NAU NUA MAY 2011 ENGLISH EDITION by NAU NUA ART MAGAZINE

may 2011

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FRONT COVER DANNY WILLEMS from Monkey Sandwich by Wim Vandekeybus

HOM WIM VANDEKEYBUS / ULTIMA VEZ. MONKEY SANDWICH Always the last 1 NAU ANE BRUN. DO YOU REMEMBER Beyond memory PAULA BONET Inner heavens

COLECTIVO LABORATORIO. HAMLETGRAFÍA Personal growth

LAMONT SUDDUTH Long dreams

CAJÓN DE SASTRE. MIEDOS Y OTRAS FOBIAS Dripping syllables

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NUA JAN SVANKMAJER Clay rabbits

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2 AURADRONE To the point of tears

BEACH HOUSE Irrecoverable moments

MARISSA NADLER Widow songs

MOT in French DÉBORAH HEISSLER Smorzando

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ESBÓS ANA PAULA SELTZER Donde las palabras vuelan y se transforman en mis consuelos

3 PAULA BONET Flors vermelles i indis de plàstics verds

LAMONT SUDDUTH Presence of war

JULIETA TRIANGULAR La danza de las arterias de carboncillo oceánico BORN OREMOR SOLRAC Suddenly

NAU NUA May 2011 Edition number 7 Published by NAU NUA ART MAGAZINE DL B-42.495-2010 ISSN 2014-0002

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WIM VANDEKEYBUS / ULTIMA VEZ Always the last 4

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My first experience with the Ultima Vez Company, founded in 1986 by the Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus, it was through his film Blush (2005). The experience was incredibly satisfying. The music by David Eugene Edwards, corrosive, disturbing and accurate, flowing through the dancers surrounded by red and black or wild nature environments, and left to their own stems, coward and inevitable, led me to delve into the creative Wim Vandekeybus art. Blush’s creative process is described in their own words with the same passionate way in which the viewer lives its vision: “In May and June of 2004 Wim Vandekeybus shot a 52-minute feature based on his successful performance Blush. Carried by the music of David Eugene Edwards and Woven Hand and with texts by the Flemish author Peter Verhelst, Blush is a dazzling voyage swinging between the heavenly landscapes of Corsica and the slummiest depths of Brussels. It is an exploration of the savage subconscious, of mythical forests, of conflicting instincts, of imagination, where the body has reasons unknown to the mind. In dance sequences of attraction, confrontation and repulsion the performers take on animal metamorphoses…”. And that trip wasn’t the last.

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Last year, Wim Vandekeybus presented the piece Monkey Sandwich (2010). Ultima Vez is now on tour performing it while they are opening the new Radical wrong (2011), at the same time. The first one, the one we are here talking about, is introduced by Ultima Vez explaining“in Monkey Sandwich Wim Vandekeybus does not restrict himself to set patterns. His work is a fusion of music, dance, theatre and film, and this time the focus is on the last. The 21-year-old Damien Chapelle stands alone on stage and interacts with the fictional characters in the film. Although the emotional impact of the images outweighs any anecdotal element, it is a story about a man who tries to do good but causes great evil. For Wim Vandekeybus, this is to some extent a return to his roots, since he started out as a photographer. Nevertheless, the evolution of his work runs parallel to his investigation into the new potential of the body. How does the body change in a specific context? How can you act if your only opposite numbers are on a screen? Monkey Sandwich was inspired by unforeseen events, sudden twists and a fragmentary narrative structure. Not a million miles from urban legends, in which, as in this ‘monkey sandwich’ story, the truth often evaporates into fantasy”. Like in many of his projects, Wim Vandekeybus gets back to a bioscopy process presenting his choreography in theaters along with the filming of a movie around the same piece. Set in Elko Blijweert music, the play moves between hilarity and madness in the field of the theatrical world’s lies, and artistic creation in general. He calls it a return to its roots in visual terms, but mainly as a new step in the evolution of body language. And his Radical wrong is already among us, like the first time, or even better. Text by Juan Carlos Romero Photos by Danny Willems courtesy of Ultima Vez. All rights reserved

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ANE BRUN Beyond memory 9

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Listening to Ane Brun is hard not to feel as being in a Nordic landscape of surfing from calm to the storm with unusual ease. Taking advantage of her concert in Barcelona in February 2010, I had the opportunity to fall into temptation and interview her in the dressing room of the Barcelonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sala Becool. Her voice is so gentle and she has a penetrating gaze, Ane is the compass rose turning it into a touching song. After listening to her, nothing will ever be the same. And now Ane comes with some new airs and a new single, Do you remember (2011). Ane Brun moved from Norway to Sweden, where she actually lives. She also spent some years at different periods in Barcelona, where she improved an impeccable Spanish. After those experiences, seven albums, awards, concerts around the world and the foundation of her own label, Balloon Ranger. Activist for environmental conservation, recently she performed for the cause along with Benny Andersson, ABBAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legendary keyboardist, and member of the composer duet of some of the best pop songs I've ever heard, Voulez-vous?. The intimate version of their classic SOS performed by Ane and Benny is really touching. But her contact with great figures does not stop with Benny Andersson, because during the interview, charming and enthusiastic, she said: "Today I have confirmed that I will go on tour with Peter Gabriel, so you have a scoop! I will be one of two singers who join with a large orchestra of fifty musicians". And we must add to the list Ron Sexsmith, another huge talent surrendered to the melodic voice of Ane. Together they sing the theme song No. 6 from her debut albumTemporary Dive (Determine Records, 2005), also included in Duets (Determine Records, 2005) which is surrounded by colleagues from the Swedish music scene, as Ellekari Larsson from The Tiny.

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"If I can avoid interviews I won’t get sad about it” she answered laughing after being questioned about the promotion tasks. She carried at that time under her arm her last Live at Stockholm Concert Hall (Balloon Ranger Recordings, 2009). "I have no preference for studio recording or playing live, they are complementary experiences“. Thus, her discography contains three studio albums and two recorded live along with a demo one and performances with Rebekka Karijord, among others... Changing of the seasons (Balloon Ranger Recordings, 2008) starts almost whispering "when I woke I took the backdoor of my mind and then I spoke”. She tells me "I talk about personal changes, changes within me”, but there are also many references to nature because "I grew up in Norway and there was the natural environment at the doors of my house". Her crystal poetry sounds vibrant dressed in her beautiful voice. An elegant and minimalist instrumentation is accompanied with a tremendous sense of fragility. "I walk into love, I walk into a minefield I never heard of" while a painful cello sounds in The puzzle. Among her wishes she, humble, expresses "I would write about climate change". The voices painted from pain itself are really moving singing "to let myself go, to let myself flow is the only way of being, there's no use taking a step back”. Ane, you are the lover beauty. Come back soon, singing queen. Text and interview by Juan Carlos Romero Photos courtesy of Balloon Rangers Records. All rights reserved

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PAULA BONET Inner heavens 12

When, after a walk through the wet streets due to a sudden and ephemeral rain, urban loneliness warns you, the one that gets you in the bones of the soul to the terror of the unexpected isolation, one is left with no other shelter than one’s inner toys, which beat about the bush painting in red and blue all the greens in other hearts and our own ones, real or imaginary, seen and unseen. Some call it passion, others, many of them, have not even heard of it. Paula Bonet invents it each time turning her reality into a perpetual blank canvas where make her mind colors dance. To take to our eyes her paintings in Flors vermelles i verds plastics series, is to touch the sky and realize that it doesn’t exist, but we can draw it and feel during that process we are creating it within us. In her paintings, plastic Indians dance the dance of the four winds. The voices run off with their echo leaving the souls gazed open-mouthed. Toes make up their inner lips in order to dream the laughs they never had. The green color is no longer because it never was. Now it's red, and made of blue plastic. Nobody knew it because Paula Bonet kept very well the secret that Mr. chromatic whispered in her ear when she was so small that she finally escaped in a paper thimble. And with it she has reached our days living in future, a much farther future than ours because it is transparently intense. And green, as only red knows to be. It’s only a mustache who doesn’t want it to be, as an unnoticed color would say. Paula Bonet paints her own image and likeness, speaks with two dimensions flowers like going to buy bread and come back with nothing else, so light. A whole creative world to become lost to get found again completely naked and with a different color on each finger, hoping that the world is white in order to recreate it again. A marvel.

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COLECTIVO LABORATORIO Personal growth 16

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In Argentina a “colectivo” is a bus, and that´s how the artists who form the Colectivo Laboratorio take us to the “face-stop”, where image and being cross paths, hardly recognising each other. Their theatrical proposals are always of the kind that leave a deep impression, the kind that, there in the stalls, make you give up something that you thought was important about yourself, so that you leave renewed, full of deep doubts to work on, as if you had a new mental playroom. This time they´re presenting Hamletgrafía, based on Shakespeare´s masterpiece and the future that arises for all of us from the grey of every day. After three years´ work, actors from the Laboratorio Escuela have developed a very physical, and psychologically demanding, piece, describing the fall into selfawareness which comes before you can begin to expand on being, or not being.

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Directed by Jessica Walker, Hamletgrafía is a deep walk fed by the talent developed at the Escuela de expresión corporal dramática Laboratorio based in Barcelona. It’s a project around experimental creation in theatre. As they say “el trabajo corporal y el crecimiento personal dan forma al principio básico de este Laboratorio-Escuela: crear en esencia. Esto marca la vía de acceso para el encuentro del cuerpo, que es capaz de experimentar, descubrir y repetir un diseño corporal dramático y llevarlo a escena de manera rigurosa, poética y sincera. He ideado una formación, a través de los cuales aprenderemos juntos como se vive y se desarrolla este proceso creativo”. Hamletgrafía represents a new step in their walk to body and soul experimentation. They come from the Shakespeare’s classic and they go on with sweat and tears falling into introspective pools from which no one can get out unharmed. They talk about Hamlet as “una obra infinita, una figura llena de huecos que cada uno llena con su propia vivencia de la vida. Es por eso, y por lo profundas que son las líneas que conforman esa figura incompleta, que Hamlet es una obra eterna”. And we hope their creative impulse in the sea of experimental forms in which Colectivo Laboratorio sails with no fear will be eternal too.

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LAMONT SUDDUTH Long dreams 20

Lamont Sudduth is an experimental artist who turns his imagination into a personal exploration land. He defines that principle describing â&#x20AC;&#x153;imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you willâ&#x20AC;?.And he has created a way for expression in which all his dreams, wishes and interests come true. Reality is not only all we see, reality is also our imagination. So, our dreams are real from the moment of their birth until their death, often too soon.

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Lamont Sudduth explains all its worries expressed in his recent works:“In todays post 9/11 world, a moment is needed to breath and reflect . Through my works encouraging deep thought and famous quotes are brought to life through the tension of color filled iconic form, expedited with metallic paints and charcoal. I believe the black line speaks clearly and is a carrier of universal language and strength no matter how curvilinear, straight, or whether used as random spatter”. His words can take you to an imaginary trip to his artistic world, but always knowing that our own experience and point of view from it is the closest one to our own perception. The current may issue exhibits the Presence of war series by Lamont Sudduth. The black lines he told about take me to the limit between heaven and earth, but also between solid and ethereal, the strong contradiction between the apparent lightness of a flight and the violence’s heavy load arriving from sky destroying thanks to the distance. Limits are hard here like a cloister, too severe in the title piece Presence of war. Geometric figures far away from fluent existence but a result of it. They mark their limits clearly and confront their inflexible vertex.The long walk is quite the opposite, fluent, curved, moving in a provocative manner among reds and clears, luminous but suffering grey tones and serious injuries because of the violent minds. Lamont Sudduth explains us a paradox of the ones who see life as a geometric entity, trying uselessly to square its circle and impose an inexistent reality even in their minds, causing a lot of pain. To experiment in his art is the expression of a life so real such as his dreams are. Text by Juan Carlos Romero Photo and painting Unleashed modified by Lamont Sudduth. All rights reserved

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CAJÓN DE SASTRE Dripping syllables 22

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There was once a club of syllables woven into imaginary rooms. Their horizons were endless curves painted in wet greens, like flowers fresh-washed by the rain. In that world of dream words, there was an artisan soaps shop. If one washed oneself with one of them, the skin becomes infinitely elastic allowing the dreams give shape to their existence without sharp boundaries or conventions made by hand or machine. If you listen well, those syllables could whisper their true in your ear as songs running under the title Miedos y otras fobias (Tsunami Music, 2011). Syllables called themselves Cajon de Sastre and they made music and words their widened world. One day they decided to make public all their alphabetic and tuned turn. Their press release described such an universe as “un trabajo donde musicalmente encontramos nuestro propio lenguaje sonoro entre el pop melancólico, la pista de baile, los sonidos ochenteros y las atmósferas cercanas al trip-hop”. And there all their words were assembled forming a huge crossword puzzle in the best sense: the verse.

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One after another, their songs drew rainy days in the sun. La chaqueta arrugada, Sílabas, Le club, Mínima, Niebla… But under the melodic umbrella, moisture did not penetrate the orphan ears. There was more heat with their syllables than outside full of watery frames. And at the end of the concert, we all went with them to break intransitive verbs and play only with the copulative ones. To be or not to be is not to appear to be, but the living room of understanding. And their album, Miedos y otras fobias, the heat of being a verb.

Text by Juan Carlos Romero Art by brigitte Art. © brigitte Art

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JAN ŠVANKMAJER Clay rabbits 25

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When I discovered the Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, my journey through the wonderland that Lewis Carroll had drawn in my subconscious when I was a child, changed forever. Then, the tea cups flew through the mental airs and watches, in the hands of greedy white rabbits looking for inexistent times, backed out, leaving the predictable future made by vaguely alienated timers, to open doors that had never been there but always were. When opened, a sugar cube was dissolved in a bitterly film coffee. Jan Svankmajer is a marvel or maybe an everlasting question, depending on the eye of the beholder. Sculptor, filmmaker, designer and poet, master of stop-motion and clay figures, director of actors and skeletons of animals, his world seems not to be ours, but once inside, we noticed we all were born in it, as well as Jan Švankmajer did. Hra s kameny (1965), Rakvičkárna (1966), Et Cetera (1966), Historia Naturae (1967), Zahrada (1968), Picknick mit, Weissmann (1968), Byt (1968), Kostnice (1970) or the more recent ones Něco z Alenky ("Alice", 1988) and the last Přežít svůj život (teorie a praxe) (2010), are brimming with talent, both in animation and in working with real actors.

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He enjoys a high reputation while he’s working on his next project, an ambitious film under the working title Insects (Hmyz) based on the play Pictures from the life of insects written by another Czech author, Karel Capek, who died in 1938. Combination of two such disparate talents can be a seductive exercise for the viewer. Švankmajer refers to the project saying“this Čapek´s play is a very misanthropic, and I always liked it - bugs behave as a human beings, and people behave as insects. It also reminds one a lot of Franz Kafka and his famous Metamorphosis”. While we await the arrival of that ambitious project, in his latest work, the film Surviving life (Přežít svůj Zivot (Praxair theory)) (2010), Švankmajer used photo cuts animation interacting with real actors. The film is about a married man who lives a double life in a dream in which he meets another woman. The film was awarded at the 67th Mostra de Venezia.

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AURADRONE To the point of tears 30

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Auradrone is a band with a mysterious soul. They are Jon Mack - voice, guitar, electronics, production; Fred Traverso - electronics, production; and Christopher Fudurich –electronics.Their electronic sound goes into darkness looking for the lost light. And here they come with a new album, Bleeding edge (2011), a new night step sounding through the beautiful voice of Jon Mack, their alma mater. Heavy and industrial sounds, dark atmospheres and a strong personality always looking for new hard sounds make Auradrone a special rocktronica band from the American west coast. Let’s taste their melodic blood walking across hard rock, electronic and trip-hop sounds. But first, let’s talk with Jon Mack. We can read on your facebook the sentence “Live to the point of tears” by Albert Camus. Do you? As often as possible! I don't subscribe to mediocre. “The escape” is your new brand video in which you go from darkness to the white light. The sound is a mix between dark electronics and bright melodic moments. From what are you escaping? It's about oppression in general, whether that's a relationship or state of being. It's about finding one's inner strength to stand up against those who try to keep us in a box and make us feel inferior or weak. The new album’s title is “Bleeding edge”. If we talk about Auradrone, could we say your music has a bleeding sound always on the edge? I'm not sure what a bleeding sound would be but I supposed this could be metaphorically close at times... One of your songs is “Semantix” in which you sing “I’m being shown I belong on the other side” going through and hypnotic rhythm. What’s on the other side? What lies beyond the veil of physical reality. Pure energy. “Auto erotic” talks about the new ways of experiencing sex from anonymity. “I’m a live wire little girl voyeur”. What’s your opinion about that kind of experiences? I think it has it's place and in modern life it's now become so accepted and often expected, especially with the internet having become such an integral part of our daily lives. There's a bit of voyeur in everyone. Observation has it's own pleasure. Sometimes everyone likes to watch! “I refuse to play your empty games...” you sing in “Just outside”. Are social conventions too restrictive? I try not to feed interpretation of my lyrics to the listener too much since it's such a subjective experience but this song is basically about rising above the din and pettiness of the monkey mind and finding one's grace. “Petite morte” returns again to sex looking for an orgasm as symbol of beauty and pleasure. Has sex an important place in your life?

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Of course. It's important in all human life. It's hard wired into us. It's also a way for our souls to relate to the world and opposite sex. We learn a great deal about ourselves through sex and our relation to it. More than the physical act, it effects humans on many levels. To say it's just physical is just scratching the surface. “Last nerve” says “Another soul invaded got those desperate wants and needs but they can’t buy your peace of mind, you can’t find it so you want mine”. Has life become so empty? This song is not about emptiness rather it's about fending off parasites who steal one's energy because they have no inner light of their own. Returning to the new album, “Shadow” is probably one of your brightest despite the title. Do you like dark sides? I wouldn't say I like it but it is part of us and we must face that fact. I often try to embrace it for the great teacher that it can be. It also does have it's own strange appeal that can't be denied. Tell me about your band and the special collaborators on this new album “Bleeding edge”. This new album I connected with one of my current collaborators, Fred Traverso from Strasbourg, France. Fred and I had met virtually a couple of years back when he remixed some of the Auradrone material from the first album. For some reason we just kind of hit it off musically and things started to progress from there. We have great musical chemistry and work easily together. It all happened quite naturally and we're constantly on this learning curve and focusing our talents and energies to whittle this sound into something special. I also worked with Christopher Fudurich again on some tracks for this album. Chris and I had worked together before on some tracks as well as live shows. The way I see this project is that's it's going to constantly change and morph as people enter and exit the picture. Of course there's always an open door policy with everyone as was my intention upon first creating it. I don't put strict rules on having certain band members bound by blood. These days this seems too difficult as everyone has their hands in many pies. I like the idea of working with new talent because it challenges me in good ways. I also love to see people I've collaborated with in the past return because it's always different in some way. Nothing stays the same and this is what fuels that creative spark. It can go either way really and that's somehow exciting. What about your different artistic activities? You are also an actress. I do my best to balance both. It keeps me somewhat sane and exercises different muscles. I really do love both in the different ways that they are fulfilling. Give me an image to illustrate your life and another one for the future. Right now I am channeling the goddess Hathor. I am open and receptive to new experiences that help me evolve. That is my primary interest this time around...expansion. This is what I believe it's really all about. I think I will always be seeking in some way. This is the spark behind everything I do.

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BEACH HOUSE Irrecoverable moments 35

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A beach house in which so dreamy and intense soundscapes are born as the ones reflected by the duo Beach House should not be ignored for long. In their self-titled debut, the duo formed by Victoria Legrand, niece of French composer Michel Legrand, and Alex Scally, declared themselves as Master of none still showing a warm sophistication. In their second album,Devotion, intimate tone brought us a startling intensity warning us of the need to escape the wedding bells ring at the rate of the conventional. Now their Teen dream sounds more hopeful, with a little more light from the small corner where they are collected to pamper their inspiration. Victoria's evocative voice and subtle arrangements combining guitars, drums and keyboards that accompany their letters with the delicacy its fragility claims, are a difficult passage resistance. What does a beach house represent to you? V: Being rich and tan. A: a place to disappear in! And right now, which season is your beach house in? V: It's the winter season. A: winter with some strange paradise mixed in for good measure Are you always looking for isolated places to create the dreaming atmospheres we can hear in your songs? V: We like to write in our own world, yes. It's important to not be distracted so that ideas can blossom. A: We both really love community and friends, but it is hard to write if you dont have space to concentrate Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice and subtle guitars, they have the leading role in your songs but we can hear also some keyboards supporting them. Are you always trying to explore new sounds to progress? V: We fall in love with keyboard sounds all the time. We have always used keyboards in our music, since the beginning. Most songs start on keyboard. It's an integral part of Beach House. A: Constant exploration forever! i hope we never stop exploring, its a large part of our lives. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve read somewhere Victoria was in a Led Zeppelin cover band. What a contrast between this British hard rock band and your intimate songs. Would a harder sound be possible on your future records? V: That was in high school, long time ago. Maybe one day I'll look just like Robert Plant. A: Victoria is robert plant in disguise

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Your previous record, Devotion, seems to be some winter photos put on sounds. The cold inspires you especially? V: The world inspires us, sounds inspire us, our instruments inspire us. The cold is not that inspiring. It's a good time to be indoors and writing though. A: I like the thick crazy feeling of balmy air! Devotion is particularly present in teenagers and now you’re singing a teen dream. What did adolescence mean to you? V: For me, adolescence was about growing physically and being intense in my mind. Kind of all over the place and hormonal. It's an obsessive time. A: Adolescence means living with insane passionate feelings and being fearless of the unknown, i feel that these energies are found in Teen Dream This new record, Teen dream, sounds more colorful than Devotion. Are you talking about past dreams or present dreams? V: Any dreams. Sex dreams, night dreams, day dreams, past dreams, Future dreams. Wet dreams. A: What she said. “Norway”, for example, is hopeful like the light we can see through the window in your myspace but at the same time you’re singing about a danger you have to run away from. Do you think life is dangerous? V: Life is radical and exciting. Danger can be exciting. "Norway" is imaginative and full of fantasy. We're always running from something and running towards another something. A:Very Dangerous and very exciting! “Silver soul” is a very evocative song with a astonishingly surrounding guitar. Like most of your songs, I think this song is like being in a mirrors hall where you can’t escape from your feelings. What do you expect people feels with your music? V: I like your interpretation. I hope that people feel like you just did. Intense and full of imagination. A: whoa, that is scary as hell, i hope people just feel something real and intense. Intimacy is especially important in your music, so what about the experience of a live show? V: Intensity and intimacy at the same time is a nice goal. Playing lots of live shows has definitely influenced the intensity of our music. A: we try to reincarnate the energy of the song so that the feeling is right there for you.....we will be using the stage more and more in the coming years.

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Which image evokes the future to you? V: Florida. A: Purple and Pink Palm trees swaying mechanically to a snare drum that sounds like a bass drum And which sound? V: The sound of water running from the jacuzzi into the swimming pool. That little part where the water trickles steadily over the edge. A: the fuzz of air Recently, Victoria has sung accompanying Grizzly Bear on songs like Two weeks and Slow life. Now they dream of relaxing in hot air as they begin to receive the first sensations of their latest Teen dream. At every step, their music sounds a little brighter, as their particular southern destination. But wherever they are, it always seems as if there where they play had not been anyone before. Since the first notes of Zebra, the opening song of the album, almost whispered in your ear for the delicate Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice on the caressing guitar arpeggios played by Alex, you engage in the sense that every minute is unrecoverable. One by one, they reeled softness and hardness, alerting us to the common drift which plays with will-o'-the-wispand turns our lives in a poor lie. They prefer the intensity of two bodies stretched on the sand moving in the eternal darkness. And if it can be in a jacuzzi, even better. An interview by Juan Carlos Romero Photos courtesy of Beach House. All rights reserved

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MARISSA NADLER Widow songs 40

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Loneliness can be a real torture for many. The search for the other as a balm to the harshness that is left alone with one's thoughts is almost a drug converted in social convention. The beauty, however, arise from loneliness. To recognize it is the courage to know that it is far and yet very close to us. Nothing to do with puppets in hands of the rules in which many seeks to have the normality’s diploma. Marissa Nadler sings all these ghosts, from tenderness and pain. After wonders like Ballads of Living and Dying (2004), The Saga of Mayflower (2005),Songs III: Bird on the Water (2007) and Little Hells (2009), now features a disk where to put her own emotions again, Marissa Nadler (2011). A beautiful voice came from a beautiful soul. 41 Your new album is self-titled “Marissa Nadler”. Do you really know Marissa Nadler? I have no idea how to answer this without sounding pretentious, but I can try! I think I do know myself well, yes. There is a dichotomy between my artistic self and my other self. I am getting better at understanding the connections between the two. I try to put all the pain and sadness in my art so that I can get through each day and be happy. I think art is a good place to put those emotions. What kind of communication are you looking for with the audience? When I write about difficult subject matter, I want people listening to know that they have someone also feeling that same pain. I like to write about the human condition with the hopes of connecting with people. I don't want to be put on a pedestal. I just want to make my art and if people like it and connect with it then I consider it a good thing. I think sharing something with an artist is a beautiful thing. I know I feel very moved when I hear a song and I know what that writer or singer is singing about. “Marissa Nadler” starts in a lair singing a beautiful song, like a sweet rain falling down in the early morning. “In your lair, bear”, is it about a kind of escape from something? "In Your Lair, Bear" is me telling a story about hibernation and depression, but with a very sweet vocal delivery. I also speak of love affairs that haven't worked out well, and the whole song is past tense. Seasons come and go and seasons change, and it is a revolving thing. “Alabaster queen” sounds as a cold fear growing inside you. What does the alabaster queen bring you? This song is about my unrequited love for a man. I wanted to be with someone that didn't want to be with me. It is the oldest tale in the world. I am the "Alabaster Queen" in this song, and I am painting a fictional portrait of my desire to be the queen to his king. A song about unrequited love and desire and lust. Light shines in your voice and the slide guitar in “The sun always reminds me of you”. Do you think love can blind us? Of course. It can ruin us, especially if it doesn't turn out well. In this song, I am expressing that I cannot even go outside because everything, even the sun, reminds me of this man that I lost.

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Could you tell us about Mr. John Lee? Mr. John Lee appears as a character on my second record, The Saga of Mayflower May. In the first song, I create a fictional murder ballad to deal with some obstacles in the way of me being with my love. In this new song, I revisit the characters in a realist setting and bring some closure to something from years ago. Mr. John Lee is a fake name for someone I once really loved. A more obscure atmosphere surrounds you in “Baby, I will leave you in the morning”. To die in order to be reborn? This song is about running away. I think you do sometimes have to hit rock bottom before getting a renewed chance at life. Every musical key change in the song deals with another relationship. “Puppet master” is an image that makes me thing in our role in society. Have you feel like a puppet sometimes? Yes, but this song isn't about being a puppet in society. It is about being a puppet in a relationship, and not having control. I had a long relationship that really was a master slave relationship, emotionally speaking. This song is about being held emotionally captive, like a puppet on a string. The song is also about breaking free and recovering from that kind of relationship. I cut the strings. And a doll appears with the wind in “Wind up doll”. Has your childhood leave a deep track in your mind? Wind up doll is another sequel song, this time to the song "Box of Cedar." I revisit a war widow who in the earlier song has lost her husband. He comes home in a box of cedar. "Wind Up Doll" takes place later, and revisits the female character as she tried to love again. She fails, and she is like a "wind up doll", needing to be wound up like a robot or a machine to get through the day. I can certainly relate, as I have suffered from depression most of my adult life. The song is very much about me. “Wedding” starts in a disturbing way but suddenly it turns to a magical sound born in your personal world and asking for a chance to your love. Is there place for romanticism in this crazy world? Absolutely. I am a die hard romantic. This song is about something very simple- wanting to get married and to share your life with someone. It is about waiting for someone and waiting to be with someone. Give me some light. I have given you some light. And it’s absolutely true.

An interview by Juan Carlos Romero Photos courtesy of Marissa Nadler

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DÉBORAH HEISSLER Smorzando Original text in French 44

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Prélude de Debussy, « Des pas sur la neige » qu’on peut écouter ici Pas sur la neige. Blancs sur les jeux d’ombres qui découpent une silhouette. Pas. Un oiseau. Sur la neige. Il a fallu s’arrêter. Evaluer. Et estimer. Et je sais que je ne suis pas là par hasard, derrière l’obturateur il y a un œil qui lui aussi scrute. Frôle. Effleure. oubli — et n’oublie pas la nuit l’abîme à dire Et de là donner le départ. On entend ce qui sonne. Debussy. Ce qui crie. L’oiseau bousculé, qui se crispe et balance. rien sinon le chant que nul n’a chanté — mesure 28 dans les pas, la neige — inscrite cette petite phrase qui m’indique comme une direction. Et je sais qu’il y a là des sommets comme une avancé de bleu sur la neige. Ce n’est pas là une histoire d’image uniquement ou d’absence d’image, ce rythme écrit Debussy dans la première mesure, doit avoir la valeur sonore d’un fond de paysage triste et glacé. J’ai sous les yeux — mesure 28 — un paysage qui sera triste et glacé. Je vois ces petites pattes d’oiseaux insistantes expressives et douloureuses —, là où d’autres savent qu’il va falloir faire avec, frapper pour que la corde vibre. Pas sur la neige Possible que cet oiseau là se brûle les pattes, morendo très lentement, mesure 34 où vous n’entendrez plus qu’une chute de pluie fine.

Text and photo by Déborah Heissler

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ANA PAULA SELTZER Donde las palabras vuelan y se transforman en mis consuelos 46

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A eso de las 10 de la noche una mujer de unos 60 años que estaba esperando el subte D conmigo se puso de repente a danzar como si tuviese zapatillas de punta. Así nomás y con una espontaneidad que te dejaba con la boca abierta. Ella no estaba desequilibrada, estaba bailando porque se le cantó. Me fascinan las personas que no se ubican socialmente en tiempo-espacio dentro de los parámetros socialmente-acartonados-aceptados. (Hay días que aborrezco a la mayoría de mis prójimos, pero la puta madre, cómo me gusta observarlos).

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Todos esos libros que encontré llenos de polvo en la casa de mi madre y que quiero releer y una larga conversación echada a perder. Ahora esta es mi habitación desconocida. Hace casi 20 años había una nena de 12 en el sillón blanco en su casa paterna leyendo todos esos libros, esos que te hacían elegir tu propia aventura, y otros de una colección que venían con las tapas amarillas y ahora hay una mina tirada en su colchón, ordenando los libros rescatadosencontrados, que le provocan una catarata de imágenes y sensaciones en el departamento donde ahora ella vive con un ex-capitán de barco omnipresente que quiere robarle algo que ni ella sabe que es. Pero no importa, porque ahora la habitación esta rara y huele sahumerio de vainilla. Si, le gusta pero también le da miedo. Ahora sí que Ella es completamente magenta.

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El vacío de la calle vista desde arriba de la autopista me asombra. Ahí están esas escenas de regresos que vengo teniendo unas 32 veces al día y todo sin paréntesis, ni comas. Estábamos desayunando y mientras yo trataba de leer la Guía T. Ahora frente a mí y desde la ventana. Desayunábamos y yo que leía confusamente la Guía T. Levantas una ceja (noté que tenías tus libros ordenados por AUTOR) y me preguntas si alguna vez me fui de viaje (si…muchas, te contestaría) "No a tantos lugares como quisiera" en cambio te digo, sonriéndote. Termino mi helado de limón y hago como si te prestara atención (pero en realidad estoy explorando tu habitación llena de cosas y cositas y esa lámpara tan rara y todo me parece tan tan tan familiar). Todavía no sé porque me puse en modo Mute, sentada en la silla sobre mi vestido tan inútil. Es que será que aún no distingo si el amor es el tocar EL fondo, o tocar fondo, y yo tengo mil imanes pegados en mi heladera. Si yo en este mismo momento te aviso que no mires hacia abajo… ¿Vos qué haces?

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Usted no puede deshacerse de sus miedos pero puede aprender a vivir con ellos.

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Apoyé la cabeza sobre la pared fría para olvidarme un poco del silencio penoso que de pronto me abrumó. Mi “estoy acá” debería ser un alerta a lo: “te observo de cerca, empiezo a conocer tus formas”, múltiples justificaciones que concluyen en esa sensación de que mi cuerpo se desintegra. Y un montón de magias más que me digo con la cabeza descansando sobre el marco de Café Terrace en mi pared naranja rabioso. Trampas para ratones, y la luna, y todo el naranja del mundo sosteniéndome. Me reconforta pensar en el puro placer de la manipulación inofensiva y después todo va a ser tan mágico e impredecible Y todo esto me lleva automáticamente a mi última auto-lección valiosa (valiosísima): Cuando no busco, siempre encuentro.

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Y recién después de millones de minutos, pude recordar su voz. Te dije que la memoria es asombrosa y selectiva. Y bastante hija de puta en general. Pero tuve que hacer una especie de pausa sobre el impedimento de mí persona por ese olvido, que al mismo tiempo convivió con un aplauso mudo de sorpresa, Indiscutible. Ahí caí que a veces mi existencia está en modo Delete.

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Y los sostenes humanos no son de mármol, son 75% agua y es probable que se escurran. Pueden irse porque nadie es necesariamente indispensable y las palabras se las lleva el viento (o toda variable no controlada). Entonces, el salvoconducto seria no involucrarse con alguien que me resultara necesario e indispensable. Esa clase de personas irían ubicadas en mi universo de la donación de órganos, en el de la represalia y en el de los problemas técnicos. Pero ves, sé que la decisión ahora es adentrarme en el bosque. Porque esa vez pude hacer llover, esa noche no me fui de viaje a otro país como podría haberlo hecho.

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PAULA BONET Flors vermelles i indis de plàstics verds 54

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LAMONT SUDDUTH Presence of war 71

Air war

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Calloused

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Detail 2 Presence of war

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If there were only 4 words

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Man as a block of earth

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Peace, one day it will come and it will be big

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Strategy

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There used to be fish

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JULIETA TRIANGULAR La danza de las arterias de carboncillo oceรกnico 80

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OREMOR SOLRAC Suddenly 84

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Suddenly, I found my own face broken. Not on the floor

but in the air. It was just some small pieces of darkness floating around. There was no light on me and my walk became a day gone forever. Suddenly, some ideas were talking to me in a water way. They couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop pushing me to the end. Suddenly, a dirty road was the only way to disappear. But I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t there and my regard had seized my whole strength until the sudden present.

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ART

REFERENCES Wim Vandekeybus / Ultima Vez www.ultimavez.com Ane Brun www.anebrun.com Paula Bonet www.paulabonet.com Colectivo Laboratorio www.laboratorio-escuela.com Lamont Sudduth www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/183248-lamont-sudduth Caj贸n de Sastre www.cajondesastre.bandcamp.com Jan Svankmajer www.jansvankmajer.com Auradrone www.auradrone.com Beach House www.beachhousebaltimore.com Marissa Nadler www.marissanadler.com D茅borah Heissler www.deborahheissler.blogspot.fr Julieta Triangular www.triangularjulieta.blogspot.com Oremor Solrac www.naunua.blogspot.com Ana Paula Seltzer anapau007@hotmail.com

NAU NUA MAY 2011 EDITION NUMBER 7 PUBLISHED BY NAU NUA ART MAGAZINE www.naunua.blogspot.com CONTACT naunua@live.com

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