whilst the latex has been powdered in baby talc. By covered the rock, I was symbolizing a barrier of protection. Beeswax has nurturing properties, and alludes to nurture through community. On the same hand, latex which though its viscosity and colour, can be seen as a metaphor for skin, is a natural element which seeps from certain trees as a protective means from herbivores. By covering the "coat" in a thin layer of talc i was trying to re-iterate this relationship of fragility/ protection that was already happening on the rock surface. So yes upon initial view one does see a heaviness pinning down something tender, but the rock is just as fragile, if not more so, Untitled (Ode To Virginia Woolf), 2013

Bianca Bondi

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Untitled (Thinking About Limbus), Installation, 2012

that its counter part. Resistance to Stillness or The Anxiety subdual room.. is a different story. Here I was trying to create a physical continuation of the celluloid experience to the point where one would be completely emerged in the encounter. The video is part of an installation where i covered a space in thin plastic sheeting, and used the video, which was projected (across the ceiling and floor) multiple an timesinterview in the space, with to redefine it. Another work of yours on which I would like to spend some words is your stimulating installation How to Keep Bees: I like very much this piece and even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I have to admit that it unsettles me... it's an effective mix between anguish and thoughtless happiness: and if I have been asked for whom those candles have been lighted, would have answered without delay "it's for for me"... and I'd spend the whole rest of the time wondering why...

How To Keep Bees, 2012 Installation existant en version

As Albert Einstein stated; â&#x20AC;&#x153; [should] the bee disappear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.â&#x20AC;? As a result of years of manipulation into a mono-culturally fed, docile, and over productive species, what we have left is a bee that is has a weak immune system, is apathetic, and tired out. Yet the bee still has its wings. And as independent farmers believe, this will be the saving grace of their species. Their ability to desert allocated spaces and feed where they choose. This artwork is comprised of five suspended, fantastical hivelike structures which are made from the silicone used to the fill cracks in homes. It is a synthetic material as is the substance used to make the grouped white and gold candles which are positioned below them. Shrines and

It should unsettle a person haha. The candles are in memory of the departed. To elaborate a bit on this artwork, it was a spin off from The Tree that Fell that No One Heard, and obviously lays reference to the global phenomena of the mysterious disappearance of bees from their hives. Speculation links this phenomenon to an increase in various bee diseases or as a result of pesticide use in crops, causing bee disorientation. Cell phone radiation is also being blamed. 18

Bianca Bondi Your works have been exhibited both in Europe and in the United States: it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

It is always encouraging to feel appreciated, whether that appreciation come in the form of an award or a simple phrase. The feedback I get from my works is essential because most of the time what I hear confirms my suspicions or can really encourage my choices. There is nothing better than someone saying damn I know how you feel or even disagreeing, and then Art becoming a window. I never actually do think about who would enjoy my Art. I guess its because essentially we all make Art first for ourselves right? without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

on/off, silicone, bougies en paraffine, dessin au fetre

odes to the un-present seem to be a reoccurring theme of mine. In Memorium for the unrememberable I wanted to celebrate the moments in our lives which seem insignificant. Those candles are for the present...

Haha oh hmm.. The moment when the final piece of the puzzle comes together! Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Bianca. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

If I have been asked to choose an adjective that could sum up in a single word your art, I would say that your it's "kaleidoscopic": you produce installations, sculptures, and Video art. And I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your point about this?

I have a couple of new works that will be on show in an exhibition entitled "Blombos tot Rooibos" coming up in the end of November South Africa/ France. Otherwise for more information or to view my work, one can check my website biancabondi.com.

Kaleidoscopic, that a new one, usually I get obscure but ok! I think like all things Art and technology will have its moment.

Thank you for your interest in my work, and I wish you all the best for future editions! 19

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vaginal stressless [silicone jelly holyscapes] series of 20 photographs [59,4x 42cm] | video 2mn54-loop | #181 #196 Winter 2013 ÂŠ Isabelle Lutz

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Nina Bumbalkova

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(Switzerland) Swiss artist born in Geneva & living in London since May 2013 after having spent the last two years in Berlin Through her artistic practice, Isabelle Lutz reveals her growing concern about the evolution of our post-modern world and more specifically the ambivalence to emerge, where alienation and emancipation are no more readily recognizable. She attempts however to challenge our perception of daily life by proposing questions on a series of commonly held notions.

http://www.isabellelutz.com

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Isabelle Lutz

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Isabelle Lutz

An interview with

Isabelle Lutz Hello Isabelle, and welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

It is difficult to answer; everything is relative and therefore justifiable. I do not know how to grasp such a vast field, without sacrificing what, in my eyes, in fact, builds all its richness: its complexity. Let us say that what matters to me in art, is primarily the process from intentionality to conceptualization, the movement between affect and reason, the balance between instinct and control even if, and therein lies the paradox, it turns out that I am easily seduced or overstimulated by images. I guess however, that all the works of art that resonate in me, answer to a deeply unconsciouswith need of poetry or violence. an interview I tend to think that our time of fast dream-easy spleen is extremely permissive; the postmodernism seems to have increased the limits of the possible while freeing, among others, from the burden of tradition, from the notion of excellence or the need for accuracy. More than a simply liberating evolution, in my opinion, it's really a social foundation suitable to alternative and to uninhibited creativity.

Isabelle Lutz

me a painter. This coming out propelled myself overnight into a universe that I knew nothing about, while exposing myself to the conversion of a glance, mine: from intimacy to the collective. Since the beginning I decided to devote my work to discontinuity, given my need to reassess my societal belonging, as if it were about getting from separation an experience of singularity. I would say that my architecture studies introduced me to the geometrics and the evocative power of curves. In contrast, I think I kept some reflexes from psychology; I frequently use paradoxical injunctions to support my thoughts. It is a way

Would you like to tell us something about your background? I have read that besides your architectural studies, you hold a master in Psychology: are there particular experiences that have impacted on the way you produce your art nowadays?

After studying psychology, I practised several years as a psychotherapist. In between, I fluttered around, from one area of activity to another, without ever really investing myself in long term activities. Then, at age 30, I have chosen to beco22

Isabelle Lutz

I mastermind phantasm or any other event related to the expression of a desire through associations of ideas. In my mind, images almost exclusively stem from the lexicon, and therefore from thoughts. I manipulate words, syntax, sounds. And then the concept becomes evident and the work emerges behind the language. At this point, I work instinctively, in the urgency of the gesture, under the diktat of the body and its tensions. Everything is at stake in the moment. I simply forget myself, and projects follow one another in a serene continuity. Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with the recent Vaginal Stressless, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: I would suggest to our reader to jump directly to http://isabellelutz.com/#slideshow-184 and have a more complete idea of this stimulating series... in the meanwhile, could you take us through your creative process when starting this project?

After having only questioned the female in an exclusively subjective perspective, I wanted to introduce the male in my work. With this project, opting for toys at first glance rudimentary and very colorful, I was quickly confronted with a difficulty: how to avoid the trap of one-upmanship, which means, responding to the absurd by more absurd!

of considering the world in a double bind, of increasing the density of the real and ignoring evidences to gain some freedom of movement.

And I realized, that after all these years of painting and of suggesting basically a phallic and fetishistic representation of women; the purpose was not so different with this series of photographs: the sexual object dimension remains obvious, as well as the surpassing attempt. The subject or object exists ultimately only through a formatting that deprives it of a significant part of its substance. More formally, it was also the opportunity of introducing a different pace, faster, less laborious than the one of my usual painting, which participates in the alchemy of slowness.

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

At first it is always very confusing and abstract.There is no real development upstream. 23

Isabelle Lutz

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Vaginal Stressless #2, 2013 ÂŠ Isabelle Lutz

An important and recurrent feature of your works, that I can recognize especially in your paintings, is a deep emotional and intellectual involvement, that in my opinion forces the spectator to fill with her/his own personal experience... what do you try to communicate through your work and what role plays your audience in your process? When you conceive an artwork do you think to whom will enjoy it?

It is true that choosing to put my work in a feminist conception and situating myself in the perspective of a critical approach, I am personally committed as an individual. Each painting or project is based on all the foregoing and fits into a set under constitution that offers space as a metaphor of the social field. While the hope and expectation to establish a dialo-

a kiss & a frog [vernacular 'n' ubiquitous flashkids]

gue have been present from the beginning, I frankly do not focus on the reaction of others, perhaps because I spend most of my time in the tranquility of my atelier. By the way, a recurrent visual of your paintings that has particularly impacted on me is the nuance of intense red: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

In fact, the scenes are chromatically dense and the decor generally bounded by monochrome shades. I deal with the contrasts so that they clash. I use the strength of oppositions to try to obtain a visual impact and to artificially maintain some tension around an equilibrium #196 Winter point. The red? I think it is primarily a matter

Vaginal Stressless #2, 2013 ÂŠ Isabelle Lutz

Isabelle Lutz

nuclear kiss & tattoos of sorrow 130x160cm #126, 2011 © Isabelle Lutz

a collage made by a Dutch artist in order to induce the original message and to transmit it to three other artists living respectively in Portland, San Diego and Providence. At the end of the experiment, several exhibitions to highlight the inner workings of this transference are planned in 2014 in Europe and the United States. Your artworks have been exhibited in many countries, from Switzerland, your native country, to the USA, from France to the United Kingdom, where you currently live and work: what experiences have you had exhibiting in different countries? What are the differences-if any- between exhibiting in

| 59,4x42 cm | #182, 2013 © Isabelle Lutz

of affinity: I like the resonance and intensity of this color. Another pieces on which I would like to spend some words on are Aldi's Chickens in Love and especially the recent A Kiss & A Frog, that has impressed me very much: could you lead our readers through the development of these projects?

Aldi's Chickens in Love is an empirical video and an aesthetic romantic-comic exercise, featuring a love story between chickens and a female character at least insane, plagued by paranoid ideation ... [!]. Concerning A Kiss & A Frog, I participated to the project "telephone" in collaboration with the Satellite Collective of NY. I had to translate

in the slightly acid world | vivoequidem gallery Paris, 2009 © Isabelle Lutz

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Isabelle Lutz

Europe and exhibiting in America? Do you think that there is a clear difference between the European scenario and the American one?

I guess the differences are significant. I noticed, since I moved to London, that the Anglo-Saxon mentality through its long tradition of commitment and its off the wall cultural sensitivity is favorable to me; my work is far more welcomed and I feel myself more in tune with my social environment. the artists that I happen to interview, and I have to say that even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

The intransigence, the will not to take the easiest path, to force oneself to a cognitive development as rigorously as possible and to continue to take risks while flirting with the kitsch, the absurd, the banal for prospecting on the side of the riot of images. Not to know, ultimately, and not to worry too much. an interview with Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Isabelle. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I am just about getting into the illustration of a graphic novel, the ETLE Universe, in collaboration with the A.O. Movement Collective of NY. This is a chance for me to integrate some constraint; at least the discipline of the sce-nario, and I confess that after so much freedom, the idea of being led makes me happy. Furthermore, I will continue to question the power of the image while focusing on the poetics of cities and absence with my next project, Pop Love Crush, a series of photographs that should let me travel around for some time between Berlin and Geneva. And there is still room for improvisation! Thank you and your readers for your interest in my work.

rosemarie's bubble humble

An interview by landescape@artlover.com

130x160cm | #129, 2011 ÂŠ Isabelle Lutz

Isabelle Lutz

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Lourdes

(Venezuela) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

My work usually presents themes of daily reality inserted with other more global and multicultural realities appealing to memory and recognition with the imposed load of an uncertain premeditation. It examines cultural values through the alteration of mass production and consumerism images in order to obtain new messages aiming for the active involvement of the spectator. The pieces use a system of distortion to create tension between reality and the intervention, between the original and the imagined. They become an embodied double take. The works explore humankind relationships to underscore notions of culture, globalization, human identity and consciousness. It explores relationship between memory and cultural identity, both historical and personal. Sourcing from recognized elements, the resulting pieces engage with actual, virtual, and imaginary spacesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;highlighting their possible liminal nature. For Arnold van Gennep, a rite de passage consists of three stages: the separation, or detachment of a subject from its stabilized environment; the margin, which is an ambiguous state for the subject; and the aggregation, in which the passage has completed and the subject has crossed the threshold into a new fixed, stabilized state. The liminal period of the rite de passage is the second stage that is characterized by being passed through; the purpose of this period is to transfer the subject from the original site to the new site.

www.lourdespenaranda.com

#196 Winter

Nina Bumbalkova

Races, Installation, 35 pieces, 100 x 100cm each, Acrylic 2

paint and vinyl, Museo de Barquisimeto, 2009-2013

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Hello Lourdes and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Art is something that problematizes reality by defying not only our senses but our intellect too. For me architecture is what makes us different from animals, we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hide under a tree or inside a cave waiting for the rain to pass, on the contrary we built our environment according to our needs; then art for me, is what keeps us aware of our real needs. Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork? The contemporariness of an artwork resides on its capacity to debrief its own time. Would you like to tell us something about your an interview with background? You have recently degreed at the Barcelona, but you have previously studied both in Venezuela and in the United States as well. How have these experiences of formal training impacted on the way you currently produce your works? Since very young I took many art classes, however my bachelor degree was in architecture, since there was not an art school at the time in my home city Maracaibo, in Venezuela. Architecture education in general, is very strong and broad, a fact that expands your intellectual capacities as well as your crafts abilities in a very demanding and competitive training that requests a lot of discipline. I think architecture is one of the best educations one can get. Then, I decided to go for my masters in Landscape Architecture at RISD, since for me landscape was that territory between art and architecture. There I started to be interested on public art, my degree project was pUblic art SpacE, which was centered on the capacities of art to work as functional spaces.

Recently I finished my Doctorate at the UPC, where I developed a study on the space of illusion focused on the work of Donald Judd. My latest works completely relate to Juddâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pieces done and disposed in relation to the totality of architectural space. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers

research on available and affordable ways to materialize those ideas. I remember one time for a Bienal de Barro that I was invited, that I came out with the idea of making a pool of mud as an inverted fountain called Cacao no, The Bride, making reference to Helen Chadwickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous Cacao piece that was as well referring to Duchampâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bachelors, thus mine was about the feminine side of The Large Glass. I visited every pool and fountain supply and design store in the city explaining my particular needs without any luck, until I found this one guy that understood what I meant and said that it was possible to build. Many technical problems followed, however they were all solved and the piece was successfully presented. Time can vary too, sometimes ideas come up and it is also clear how they should materialize, but sometimes it is not so clear, and since many of my works deal with seriality, the production process usually takes a long time and the production process becomes is a tedious mathematical and systematic process.

something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece? My work develops from ideas; technical aspects emerge later and will depend on the needs of the ideas to materialize. And very often I have to

Not Cacao (The Bride), 300 x 45cm, Installation, Liquid mud, fiberglass, mdf, pump, V Biennial Barro de America, 2004

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Self-Portraits, Installation, 288 pieces, 50 x 10cm each, mirrors,lacquer on wood, vinyl, Zulia Contemporary Art Museum, 2011

Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your installation AUTORRETRATOS, which means "Self Por-traits", that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration? Self-portraits, is an art installation about revealing reality through different angles of reflection. Through history mirror and its reflex have always constituted an effect of particular importance for the evidence of the otherness, having presented us before our own recognition as the other, and having untied the dialectics between seeing and appearing; as well as problems as the image and its double, the illusion and the mimicry. For this project I did a lot of research about the specular and the mirror from Baltrusaitis and Lewis Carrol to Lacan, among others. The mirror, since classic antiquity meant to stop being a subject to turn into an object, nevertheless, the mirror allows reversibility. The mirror is an intense exhibitionist game and voyeurism that allows the actor-spectator duality to occur simultaneously. On the other hand, according to the anthropo-metric studies based on Zeising, the measurements average of the standing human body are established between 50 to 60cm wide and 170 to 180cm high. Therefore, I proposed a new anthropometric reading in specular sections of 50 x 10cm each, going so far as to complete 180cm high, in order to create multiple fragmented visions as well as collapse visions of the self gaze, whose peculiarities and differences are established from the Visi贸n oblicua, Isla de Pascua, 14 pieces Stack, 50 x 10cm each, Lambda photography,2013

#196 Winter

Self-Portraits, Installation, 288 pieces, 50 x 10cm each, mirrors, lacquer on wood, vinyl, Zulia Contemporary Art Museum, 2011

position and the individuality of every spectator stares, that turns every scene into diverse and transitory self-portraits through a gaze that sees itself or that it is lost in itself. The result was an interrelation between the fragmented and collapsed memory proposed by progressions that changed in distinguishing gradients. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, your works "allow through the visual angle, to apprehend reality from a different point of view"... I'm sort of convinced that some informations are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this? Yes, usually my work studies the ideal and the oblique notions of space, to further understand other contemporary dynamics, which celebrate the ordinary, the spontaneous, the neglected, the unexpected in both my daily reality and other realities, my inner nature and nature outside; as appealing to memory and recognition. It also tries to involve the spectator actively in terms of multiple interpretations or interactions, while activating doubts for other possible incidences of reality. As you can see in works more interactive as Maracaibo’s Lake, a Penetrable in Crutches, or more enigmatic ones like Huellas or Traces in which memory and identification are stimulated. Visión oblicua, San Pedro de Atacama, 14 pieces Stack, 50 x 10cm each, Lambda photography,2013

Land

E scape Another series of yours on which I would like to focus is VisiĂ&#x203A;n Oblicua or Oblique Vision: by the way, it's clear that concept of landscape plays a crucial role in your artworks: and, since our magazine is called "LandEscape", I cannot do without asking you: what is the significance of the landscape in your art? Oblique Vision is a project that apprehends spaces through an oblique photographic mapping. The oblique vision mapping -vertical and horizontal, allows to highlight diverse informal aspects that reveal spontaneous situations of spaces many times not revealed or documented, in order to celebrate and better understand ambiguous complexities, banal situations, dirty details, ignored objects, unrestrained nature and unexpected civic performances; eventualities that will allow to appreciate space extensively and not from a limited idealized point of view or a postcard viewpoint; multiplying in fact, the traditional vision of 30_degrees. Consequently, magnifying the space in its own uniqueness. The oblique vision allows inhabiting and mapping the space in its complete extension or possible dimensions. Nevertheless, it is not as a panoramic curvilinear perspective that widens the field of vision to 180 degrees where details get lost. On the contrary, it deals, with space-time fragmented sections which can evidence facts specifically related to change or movement, and the analysis of unexpected eventualities in which detail becomes a hero in each fragment. It is fragmentation what allows each unit to be an interview with the main character, a unit itself multiplied in its reflection or documentation to produce stacks and rows of additional information. I am interested in alternative topographies, in the ways that human experience and consciousness are engraved within landscape. And as I said before, landscape for me, is that territory between art and architecture, furthermore, landscape is a construct that embraces not only natural but also cultural features where humankind is included; therefore for me landscape is as wide as that place where culture and diversity occur. Moreover, it's clear that your works, being concerned with indirect and not controlled natural and human interactions, are deeply permeated with references to socio-political issues... Even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I must confess that I'm sort of convinced that Art could play an effective role not only in understanding but even in facing social questions, steering people behaviour... what's your point about this? As Duchamp used to say, we have to bring art back to the service of the mind, so I think stirring awareness of our time

LAGO DE MARACAIBO: A Penetrable in

digital photography, mdf, 42 wooden Crutches Maracaibo's Art Center LĂa BermĂşdez, 2010

and how we perceive it, is fundamental for art; and it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily have to bea direct or violent denounce, as for example my work Razas or Races which is a inquiry on the real differences between humankind, its fusions and blends that are generally and sadly only based on appearances. You have been awarded more than a time and you have exhibited your works all around the world: it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I think awards are important only if they help to develop further projects; otherwise they are just very dangerous and sometimes could deviate or freeze the evolution of a work, which for me should always be a work in progress. It is gratifying when people comment on your work because there was something that made an impression on them. I usually try to involve the spectator with the work, sometimes more actively than other times; but even with the more passive pieces, the role of the spectator is present from the conception of the work and occasionally it determines how it will be presented. There's a clichĂŠ question, that I can't help without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction? I think the whole process give me satisfaction, when an idea pop up and I start to consolidate it by building the arguments to develop it, is very exciting. Then to have it built, to materialize it, is the must difficult part; yet when you accomplish it right, it is the must gratifying experience ever. Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Lourdes. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? The last few years I have concentrated more in large scale works for Museums or Institutions, so right now I am preparing a gallery proposal, for next year to be presented in Maracaibo, Caracas and Miami. And also I just won a place in the Residency program for international artists in 2014 at The Art Incubator in Singapore. Crutches, 200 x 200 x 300cm

An interview by landescape@artlover.com

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Thomas Marcusson (Australia) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

I have great respect for narrative art forms such as film, photography and the written word. I believe that there is an unbreakable aesthetic core embedded deep within all these disciplines that will never cease to engage, challenge and fascinate. I also adore more traditional visual art forms, that precious individuality which passes through the tip of a paintbrush or from the bare hands of the artist, making every piece magically unique. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think new media or online art can capture these qualities to its full extent, at least not yet. However, I do find myself exploring these emerging artistic territories with great curiosity. There is something delightfully non-discriminating about the online space, where all of a sudden most people in the world have access to the same pieces of art. There is nevertheless some major differences between the two. People in the online space donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t adopt the same behaviour and expectations as they do while watching a film or attending an exhibition. Since the Internet is mostly a tool for effectively accessing information, it has made people incredibly goal-oriented, a delay in just a few seconds from obtaining the desired piece of information quickly leads to frustration. Not an easy space for an artist to navigate with the aim of creating contemplation and reflection. I think that sticking to that core of what makes narrative art so engaging and traditional art so compelling is key to creating successful online artworks. And as the onslaught of new technology is paving the way for more experience based content we will hopefully see a greater acceptance of the Internet as a vessel for beautiful and thoughtful art worth spending proper time with.

Thomas Marcusson www.thomasmarcusson.com 36

#196 Winter

Thomas Marcusson

The Worryball, Interactive Artwork

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Thomas Marcusson

An interview with

Thomas Marcusson Hi Thomas and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

First of all, thanks for the interview. So the way I see it, a work of art is something created with the intention to be an aesthetic experience of some kind. Whether It’s a piece of music, a painting or an interactive installation, the goal is to evoke some kind of emotional or contemplative reaction. Rather than defining contemporariness as something that just belongs to our current era, I would say that a contemporary piece of art is characterised by a certain relation or attitude towards its present time (its social, political and artistic context). The contemporariness of an an interview with artwork therefore generates a degree of friction between itself and its present surroundings. Would you like to tell us something about your background? You hold a Bachelor of Design, that you have received from the University of Technology, Sydney, where you are currently based. How has formal training impacted on the way you produce your artworks? By the way, do you think that a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist’s creativity?

Thomas Marcusson (A photo by Pol Dussaussois)

I think that the complex set of circumstances that leads to a successful practise makes it hard to attribute it to one certain kind of training.

It’s quite an organic process. After having conceived an idea, I try to examine how to best bring it to life. This might involve obtaining resources, learning a software or finding the best person to collaborate with. In terms of actual production, I would say that technical aspect is quite labour intensive. If I’m working on an interactive artwork I often tend to drop everything else for a couple of days (or weeks)

Of course being part of an established institution gives you the chance to surround yourself with artistically interesting people, possible mentorship and connections throughout the art world. But as your question suggests there might also be institutional elements that could hinder. Artistic education is a delicate process at a very impressionable time in an artist’s career. 38

Thomas Marcusson

woven together into a spherical shape. The Worrydolls are part Guatemalan indigenous folklore, saying that if you whisper your worries to a doll before going to bed, and place it under your pillow, the worries will have gone away by the time you wake up. The Worryball sculpture has a speaker inside, broadcasting audio recordings of people’s worries. The worries have been collected from the online version of the artwork, where visitors can choose to record their worries by using the microphone of their computer. Worrying tends to be a very central theme running through our society, and seems to be a great motivator for people when making decisions not to deviate away from the norm. But what’s interesting about worries is that they are often quite similar, but expressed in a highly individual and emotionally unique way. Add to this different nationalities, cultures and social layers and we realise that we are all simultaneously united and divided in our worries. The indigenous aspect is also very interesting, because it suggests a different cultural framework that would render most of our day-to-day worries illogical. For this reason I always had a great fascination and respect for indigenous cultures and the alternative perspective they can offer.

and concentrate on getting a first prototype up and running. This can involve coding, hacking and occasionally breaking a piece of hardware. After creating the first prototype I can then artistically interrogate the idea to see if the concept still holds or needs some tweaking. Now let’s focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your work The Worryball, that our readers have started to admire in the starting pages of this article and that I would suggest them to visit directly at www.theworryball.com would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

The Worryball is an interactive sculpture consisting of about 6000 Guatemalan worrydolls

The Worryball, Interactive Artwork detail

Thomas Marcusson

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This heart of ice

As you have underlined, “The Worryball is a sculpture that both exists in the online space as well in real life exhibitions”... If we look at the online ecosystem, we are stricken by an enormously great number of web services that present works which are accessible for immediate feedback on a wide scale and attract massive attention. Their authors rarely claim them being the works of art or seek a legitimacy from the artworld, even they often act anonymously... maybe that the challenge could be to rethink individual authorship so that it is no longer synonymous with capitalism but rather with what Guattari calls ‘resingularisation’, an individual or collective struggle against homogenisation of institutional domains... what’s your take about this?

Selected Exhibiti

The Worryball, exhibition computer screen, while photography and video is more suitable, which would explain the extreme popularity of media services such as Instagram and Youtube.

I think there will always be a sort of grassroots movement using whatever channels are available for self expression, especially if the more traditional channels are harder to tap into. Street art for an example always had a hard time getting recognition from the art world, but still we have the likes of Banksy having a huge influence on the contemporary art scene.

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

Similarly, the online space right now is creating avenues for lots of people to display their work, whether they classify themselves as artists or not. One thing to remember though is that some art does not display very well online. A painting for an example, is perhaps hard to appreciate when viewed on a flat 2-dimensional

Yes, collaboration is indeed #196 Winter at the very heart of the Scissors collective. The worryball is ac40

Thomas Marcusson

ly interrogate each other, and push the artwork into a new territory. That’s why I’m always curious about the kinds of energies that run through different art movements and collectives. Another piece on which I would like to spend some words is Reflections, than can be seen at www.reflections.cc Reflections is the only artwork I produced that lives predominately online. It’s an interactive portraits series allowing the visitor to interact with the photos. By activating the webcam, the visitors can see themselves in the reflection in the eyes of the portraits, replacing the reflection normally reserved for the photographer. The visitors can also interact with the portraits by covering the webcam, virtually placing their finger on the forehead of the portraits. This triggers the subjects to “fall” backwards and eventually dissolve into dust. This plays with the interaction between the portrait and the viewer, the photographer and the photographed, as well as the idea of seeing photographs as permanent recordings of memories which is a very different thing compared with the evanescent nature of real memories.

tually made in collaboration with fellow artists Stephanie Rajalingam, Ernesto Sumarkho and Livia Giacomini.

An adjective that could sum up in a single word your art is “kaleidoscopic”: your art practice ranges between several disciplines: even though I’m aware that this might sound a bit naive, I’m sort of convinced that soon or later new media art will definitely fill the

There is no doubt something powerful about being able to collaborate in the realm of art. Having said that it can also be quite difficult. As an artist you often have a strong personal vision which becomes an important driving force when creating a piece. The process of collaboration can disrupt that vision, which can be both necessary and vexing. As you mention in your question, it’s about the synthesis between two practices; I would have to say chemistry then plays a very important role. The creative process is such a fragile thing, especially when the idea for an artwork is in its infancy. But with the right kind of atmosphere, different disciplines can artistical-

This heart of ice

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dichotomy between Art and Technology....I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what’s your point about this?

There has always been a dichotomy between art and technology. For example, the term camera obscura was first applied by mathematician Johannes Kepler and used as a scientific tool to observe stars. Now of course, a camera is arguably more synonymous with art than science. The point being is that there will always be a rift between new technology and publicly accepted artforms, simply because new mediums need to artistically mature first.

REFLECTIONS 2013 - Interactive portraits

Reflections is an interactive portrait series that lets view of the portraits, similar to how you sometimes see the tra their finger over the webcam (and the forehead) and the

But by the time people are used to them a new piece of technology would have emerged and created a new dichotomy. I think it’s a constant cat-and-mouse game, which in itself gives rise to new opportunities and pitfalls.

during the creative process is essential. This is not only because the art itself often involves interactive elements, but also because It’s navigating uncharted creative waters that people are not familiar with.

It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

This is not the case with a painting for example, which allows for more direct self expression from the artist who does not necessarily have to think too much about how the audience is going to interact with the painting.

In terms of new media art, I think audience feed-

Thomas Marcusson

ers interact with the photographs in different ways. The webcam is used to to create a "reflection" image in the eyes ces of the photographer in the eyes of the photographed. Additionally, viewers can "tip" the portraits over by covering reby inducing sleep or death to the portraits.

When organising a dinner party you are actually creating an experience for your guests. Altruistic deeds, something generally know to be extremely satisfying, is thriving on creating changes for the better.

without asking to the artists that I happen to interview: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

The process of creation. There is something profoundly satisfying about creating something new, something that was not there before. But I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think this is true only for artists. People are creating things all the time.

And of course the idea of forming a family is an innately human kind of creation. Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Thomas. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

We are working on creating an online experience together with photographer Jon Lewis and his fantastic portrait series from Kiribati called Portraits from the edge. Kiribati is one of those island nations that will be rendered uninhabitable by the rising seawater levels. I think this collaboration will do very well in the online space and highlight an important issue. So watch this space

www.scissors.cc www.thomasmarcusson.com 43

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Thomas C. Chung (Australia) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

My practice draws inspiration from folk tales, childhood memories and events from my personal relationships. I devote myself to labor-intensive and handmade processes. The artworks from the last few years are part of an ongoing series that I have been creating - knitted sculptures made of yarn and acrylic stuffing, which recall a loss and hope within their suspended present. Each piece inspires to evoke a memory, giving the viewer something which they can no longer have. I aim for the viewer to see something beyond the obvious. Cuteness, tactility, fibres, textures and minimal forms in the work are merely a veneer to hide an unspoken anxiety. My works weave difficult issues about the world into the forms of food, flowers, toys and stories. Viewed through the eyes of a child, my works continue as an unfolding narrative, beginning and ending in the memories of a life once lived. Thomas C.Chung

He is currently represented by Darger HQ (USA), Galleri Athene (Norway) & Thank You Very Much! (Argentina). Darger HQ (USA) www.dargerhq.com/collections/thomas-c-chung Thank You Very Much! (Argentina) www.thankyou-verymuch.com/eng/thomaschung.html #196 Winter

Thomas C. Chung

Please Come Back Later....I'm Hiding 2012, Art installation Dimensions variable Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery, Photography by Han Sungpil

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Thomas C. Chung

An interview with

Thomas C.Chung Hello Thomas and welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

This is an ice breaker indeed. Like a hug before a hello - I like it. For me Art is something which needs to expressed from a person or collective, be it representational or abstract or performance. How this would be accepted by the larger Art World would be harder (though not impossible) to answer. The ‘contemporariness’ of an artwork is one I’ve thought about for a long time. An artist has to be able to represent their thoughts & ideas in a way which is relevant to those around them. This can be through the topic or theme from which an with they interview are discussing, or via the materials that they are utilising. If you can combine the two and manage to communicate this through to the viewer, that’s even better.

Thomas C.Chung

Would you like to tell us something about your background? You hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, that you have received from the University of New South Wales in the College of Fine Arts, Paddington, Australia. How has formal training impacted on the way you produce your artworks? By the way, do you think that a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity?

The friends I made there, however, are some I’ve kept to this day. You walk through Art like a lost child looking for something you’ve yet to know, so that experience in itself can be quite daunting. To find others who can walk with you during this time, is a wonderful thing. So in some ways ‘training’ of any sort can be stifling to a persons creativity, but it’ll be the tougher ones who will survive this type of adversity, that will eventually come through with a stronger vision.

I’m originally born in Hong Kong, but I’ve lived most of my life in Australia. think for different people, places like a university can have a diverse impact. I for one, had a mixed reaction amongst it all. A few lecturers were extremely supportive of my me & my ideas as I was studying, but the majority really wanted myself to develop into smaller versions of themselves. It was frustrating to say the least.

Those that listen to the negativity or become restrained by their immediate circumstances, will most certainly succumb to the pressure & give up. 46

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hints & chances at picking up from where you left off. Connecting with my audience is key, if not immediately, then hopefully slowly as my career progresses. The time to create & prepare for an artwork I’d say is equally as time-consuming as the actual creating of the pieces for my artistic practice. Sometimes ideas pop in & out of nowhere. What is different to my way of creating is that I’m already sure of where I need to be 10 years from now, with each solo exhibition carrying on to the very next. How I’ll get there, and what I’ll use to tell the story is my uncertainty. Which is what keeps it most exciting for me.

One of the things which I focus upon is, “will what I’m doing translate well to the people who view this?”. Some artists create solely for themselves, but for me, I’m creating to show you a perspective of mine. I’m inviting you to see it. So while it is not of utmost importance you understand it all inside & out, it is vital you do your best to give those who see your work some

Please Come Back Later....I'm Hiding Photography by Han Sungpil

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This particular piece was a continuation of what had been unfolding for a number of years beginning in Scandinavia. When I realised the story that I had to tell, where the artwork was from a childs point of view, each successive solo exhibition followed the next like another chapter in a much larger story book. “Please Come Back Later....I’m Hiding”, speaks of a child wanting to hide for a while – leaving behind the stresses of a life that they’ve had. Wanting to be left alone, they retreat into dwellings or environments which suit their feelings, yet at the same time they are leaving behind a trail so that they can be found once again. The isolation that a child seeks is only temporary, and that to understand this world, sometimes it’s necessary to disappear & then come back. I would like to take this occasion to ask you something about your experience and the artistic scenario that you have found in Mongolia: I find very interesting the pursuit of common grounds between apparently different cultures: the synergy -sometimes unforeseen- between ways of making art that seemed to have developed through different ways: maybe that Art could provide us of a kind of map that allows us to get the "big picture" of our world... especially our inner world....

I think different cultures are always interesting, especially when it comes to dealing with land & Art. We were in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia last year, and to create this piece it involved a lot of site seeking. We were warned that a lot of the sites were sacred, so we had to avoid them in case of local scrutiny. The fact that the art installation was situated inside a sacred site (without anyone telling me), showed that the restrictions people put up are sometimes unnecessary. The people who visited it seemed to have enjoyed it, so much so that the majority of the artwork was taken away by a busload of visiting tourists – thankfully the documentation was completed just the day before!

Please Come Back Later....I'm Hiding, detail Thomas C.Chung 2012, ArtWinter installation #196 James Dorahy Project Space, Photography by Per Ericson

Thomas C. Chung Another work of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Naughty Cake and Yellow Tea Party: Could you take our readers through your creative process when starting to work with these pieces?

Knitting & crocheting is like drawing for me. These two particular pieces were part of a series I had created, a chapter where I dreamt a lot about tea parties & teacups growing up as a child. I still remember these feelings....indicators of stress & confusion as some dream experts might say. Food is also an important symbol for me in my Art, giving forth a sense of nourishment & security, while at the same time representing indulgence & a sense of quiet chaos. In your artistic practice, you pay a careful attention to the handmade process: I think that this allows you to establish a crucial symbiosis between the moments you conceive a piece, and its development... by the way, do you visualize your artworks before creating? Do you know what it will look like before you begin?

It’s a bit like peering out into a foggy landscape, seeing the silhouettes of buildings from a distance. You understand the general form of it all, but the details aren’t quite so obvious. I can picture it, but how it turns out is always different to how it was once envisioned - it’s the most exciting part of creating for me.

Yellow Tea Party (chocolate & cream), 2012 Yarn & acrylic stuffing, 44 x 54 cm James Dorahy Project Space, Photography by Per Ericson

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Thomas C. Chung

During your career you have exhibited your pieces all around the world and you have received a lot of awards: it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how important is it for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I’d be the first to say that my career has just begun. I’ve only but received a handful of awards – no more. I’ve still so much to still accomplish. Awards have never affected my creative thought processes, no matter what the situation. My feelings might change having found a sense of acceptance, but my stories remain the same. Feedback is always important to anyone creating, as it helps to give us a better perspective. What matters most though is how you feel as an artist – does this piece speak to you still, after it has been created? The people I wish to see my Art are those who an interview will take the time towith watch & listen. Hasty people will just miss the point. Hopefully I can make them slow down too, to let them see that curiousity needs its chance to come out to play once in a while.

Chunky Pencils, 2012 Yarn & acrylic stuffing 26 x 63

without asking to the artists that I happen to interview,: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

The aspect I enjoy most would be simply when I receive feedback from an audience. The biggest satisfaction in a most intimately cherished way for me is when a person sheds a tear or cries at an exhibition that I have created. This sort of thing just can’t be faked. It means that I’ve reached out to these people, and that they’ve understood a part of me which I hold most dearest. It’s like having a new friend, through simply feeling & seeing.

Jumbled Lollypops, 2012 Yarn & acrylic stuffing, 40 x 33 cm James Dorahy Project Space, Photo by Per Ericson

Thomas C. Chung

cm James Dorahy Project Space, Photography by Per Ericson

Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Thomas. Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

If you need any advice or would like to keep in touch..........this is where you can find me. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll always answer you, no matter how busy I might be; www.thomas-c-chung.com This is also for people who use Facebook. This page is where I share my thoughts & newest creations with you: www.facebook.com/thomas.c.chung.artist Hope to meet you here (or there)! =)

Gingerbread Tea Party (bumbley bees), 2012, Yarn & acrylic stuffing, 51 x 59 cm J. Dorahy Project Space, Photo: Per Ericson

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Maite Rodriguez (Spain)

An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

Maite Rodriguez, a Spanish born artist, living and working in Salamanca, Spain. Maiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passion for art arose at an early age, from which she conveyed outstanding promise and creativity in local art contests and the Fine Arts School. She studied fine arts at the School of St. Eloy de Salamanca, under the supervision of Zacarias Gonzalez. At just 10 years old she won her first prize in a drawing competition, working with charcoal and chalk. With this beginning she progressed to paint in oil, acrylics. After a less productive period she resumed her studies of Antonio Pedrero, Carmen Mayor Ricardo Flecha and created styles where it passes the initial realism and more modern impressionism. Her love of art has grown allowing her to diversify into an inspirational and talented artist exploring many mediums. Her collection of artwork focuses on oil paints, acrylics, and collages using experimental techniques. In recent years, she has specialized in large format canvases, exquisite ladies in waiting, landscapes and European cities, It is however her oil paintings which shine, emphasizing classical realism, abstract style, expressionism, modernism, and contemporary that has forged her unique style leaving an important legacy which we can see today. Her artwork gives a fresh and vibrant interpretation, and is often referred to as a unique collaboration of classic and contemporary. Maite takes inspiration from the world around her, often using nature to add originality to her contemporary artwork. Maite Rodriguez has established her Online Art Gallery, Maite Rodriguez Online Art Gallery, which exhibits all her artwork as well as those from other artists www.maiterodriguez.es Her work is also exhibited in galleries, exhibitions and part of private collections.

#196 Winter

Maite Rodriguez

Jugando en la Playa (2004) Oil on Canvas 80x60

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Maite Rodriguez

An interview with

Maite Rodriguez Hello Maite and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Thank you for the invitation to appear in LandEscape Magazine. In my opinion a work of art is a form of expression, something that communicates a message, a moment or emotion to someone. Human beings have this remarkable ability to communicate through different means with one another and we are able to process art in this way and form connections with others around us. Art is in prevalence whether it tis through dancing, painting, music, acting, its whatever inspires you or others. I feel that the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork are the artworks abilities to reflect social issues, political, economical and cultural aspects occurring at that time. I strongly believe that art is a way to capture every moment with creative and inspirational techniques that reveal cultural an interview with identifications. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there particular experiences that have deeply impacted on your evolution as an artist? Moreover, I have read that you have studied Fine Arts at the School of St. Eloy de Salamanca, so I would like to ask you: what's your point about formal training? Sometimes I happen to ask myself if a certain kind of training could limit or even stifle a young artist's creativity...

For me, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that creativity can be limited of stifled. I have been very creative from an early age; since I was a young girl I remember thinking that being creative was a game and so I would find the most enjoyment in activities involving, paintings and drawing. Often I would create my own games from old materials such as fabric and cardboard that was meant to be discarded or left in and around our house. As I grew older, I also took pleasure in sewing, designing my own clothes as well as those for my sisters. I belive creativity Is something that is within you, you cannot teach someone to be creative. There must be a beginning and in my opinion formal training does not hinder artists potential, it only enhances his/her capability. I like to create different things from various object, 54

Maite Rodriguez

fabric, wood, glass and metal. As you have already stated, I studied fine arts at the School of St. Eloy in Salamanca, under the supervision of Zacarias Gonzalez. I also studied with Antonio Pedrero, Carmen Mayor Ricardo Flecha. Studying under these great artists has influenced my art enormously as you can probably tell by the different styles in my paintings, from cubism to impressionism. Learning in an art school, allows you to connect with other people who have similar interests and different points of view, helping your creativity. Also it helps to learn other techniques, even if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use them in your work. It gives you more knowledge and the skill to assess other works of art and compare the standard of your own work and that of others. Of course this is a subjective matter and depends entirely upon not everyone benefits from that type of academic environment. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

I create fine art oil paintings often using mixed techniques and materials. I often admire the way in which different materials are formed, and how their characteristics of colour and texture can elevate a painting to new and innovative levels. I fuse different materials into my artwork adding depth and originality to each creation. Once I have an idea I always think of the size,

Membrillos y Grandadas (2000) Oil on Canvas 61x38

Maite Rodriguez 55

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Maite Rodriguez

materials which I need. I make sketches and color tests. Once I start to create a new artwork, more often than not I make changes and use materials that originally I had not previously thought of using. When the work is completed, it is very different to my initial idea. I work a lot in oil on canvas, and on board, sometimes I also use acrylic paint. The whole process can take months and even years. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t force the artistic process, I try to paint when it feels natural and I am inspired which I think adds an element of truth to each painting. Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with Jugando en la Playa, which is a part of your series Brisa Marina, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

I am very happy that you admired Jugando en la Playa, translation Playing on the beach. it is part of the series of marine subjects (Brisa Marina). Brisa Marina is a series that commemorates apart of my life living in the South of Spain with great views and a very special colors. Initially I was in awe of this area as I have always lived in towns and cities. I remember when I was a child and our family vacations to the seaside. They hold a special memory in my heart. Jugando en la Playa was one of the first paintings I made during that chapter in my life. For a long time I had admired other painterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s use of similar cool colors, and this paintings gave me the opportunity to apply those colors to that particular environment.

Campo Zamorano, 1994, oil on canvas, 70 x 60 cm

red by nature and my surroundings. During all seasons I use the chromatic range offered by the sunlight and nature. In my last stage of paintings, I try to use the colors to express myself without basing them on reality. I would describe my evolution as an artist, initially basing my paintings on what is around me and trying to capture it with realism. Zamora fields as a landscape where I used to live and Valorio is a recreational area where I saw my children grow. Both landscapes convey special moment in my #196aWinter life. I would say that I have now evolved to

Another pieces of yours on which I would like to spend some words are Valorio and Campo Zamorano: in particular, the latter is a piece of your early production, I appreciate that even though there are about ten years between these pieces, you have been capable of holding such an "Ariadne's Thread"... how do you describe your evolution as an artist in the last twenty years?

Valorio and Campo Zamorano are all about the environment that surrounds me. I enjoy painting the environment; most of my paintings are inspi56

Maite Rodriguez

er colors. Red is one of the colors that I utilize many times in my paintings to express my joy and happiness. There is nothing standard in my artwork and that one of the things that makes the paintings so special. I have been changing my palette to express what I feel; to this day I think the colors represent my emotions in a more impressionist style. In the past I tried to use colors to represent reality. Since many of your paintings represent landscapes, as the interesting Selva Costarica, and since our magazine is entiled "LandEscape" I couldn't do without asking you: what is the significance of the landscape and -in a wider meaning, of the background- in your Art practice?

For me the landscape is a form of beauty and my paintings record different places where I've been and places where the nature has impressed me or holds some significant meaning. It is a way to immortalize a moment with its color and shape.

express myself without capturing the reality around me, but by trying to show my feelings with colors to create a more impressionist style of artwork. One of the visuals of your painting that has mostly impacted on me is the nuance of red color, which is very recurrent in your pieces: it turns from a tactile red, how we can see in Membrillos y Grandadas to a vivid - I daresay - "bloody" tone, as in Sevilla, one of my favourite pieces of yoursâ&#x20AC;Ś how has your palette changed in the years?

Over the years I have steered closed to warm-

Valorio, 2002, oil on canvas, 74 x 60 cm 57

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I think that it's important to mention that you have established an interesting Online Art Gallery, Maite Rodriguez Online Art Gallery, which exhibits all your pieces as well as those from other artists, as we can view at www.maiterodriguez.es: does it allow you to get a "big picture" of the recent trends in contemporary scene? By the way, how did you come up to the idea of giving birth to a net gallery?

To get any form of recognition for an artist is extremely hard, not only must you be a talented artist, but also you must be computer literate, have promotion and marketing skills as well as an ample supply of time. As you probably know along with your readers, it is extremely difficult for an artist to do all of the above, so I set up this gallery as an aid for emerging and talented artists who perhaps donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the ability or time to create and promote themselves. Thus was born the idea of ??Maite Rodriguez Online Gallery , a page where I started illustrating many of my works and where along with other artists of international scope Artists create a group where they can showcase their latest collections and where they can be contacted in a community of are invited to submit their work for assessment. It is an online community to share, admire, and buy the work of other artists. It is always rewarding to see and appreciate an with otherinterview artwork. I can see through the work of other artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forms of expression, use of colors and different styles. In 2014, I hope to start to organize several exhibitions and publications for the artists participating in the Online Gallery in Madrid. You have earned your first award when you where a child... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, encouraging her: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

Like anything in the beginning to win an award is very important because it confirms that others also enjoy what you like. Now with new technologies and media, my opinion has changed. The most important part of art is to enjoy and be stimulated by your own work. There will be people who like your work a lot and others who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care so much for it. However it is important to enter and continue to submit your artwork for competitions and awards because it is an excellent opportunity 58

Maite Rodriguez

Menina Imagine (2009) Oil on Canvas 150 x 100

for many people to see and give their opinions about your work. This is also another benefit to formal training. Even though you may not win, you receive excellent advice and criticism, which can help you, develop, and grow as an artist.

Maite Rodriguez

Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Maite. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you that you would like readers to be aware of? Thank you very much for allowing me to be apart of LandEscape magazine. 2013 has been a busy year for me indeed. I have recently finished an exhibition in the Moya Museum in Vienna, Austria and I am currently part of a group exhibition called Elements of Expression in New York. December 2013 I will also appear in a group exhibition in Miami.

Sevilla (2010)

Oil on Canvas Mixed technique 145 x 100

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Anastasia Savinova (Russia/Sweden) Nothing comes from nothing. There is something around us – our environment. There is something inside us – our thoughts, dreams, memories. There is the past behind us and the future ahead. We are somewhere in between and we are free to take everything as a source for creation. Every usual object as food in a street cafe, a bush near a road, a bottle at a flea market, a city or a planet – gives us a dozen of ways to read the shape and the meanings of them. Every tiny or huge thing or emotion can give rise to a new story. In my works, I compose a binary system, where one pole is monochromatic, minimalistic and nonobjective and the other is colorful, detailed and figurative. “Vibration” is my personal goal. I aspire to create simple, yet touching pieces and to find a fine line between clarity and mess, simplicity and richness, void and fullness. As a graduate from an architecture university, I have a strong interest in cities. When something in a city catches our eye, its image is planted in our minds and our imagination starts picturing this image as a mix of real shapes which become surreal in their connection with each other. In my long-term (or maybe even life-long) project Genius Loci, I’m trying to identify differences and to find similarities between places of habitation. When travelling around foreign countries and inside my own country, I take photos of buildings, I look into windows sneakily, go to local shops, flea markets and bars, breathe the air, watch people and their everyday life – all this helps me to build the feeling of the Place. This feeling becomes a foundation for a series of large-scale collages. The Integral Image emerges from visual information and a dozen of triggered associations. Architecture, texture and details form a strong feeling of the Place. Cities are closely related to the land, on which they have grown. While architecture and landscape are visual components of the integral image of the Place, at the same time, this image is inseparably linked with a mentality and a way of life. It is saturated with “an incorporeal something”. Ancient romans called it "genius loci" – the protective spirit of a place. In contemporary usage, “genius loci” usually refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere. Every place has its own unique qualities, not only in terms of its physical makeup, but of how it is perceived. It is not merely about walls, windows, roofs and roads. Indeed, it is about the structure of life, about authenticity of the Place. The collages are meant to reveal the integral image and “genius loci”. A Big house on each collage is composed of many buildings, which are typical for a particular country, in their connection with the land and the spirit of the Place. Titles for works are given according to the ISO country codes. There is also a pile of sketches and some large pictures of details. Some places invite us to stop for a while, to look around, to touch ragged old walls. These places awaken our memories. We can just stay still and listen to the past. My works from the series “Mosaico” are fragments of walls with tiles, cracks, patina and layers of time. The walls remember. Our memory is built from small bricks, covered with many layers of our subjective perception of reality. Some bricks are absent from the canvas – it is the area of forgetting. “Bricks” are made from triangular and rectangular pieces, cut by a knife from a big sheet of a cardboard. The process of cutting was very slow, automatic, so the mind was open for walk-in thoughts, images and memories, and the process itself was the place of memory. The color of the works is still changing, it is getting warmer and the works are acquiring more distinctive traces of time. Anastasia Savinova #196 Winter http://anastasiasavinova.wix.com/art

Nina Bumbalkova

Genius Loci / RU

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Anastasia Savinova

An interview with

Anastasia Savinova Hello Anastasia and welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Hello. What defines a work of art for me is its ability to affect the senses or emotions. Art gets you to slow down and travel into it. You wander in an artwork’s space, thinking, recalling something, surprising, dreaming, smiling, enjoying. Sometimes, art creates a tension, but it is not a destructive tension, it is rather a creative tension. Art makes difference. I’m not saying that art can change the world, but it adds beauty, fullness and joy, that contribute to our well-being. Art can make a huge difference or a tiny difference, but a tiny difference is still a difference, isn’t it? Contemporary work leaves a comment on recently an interview with life of a contemporary happened events, reflects world. It is a product conditioned by social and historical circumstances. One local event can provoke the global dialog between artists, stimulate their creative response. However, since there are artworks which still appeal to eternal subjects and author’s inner world, it’s getting quite hard to determine what exactly indicates the contemporaniness of an artwork, but it is definitely not genres or techniques.

Anastasia Savinova

lack of skill or practice, because there was nothing wrong with my difference from older artists. Those classes gave me the wide range of graphic skills (we never used paints there), but the most important thing was not the skill itself but the ability to look at things from different angles and the feeling of being a young but very true artist.

Would you like to tell us something about your background? You have recently degreed at the Samara State Architectural University, in Russia, your native country where you are currently based. How has formal training impacted on the way you produce your artworks? Moreover, do you think that a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity?

It’s not been long since I’ve graduated from university. My education was more architecture-oriented than artistic, but we had some traditional artistic disciplines as drawing, painting and sculpture. It gave me skills of

The most memorable experience I got when I was around 8 years old. I started attending evening art classes with a group of adults. It was a unique experience which tought me not to be ashamed of 62

Anastasia Savinova

vity in a way. There are so many censors who point out the dos and dont’s. Over-scheduling may stifle “useless” daydreaming. Many disciplines are unimaginative and monotonic. 98% of 5 year olds test as highly creative, yet only 2% of adults do. So probably there is something wrong with the educational system. After school you may have a good knowledge but lack of decisiveness, you feel lost when you need to find a way. For me, a year after university was the most difficult, yet at the same time, the most productive in terms of selfcognition and self-determination. I think selftraining is a very helpful thing. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

It depends on what kind of work I’m doing. My drawings are are usually spontaneous and the only

working with different materials. The time spent at the university brought me to understanding that it doesn’t matter what medium to use to translate a message through art. Of course, years at architectural university couldn’t have passed without leaving a strong affection to a city and a life in it. My master’s thesis was related to a subject of authenticity of cities and I’m happy that one of my current projects, Genius Loci, is the continuation of that work to some extent. A certain kind of training may stiffle a creati-

Mosaico, Mixed Media

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Anastasia Savinova

preparation is the accumulation of emotions and imageries. Then I take a piece of paper and a pen and start a jorney and don’t think of an exact outcome. Other time, I have a certain story to tell - in this case I think a bit more before I start. Sometimes, my drawings go to a trash bin (happily not very often). When I work with paints, the process can be either spontaneous or conscious or both at the different phases. With Mosaico series, at first I made a pile of cardboard rectangles and glue them down to canvas and then I took water-based and oil-based paints and made them “collaborate”. They made a very nice interweaving on a surface of painting because of their immiscibility. I also use my black-and-white drawings as a basis for paintings making them bigger in size and adding colors. When I work with collages, the process is a bit different. Work starts in a particular land. I just walk around and observe a place. I love to go for a slow travel, making connections with locals, go to sights which they prefer to visit rather than follow directions from guidebooks. After a while, I have a more or less clear image of the place. I take a camera with me and shoot the most typical buildings and other parts of environment. Making sketches while , I arrive at a decision on how a collage will look like. When I come home I gather all the information together and compose a digital collage in compliance with an integral image which I got after being a part of some land. The working process can be quite long. All the details have to make a perfect match of shape and tone and they have to become a sole thing pictured on paper. Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your project Genius Loci, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: since you have stated that this could be an even life-long, would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

The project was initiated by traveling into foreign lands. Many cities have lots of charm and magnetism, their own atmosphere and spirit. First work in series was made a week after my first trip abroad. I had a look at my sketchbook and a folder with pictures I took during my journey and unified all images and impressions into a big collage. That’s how it started. Since then, when I travel, I’m trying to cap64

#196 Winter Genius Loci / NL

Anastasia Savinova

ture differences and similarities between places and embody the spirit of places in my works. Sometimes, it seems that the more I see the more difficult it gets to find differences. As I said before, the project is a development of ideas which interested me when I was writing my thesis. It is an effort to resist the homogenization and globalization of cities, an appeal to value our environment and peculiarities it has. The project is going to last until Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m able to travel and see and feel places. Of course, if it gets boring or something, I will stop there. Another series of yours on which I would like to focus is Mosaico: by the way, it's clear that concept of landscape plays a crucial role in your artworks: and, since our magazine is called "LandEscape", we cannot do without asking you: what is the significance of the landscape in your art?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mosaicoâ&#x20AC;? has started with a metaphor of an old wall, a place which has seen a lot, a proper spot for contemplating life. I intended to put time into each work, to create it in a meditative way, voiding space to fill it in with dreams. It was also a slow travel, not through the real land but rather through the landscape of memories. Landscape is a very comprehensive idea. It has a strong connection to many parts of our life. Our cities grow on a land and therefore they are inseparably linked with it. We live on a certain land and soak up its character, it influences our own temper. People who live in a calm, smooth landscape with slow rivers are more relaxed and those who live on mountains have more contrast behavior. Cityscapes are also linked to human life and activity. All those links are very interesting. I often turn to theme of landscape, cityscape and habitation in my works. As you have written in your artist's statement, "our memory is built from small bricks, covered with many layers of our subjective perception of reality"... I'm sort of convinced that some informations are hidden, or even "encrypted" in our environment, so we need to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

To my oppinion, information is not hidden or encrypted. It has the same accessibility to everyone, but can be read and interpreted accordind to a mindset and life background. Maybe some are more sensitive. Artists can get others to see things in a different way, to articulate beauty, frame it 65

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When you come closer

and show to a viewer or to express their experience through the different form of art. If a viewer immerses themselves into a work of art they may have an experience similar to artists. an with Artistinterview can get others to become more sensitive to outer and inner world. Sometimes, art touches a viewer in a way that hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been intended by artist, activate memories and emotions from childhood to adult life.

moving slowly. Instruments are just means, not objectives. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other. I hope it will never happen. It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an

An adjective that could sum up in a single word your art is "kaleidoscopic": your art practice ranges between several disciplines: I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your point about this?

Art is not limited to a medium, ideas can be expressed in variable ways. Technology opens new roads for making art, gives new creative instruments. However, there are still pens, chalk, brushes, paper and clay. There are dancers who dance without any technology involved. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think new media art is capable enough to entirely replace all that. Technology grows fast, but some prefer to keep

Genius Loci / RU, details

Anastasia Savinova

something or get a good response – great! However, it is insincere to think about success during a creative process. I put a certain message in a piece and there is always somebody who likes my works and somebody who doesn’t. without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I relish a concluding part, when the work is almost done and I make the last tiny shifts. It‘s a great feeling of anticipation that the work is about to be completed. Sometimes, it’s getting ridiculous how long I can do those shifts to make a work look like I think it should. This is a very exciting and complex part of recognition of the point when the work is done and when it’s just enough. Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Anastasia: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? Genius Loci / SE

I’ve recently moved to another country, so now I have new inspirations for creating and new opportunities for showing my art. I hope soon you can see my works in the Swedish exhibition spaces. Thank you for your time and for your interesting questions.

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

Any sorts of feedback are good. It’s a pleasure when your work is appreciated by others. The dialog through art happens when feelings, stories and imageries you shared touch off a reaction of a viewer. Naturally, I’m happy when people want my art to be placed in their homes or when they just stop and look at my works at the exhibition space. Having said that, I prefer not to think much about a response or of an audience when I conceive a project. If I thought about reaction, I would be more bordered and confused. As for an award or the expectation on an award: If I win

Mosaico, Mixed Media

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Sandra Turtle (Canada)

An artist’s statement

I am an artist… I am passionate and obsessive about my work to the point of neurosis and I love it that way. I live my life in color and I have always been drawn to unlikely beauty, from rusted garden tools, to the way a paper crumples inside my hand. It seems I am artistically drawn to bold statements and color. I revel in the usage of discards and found objects being my secret treasure, I live for finding the beauty in items that others did not see. To be able to take this idea and combine it with a desire to have excitement and color leap off the canvas in 3-Dimensional brilliant hues is the concept that evolved in my collection “Sense of Touch.” The pieces came to life and I find even after being intimately involved with each piece, sometimes as I walk away I will notice an entirely new moment hiding on the canvas. Their stories of color and dimension have become real and the contrasts of textural concealment and bold pigment have a wonderful hidden pull of opposites. I will continue to paint without reserve and obsess with vengeance about the exquisiteness of the overlooked. Sandra Turtle http://www.sandraturtleart.com/

#196 Winter

Nina Bumbalkova

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Sandra Turtle

An interview with

Sandra Turtle Hello Sandra and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Thank you for having me. It is wonderful to be asked to be a part of such an esteemed publication and I do so enjoy your reviews that encompass so many varieties of artists. To answer your question I define art as anything that draws emotion out of a person. Simple as that. I think the contemporariness is for the viewer to interpret depending on their point of view. But the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Artâ&#x20AC;? is in the reaction. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there particular experiences that have deeply impacted on your evolution as an interview with an artist? By the way, what's your point about formal training? Sometimes I happen to ask myself if a certain kind of training could limit or even stifle a young artist's creativity...

I have a vivid memory of being around 6 years old and given a piece of black construction paper and chalk, I can almost still taste the excitement of knowing this was my vision to create. From nothingness to my personal statement... even at 6! I have some opposed yet equally grounded thoughts on formal training... I believe training helps to overcome blocks an artist faces, yet without the confines of structured education, an artist is left to struggle past obstacles. In the end sometimes I feel that untrained artists (such as myself) are forced (and permitted) to experiment and by determined trial and error create something that would have otherwise never been created. Although this comes with a price of self-doubt and dead ends.

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

Sandra Turtle

piece. Color is my strong voice and stylistically communicates with the viewer, the placement of articles and the many textural facets are often the underlying tone of the mood in each piece I create. Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your project Sense Of Touch, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

What does spark it? Well it is something from within me, and emotion and from there I have a concept that often leads me as much as I lead it. Art is elusive and one line can change everything. Often I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the history of MY pieceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s along my way although I start with a clear concept. One of the features of your works that have mostly impressed me is the tactile physicality and moreover I love the way few brush strokes are capable of summing up a concept: If I have been asked to choose an adjective that could sum up in a single word your art, I would say that your it's "kaleidoscopic". By the way, I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your point about this?

Well first off let me say thank you. If you follow the evolution of art there have historically been progresses that have already shocked and changed our interpretation of art over the years. From the renaissance, the impressionists, the introductions of photographyâ&#x20AC;Ś everything evolves. focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

Art is created by what we encompass in our emotion and environment so of course it is only natural that technology has given birth to new concepts and ideas in art, it cannot be segregated as this is how we see our world now.

I start with a vision or sense of the mood and that is what I hope comes out in the finished 71

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As you have written in your artist's statement you revel in the usage of discards and found objects being your secret treasure: not to mention that nowadays this is a very common practice. I often wondered about the personal contribution of the artist, in such case... it goes without saying that also white canvas, acryls tube and pencil, they are all material that already exists... By the way, does your process let you to visualize your Art before creating? Do you know what it will look like before you begin?

Yes again, the concept is sharp in my mind and that is what leads the emotion and brush towards the finished piece. As for the elements of found treasures, I find repurposing anything into an unforeseen use to be highly rewarding and a huge passion of mine. It happens rather naturally in my art, I will be out walking along the River banks near my home and find a rusted piece of a screw head and it brings life to my day. That I think is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;personal contribution of the artistâ&#x20AC;? in my work, my hope is that the excitement I feel in that tiny moment as I walk by the rusted metal on the curb is palpable later on the canvas to the viewer. And as you have remarked, "you live for finding the beauty in items that others did not see"... I'm sort of convinced that some informationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are hidden, or even "encryp-

#196 Winter

Sandra Turtle

ted"in our environment, so we need to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I do fully believe that as well, I would not be able to confine myself to see the world in any different way than how I do as an artist… I am driven and impassioned to see with these eyes of creation yet it can be daunting as well. My artistic vision does not keep itself neatly on the canvas and instead overwhelms my every endeavour so a simple home improvement, or gardening, or culinary experiment tends to take on a grandiose “beauty” as you say.

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Sandra Turtle

Interesting question. I do not create for fame or accolade, yet the essential element of art is to share the experience. Response is crucial as art is a conversation and I do want my work to be conversed with and enjoyed. There's a cliché question, that I can't help without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I breathe in color I think… my passion is bold, nonapologetic, unyielding color. Along the entire painting process of watching the colors bleed and embrace each other I am in awe. It touches me and it is almost hypnotic to behold and I do believe once I am done with a piece an interview I can still get lostwith in the tiny colorful illusions on the canvas. Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Sandra. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I am actually very excited to be showing locally in the lovely Kootenay’s British Columbia Canada. I am also exhilarated to be revisiting an old inspiration of one of my previous exhibits called “Thick Woman” The collection was geometric, abstract, textural women portraits’ in bold and audacious colors. (But of course) My girls were all very dear to me and as they sold they each left a soft sense of loss… now I am delving into the concept again with a fresh new take and excited to present this assembly soon.

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Johnathan Herzberg (USA) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

22 years old. Born in Houston, Texas. I am an Industrial and system engineering student at Texas A&M University, about to pursue Graduate school. I started experimenting with painting as a hobby about 2 years ago. I tend to start with a very general idea and see where it takes me only to finish when it seems right. There is a subconscious flow to how it comes together. I enjoy the in-the-moment awareness and incremental addition to a project that has no projected direction. Its about exploration of infinite possibility. In other cases I'll paint memories of places I have been.

Johnathan Herzberg #196 Winter

Thomas C. Chung

Abstraction 2

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Johnathan Herzberg

An interview with

Johnathan Herzberg Hello Johnathan, and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would like to start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

Art to me is defined as a human form of organization or the addition of complexity to form a meaningful representation of something within the artist. I think the contemporariness of an artwork is shaped by the experiences that the artist had in a certain time period because the environment influences your work on a subconscious level. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there particular experiences that have impacted on the way you produce your art nowadays?

an interview with I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know of anything specific that has influenced my production process because I am still exploring new techniques, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really have one way of doing things.

Johnathan Herzberg

it. When starting a piece with the finished image in mind, an important step for me is visualizing the layers being put down to reach the goal, especially when spray painting because of the speed needed due to the quickly drying paint. Also I incorporate the basic shapes needed in the layering visual because they are generally built upon to develop more details.

Depending on the type of painting I plan to do the physical setup varies, whether its brush, spray or drip. The mental preparation can take days to figure out a direction I want to take something or it can be a matter of seconds with a quick flash of inspiration. Generally, the more abstract the idea is the less preparation is needed, because the idea develops as I get into

Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with Abstraction and Menace, that our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: could you ta-ke us through your creative process

Johnathan Herzberg spend some words on are Horizon and Farm Road: an interesting common feature of these paintings is the apparently simple geometry, that leads to an unexpectedly complex evolution of the shapes on the canvas... could you lead our readers through the development of these projects?

Horizon is one of the spray paintings done through layering and use of objects to hide the planets for instance when spraying the other layers of the piece like the water or light. It takes visualizing the steps you want to take before you start but also keeping in mind that it almost always doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go exactly to plan. Farm Road is actually a little bit different because it is of a place I have seen before. The mental image is there and I simply try to copy it. The most basic forms are put down with the effect of light added last. The difference in this one is that it was done with brushes and allowed a lot longer development time than a spray painting.

when starting these interesting pieces?

Abstraction and Menace are great examples of how a piece develops as I go. First iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll look at which colors I think might work in an interesting way and then start applying paint with a certain technique. From then on it is simply trying to decide when to call it finished. Sometimes forms take shape and you can take it this or that way depending on what feels right. It is a struggle between ignoring the inner criticism to keep it going and understanding when I feel it is done. Another works on which I would like to

Horizon

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Oasis

By the way, a recurrent visual of your paintings that has particularly impacted me is the nuance of intense red, that we can see especially in Oasis, Glowing Waterfall and in Lake Bryan Sunset, which is one of my favourite works of yours: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

I think that yellow and especially red have a powerful effect, they draw the eye to that point first. There is an intensity that these colors have that I think people enjoy, and red has its own especially powerful spectrum of feeling lake bryan sunset attributed to it. Whether people realize it or not, it affects the way their perception of the image is processed. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really consciously choose the main object of the image to be a form of red it seems to gravitate that direction as I go, probably because it affects me the same way it would anyone looking at it when its done. It just feels like some red should go here or there. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know that I have been painting long enough to see a change in my choice of palette. glowing waterfall

#196 Winter I think that it's important to remark that you

Johnathan Herzberg

They are both about applying techniques, recognizing patterns, and using symbols to create something meaningful and useful. I think that art and science work in coordination with each other to help develop my methodology and keep it open ended at the same time. Both have infinite potential to them. You have earned your first award when you were a child... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, and encouraging them: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I could definitely see how the expectation of

currently attend Texas A&M University studying industrial and systems engineering: I personally find absolutely fascinating the symbiosis between Art and Technology, maybe because I have myself a scientific background... so what's your point about the contamination between Art and Science? Do you think that there's still an inner dichotomy?

To me Art and Science are more similar than they are different. While science is generally more definitive and art is more ambiguous or free, they both take an intuitive approach to solve a problem.

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an award could influence the process of an artist but I see it happening in a negative way. I think it would be a sort of fork in the road in the process guiding the artist to create something that other people will accept not something that is true to them. For me, focusing on what other people will think about it is exactly what keeps me from creating, fueling the inner criticism. to the artists that I happen to interview, and I have to say that even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answersâ&#x20AC;Ś What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I enjoy the exploration of what is possible to create with paint. It is a medium that is so complex and provides many avenues for letting an image come together in a way that surprises me every time. an interview with The biggest satisfaction for me is a feeling of completion or of conquering what I set out to do. I am very task or project oriented that way. Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Johnathan. My last question deals with your future plans: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

No professional plans as of now but I am keeping my eyes and ears open for any opportunities that present themselves. Thank you

Johnathan Herzberg

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Tatsuru Arai (Japan) An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

Tatsuru Arai was born in 1981in Japan and currently lives and works in Berlin,Germany 2003-2009 Bachelor and Diplom studies in composition with Akira Nishimura,Toshio Hosokawa and Sunao Isaji at Tokyo college of Music.2007 in composition-class with Bernhard Lang at Implus in Graz. 2009-2012 MA-studies Compostion, Computerprogramming and Multimedia-art with Wolfgang Heiniger at the Academy of Music "hanns Eisler" Berlin. composer/soundgraphicprogrammer/creator of universal artwork/performer http://www.tatsuruarai.org/ http://www.youtube.com/user /tatsuruarai91

A scene from Vitruvian #196 Winter

Tatsuru Arai

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Tatsuru Arai

An interview with

Tatsuru Arai Hello Tatsuru, and welcome you to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? Moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

In my opinion defines of Art is a "Dramaturgie" of perception what is happened and flows through recognition, physiological senses, psychology,thought on the humanbrain and body. I think at fundamental, Art is constructed in the humanbody. To create or make a work is a Design of process on the time and space,that till it is percepted by audience. Especially Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to compose systematic, geometric and mathematically process,but most important things are Imagination, inspiration,guess for this Design and an with whatinterview will be happened on the perception.

Tatsuru Arai

Would you like to tell us something about your background? After studying in Japan, where you earned your BA from the Tokyo college of Music, you have moved for a little while to Graz and then to Berlin, where you are currently studying for you MA: how has the experience of formal training impacted on your current art practice?

In Japan I studied akademic and classical music and classical contemporary Music. But I was interested in un-academicmusic too,80-90er japanese undergrundmusic, noisemusic, technoise glitch music, freejazz, etc.., which music a my friend toll me.

dont you compose with turntable and computer, there are easy to compose quatation and cut-up.", after then i composed orchestra with Turnteble and electronics "forgeryphonic" and I will be interested sound grafik programming and to study and live in europa. In berlin I have studied Programming, media art and I have knew contemporary opera,dance,it was most impact for me that intermingled between big history of classical music like from Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, SchĂśnberg, Ligeti, Lachenmann,and new Media Art, and club music, undergrund music scene etc, then I was interested to conect and combine various art scene.

In Graz I have participated just a week to a musicfestival, then a composer have listened my Orchestrawork "plural Matrix" what composed plural quotation,cut-up of musik element, but he said "this is good try, but why

Tatsuru Arai

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

side I must know about system of programming, what is possible. Anyway I would like to do forcus into perception.

In my case of own Project It has to decided arleady some tendency,Image or concept, when I composed my past work,that a long process include uncertain.Of couse when I will compose new project or work,at same time I should be thinking and making more new idea.However it connects with my past work. Besides I am learning and analyzing ever musicwork,what am I interest for example Renaissance, Baroque, classical, contemporary, Asian Traditional music etc.. everything what am I interest.I think I need to know something what did thought old time composers, and why I am impressed or notâ&#x20AC;Ś about these music. I am interest now about Renaissance and Baroquemusic. In the other

Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your multidisciplinary and recent work entitled Vitruvian, whose stills can be admired by our readers have admired in the starting pages of this article: could you tell us something about the genesis of this work? What was your initial inspiration?

My genesis of "Vitruvian" is inspiered how a famous "Vitruvian man" by Leonardo da Vinci,realized measurement of Humanbody. But this is not Reappearance directory from his Idea.I d like to realized some measurement of humanbody on realtime music and dance perfomance with new Technologie. For this concept I need technologie of projection mapping, motion tracking. Now Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m developing Vitru87

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A still from Vitruvian

vian with other visual programmer. It will be more realized mathematical number and symbolized from movement and voice of performers. I compose different sound Material with electronic music, noise by uncertainty principle, atonal 20th century music and systematical baroquestyle music, besides Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to combine these "differences" together. It will be like a "Odyssey of perception between past and present time" If I have been asked to choose an adjective that could sum up in a single word your art, I would say that your it's "kaleidoscopic": it ranges form several disciplines: drawing, music, video and even software production. By the way, I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your point about this?

A still from Vitruvian

If do you feel "kaleidoscopic" about my work, it's probably because I am conscious Other side at originally for example da Vinci geometry material for my music and maked Painting and invented technologie, visual.And I think relation between Art and matematical Idea, oparated human body too. Technologie are always very closely. For I think always it has no border between Art example music-score/polyphonie music of and Technologie, it is half sameness, now middle Ages, invention of music instruments composer should not do only writing down on /Orchestra Symphony of Western Classical the music score or paper. I am interest other music, invention of electricity/Rock Music, A scene from Vitruvian category and possiblity too. computer/noise music...etc. #196 Winter

Tatsuru Arai

A still from Vitruvian

your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between several artists?

For me some collaborations are interest, becouse i will be developing myself, that I could notice what did I seal myself unconsciously. Communication are a little difficult for me, becouse i must comunicate with other of my motherlanguage, but I will be try always write down and paint text, visualy graphic..etc. My point of collaboration are,at my own project, I should think about good point of collaboraters,and I should decide which is best way. At others own project (for example programming support.. etc.) At first I have to compose and make variation of material,then Collaboraters could choice from my variation. Anyway Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m interested always collaborations with other Artist like Marco, Wooguru, Elisa etc...

During these years, you have established fruitful collaboration with other artists, like the dancers Elisa Pluta, Marco Barotti (http://vimeo.com/69788913) and Wooguru: this has reminded me a quote of the artist Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's

A still from Vitruvian

Tatsuru Arai

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There's a clichĂŠ question, that I can't help without asking to the artists that I happen to interview, since even though it might sound the simpler one, it gives me back the most complex answers: what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most? What gives you the biggest satisfaction?

I enjoy all process of my Art work,compose my work alone,collaboration with other Artist, lerne renaissance music too... Etc. However for me most important is Audience, an interview with who are diffrence people Rasse, National, Culture and laguage in the world, what they are happend in the their body, perceive, think and feel. For then it need design of proces (composition, programming, comunication)

Tatsuru Arai

Thank you for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Tatsuru. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next fot you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

At first I will be developing my work"Vitruvian" and to performance in berlin and Europa. Besides i compose for my first String Quartet that since 10 years wanted but considered.I will be compose for music instrument too.i will be begin to compose from next year new Work for Singer and Dancer. I have collaborated successively with Marco Barotti and Wooguru etc.. I'm always interested in collaborating with artist of other category And my future plan at long process is,i would like make innovationally opera,like a new Gesamtkunstwerk.I should do many preparation for this process,I am looking for some chance.

A still from Neuroissance