Peripheral ARTeries Art Review - Biennial Edition by Peripheral ARTeries Art Review

Anniversary Edition

CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Special Edition Installation • Painting • Mixed media • Drawing • Performance • Public Art • Drawing • Video art • Fine Art Photography

TINA ŠULC MIKE BROWN MAX SAVOLD NITZAN SATT ADAYA PILO DARRELL BLACK ANTOANETA HILLMAN ANETT UDUD ASHLEY VANGEMEREN

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Regarding unsolicited submissions, if you wish to have an artwork considered for publication in our art review, please contact us via email: peripheral.arteries@europe.com and please provide our editorial board with any material (as photos and texts) including links to your website or webpages. Be that as it may, this catalog or any portion there of may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without express written permission from Peripheral ARTeries and featured artists.

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Contents 96

Special Issue

Lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Francine LeClerque I Am Your Labyrinth, Installation

Lives and works in the United Kingdom

Lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia

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Lives and works in Israel

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Lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany

Lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel

Shai Jossef Jungle

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Hila Lazovski, David Bowie, work in process Photo by Meital Zikri http://www.lazovski-art.com

Lives and works in Dublin, Ireland

Lives and works in Wroclaw, Poland

Lives and works in Laurel, Maryland, USA

Special thanks to: Isabel Becker, Julia Ă&#x153;berreiter, Deborah Esses, Xavier Blondeau, Margaret Noble, Nathalie Borowski, Marco Visch, Xavier Blondeau, J.D. Doria, Matthias Callay, Luiza Zimerman, Kristina Sereikaite, Scott D'Arcy, Kalli Kalde, Carla Forte, Mathieu Goussin, Dorothee Zombronner, Olga Karyakina, Robert Hamilton, Carrie Alter, Jessica Bingham, Fabian Freese, Elodie Abergel, Ellen van der Schaaf, Courtney Henderson, Ben Hollis, Riley Arthur, Ido Friedman, Nicole Ennemoser, Scott Vogel, Tal Regev, Sarah Hill, Olivia Punnet and Simon Raab

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Peripheral ARTeries meets

Max Savold Lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland, USA Minimialism, specifically in regards to mixed media collage, tends to rely on an interplay between what does exist and what can potentially exist. The images, or the media used, and even the surface that the materials are on, react to one another and move as one. No part is more important than the other, as they all are structurally required.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

happened. Most of the time nothing happened. I read all of the internet. Time lost all meaning. I decided to bring a sketchbook to work, so I could draw in it while looking like I was doing work. When I drew at work I was limited in what materials I could use. I had to use typical office supplies like pens. I would use white out, different kinds of paper, and even print outs. One time I brought vellum to work and ran it through the printer. Once I brought in a brush so I could paint with coffee. The acknowledgement of the limitations, and the embracing of it, permeates my work today. Too many options and too much choice can be paralyzing. But if you’re given a pen and a few pieces of paper, you’ll be able to make it work. You have to problem solve your way through those limitations and it forces you to extend yourself.

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Rejecting any conventional classification regarding its style, Max Savold's work draws the viewers through an unconventional and multilayered experience: in his body of works that we'll be discussing in the following pages he accomplishes the difficult task of exciting the observer imagination to create personal imagery in a specific situation. We are very pleased to introduce our readers to Savold's stimulating and multifaceted artistic production. Hello Max and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You hold a solid formal training and after having earned your BFA of Audio composition and production from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, you nurtured your education with a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Goucher College. How did this experience influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making?

In terms of influence, one could say that everything influences what I make, but in more of an unconscious way. I try to avoid creating something heavy handed by presenting or responding to an issue head on. The response is there, but more in that my mood was affected by something, and my mood therefore directed what I did artistically. I’m sure it could be traced back in hindsight, but when I’m working and I hit upon an organic flow, where the work is just happening and I’m trying to keep up, I avoid trying to parse out the details, because at that point I don’t need those details, they become trees in the forest. That being said, one aspect that would impact my creation and my creativity is what is going on around me, in terms of if bad things are happening. Focusing on art during challenging moments is a great safe haven. There can be chaos all around you,

The way I create art, both conceptually and in production, was molded almost entirely by the time in between getting my BFA and my masters. 12 years separate those 2 degrees, during which time I was a paralegal. It was a fascinating experience, so normal yet so bizarre. There was a lot of downtime on that job, where you had to be there in case something

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but when working on art, you can create what you

The results of your artistic inquiry convey such coherent sense of unity and before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit https://www.maxsavold.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask you if you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work as an artist.

want. You’re in control. There’s a quote from Aesop Rock that states, “All I ever wanted was to pick apart the day and put the pieces back together my way”. That, essentially, sums up at least one aspect of all art creation. Making order out of chaos.

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pacing around my studio, directly challenged by the work. It will be staring at me, mocking me, and taunting me with it’s incompleteness. Out of frustration I’ll glue something somewhere, or add a large area of paint, as an act of retaliation to show the work who’s boss. It’s surprising how many times this yields an interesting result, and one that is exactly what the artwork needed.

My process usually begins with me sitting at my work area with my stack of works in progress. I try to work on multiple things at once. Typically I have between 2040 works going simultaneously. I’ll stare at one, see if I can tell what it needs, and if I can’t figure it out I’ll put it aside and move on to the next one, and so on until I see a question I can answer. Often times I’ll find myself

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already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article has at once captured our attention of your insightful inquiry into the nature of mind is the way you have provided the visual results of your artistic exploration with such autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through your usual process and set up, would tell us how do you select the subjects for your artworks?

I look at everything as being a reaction to something. It’s like a dialog between you and your work. So in regards to there being a central idea, I think “reaction” would be the common thread. Much of the work is reacting to the materials, regardless of what they are. The limitations presented by the materials guide the questions you ask the work, and that the work asks you. That, however, is part of the process rather than the product.

I select the subjects or topics both inductively and deductively. I have a large collection of old books and magazines, so inductively, occasionally I’ll find an image

The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have

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I want to use and then build something around it, either as the focus to the piece or some necessary element. Conversely, and deductively, I’ll look at an in progress work, and then look for something that it needs.

your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a texture? I’ve been drawn to the same color palette for a while now, but I don’t believe there is anything behind it. I imagine my tastes will gradually transition, but for now, when I look at something I’m working on, and I determine it needs color, I tend to stay within the same palette. I have recently discovered my old Coloraid set from college, and I intend to work with colors and shades of colors that I do not typically work with. But again, it depends on the need of the specific artwork.

However, I try not to put too much conscious thought into it. The conscious thought is there, but not dwelled upon. An example is as follows: I showed someone a collage I made and they asked why I put a particular image where I placed it. I responded that I liked the way it looked there, or that’s what the piece needed. They replied that they thought there would be more behind it. I then explained that the shape of the image referenced another shape in the piece, and the colors offset this or that. These were the reasons why I liked the way they looked there. 4) Your artworks address the viewers to explore the interplay between what does exist and what can potentially exist: while referring to reality, your artworks convey such captivating abstract feeling: how do you view the relationship between reality and imagination playing within your works?

My psychological makeup, I would say, affects my color choice inasmuch as it affects what I’m working on. All of the choices I make are coming from the specific state of mind in that moment, so while the choice may not be obvious or apparent, it is most likely there, lurking in the shadows. I taught a workshop to fellow art teachers about my collage process, specifically in regards to my practice of “rage collaging”. Dealing with creative frustrations - writers block (the art version), lack of motivation, lack of ideas, etc - by letting it boil over. Applying that rage to my usual way of working, working on multiple pieces at a time, reacting to the work, directs your choices and the time it takes to make those choices. It’s a further way to make the artwork less precious. Being afraid to ruin something can make an artwork that had potential to be something great become mediocre. When one is operating from a rage center, one is typically less concerned with ruining the artwork, or worrying about the artwork’s feelings.

Without a foundation in reality the imagination aspect would be lost and floating in space. Reality is the grid. You can choose to work on the grid or off the grid, but both of those choices are influenced by the existence of the grid. The grid creates a baseline of facts to react to, and work with or against. Additionally, juxtaposition tends to have less meaning without the foundation of the grid. If there is no agreed upon “reality”, then images presented in contrast to that will end up being less impactful.

As for developing a visual texture, that, again, comes from what the piece needs. When everything is firing and, creatively, things are happening, it’s like I’m scrambling to keep up, and that the works are creating themselves. I’m just following behind them, watching.

In terms of the grid, and use of people for example, you can play upon the viewers knowledge and expectations of people, and thus when you place that person in a different context, or amidst pure abstraction, you can create a narrative, or narrative tension based on that disparity.

Rather than attempting to establish any univocal sense, you seem to urge the viewers to elaborate personal associations: would you tell us how much important is for you that the spectatorship rethink the concepts you convey in your pieces, elaborating personal meanings?

Creating pure abstraction is one thing and decontextualized abstraction involves rearranging elements to create something new. But those elements provide a framework for reaction.

I believe it is of the utmost importance, in order to understand my work, for the viewer to bring their own meanings to the artwork. There are some “universal” symbols, but by and large they have been taught to us. So based on that everything is subjective, and although certain imagery carries certain weight and ideas within themselves, it is the viewer that gives those images or

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances of red that marks out surface and go to space: however, other works as chicago flag shows that vivacious tones are not strictly indispensable to create tension and dynamics. How did you come about settling on your color palette? And how much does

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ideas power. A gun, for example, carries a tremendous weight in terms of inherent meaning. If you have seen a gun, or a movie with a gun in it, or exist in the world in 2018, you are aware of what a gun can, and will, do. But each person has a different relationship to that image, or that concept, and that nuance is where everything happens.

the moment because they tend to elicit specific preconceived notions. Take Tom Cruise for example. In the movie War of the Worlds he played a construction worker, specifically a crane operator. But he wasn’t a crane operator, he was Tom Cruise. The concept of “Tom Cruise” overshadows who he is supposed to be. However, one can use the image of a recognizable person for the strength possessed by their recognizability.

Additionally, I believe in playing with the narrative power of juxtaposition, and the viewer imposing their interpretation into that story. An image of a person is a story in and of itself - who is that person and what are they doing? That’s the narrative framework, but the viewer is the one who tells the story.

The role of art in the present could not be more important. Art is the medicine. Art can help you understand what is happening. The world can be a sad and scary place, and art helps provide the framework for knowing how to deal with it. I’m not saying that art is the answer to everything, because I believe the answer doesn’t matter. I mean it does matter, but it’s not the most important part. The question is the most important part, and art helps you find the right questions to ask.

One of my biggest influences are the Stenberg brothers Russian avant garde film posters. Everything about them is amazing. The bold blocks of colors. The illogical textures. The narrative it created was amazing because it was all in my head. The posters would have scenes from a movie that told, abstractly and conceptually, a story. All the words on the posters were in a language I couldn't understand, so I was able to appreciate the letters for their typographical qualities. I appreciated that I didn’t know what it meant, or what was happening in the poster, but I knew it meant something, and that was enough. Even if my artwork isn’t telling a specific story, it’s still telling a story, and that story means something, in an abstract way.

Your collages create new narratives by placing different materials to address the viewers to question the boundaries of the image: how do you conceive the visual unity of your artworks? And how much importance do historical elements of the material you include in your collages play in your work? The historical context, or the symbolic strength, of the images that I use is very important. When using an image that has its own weight and meritt, one gets to trade on the strength of that image. You get to borrow from the power that’s already there. That being said, sometimes the image is selected based on the color, or the lines, or the texture of the paper, or the natural damage present in an old magazine. Sometimes the context is accidental, or an afterthought. The found images can be looked at on a superficial level - what you see, the color, what the image is of, or they can be looked at more deeply - what the images mean, both to the individual, or in a larger societal context.

Art itself could be considered a rebellious act in our everchanging still conformist societies: Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in. It depends on the political system you’re living under". Not to mention that almost everything, ranging from Caravaggio's Inspiration of Saint Matthew to Joep van Lieshout's works, could be considered political, do you think that your works is political, in a certain sense? what could be in your opinion the role of Art in the contemporary age?

Visual unity is achieved through balancing the equation. The artwork is a problem to solve. It needs something, and it is the job of the artist to figure out what is needed. There will be a space on the work where it is asking a question. You have to do your best to answer it. If it leads to more questions then you answer them too. You do this until there are no more questions, or until it’s a draw.

Art made during political times is inherently political, as it is invariably a byproduct of those times. Art is not made in a vacuum, and as such it comprised, either directly or indirectly, from the byproduct of the atmosphere. Even if something is specifically apolitical, it still becomes political by omission. The negative space created by that omission draws attention to that which is missing. In that regard, personally I try to avoid using recognizable people. They can take you out of

Besides producing the interesting works that our readers have admired in these pages, you currently

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teach at the Baltimore County Public School: how much does this experience inform your vision about Art? And in particular, did you ever get inspired from your students?

all the assignments I give the students so I get to explore media that the students are using. This can be the catalyst for change. I also get to teach things that I’m interested in and excited about. There have been times when I’ve come up with an idea of what to teach, but then when I started to do the project I realized it was boring and I didn’t want to do it. If I

Presently I am extremely influenced by both my students and the teaching experience in general. I do

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don’t want to do it, how can I in good conscience have my students do it? So I get to feel out new units based around what I’m excited about making. Additionally it’s amazingly beneficial to be in an environment that fosters creativity and creative thinking. It’s never boring, and if it starts to become boring, it’s time to change how you do it.

Educational theorist John Dewy put forth that to truly understand something you have to teach it. Recontextualizing information to make it presentable to someone else causes one to think deeper about the thing. Finding a way for someone to understand what you are explaining can cause you to understand

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what you are saying more comprehensively. A lot of times we get stuck in our ways. We have been doing something one way for so long it’s like it’s the only way. But when you’re dealing with other people with their own strengths and weaknesses, it forces you to get creative. There are many ways to reach the same goal, and if you only always take one way to get to

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that goal, you may be missing out on other interesting ideas. One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation

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readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?

Presently I have around 40 pieces in progress that I’m working on. I don’t have any specific thoughts about the evolution of my work, but I hope to be open to new ideas and new directions to avoid falling into a repeatable routine or pattern, and thus leading to choices that are dogmatic, rather than in the best interests of the artwork. I post my work on instagram fairly consistently, as I appreciate the visually communicative nature of the app. My instagram nom de guerre is dot_org.

I actively try to not consider the audience at all. It changes it. The greatest success I’ve had, in terms of artistic creation, are things where I tell myself I won’t show it to anyone. It’s too personal, it’s not relatable. Eventually I will show it to someone, and the fact that it’s personal is what makes it so relatable. It's not about a general thing, it’s an example of something, and through the details of that example, one is able to convey more subtle information. I do my best to not share an in-progress work with someone, because by their observing it, it changes it. It’s like the thought experiment of Schrodinger’s Cat. The gist of it is there is a cat in the box and there is also poison in the box. There’s a 50/50 chance the cat ate the poison. Until you look in the box, the cat is both dead and alive - nothing is concrete yet. If you look in the box, and the cat is dead, then you’ve killed the cat, because it was alive (and dead) before you looked. A better example is with texting. Say you’re fighting with someone over text. Your phone is in your pocket. They text you back but you don’t take your phone out of your pocket. At that moment they are apologizing to you or they are yelling at you further. Until you look you are in this grey area. Once you look it becomes final. Other people looking at my work does that too. I see it through their eyes and therefore the choices I make could be colored by the fact that I’m trying to make the work what they want to see. This can be beneficial, however, because if you’re stuck on a piece and you show it to someone, it will change and maybe that change will let you know what direction to go in. One could get lost wondering about other people. If you try to please someone, at the expense of what you want, you’re not going to succeed. If you do what someone wants instead of what you want, there’s a chance that dishonesty will come out in the piece. That dishonesty keeps it from being what you think the other person wants, so they aren’t happy and neither are you. It’s best to just do what you want, people will like it or dislike it all the same, but at least you’re happy, and you’re being true to yourself.

Currently I am experimenting with using playing cards to direct my work. This is inspired by Jerry Gretzinger, whose work is too amazing and intricate to be briefly summed up here (watch “Jerry’s Map” on Vimeo, it is extraordinary), but he had customized a deck of playing cards to direct what he did. Here is a brief breakdown of my cards: Each card has 2 directions. The number tells which artwork you work on (5 means you pick the 5th one down in the pile). The other direction (the card suit) tells what you do to that artwork (use paint, use the life magazines in a certain stack). It’s a fascinating way to force you to make choices you didn’t know you wanted to make. A lot of time I’ll draw a card and I’ll get an artwork I hadn’t been thinking about working on. Then I’ll have to use a material I wasn’t necessarily thinking of using on the piece. I’m still working on it and fine tuning it, but so far it’s been really interesting. If I feel like working on a specific piece I won’t draw a card for it, I’ll just work on it. One future project involves a comic book I made with E.A. Henson a few years ago. He wrote the words and I created the artwork for it (it’s all mixed media collage). It took 3 years to create the single issue, from concept to finalization. It’s name is Every Murder Ever, and we are now trying to figure out what to do with it. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss, and show, my artwork. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the questions, and I found the self reflection gained in answering the questions helpful in terms of a creating a richer understanding of my own work. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Max. Finally, would you like to tell us

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Michael Brown Lives and works in the United Kingdom

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

itself which has inspired some of the way the neon’s I have worked on. Performance artist Marina Abromavic (born November 30, 1946) For the acts of endurance, immediacy and simplicity, making performance what it is today. Ai WeiWei: ( born 28th August 1957) Courage to take a strong political posture, enduring oppression and intimidation through trumped up charges by the Chinese state. Bas Jan Ader’: (born 19 April 1942 – disappeared 1975) for his un-edited intimate works; reminding me of the power in art which incorporates the personal. I shall also mention the experience of being ostracized and bullied; on request from an intimidating landlord; by friends and colleagues known for 3 years, at an artist community where I use do work because he wanted me to leave the Chocolate Factory Dalston. The same year blocked was withdrawn from a group show because the other artist thought it was inappropriate but had disguised it by mentioning ‘health and safety issues’. These incidents; although unpleasant; made me take a hard look at who inhabits my community and what is their ethos. It was double ironic considering the piece in the group show critiqued the very thing that materialized.

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Hello Mike and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. We would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background: are there any experiences that did particularly influence the way you currently conceive your works? My approach has been influenced by Duchamp ( 1887-1968 ) from his tactic of undefining and redefining the potential of art practice making a more democratic place for artists and art to exist. A Mile Long string (New York 1942) is of particular importance to me. The piece involves the tying of string around an exhibition obstructing the viewer from entry, critiquing the perceived purity of the gallery space. Blocked stands as a homage to the same device used in this work yet is decontextualized to reference recent political events. Other historical influences include Jenny Holzer; survival series (mid 80s) owing a motif in the series I would describe as self referential; work that turn on and negates

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about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit www.seemikebrown.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, are your works conceived and created gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

1 bis) And in particular, do you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work as an artist? I have not chosen a dominant idea that drives my practice. I would consider myself a generalist (that includes the personal), and if anything that has become the central idea. The current series I’m working with critiques recent political events such as Brexit (UK leaving the EU) and Trumpism, mental health and what you might phrase as social commentary.

I first started out as an abstract painter; I have taken the style with me and tried to incorporate the unpremeditated qualities into my conceptual practice. I feel that this process helps to give space around the work and, similar to good abstraction; assists with giving the works’ an open ended appeal. I would summarise my practice as gestural. The work is surrounded with anticipation, worked by confusion, complexities and dilemmas that usually suddenly conceived and worked up into form. I tend to function best in a cycle of inaction and action similar to cleansing flavors from the palette allowing one to more accurately evaluate a new course. I tend to choose to approach the work as questions. I do believe an object framed around a good question is more revealing than well formed answers and gives the spectator, however varied, room to respond.

Blocked: works as an obstruction and critiques the backlash to ‘post sovereign, post nation’ dogmatism encouraged by popular political persuasiveness of Donald Trump and Brexit. These political earthquakes have both used the device of othering to construct ideology to garner popularity. Blocked alludes to the rational becoming emotional-which is a dangerous mix that historically proved calamitous. Silver bullet critiques the rigid past of Modernist values and on the other hand ‘Relativity’ of ‘post modernism’ appears to have left a vacuum that ‘post truth’ has filled. I do hope there is an alternative to these polarities. I do appreciate the existential philosophy ideas of Sartre. It does inform my work as a model to live up too a life by design opposed to near impersonation of social norms. Dark Cloud goes some way to reference the challenge faced with a world that appears to be more homogenized, having a crushing effect on us all. Like Sartre said we have an imperative to resist an ever-present burden of social models and expectations and live up to the authenticity he invigorated.

For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Selfy Stick, an interesting project that our readers have already started to got to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your inquiry into the physical quality of a work of art is the way you provided the visual results of your analysis with autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through the genesis of Selfy Stick would you tell us your sources of inspiration?

Your works convey such coherent sense of unity, that rejects any conventional classification. Before starting to elaborate

My inspiration for selfy stick was varied. It has become a source of confusion and derision that

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kept me interested enough to attempt a mention. Its existence may or not amount to a modern cultural interface yet it might be a product generated around the culture surrounding facebook and instagram, disseminating the promise of the pictureperfect self in the perfect life. I tried; to raise selfy from low to fine art status; by casting in the medium of bronze; endeavoring to give witty historical importance. Being a close appropriation, I hope it gives some perspective, and provides some idea of the process behind selfies conception. Perhaps it’s a thing that is too new too make judgment (however hard not too.) nonetheless; it may not be too snobby in asking questions whether harmful or benign? But must confess I don’t have the answer. Wikipedia describes Adam Curtis (born 1955) director of Hypernormalisation, believes the Western World is pessimistic and inward looking with no vision of the future. Your works address the viewers to challenge their perceptual parmeters and allow an open reading, with a wide variety of associative possibilities. The power of visual arts in the contemporary age is enormous: at the same time, the role of the viewer’s disposition and attitude is equally important. Both our minds and our bodies need to actively participate in the experience of contemplating a piece of art: it demands your total attention and a particular kind of effort—it’s almost a commitment. What do you think about the role of the viewer? Are you particularly interested if you try to achieve to trigger the viewers' perception as starting point to urge them to elaborate personal interpretations? Considering the viewer is not a pre condition in the way I work. As mentioned previously I emphasize process over outcome: it’s the art

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in the art. I like to think my style is propositional or a starting point. Sentences that started but not necessarily finished It could explained as a device to reassure an open reading and a trick to hold the viewers curiosity for at least 10 seconds or above, which is one way I define success. You are a versatile artist and we have appreciated the way you explore expressive potential of such wide variety of materials: Michael Fried once stated that 'materials do not represent, signify, or allude to anything; they are what they are and nothing more.' What are the the properties that you search for in the materials that you combine? I have a similar view to Fried inasmuch as the materials used in my practice are either not worth noting or like Selfy is a parody of itself. My personal relationship to art is of detachment meaning art is a side effect or by product since the artists visual language (or any other) can never say precisely what is meant. Art itself could be considered a rebellious act in our everchanging still conformist societies. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in. It depends on the political system you’re living under". Not to mention that almost everything, ranging from Caravaggio's Inspiration of Saint Matthew to Joep van Lieshout's works, could be considered political, do you think that your works is political, in a certain sense? what could be in your opinion the role of Art in the contemporary age? Yes the last 3 to 4 years I have been responding to recent political events. I’ve been struck by the hardening of attitudes in the wave of populist right wing movements-

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for example: vilifying Mexicans in the US and E.U. migrants in the UK. It seems to have ignited historic Protectionist policy’s and identity politics on both political spectrums, that appear to say more about the “fearful” than the “feared”. Trump’s election and Brexit appear to be the work of manipulative nationalist politicians, encouraging populations to blame those below themselves e.g. migrants, for current social ills, instead of venting their frustration to those above. Ironically, these changes, has done little for those in need of help. By and large my work picks up, bit by bit on these issues. Block alludes to reactions for and against Post Nation, post sovereign politics. i.e. Trump’s wall of divide, vs. Berlin’s; wall representing a unity; EU free movement of peoples; and its lessening promised by Brexiteers in UK politics. Block is derived from all of this - you could call it a one man protest. Selfy is a slightly different tangent but to me at least is equally fascinating. It might be my British reserve, but I became confused with what I was seeing as an overt interest in the self image mediated through social media and the smart phone mounted on a Selfy stick. I first assumed I was becoming a bit of a curmudgeon, and its fair to say younger generations will always be, as I was, interested in how they look, yet; there seemed to be an interesting history supporting how we became obsessed with ourselves. Will Storr, Selfy 2017 has a number of interesting historical arguments. He claims in hunter gatherer tribes ,those individual’s acting heroically to protect and enhance the survival of that community, gained recognition and popularity. Therefore as humans we instinctively crave recognition and rejection is avoided at all

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costs to preserve our own survival. Darwin had commented that evolution of the social human was premised on recognition and imitation of valiant acts which led to early developments of morality. Historic idealization of the male form, seen in Ancient Greek sculpture, and aspiration for physical prowess, stimulated by the Olympic games, would suggest another milestone in the love of the self. The industrial revolution gold standard of the land property and labor owning ‘gent’ added to the notion of the virtuous human. Carl Rogers, humanistic psychology of the 60’s, encouraged self expression, that developed into the self esteem advocates, which became adopted by U.S. and U.K. governments, as a panacea for social ills. This progressed into social policy and education, that took the form of exaggerated praise whether deserved or not, in order to boost self esteem. It did not prove effective and led to a spike in Narcissism. Early Neo-liberal Libertarians such as Margaret Thatcher, “theres no such thing as society,” Reagan, and popular author Ayn Rand, all supported low regulation, laissezfair capitalism and encouraged those with the wherewithal to exponentially succeed in the game of capitalism, making some corporations and individuals richer than nation states. Notions peak self and its trajectory are critiqued in Selfy Stick As for the second part of the question; I have often wondered about the role of contemporary art today. I have my own approach, and excuse the avoidance of the question, but in a few words: be an artist in life not in the world. Despite to clear references to perceptual reality your visual vocabulary, as reveals the interesting Dark Cloud, has a very ambivalent quality. How do you view the

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concepts of the real and the imagined playing out within your works? How would you define the relationship between abstraction and representation in your practice? Yes moving in and out of abstraction and representation does inform my practice - but I seem to see this method in other work aswell. For example the shadows cast by cloud is a symbolic device suggesting something more than itself. It lends itself to unexplored connections or perhaps shadowy aspects of the unconscious. Block confronts the spectator to create a literal and metaphorical pause, and its extensive scale and surface, is a spectacle that I hope reveals its content. It is intended as a timely piece that is particularly relevant now. The exercise involved in Im so Embarrassed by my Tedious Life, Where do we go from here and Silver Bullett is about the pointed and the pointless: its another way towards representation and abstraction. Blocked inquires into the notions of gaze and perception: we daresay that this stimulating work is about the experiment to make visible volatile phenomena: would you say that the way you provide the transient with sense of permanence allows you to create materiality of the immaterial? I may have misunderstood but the gaze is secondary itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the perception that counts. My practice could be described as a confluence of the material and immaterial. However with Block: I cant recollect whether it was the material or immaterial that came first. Furthermore, the element of obstruction is intended as a spectacle that does not directly communicate but hope the viewer appreciates the decisiveness. Blockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ploy is in the act and gesture that conveys a conversation relating to volatile phenomena.

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Finally; Block is a piece that critiques the blockers and the blocked; I hope this has a universal appeal, relating to somewhere within us all. British multidisciplinary artist Angela Bulloch onced stated "that works of arts often continue to evolve after they have been realised, simply by the fact that they are conceived with an element of change, or an inherent potential for some kind of shift to occur". Do you think that the role of the artist has changed these days with the new global communications and the new sensibility created by new media? Yes I would agree with Angela; from the view that art is static, even in motion, but a work can be reframed by a change in context. I would guess that Angelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement, is indicating one way to judge the merits of a piece, by its ability to shift and change when we see and understand more. I would consider new media is having a dramatic effect on every aspect of life. I have come to understand the information age is a platform for ideas to proliferate with non dominating. For art you could describe its advantages as art being able to, in most cases occupy a space (whether physical or not) hence bypassing the galleries and museums, and taking back control. Amalia Ulmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instagram success, and appearance in Tate Modern London, points to the acknowledgement, that quality is not dependent, in the first instance, on the sanction of the gallery or institution. I particularly find the digital life useful, because I value a process over outcome, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hesitate to change work (in my possession) or titles as and when it suits. One of the hallmarks of your practice is the

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capability to create direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context? I try not to make work that is obtuse, which alienates others, even though I like work that is impossible! Nether the less the work requires a mini mental somersault, of proposing answers through the question. I would guess, if I was to give the answers, nobody would believe me anyway. From the point of view of my terms as a practitioner; I would say, in response to your question by saying; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not offering a preferred conversation in any particular setting. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Mike. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? I am planning a performance, involving walking across London, with a ball and chain tethered to my ankle. I would like to project the image of Block onto Trump tower, New York, and make declaratory neon billboards in large cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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Peripheral ARTeries meets

Tina Šulc Lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Tina Šulc is a freelance video artist from Slovenia, graduated in Visual Communications at the Faculty of Design in Ljubljana. She got the attention of international audience and festivals with her quite unique videos (Illusion of Hydrosphere, Messy Flow, Reconstruction of Space...). Her artwork is exhibited in galleries, museums, experimental film/video festivals, and as public art.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

you work as a videographer and cameraman, graphic designer, web creator and VJ: how do these experiences influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum dued to your Slovenian roots inform the way you relate yourself to art making?

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Hello Tina and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. We would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training, and after having graduated in Visual Communications at the Faculty of Design in Ljubljana, you nurtured your education with a specialization for video designer at Španski borci, Ljubljana. Moreover, SPECIAL ISSUE

I mostly work as videographer and cameraman, but being able to multitask sure helps in creating a more complete final work. I also really love VJ-ing, it's fun and playful. But my passion is video, the interest 66

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Tina Ĺ ulc

for videography goes back to my studies at the Faculty of design in Ljubljana, I was increasingly attracted to moving images, somehow I really find myself in video art. My intention is to give a better interpretation to the video

phenomenon itself, while developing my own visual communication and learning to look at the world and my own creation with more clarity, understanding, insight. The video image nowadays is not limited to the monitor, it also penetrates into the 69

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nearby space and walls. Regarding my roots I am influenced throughout the world, I travel a lot. I guess my Slovenian roots are mostly shown through my videos based on nature, that in Slovenia is very present, impressive, strong and pure. As a video artist I use nature imagery in a variety of forms for the purpose of expression. The results of your artistic inquiry convey coherent sense of unity that rejects any conventional classification. We would suggest to our readers that they visit http://www.tinyarvisuals.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work. While walking our readers through your process, can you tell them something about the evolution of your style? In particular, do you think that there's a central idea that connects all your works? In the beginning I was exploring the origin of the video, its means of expression, its role in the past and nowadays. I wanted to answer to myself what the moving image is, what is its language and its significance, how are the effects of video affected by the image, what is the response of the viewer and what SPECIAL ISSUE

is the interpretation of the video message. Regarding the idea in my work, when creating a video I simply try to answer some questions related 70

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to the subject I'm exploring, I explore and try to express my connection to the subject. I see my videos as new technological forms that in the reality

would be impossible to realize. Through artistic process I can step into a different realm, into deep insight and understanding of what I 71

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ILLUSION OF HYDROSPHERE

want to express. My expression is dreamy, hypnotic, trance like, but at the same time connected to the roots, I guess it all goes back to my SPECIAL ISSUE

passion for nature, anthropology, tribal rituals, dreams. The basic concept of my videos is mostly blending nature and reality through 72

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one could not even imagine. I like to surprise myself, and the viewer. For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Illusion of Hydrosphere, an extremely interesting video that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. When walking our readers through the genesis of Illusion of Hydrosphere would you shed light your usual process and set up? In particular, what did address you to inquire into the notion of sphere water? I've always felt close to water. Its liquidity calms me. I feel one with water. The floating illusion of images in the water has always intrigued my imagination. Whereever I go I always take video shots of the water. For this particular video the shots origin from the seaside at our family summer house in Croatia, that is right by the sea and offers majestic views. There is an unlimited imagination of water's massiveness. It is challenging to provide the reality of water, we do not fully know it, so we can only imagine its appearance, its moving. We also

the manipulation of images and illusion. I like mixing frames with the nature, creating an unexpected language of moving images that the 73

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know that sphere of water covers a huge part of our world, so large, that we can imagine it in the illusion of a moment as a separate sphere that is overwhelming the world, inside and outside. This can be felt as oneness, as I express in the Illusion of Hydrosphere. We like the way Illusion of Hydrosphere mixes glitters and rigorous geometry to trigger the spectatorship perceptual paramteres: rather than attempting to establish any univocal sense, you seem to urge the viewers to elaborate personal associations: when discussing about the role of randomness in your process, would you tell us how much important is for you that the spectatorship rethink the concepts you convey in your pieces, elaborating personal meanings? I think that the artist always subconsciously or knowingly chooses something that is foreign and domestic to him at the same time, regarding the field of his research, and that offers a strong motivation to find answers to his questions. The images of water SPECIAL ISSUE

flow into new shapes. The boundaries between concrete and abstract are merged. So I created the basis of the video with the atmospheric scenes of 74

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water. With the sphere I wanted to reveal my own vision of water in a new form. Also in a video work Reconstruction of Space you can

see new form of Space. The central point of this video work lies in my own vision of the Northern Lights and the Universe, which sometimes 75

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appears to be scary, foreign and mysterious. Sound plays a crucial role in Illusion of Hydrosphere and we have particularly appreciated the way it creates such an uncanny ambience in Reconstruction of Space: according to Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan there is a 'sense bias' that affects Western societies favoring visual logic, a shift that occurred with the advent of modern alphabet as the eye became more essential than ear. How do you see the relationship between sound and moving images? For me the video is more than just a medium of images. Sound plays a very important role. The combination of image and sound gives me endless possibilities of expression. With sound we can manipulate, just as we do with the image. With today's technology, the sound is practically present everywhere. The video viewer's relationship is therefore way more intimate than in many other forms of art. In my video works the audio part mostly supports images in a way that it increases their meaning, makes them authentic, real. I also SPECIAL ISSUE

like when the sound spreads through space and image. In the video work Reconstruction of Space I was intensifying the 76

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presentation of the vision by

images: impulsive and unstructured.

incorporating true sounds from the

These sounds were actually

Space. The sound of the video is as

acquired and generated from

expressive as its language of

transmitted signals and 77

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transformed into sound frequencies by converting electronic waves. At the same time, the observer has the opportunity to hear the voices of the Universe: the sounds of the SPECIAL ISSUE

planets of Uranus, Earth, Miranda and Saturn rings, which are unrealistic and terrifying at the local level.

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after they have been realised, simply by the fact that they are conceived with an element of change, or an inherent potential for some kind of shift to occur". Technology can be used to create innovative works, but innovation means not only to create works that haven't been seen before, but especially to recontextualize what already exists. Do you think that the role of artists has changed these days with the new global communications and the new sensibility created by new media? Moreover, how is in your opinion technology affecting the consumption of art? The artist have and always have had the power to say something, to show, to inspire, to change the world. Visual language is of a biggest importance ever. In today's world, which is visual more than ever, we are faced with countless opportunities to watch, read, interpret and respond to the images in other visual impressions around us. Rapid development of a world of mass media and new communication technologies gives the artists more power to express

Digital technologies are quite recurrent in your practice: multidisciplinary artist Angela Bulloch once remarked "that works of art often continue to evolve 79

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themselves and to reach out. Art is a very strong means of communication. It can hit you directly and on so many levels. With the new technologies an artist can reach further and wider, connect with like minded artists to make his idea stronger. It is all more connected and that is great. There is of course an overflow of art and information everywhere, we are bombed everyday with good and bad stuff, so personal selection is necessary. But it si important that you can reach to people and places, that in the era before global communications were impossible to reach. Over the years your work have been showcased in several occasions, including your recent participation with Messy Flow to "RetransmisiĂłnâ&#x20AC;?. One of the hallmarks of your work is its ability to create such direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception a SPECIAL ISSUE

crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language you use in a particular context? 80

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Yes, I like to seduce the audience.

into the new sphere of illusion. I

Actually with my own videos, I

offer the viewer a new perspective

wanted to redirect the viewer's

of observation. Traveling the view

attention and give him the insight

through unreachable images, 81

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shown by means of mixing images

everything is foreign to him, so he

and sounds, pulls the viewer into

has nothing else but to admire the

unfamiliar spheres. He can find

new world that has unfolded in

himself in a situation where

front of him.

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future projects? How do you see your work evolving? I am currently working on a visual poetry project 'Trees in life'. It is based on a poem by indian poet Kuzhur Wilson, that I discovered in Kerala. I felt a strong push to take it further and visualize it, it is inspiring. I played with the visualizations of poetry before, also in some music videos, mostly for my sister Katja Ĺ ulc, who is a singer. Beside from making art videos I would like also to start developing video projections for theatre and art performances. I like theatre and work there a lot, but never as a visual artist yet, I would like to explore that. And my last project for the near future is to make a large-scale video-art installation and exhibit it in a proper space. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Tina. Finally, would you like to tell us

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

readers something about your

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

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Peripheral ARTeries meets

Nitzan Satt Lives and works in Kibuts Yagur, Israel An architect and artist by training, tends to engage in architectural spaces and the human conflicts embodied in them. As someone who grow up and was educated on a Kibbutz, she testifies that the alternative definitions of space, in which the private is not private and the public is not public produce within her the need to deal with spatial conventions along side with a constant search after an intimate space. In her work, these are translated into installments that invade the exhibition space and cause physical disruptions and interruptions in the space. Familiar elements from the domestic sphere, such as verandas, windows, doors, panels and doorframes create complex mazes or aggressive buildings that tear apart and rebuild the balance of power in the space.

An interview by Dario Rutigiiano, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

Hello Nitzan and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid background and you hold a Masters degree in Art from the Haifa University and a first degree in architecture, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, in Jerusalem. How did these experiences influence the way you currently conceive your works? And in particular, how does the relationship between your cultural substratum due to your Israelian roots and the years that you spent in a Kibbutz inform the way you relate yourself to art making?

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Rejecting any conventional classification, architect and artist Nitzan Satt's work addresses the viewers to such multilayered visual and participative experience. As someone who grow up and was educated on a Kibbutz, in her works that we'll be discussing in the following pages she testifies that the alternative definitions of space, in which the private is not private and the public is not public produce. One of the most impressive aspects of Satt's work is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of questioning the notion of space, triggering the perceptual and cultural parameters: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating and multifaceted artistic production.

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My cultural background has a profound impact on my work. The fact that I and both my parent were born and raised on a Kibbutz is very

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influential in my search for identity and authenticity in both architecture and art. The Kibbutz is a unique way of life ( Short explanation about the Kibbutz life: The Kibbutzim started during the past century as communities who believed in significant sharing of property, an ideal that is presented in some research literature as utopic. During the first few dozens of years, the Kibbutz member had no private property, this included shared clothes, toys and living in shared rooms. The salary of a Kibbutz member would go to the Kibbutz and was equally distributed between the members ( it's like this to this day in the Kibbutz where I live). The value of family was not as important as the value of sharing. Children slept together in sleeping dorms, that were situated far away from the parents home, from the age of three weeks. During the night there was a person on duty who sat in a room and listened to what was going on in these "children's homes" through a loudspeaker, which was recording in the children's' shared sleeping dorms in real time, if there was a problem she would go there. The children only saw their parent for a few hours in the evenings and wore identical clothes). Throughout my childhood there was a feeling that if you step out of line, you will be ridiculed. It was best not to stand out, even if it was for good things. There was a great need to adjust, which is why the boundaries of the self and the feeling of authenticity fascinate me. The different definition of space in the Kibbutz ( the houses are not privately owned but rather are owned by the everybody whereas the public spaces are the commune's private property) also contributed to my continuous artistic search for the private place and its boundaries. Lack of privacy was very

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challenging for me. During my Architecture studies, I would joke that I am the only architect I knew who didn't believe in walls. This feeling came from the experience of information in the Kibbutz- information diffuses, everybody knows everything about you and it isn't clear how. My work is very influenced by the search for authenticity, uniqueness and identity. I left the Kibbutz for several years, in order to study art, and when I returned to it and its Kibbutz housesthe Kibbutz was a great help to me, and this is a side that is also very important to mention when we speak of community. In the porcelain installment, a kind of construction in the dimensions of a room, which is built of organs that resemble muscles and bones, and looks like a person who has deconstructed himself in order to create a place for himself within the space, I wanted to convey the feeling that the construction itself needs support and that it creates a definition of space, though it has no interior, the space is breached, it can be stared into, and fails to create protection. The installment "Joint showers" which was displayed in the Cabri Kibbutz gallery refers to the the joint showers where all of the girls of the same age group showered together. One day a boy, who was good with electronics, put a recording device in one of the showers and the girls' conversations were heard throughout the kibbutz. This act this completely diminished the separation between the interior and the exterior. There was no discernable difference between the private and the public. The interior and exterior were both conducted as public arenas, different but public. The installation is built of a ceremonial and dismantled process of stairs, railing, doorpost and a handle.

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The study of architecture also affected my work significantly. When I began exhibitioning I decided I would take upon myself the built environment as a prism through which to look at the world. A kind of scarlet thread or limitation through which I choose to constrain myself. The creation or lack of spatial identity fascinates me. Every issue is reflected in the built environment, human conflicts related to women's status,

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Jewish customs, aggressive municipal regulations, communal life in the Kibbutz, the cliche shape of courthouses and more. In general, the desire to be understood is very strong and in art I feel that I am inventing my own private language and miraculously it is understood by all. Your practice is marked out with a captivating multidisciplinary feature,

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revealing that you are a versatile artist capable of crossing from a media to another. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit https://www.nitzansatt.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you tell us what does draw you to such approach? What are the properties you are searching for in the materials that you include in your

materials? And in particular, when do you recognize that one of the mediums has exhausted it expressive potential to self? For me, searching for the right, precise material for each piece is the main part of the journey. My work process is very slow, which is why I like materials that allow me to simmer slowly, without feeling guilty. Often these are material that are difficult to

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with glue which was engineered in order to make dolls, and used it for 18 months, to

process and require "domestication". For instance, I found a type of porcelain mixed

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anatomy (muscles and bones) and is the size of a house. It is a cruel material, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

build a construction made of rods which seem to be taken from the language of

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very expensive, takes hours to process and cracks easily when burned. In order to burn it I cut my home oven and built 2 Meter long rails that go through the holes on either side of the oven. But, I received a fascinating material, it "tans" in the oven and has the look and feel of a human body. In the veranda installment, which is called " How to draw an ideal" the search for materials, was a large part of the work in a different way. In this piece I re-created the veranda which became a symbol of cooperative living at beginning of the communal life in the Kibbutz. Firstly I studied the tiles with which they built in those days, we travelled all over the country to look for the specific tile which was imported from Italy during the 1940's. The search in itself was, for me, a substantial part of the piece. In general, I find it very interesting to take a material from one world of content and move it to the world of contemporary art, like using arts and crafts materials or building materials and finding an alternative way to express myself through them.

Two years ago I joined a group of Arab and Jewish architects and planners. Together we went on journey, getting to know the opponents' narrative. It was very difficult for each of the groups to accept the injustices caused by their own group, even more than accepting the personal injustices or mistakes they had made personally. But, in my opinion, without such acceptance there is no possibility of change. That is how I became close to the subject, but the inspiration for the piece 'Events of forgetfulness" was an article I came across which examined the collective memory and the awareness to the suffering of others as a psycho-analytical process of public suppression. The article inspected different elements, for example, Arab names which have been erased through much effort from the public spaces and maps, and are now returning and arising in the people's spoken language. It was fascinating. "The silence speaks: the suppression of the Palestinian Nakba and its return to Israeli cultureâ&#x20AC;? By Efrat Even Tzur

For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Events of forgetfulness, an interesting work that our readers have already started to got to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your inquiry into the relationship between in architectural spaces and the human conflicts embodied in them is the way you provided the visual results of your analysis with autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through the genesis of Events of forgetfulness would you tell us your sources of inspiration?

The plastic embossments I created which were inspired by the article, related to the subject of parks and groves in Israel, which were resurrected on abandoned Palestinian villages in order to cover up the traces of the war. Part of the act of hiding the ruins was natural, I suppose, and was intended to allow the building of a new nation. But, nowadays, it is extremely important to flood this information. (The historical information is also taken from Noga Kadman's research "On the sides of the roads and the margins of consciousness"). In my piece I created two plastic

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embossments which examine the same place- from above and from the side. in the side view (cut)- it is possible to see that the picnic table hides a huge water hole beneath it and that the table is hanging by a thread and is unstable. The picnic table is an iconic symbol, recognized with the Zionist company Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keren Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Kayemet' who is responsible for most of the lands in the country; the parks and planted grove that are full of this type of picnic table. From above- you can see that it is actually a great row of familial picnic tables, arranged sequentially, one after the other, the archaeologically known water hole, begins to be received as an active rift. it is unclear whether the picnic tables, organized in endless rows, are defining a space and or creating an established obstruction.There is something about the great throngs of familial picnic tables that gives me the feeling of danger, forceful and disturbing fascism. The embossments are made of a three dimensional sketch on which a thin piece of plastic was laid, and to which high heat and heavy pressure were applied, so that the material itself cooperates with the camouflage and creates unification. The plastic's esthetic looks new and alluring but one must make an effort in order to understand the layers of information contained in it. Events of forgetfulness addresses the viewers to challenge their perceptual parameters and allow an open reading, with a wide variety of associative possibilities. The power of visual arts in the contemporary age is enormous: at the same time, the role of the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disposition and attitude is equally

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important. Both our minds and our bodies need to actively participate in the experience of contemplating a piece of art: it demands your total attention and a particular kind of effort—it’s almost a commitment. What do you think about the role of the viewer? Are you particularly interested if you try to achieve to trigger the viewer's' perception as starting point to urge them to elaborate personal interpretations?

feeling of movement and the overriding of the ruins beneath it. In this installation, I built a two dimensional construction which is hung directly above the spectators head, it’s unclear whether the construction refers to a wall or to a bow of a ship, When the spectator goes into the space, through a wide glass door, he doesn't see the object hanging above his head- he feels it as soon as he walks underneath it. To me, the instinctive physical reaction was very interesting, I had read about this feeling in a book written by a blind man, he described how he feels in his body the presence of unusual objects in the built space around him- he doesn't see it but rather, he feels it in his body- I was searching for that physical instinct of recoiling. The piece was hung in a diagonal angle to the stairs, so that if you concentrate on the steep stairs, without noticing, when you reach the top of the staircase you will find that the installation is once again hanging above your head. The installation cynically refers to to the cliche "Justice above all". That intuitive physical understanding of the absurd, seemed very powerful to me. But, sometimes I go through a long journey of developing a piece and then standstill for a moment, in the spectators place, and see that it is obvious. It's a love-hate relationship :-)

I, as a spectator, am impressed by art that activates my intellect as well as my emotion, when something in that circle closes I’m overwhelmed. As an artist, I’m interested in experiencing different types of relationships with the spectator, there are pieces like "Events of forgetfulness" which I perceive as a type of riddle, it seems to me that the spectator experiences them on a more intellectual level, and there are other pieces I created in which I am more interested in the physical experience the spectator undergoes, such as the "The captain's appellate" which was exhibited in the "Beit Hagefen" gallery. This piece deals with idiomatic phrases, language cliches that are embedded as is, in architecture. For example, in Israel there are quite a few courthouses that are built containing a wing with transparent walls in order to express the "transparency of the law". In the Haifa courthouse such a wall was built in a blatant and unware manner, to look like a transparent bow of a ship, referring to the nearby sea . This bow towers above the ruins of an Arab village which has remained abandoned since the war. The shape of the bow further enhances the

Your works are pervaded with evocative elements and reminders to the domestic sphere, such as verandas, windows, doors, panels and doorframes: we daresay that your practice could be considered the exploration of the interstitial point between the private and the private: German multidisciplinary artist Thomas

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Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how would you consider the role of symbols within your work as an artist? I completely agree with the sentence, it seems to me that, it’s a natural continuation of the discussion in the previous questions. I don’t use symbols much, occasionally physical place that have become charged- turn into symbols themselves. I am very interested in the process of abstractions ideas undergo when they move into an architectural environment, for example, in the exhibition I am currently working on for the Um El Fahem gallery ( a unique gallery in an Israeli Arab city) deals with the question how the hegemony in Israel plans the built environments for the disadvantaged groups. This is a fascinating process which often uses the disadvantaged group's cultural symbols, and by doing so flattens and fixates them. Even when the intentions are good, the result is often problematic. You are also curator of the Munio Vinov Gitai Museum of Architecture: how does this experience affect your creative process? In particular, how do you consider the relationship between contemporary scene and your work as an artist? I think, nowadays there’s a fascinating relationship between architecture and contemporary art. At the moment there are (in Israel) several very interesting

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Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Nitzan. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

exhibitions that deal with the issue of identity through the place’s architecture. The Petach Tikva gallery is exhibiting Ela Litvitz's project "The leap forward" (curated by Drori Gur Aryeh and Or Tshuva) which is constructed of a wall from a house built in a settlement that was later returned to Egyptian sovereignty, it was kept all these years, and it’s currently being presented at the museum. At the Dvir gallery, the artist Simon Fujiwara constructed a full size model of the Anne Frank house. I find the use of architecture in order to criticize culture fascinating, as to your question I believe that there's great importance in raising matters that are unique to Israel, especially in the current public atmosphere.

The project I’m currently working on, which will be presented at the end of 2018, is a community project, pupils of mine who come from from two nearby Bedouin towns are involved in the installations I’m building. I’ve become very attached to the children and the team, and the encounter was life changing for me, which is quite surprising considering they are neighbours just a few minutes away. We addressed the issue of cloaked contents in the study curriculum the Ministry of Education requires they learn by the Ministry of Education, as well as the matter of American disciplining of the female body mixing with modest Bedouin regimentation of the body and many more issues.

The Architecture museum decided in advance that there are several architectural areas that haven’t been dealt with sufficiently in Israel, therefore the exhibitions dealt mainly with the history and politics of architecture and less with experimental or conceptual expression, that are on the periphery of the medium. The architecture museum held exhibitions of vernacular architecture and what can be learned from it today, an exhibition of ecological architecture in Israel, we also dealt with the lack of public residential building and other issues. These issues are also important to the discourse but brought on considerable separation between my role as a curator and work as an artist . During the past year I've finished my role as curator there, I am still responsible for some of the museum's educational activities but I will be concluding that role at the end of next year.

I think, next year I’ll return to the study benches and turn to research. Up to now, every exhibition I created went hand in hand with several months of specific research, but I feel the need delve into issues and have the knowledge accumulate to one continuous process from which, I assume, a different creation will develop. I would be happy to keep you posted.

An interview by Dario Rutigiiano, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator peripheral.arteries@europe.com

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Darrell Black Lives and works in Frankfurt , Germany Art transcends consumerism; it asks and demands more of it's participants. This is why we enjoy this particular piece because it takes a space normally reserved for capitalism displayed in the form of product placement and simply replaces it with something meant to be admired primarily for it's creativity. The agenda here is the pitch of transforming the environment into something more aspirational than the next big car or brand of phone, more inspirational than creating desire for a burger or drink; it is one of celebrating art as a medium of aesthetic, as a tool that journeys beyond the medium of purchase and inspires one into evolving their own creativity. Art is functional, it shapes a landscape and spreads messages. Too long has it been confined to galleries, back alleys, interspersed installations; it should be the dominant feature of any town, city or occupied space, showcasing the visions and creativity of as many people as possible and inspiring it's inhabitants to do the same for themselves. Arts dominance should be used to break down and transform societies norms of what is acceptable behaviour to encourage greater diversity of expression and therefore freedom of thought and thus intelligence in it's individuals. It should encourage this freedom in the context of behaviour not deliberately harmful to anybody. In many ways the piece by Definism achieves that. http://www.artradio.tv/definism/ Darrell Black a.k.a artradio.tv's Definism is a long time supporter of artradio.tv being one of our first artists to join the platform and we have been overjoyed to watch his projects hit places that make such an impact. This is a lavish project which shows the power and beauty of using the public space to spread a personal vision, an ideal and an idea which isn't inherently and purely commercial. It is a collaboration and an acknowledgement that advertising itself can transcend the product. It is a step in the right direction and the means and methods through which Darrell accomplished this vision of projecting love and sacrifice are well respected by the team here at artradio.tv. Indeed we have a great respect for Definism's work as a whole and are simply happy to watch him continue to work and put his heart and soul into spreading his creative vision with the world and everybody.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

geometry, Darrell Black's work triggers both the perceptual parameters and the cultural ones of her audience, that he walk through a captivaing visual experience. His body of works that we'll be discussing in the following pages she

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Rich with evokative symbolism and marked out with rigorous sense of

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accomplishes the difficult task of motivating the spectatorship imagination to elaborate personal interpretation: one of the most important aspect of Black's pratice it's the way it show that Art transcends consumerism and that it asks and demands more of it's participants: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to his stimulating and multifaceted artistic production.

your not the only expat living in Germany, the second thing you quickly find out, many older Germans, really appreciate Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts during World War 2 delivering food and medical supplies to German civilians, this immersion of myself and German culture has helped me develop an art form from a whole new perspective in a visual language that is universal to all. This method of creating artwork appealing to everyone has also helped me steer clear from creating artwork that is culturally biased and stereotypical, this greater awareness and understanding that people are the same, helped me develop an art style that addresses the politics used to keep many people apart.

Hello Darrell and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. Are there any experiences that did particularly influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works? And in particular, how does the relationship between your cultural substratum dued to your American roots and your current life in Germany inform the way you relate yourself to art?

The results of your artistic inquiry convey such a coherent sense of unity: before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit https://darrellblack.pixels.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: in the meanwhilw, would you walk our readers through your process and setup? In particular, could you elaborate a bit about the concept of Definism?

My creative experiences started in early childhood, I used many found objects at home to build my creations, many of the materials used for example: kitchen utensils, shoe lace and old transistors all assembled together creating futuristic cites rooted in science fiction. This early childhood experience of combining objects together has carried itself over into my adult life. Being an American living and working in Germany for 25years has been a unique and fulfilling experience, the very first thing you learn

Well the concept of Definism, was originally intended to be a response to Cubsim with its multi dimensional forms, but Definism would go a step further

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creating 3 dimensional structure on a flat surface, instead Definism, ended up becoming the universal interpretation of an image not found in everyday reality but only viewed in the mindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye. Regardless of the artwork, every viewer sees the same thing, experiences the same emotion thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the creation of Definism a universal language for the masses. For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Leaning Tower of Bedlam and In search of Trilateration, a couple of interesting artworks that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: what has at once captured our attention of the way you have create such insightful combination between rigorous geometry and contemporary sensitiveness is the way you have provided the visual results of your analysis with autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through the genesis of Leaning Tower of Bedlam and In search of Trilateration, would you tell us how did you develope the initial ideas?

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The Leaning tower of Bedlam and In search of Trilateration Well both artworks are quite recent and began there journey as â&#x20AC;&#x153;What if Questions?â&#x20AC;? For example, what if their exist universal symbols that could answer every question and resolve every problem on earth, what would these symbols look like? Something never seen before perhaps? The symbols would have to correlate to an object with matching symbols, once these symbols are placed in the proper sequence logic only dictates their has to be a result which forms the basis for Trilateration, a road map taking us somewhere leading the viewer to a new direction of thought. The Leaning Tower Bedlam, started out as a place of beauty and wonder a magical place but in this situation the perception is not the reality and something goes terribly wrong and total chaos ensues casing the tower to sway. Your pratice is marked out with such a multidisciplinary feature and you work in a variety of formats that include paintings on canvas as well as wood and wall hanging sculpture. Moreover, you use unconventional materials as found objects in order to a sense

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of realism and presence in the artworks: what are the properties that you search

The objects incorporated into my

for in the materials that you include in

artworks are objects that I find

your artworks? Moreover, what does

interesting and unusual these objects

fascinate you of found objects?

range from a replica of a coat of arms to

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jewelry, anything that might have some

kind discarded by someone who no

personal history behind it, anything that

longer seen any value in that object and

can help continue the story. I think my

me rediscovering that same object

biggest fascination with found objects is

breathing new life into that item and

the fact that many items are one of a

creating a whole new propose and

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meaning through the power of art is a liberating feeling for me or any artist this is just another way to continue the pursuit of creativity.

that will one day make an unwitting contribution to my artwork. We like the way In Search Of Trilateration urges the viewers' power of imagination to elaborate personal interpretation: we daresay that rather to communicate univocal ideas, you seem to address the viewers to elaborate personal associations. How open would you like your works to be to be understood?

As you have remarked once, the main focus of your artworks is to transport viewers from the doldrums of their daily reality, to a visual world where images coexist in a alternate reality: how do you consider the relationship between direct experience that comes from perceptual reality and the realm of imagination? In particular, hw does everyday life's experience fuels your creative process?

You are correct in your assumption the artwork ask of its audience to form a personal association make your own connection I don’t want the viewer to think too much about the painting each artwork is like a performance on canvas everything is interacting for example colors with patterns size with shape etc.so you shouldn’t worry so much about what the artist was trying to say with the picture that’s really unimportant what’s much more significant is what you the viewer takes away from the image so I would say my artworks are very open they were created for everyone interested in art not just for a private audience each artwork is a personal journey of discovery what you find or don’t find in the picture is completely up to you.

My daily life consist of many experiences some profound and so remarkable but in all fairness everyone pretty much has some sort of seismic shift in their lives to a more or lesser degree and there are other people who’s lives go by without as much as a bump in the road all in life just seems so ordinary, in this instant all artists myself included string creativity together like a string of pearls all life experiences good and bad happy and sad all events are used to create artwork for example my images are never rooted in the present they come from every period in my life history something I might have seen someone I talked to an emotion I might have experienced all of that makes up the work of art its all stored up memories and experiences

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of the intense tones of The Spirit of

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Circumnavigating and Leaning Tower of Bedlam create tension and dynamics. How did you come about settling on your color palette? And how much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develope a painting’s texture? Acrylic paint has always been my paint of choice when I need to buy materials I start by first opening up the tubes of paint looking at the vibrancy of color so my color palette consist of an array of colors that I just love to experiment with so I would say this is how I get the deep rich colors in my artwork through this process. The role of my own personal psychology begins during the material collecting process for example when buying paints, canvas or brushes I’m already creating in my mind before I ever work on the canvas once I get to the studio I change clothes and get to work I have tv and the radio on simultaneously and I begin creating the outline or shell of the painting first then I start with color which is filled with my emotional content meaning how I’m feeling at the time determines the placement of color on the canvas Using all colors I lay down a base line then I start to lay color on top of color to slowly build up the image mixing and matching until the image is a direct

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reflection of my emotional state giving the finished picture a feeling of realism.

your artistic abilities and instinct so when your done with the outline of the artwork step back you see the beginning of something, so to answer your question there are two ways to approach this when creating the outline of any artwork for example a face you start by following the parameters of creating you design a face but the end result will always be a surprise on the canvas it will be a face but like no face you could imagine or thought would be possible so you can start out with an image or idea in mind but during the

How much importance does play spontaneity in your work? Do you conceive you works instinctively or do you methodically elaborate your pieces? Spontaneity plays a huge role in the creation of any artwork to begin with the mind of the artist should be free of unwanted thoughts and as you start to create the painting your not really sure where the idea is going but you trust in

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creation process you lose control and become detached from the creation you

regain control over the artwork when adding and choosing your color palette.

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Your artworks have often evokative titles, as The Rise Of Napoleonic Leadership: how do you go about naming your work? Is particulalry important for you to tell something that might walk the viewers through their visual experience?

your thoughts, Darrell. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? I have no expectations of the audience my artwork is therapeutic a sense of fulfillment for me my feelings openly expressed on canvas, I don’t have any one person or place in mind when creating artwork the creative process is very individual I make paintings full of emotional content I present the artwork to the public with the hope they also can relate to the painting, understand the message but each artwork starts off as a very personal journey a mutual understanding between me and the art I never think about the reaction of the viewer or audience I think creating simply based on public reaction is very phony its not being true to yourself or craft if the audience likes the finished artwork for me that’s a real bonus but the main goal of creativity is being honest with yourself expressing your feelings and thoughts the audience role is to view the artwork and accept or reject the image that’s all, artwork is a representation of who we are as human beings and the possibilities life has to offer all of us.

For me as a visual artist and art patron I like artwork with titles speaking about my own work I like to pick artwork titles that convey the overall meaning to me and everyone else in the same manner I always look for the universal message in the artwork. In my opinion the title gives the viewer a starting point I believe this to be necessary since its virtually impossible to know what the artist was thinking when he or she created the work of art there might be clues to how the artist was feeling based on the choice of colors used but the mental state of the artist can never be assessed this is why titles are so important to help better understand the artwork as it was meant to be understood . But please don’t take my viewpoint the wrong way many of my heroes of the art world for example ‘’Basquiat, Rothko and De kooning’’ had some artworks untitled there is nothing wrong with that it just makes more work for the viewer to understand what the artist was trying to say and in my opinion art shouldn’t be a thesis, they should be things of beauty or wonder that is easily understood

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing

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Adaya Pilo Lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel

Adaya Pilo's work conveys both refined figurative representation and subtle abstraction. In the body of works that we'll be discussing in the following pages, she effectively challenges the relationship between the viewers' perceptual parameters and their cultural substratum, offering them a multilayered aesthetic experience. One of the most impressive aspects of Pilo's work is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of celebrating the beauty of nature: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating and multifaceted artistic production. https://www.facebook.com/ADAYAPILOART/

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

self, and my son editing movies with his friends on his own computer. After that, I went to learn editing, during the time I developed myself, and I did documentary movies.

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Hello Adaya and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: before starting to elaborate about your artistic production would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any particular experiences that particularly influenced your evolution as a creative?

CREATOR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZHJ7pP81A The sight of the great being https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ko0zPzRqY k?v=6ko0zPzRqYk Because I live in an area that we have so much wars , I am sure that I am a completely difrent person and artist, then if I was live in another place, that have the only normal problems of living.

The most important thing happened, before I was born Once upone a time in old Jerusalem, a city full with mystical beliefs, an old women told my young mum, that she would have a daughter who ...creator, and will have blue eyes. It left me no other choice because I born with blue eyes... :) But my dear parents did the right thing, they educated and exposed me to do many kind of creations, and encouraged an independent way of thinking. The second thing that was inspiriting me as a creator was, that I saw my children film them

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I guided meeting betwin children and artis. From both sides Israely and Palastinen .I did it with many association That soport Peace . We try to connected with the help of Art , and to deal with our fears one from the other. On that time my mother dead and I did these works In my art, I

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expres my thinking and wondering about what is the mening of ” TO BE “

“capture in a box” that I love and intrest me . my camera is in my hand bag . If they are peaple that I like to video I always ask their permission.

The results of your artistic inquiry into the relationship between emotions and experiences convey together a coherent sense of unity, that rejects any conventional classification. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit https://www.facebook.com/adaya.pilo.52/phot os_all in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: would you tell us something about your usual set up and process? How does each piece come to life?

The works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your artistic research is the way you provided the visual results of your inquiry into the beauty of nature with autonomous aesthetics: do you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work as an artist? In particular, how do you select your subjects?

Thank you for seen the unity in my work. I hope that my art will have it My creation came from a passion to paint; a strong feelling that I can't resist it. Durind the last 4 years, I focus my self to do figurative art . May be to put more control in the proses in my life . The subject has to be something that I know , becuase the whole prossce can take a long time. Therefore, I must have passion and interest that will keep me stir.

Because I am an “eyes artist” not a “words artist”. I folow difrent subjects . about the autonomous aesthetics .I love the freedom of art, but they shuld stay as an art. Not as a model for life. Life are huge more then enyone can define. Even philosophers that try to explain life. They always remain another formula of something very limited,

.usually Iuse photo if I can't sit in front of the object . Or if the photo was very interesting for me to go on and create more from it.

I wish that peaple will know that they are just one of infinity possibilities. And it is o.k to change, but not to force one thing on evry one . Artist and all peaple are not machines. Figurative and Clasic art are hard to be done . I am aware that it is not easy for evry artist, but he still can be amazing artist. I choose the subjects that capture my eyes with it's inside beauty, beauty for me is something real thing that exist.I see it. I also must have some memory about my subjects, a stories or song some of my painting talk about reletionship . And the place of the one indevidoal in the big power of life . I draw a lot of drawings,it help me with the composition, and it helps me to

After I have made a lot of photographs, I choose the best ,I change the composition and I desided the size of the wood . I grund the wood on tradition way, and I paint The whole work of the colours comes from my memory, I ofthen go to see the original colour of the sea; or the object that I paint , looking for the things that I want to explore, and to do it in my studio. I normaly always take my video camera with me, when I go out of my city. I video without reason or plan . I react to things that I wish to

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understand the law of nature . what helps it to protect himself, how it is builds in order to survive.I find his rules of his exist . Because I always grow flowers, I humanization them. In my movies I must have many subject that achieve a willd perspective, about what I wish to understand. when I did it on nature I show many kineds of peaple that live in nature( fishermen, doctor, artist,land workers,religious ceremony...) but I focouse it on one country . When I did it on art . (music, writing,painting,art fight) I did it with one artist that do all those kinds of art. What significance have for you the colors that you use? Do you expect the viewers to react in a specific way? Are you particularly interested if you try to achieve to trigger the viewers' perception as starting point to urge them to elaborate personal interpretations? Colors are the best part that I love to do, it is the last part in the proses of painting and it take a lot of time to do I start with control the painting, and It is in a wird way tell me what to do. I decid to take the red color and the createn power push me to open the perple tube I go with it , this is the dialog between me and the unknown part ,that is called creation , that is why I try to know what I wish to do before I paint to control him, but it alwayes wins me, funny and exciting all the time I do not have any black paint at all .I don't buy this color. In muvies, the colores are very inportent to me, It is control the vewer the same as music does and lead their feeling to the essence of the sean .I have color corection and I change the lighting . (not the colors) Your works appeals us as conveying both references to reality and captivating abstract

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feeling. Do you paint your image from your imagination of from real life? I can do both kind of painting .and even if you see my painting is very well orgenize. It is becose I try to control it . Becose it is alwayes strong

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power that get control on the painting . And I “play” with him. And I love to play with it. That is the big fun .and a lot of amazing and exciting things I learn during the proses. In free drowing with pen and pecils I let myself go ,and the imagination cames out .I don't like to copy them

or to paint oil paintings like that . I whish to compose them together. the real and the dream will be the same . Not separate. Like we say “ live the dream “ or “your dream came true”

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We like the way your still life works celebrate

area where these apparently opposite elements

beauty of nature: despite the reminders to

could produce a proficient synergy?

traditional figurative approach, your works is marked out with a stimulating contemporary

All my life I did contemprery art, we born to it.

sensitiveness. Do you think that there's still a

funy that we could not choose it. on the last 4

contrast between Tradition and

years I start paint figurative , and I love what I

Contemporariness? Or there's an interstitial

found. but I am not totally folow their ruls I

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combine all the aspect that I love from modern. and with a camera and computer software's .

Art is so flexible, that you can merge parts of things together . And it still can be open to change and develop.we can Play only with some of the elements as the work for art ask for We are free to use the knowledge that we get from all the art experence that will bring a lot of beauty to our Art , that modern art left behind.

there is a big difrent between tradition and contemprary. they are not contrast, it is a developing of one from the other, I see it as a continued , modern use to talk against the ruols , but that is alwayes a prograss of growth.

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I see a lot of combine beautiful abstract and clasic figeres in the same paint . and beautiful abstract landscpe .It work splendid together .

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It can work even as ideal and Idea not just as a painting or sculptor when, artist what to give there art a glory of godes, they use the clasical

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elements. even at commercial they us it and in movies too

we can have a dialog between times too. We can paint the same subjects I have the bread, colors, flowers as they had 1000 years ago too

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When you paint the same thing as other did, there you can see the special in your oun identety. and the aspect of time and place . I don't like when peaple ask to separate and control art.

dramatic attestion, and this kind of painting can have that dip drama. How would you consider the relationship between nature and your work? Does everyday life's experience fuel you as a creative?

Those flowers :â&#x20AC;?Jack and Jill â&#x20AC;&#x153; named and have a sad love story betwin brother and sister. When I paint it , It needed a strong and

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The sea and the plants are the nature, that I use to have surround me, all my life. becuause I live

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in the big city. I have the filling that I need more of it. I am not a â&#x20AC;&#x153;nature childâ&#x20AC;? as I wish to be Nature in my art is open my pasebilety to talk about othere things , more then the subjects sea or flower.

of sand with wather. I did seria of umen figers from the sand I did a docomentary mouvie about the nature life that I see at my ture in Sri Lanka. They live in light jungles ,among munkeys and travling elephant . Amazing place to know and understand our conection between peaple and nature.

Before few years I use the sand, that I brought from Tel Aviv beach. as a under painting body, and later on it develop to freaze the muvment

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In my life I am afreid from the technology that

Do you like spontaneity? In particular, are you

destroy nature, I avoid to buy and belong to

ever surprised by the final result when you

operation that do this. I even don't have a car

complete your artworks?

of my own. I grow plants from seeds , and when they grow ,I give them to peaple free, to

I create spontanelty with my camera and my

encourage them to love and not forget nature

video,yes I love it. I can go and take

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video/picture freely evry were , I folow my

On this picture I fill it came , I look at this young

instinct . I can fill things before they happening

lady , during she go into the sea. it is a dialogue

, when I fill it I take my camera and preparing

that I know very well with the sea. Sudenly all

my self to let it came, and to capture it like a

the birds fly. I picture her befor they fly and I

hunter... then I shoot :) It always make me

finish after , I see thet accidentally the birds

wonder about so many things, that I do

made a shape of arch , Like a blessing , It give

whitout mind awareness .

me the ideas to create a painting about it all .

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It always remind me the thinking about “The decive moment “ of Henry Cartier Bresson, from this kind of thinking , I wonder : if this world is alredy programe ? ,and are we live inside a big programed world ?. “ The program of the creation”. I use to read and lern Physics , to know about the nature rules that surrounding us . I will never know the ,answer,

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but I can see it happened to me over and over again . In my painting I try to understand it and to show it. I was very surprised to see this painting when I finish it . It look like three dimensional work. and I hope to learn from it, for my next painting.

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One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception

as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context? I change the media not the languges. Becose each one of the media have another way of creation.

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Editing movies is the media that I aim my self to the most imbovement with the veiwer, it is very orgenize and very presice. Because their I must hold the hart of the viewer and control his filling ! I let my self change the languge of editting I have experience of more then 10 years and their are a lot of things not just one Specific

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languege. but I must fill it . If not â&#x20AC;Ś it won't work .My filing is the leading of it. It is a multi media creation, and I must be very aware to many thigs together. It is a very manipulative work . When I show my muvies at cinematheques, I meet the audience and we have a disction ,I

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lerned art , I listen to what they say. And it reflect me where I am . and what I wish to improve. But I am sure that my knolege in communication pass from my muvies to my paintings. But for or me painting have more freedom to create , I choose my language from my love and intrest as an art creation . Visual arts have a secret, the artist not always know, what his art will bring to the peaple, and when it will happen, I don't aim and consider popularety for my paintings. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Adaya. We are looking forward to know how you see your work evolving: would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? I am so much deep in the painting, I wish to improve it more. I wish to go to other countries to see and learn abut their life, It is a great inspiration too. I wish to have the abilety to do comunety art with othe artist as I did befor. I wish to do more doco muvies.I hope they will do the world a better place to live in. I

always ask them about things I wish to know as a creator. and we have a great convesation about the subject that the muvie is consider and provoke . I get a great feedback, they are not polite at all, so I get the truth answeres.

wish to show my Art and it will awake something in peaple hart , To love life. I have an unfinish deams that will never end . An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

When I paint only my children see my work during the prosess . Because they are creators too that

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

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Anett Udud Lives and works in Dublin, Ireland Art has always been one of the most important things in my life. I have been drawing and painting since I can remember, and three years ago I started experimenting with a camera and Photoshop as well, as I was looking for other, more effective ways to express myself. In my opinion my work can be described as conceptual fine art photography. In my free time, I like reading, so my images are often influenced by books I have read, mainly fairy tales and stories about fantasy and reality. I often look at paintings as well, to find inspiration, while creating my own pictures. I believe, looking at my work, the impact of this medium is apparent: my pictures are very “painterly”, the overall colour tone of them is highly manipulated, there are no real blacks or whites, the mid- tones are very dominant. I often add fog to my pictures in post-production, which helps me create a dream-like scene as most of the time I visualize ideas from my imagination. I think, in my case, in order to create a strong and effective image, post-production is vital. My images are always staged because I want to be in control of how my image will look like. I always use a model (or myself), but as I want people to be able to relate to my work, I often cover the face in some ways, indicating that the model is not as important as the message I want to convey.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

school, mainly because I had an amazing art teacher, who gave me all the help I needed to further develop my skills. Every Friday I attended an extra-curricular art group with my best friend, we usually stayed for hours after classes. Looking back now I am very grateful for those sessions, because without even realizing it they became the first step towards my future as an artist.

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Hello Anett and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: before starting to elaborate about your artistic production would you like to tell us something about your background? You started your artistic journey in Fine Art Photography as a self-taught artisti and you later did your photography studies in college in Ireland: how did this experience influnce your evolution as a visual artist? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum dued to the relationhip between your Hungarian roots and your current life in Ireland inform the way you relate yourself to art making?

During my eight years in primary school I regularly entered art competitions and I usually went home with an award. It was an amazing experience, mainly because it gave me confidence in myself and my work. I also had the chance to travel around Hungary and attend the award ceremonies, where I could meet with other artists and art curators, which was an amazing experience at such a young age (I was only 10-13 at the time).

First I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for having me here, it is an honour to be featured in Peripheral ARTeries. My name is Anett, I am 24 years old. I am originally from Hungary but I have been living in Ireland for 5 years now. Art has always been one of the most important things in my life. I have been drawing and painting since I can remember; I think the inspiration came from my grandmothers. Both of my grannies are very good at drawing and handicraft, their passion about art was a real encouragement to me to start drawing when I was little and it became a huge part of my life.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy my art classes in secondary very much. I felt like I didn’t have a chance to express myself through art in school anymore as the curriculum was very strick. We didn’t really get the chance to create freely, we had to draw what we were told, which was still life most of the time, a subject I have never enjoyed. But art remained my passion during this time all the same. As I mentioned before I have been drawing and painting since I was little and as I was growing up I was always looking for new ways to create and express myself through my art. During my time in secondary school I travelled a lot and by doing so I felt like the world opened up for me, I saw how huge it is with

I got more serious about drawing and painting in primary

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all the possibilities around me. I wanted to document my trips so I took pictures of the places I visited. It was just a hobby back then, I didn’t even think about it as something I could do in the future.

months. I keep my sketch book at hand because most of the times my ideas come to me when I’m reading a book or watching a movie, or after I just went to bed. In which case I have to stop what I’m doing and draw/write it down immediately before I forget it. Keeping a “diary” with sketches means that I can just go back to my ideas and start working on them whenever I want to.

My life has changed completely in 2013, when I decided to move from Hungary to Ireland. I had been planning on moving for years and when I visited Ireland for the first time I have fallen in love with it and I knew I wanted to live there. Although moving to a different country was the biggest adventure of my life (and now I can say probably the best decision I have ever made), the first few months were extremely hard and emotional. I didn’t even realize how hard it was going to be until I left. That’s when I started drawing again and it was amazing how much it helped me in many ways. Then one day I simply decided I wanted to create something more realistic then my drawings. Back then I knew absolutely nothing about fine art photography, I didn’t even know I would be able to combine photography and painting by using certain software or anything like that. But I had thousands of ideas in my head and I thought photography was what I needed to achieve my goals, so started reading about cameras and lenses and I got a bit obsessed with it. J I had been doing my research for weeks, I had been reading for hours every day before I decided to buy my first professional camera and started experimenting with it.

Once I had a plan and knew exactly how I want my final picture to look like I started watching videos and reading blogs on specific things I wanted to achieve in my images. After two years looking back to the pictures I started experimenting with I felt like I have learnt a lot as a visual artist but I wanted to learn more as a photographer as such. I wanted to study the technical side of photography and further develop my skills so I decided to go to college. It was one of the biggest decisions of my life and I have been contemplating a lot before I made my final decision. I decided to go to Griffith College in Dublin which is a private art college. I set my mind to this goal and started saving money for it. I graduated in 2017 and now with my qualification as a photographer I can say it was a great decision to go to college and study what I love. The biggest advantage of college was that it gave me the push I needed to put my work out there and not be afraid of rejection and what people might think of it. I had been selected for my very first exhibition “Beyond your Fear” organized by TedX in Griffith College. My lecturer encouraged me to submit my photograph prior to the event. As a student of the college I had the chance to submit my image for free and in case it gets accepted my image could be printed, framed and exhibited with all costs for the college therefore completely free for me. What a deal! I was still very very nervous and first I didn’t want to submit my work at all which now seems silly, but this was the very first time I showed any of my pictures to anyone apart from my family and felt like it was simply not good enough. It was amazing when I opened the e-mail from my lecturer asking about more information on my picture as it has been selected for the exhibition, I couldn’t believe it.

From the very first time I took pictures with my camera I felt like taking pictures of things which were literally in front of me and creating “realistic” pictures are not what I was looking for. I was never satisfied with the finished work. I had loads of ideas from my imagination I wanted to create, but I felt like I can’t turn these pictures in my head into reality just with the camera. I was looking for more effective ways to express myself, so I started using Photoshop to edit my images. I have fallen in love with the program immediately. I knew, as soon as I started using Photoshop, I will be able to express myself the way I always wanted to, so I watched hundreds of videos and tutorials almost every day for a year to learn how to use the tools effectively. I was experimenting every day, made mistakes, started it all over again and made more mistakes. It was a very exciting journey, I enjoyed every minute of it, as I was doing something I was passionate about and learnt something from every mistakes I made during this time.

By getting accepted to this exhibition (which now don’t seems as big of a deal as it was back then) I learnt that i have to take chances othervise I don’t even give myself the chance to become the artist I want to be.

What I know about Photoshop, photo manipulation and photography in general I mostly learnt from videos and blogs. At the first stages of my “studies” I basically read everything I could online on the subject. First I took test shots and tried different effects on each of them to see how they turn out. After a while I started planning my images in great details.

You are a versatile artist and we would suggest to our readers to visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/anettudud/ in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, do you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work as an artist.?

Every time a picture-idea came to my mind just closed my eyes for a minute, got a piece of paper and drew a picture of it, so by the time I started photographing my ideas I had a whole book full of sketches. I took my time to describe everything on the image in my head, I made notes to myself, because I might have had an idea but I didn’t actually start working on it for

Yes, I think there is some kind of connection between all of my images although it is not something I definitely do on purpose. But I do think I have developed a unique personal style since I have started photography. There are certain themes in my photographic work I build my

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pictures around. I feel like the most important thing and my goal I want to achieve each time I create a new piece is to show emotions and make the viewer feel how I felt when a created that certain image. I only create images based on my own experience, my own feelings because I feel like this is the only way I can create something real. There are ceratin things in my work that connects them. In the “centre” of all of my pictures there is a model. I have always been fascinated by the human being, and how much a portrait can say without words. I always knew, even when I was only learning that I want to express myself through portraiture but when I started photography, I was too selfconscious to ask anyone to be my model. As I mentioned before I moved from Hungary to Ireland and I had a hard time making friends at the beginning, so basically I had no one I could have asked to be my model. Also at that point I wasn’t confident enough in my skills to show my images to anyone. I felt like if I asked someone to be my model I would have had to please the model and I wanted to work completely free from pressure. I wanted to create my own vision so I started taking self-portraits. It was very handy because I could take the pictures any time I wanted and it was much easier to create the picture in my head as I knew exactly what kind of mood I wanted to show, so I could position myself and change the facial expressions accordingly. When I started photographing myself it was rather for a practical reason but it quickly became my “diary”, a very strong part of my work. For now self-portraiture became one of the strongest aspect of my photographic work. When an idea comes to my mind I know straight away if the image is going to be a self-portrait or I want someone else to be model. Even though my selfportraits are not parts of one series I feel like they are very coherent as such and they go through my whole photographic practise. In my free time I love reading. My images are often influenced by books I have read. I have loved reading since I was little, I am that kind of person who can read for hours and can get lost in a book completely. I think my passion about reading and books gave me a perspective for my work as well and for now is one of my main inspiration. As I mentioned before I always use a model for my pictures, who can be identified as “the main character of my story”. I want to show my vision through my character’s eyes, the same way when reading a book and “experience” everything through the lead character. I often look at paintings as well to find inspiration, while creating my pictures or even before I start a project, to define how I will achieve a certain look and create a mood through my image. I believe, looking at my work, the impact of this medium is apparent: my pictures are very “painterly”, the overall colour tone of them is highly manipulated, there are no real blacks or whites, the mid-tones are very dominant. I often add fog to my pictures in post-production, which helps me create a dream-like scene as most of the time I visualise ideas from my imagination. I believe I decided to do fine art and work with Photoshop a lot, because of my passion about

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painting. When I started using the program I was surprised how similar it is to physically painting with brushes and actual paint. The idea of mixing the two media by editing my raw pictures in Photoshop gave me endless possibilities as an artist. I also often cover my model’s face (being me or someone else) as most of the time the person of the model is simply not important. I don’t want the face or the expression of the model mislead or have an effect on the viewer unless the expression is actually important. Although in my portraiture I often use the model’s face to convey emotions sometimes I cover some part of the face in my portraiture as well. A good example for this is my image Torn. I used a paper bag to cover the lower part my face, then in Photoshop I created a hollow effect so it seems like to viewer can see through my face. In this case I felt like it is very important not to show my whole face. By covering the lower part of it and creating the hollow effect I draw the viewer’s attention to my eyes. I wanted to make the effect more dramatic so I used my hands on both sides of my face to “frame” it and lead the viewer’s attention to the upper side of my face and my eyes. I believe even though only my eyes are visible in the image, I was able to send a message of loneliness, emptiness and force. I would like to talk a little bit about the process of how I turn my ideas into actual photographs. As I mentioned before there are certain themes I like to use and experiment with to show my view on them. Every time when an idea comes to my mind I make a sketch and make notes. Once I have decided I would like to start a certain picture I simply go back to my notes and sketches. Actually the planning stage is the longest part, because I always think about every detail before I start photographing. If I have an idea for a series I like to experiment with different angles and poses, as it is very challenging to create different but still coherent images with the same setup. When I have all the details planned I start looking for the necessary equipment, accessories and costumes. To find the perfect dress for example can take a long time as well as most of the time I have a very definite idea in mind and it is very hard to make compromise if I can’t find a dress close enough to it. To find all the costumes and tools I need for a shoot usually takes a few weeks. The next stage is to find the perfect location where I can take the pictures. Another thing I always keep in mind is not to include anything modern in my shots. I always shoot in front of a neutral background, the costumes I use most of the time are very plain in colour and old fashioned in style as I want to create sort of timeless, ageless images. As I mentioned before when I come up with an idea I already know if I will ask someone or use myself as the model so I have to plan the shooting accordingly. Usually the shooting itself doesn’t take more than a few hours. I usually shoot from 5-7 at the afternoon, depending on the season and the lighting conditions. Sometimes I have to shoot for the day after at the same time to make sure the light is very

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similar so there is only minimal editing involved in postproduction to match the lighting. When I have the final images I start editing them. I always use Photoshop to edit my images as the program provides me with everything I need to give my images the look I want. Considering the shooting and the editing process I could put my images into two categories. On some of my images are easy to achieve the final look by building the setup and just take the image in it. In these images I usually just change the light and the colour tone in Photoshop which only takes a few hours. There are images I have to work on more as these are consisted from several individual shots which I have to compose and cut together during the post production. Sometimes when it is not possible to shoot my model in front of the background I would like to I shoot the background and my model separately and cut them together in Photoshop. Most of the time I take a few pictures of my model with the same pose, so afterwards I can correct the small mistakes by using certain elements from another picture. To do the editing process on these images usually takes up to 20 hours. For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Lost in a Dream, an extremely interesting series that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your insightful inquiry into the relationship between the real and the imagined is the way you provided the visual results of your analysis with autonomous aesthetics: would you walk our readers through the genesis of Lost in a Dream? In particular, what were some of your aesthetic decisions regarding composition? I am very happy about this question because (althought every images of mine is personal for me) this is a very spaciel and important series in my photographic career. Furthermore this is my very first photo series as such, which I have shot in the summer of 2016 in Hungary. My series, Lost in a Dream based on the novel, Alice in Wonderland by Carroll Lewis. When I was a little girl, my mam read this book for me and it absolutely freaked me out. Falling into another, strange world not knowing anyone, not even knowing where Alice is, terrified me. Since then I have re-read the story and a part of me, that little girl inside, still finds it scary. After re-reading the book the first time as a grown up my memories, more like feelings, came back from many years ago. It was so inspiring, I wanted to embrace and express these feelings and visualise this strange world the way I imagined it. Through my images I show the story from a completely different point of view: What would it be like to be lost in a dream? Is it real or is it just in your head? I was very inspired by this duality, the way this book made me feel when I was little and how it made me feel many years later was very interesting, because when I was reading it as a grown up I could still remember how it made me feel when I was a child. I has many ideas straight away, so I started drawing, adding to them for months every time an idea came to my mind. I ended up with a good few pages of sketches when I decided it was time to shoot.

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Although most of the time the person of the model is not that important in my images in this case it was one of the most important thing for me that my sister is my model. I believe when people look at my pictures I am able to show them certain feelings and memories. I feel like my sister being the model gives this series a certain inocence which was my goal as, although my sister is a grown up woman

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now, she will always be my little sister and represents the innnocence in the world. So I asked her to be my model (this was the very first time I asked someone to model for me) and when she said yes I started looking for the costume and the tools I needed. I followed the same “rule” for this series as with most of my images: I wanted the costume to be very plain, simple and sort of used-looking. I didn’t include anything modern in the pictures to create a timeless feel.

I knew this location in Hungary where I grew up with an old shed and I thought it would be the perfect background for the pictures, as it was very old, natural and I always felt there was a sort of mystical feel to it. That’s why I decided to shoot this series in Hungary in 2016. I had been planning this series for over a year at that point. The first idea came to my mind was my model facing the

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camera but covering her face somehow (I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure about that detail first). This picture turned out to be the one with my model facing the camera with her face covered with a red balloon. (Since 2016 this image was exhibited in Space Millepiani, Rome last year as part of the Surreal Vision exhibition, and it appeared on the Front cover of the August Edition of Average Art Magazine. The success of the series and this image in particular convinced me completely to keep doing what Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing. This image means a lot to me

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because for me it represents that I have found my way as an artist. I am glad you asked about the composition of the images because that was one of the most important things I had to think about when I was shooting the series. Previously I planned every image into great details, so it was much easier to compose each image given that I had an exact plan in mind. One of the most important thing beside my model was the costume. I wanted to put the focus on my model by

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to much. I decided to use red balloons to create this uneasy feeling. I wanted to include something which simply doesn’t fit into the whole picture, something which pops out immediately. Basically what I visualised in this series is a dream world, a world even the characters in it doesn’t know if it truly exist. The balloons played a very important role creating this world, making the setup more dream-like. And I think this is a perfect example why I love creating and why my photography is my passion. It’s because of the endless possibilities it gives me to create my own story every time I pick up my camera. Even with a very simple setup (such as the one I used in Lost in a Dream) I am able to create my own vision, I am able to express feelings, thoughts and memories and I feel incredibly lucky, because I can do what I love. As I mentioned before I could categories my pictures based on how I will create the finished piece. This series was one of the “easy” ones as I just built the setup and shoot my model in it, so the editing process only took a few hours for each picture. I added a fog effect to emphasise the dream aspect of the story and to create a dark and mystical feeling. I also looked at paintings to get inspiration and to help me determine the final colour tone of the images. Loneliness and depression are recurrent themes in your artistic inquiry: how much does everyday life's experience fuel your imagery and your creative process? In particular, do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? In my case no, I can definitely say that the creative process can’t be disconnected from my experinces. I became a photographer to create because I want to show my views and thoughs, not to document what is in front of me. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to just ignore my view and feelings when I am handling a subject even if I wanted to. I believe my art is what it is because of who I am as a person, not just because of who I am as an artist. It is very important for me to create my pictures based on things I can completely relate to, because I feel like, as my images are conceptual, the story behind them is extremely important, and this is the only way I can create something “real”. My art is often associated with death and sadness, because of my style of photography. I certainly want to create a sense of loneliness and darkness thorough my images to make people think about the story behind the image in front of them, but I also want to show that bad experiences and feelings are unavoidable and necessary to develop, grow and shape as a human being. Although I have never experienced depression myself, an idea came to my mind for a photo series about depression and I just couldn’t get it out of my head for weeks. I had been debating a lot about whether or not to actually shoot it. Very close friends of mine were fighting with depression and I have decided to create the series, Bubblewrap based on their experiences. Talking to them gave me a good insight of how this illness has an effect of everyday life. I felt like it was important to create this series because I think mental illness and depression is sort

using a very simple dress with a plain almost fading colour. Finding the perfect dress was more difficult than I would have thought when I started looking for it, but it worth the effort and all those long hours I have been looking for it because I believe looking at the final pictures it fits perfectly into the composition. It was also important that the main colour of the background is green. I wanted one colour to dominate the background and it was also important that this colour is neutral as well so the model doesn’t stand out

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of “romanticized” on social media to the point where it is almost a positive, interesting, desirable thing to have which I don’t think is right at all. I know it is a subject people tend to ignore even without knowing much about it, so I would like to show how serious it is, and encourage people not to be afraid of asking for help. All in all I think my art is definitely a piece of me, that’s why I had a hard time even showing my images to anyone for years. It might sounds over saturated but sharing my images on an online platform or even just showing them to someone was like sharing my deepest thoughts and secrets to whoever look at it. For now I have learnt not to be afraid to share my art because it is important to put myself out there and get feedback if I want to grow as an artist. I have learnt that my voice matters and it is amazing that I can use it to connect with people. On the other hand I believe in other cases, if the photographer is working in a certain genre, it is almost vital to disconnect from his/her direct experince. I believe the question is always relevant: is it even possible to do this? I love travel photography and documentaries. Mainly because I think it is amazing how these photographers can show the cold, hard thruth thorugh their images. A few years ago I thought nothing is easier than that: just go to places and take pictures of what is in front of you. So simple! Getting into art and photography helped me understand how hard shooting documentary really is. I remember in college during one of my lecture we were looking at these horrible pictures of children living in a very poor part of the world and I was thinking how incredibly hard it must have been for the photographer to take these pictures, seeing these terrible conditions with his/her own eyes. Even seeing them in pictures was very traumatic. The photographer decided to travel to these placed and show the world in what devistating conditions these children lives. He/she wanted us, the viewers to see exactly the way it is. He/she probably travelled to these places because wanted to make a difference, wanted something to change by documenting what he/she saw and experienced. It is interesting to think about that the photographer showed these scenes exactly the way they are, and probably didn’t want to manipulate the viewer by including his/her view on the subject but I think it is safe to say that anyone who looks at pictures like that will feel the same way, even thought they are completely subjective as such. Now I believe it is an incredibly brave thing to do because now i can see what it is like to be behind the lens. Our experiences define us as humans and even thought creative process and personal experince can be disconnected I believe in some ways, indirectly the artist’s personality whose holding the camera will always shine throught and will be presented in the final image. We like the way Above the Clouds addresses the viewers to the point of convergence between perceptual reality and the realm of imagination and your processes of photographic work that combine notions of abstractions with the materiality of objects: and how do you see the relationship

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between reality and imagination within your artistic practice?

As my work is very conceptual (as you have mentioned it above) every object I decide to use in my composition have a futher meaning than the object itself. I always have a very specific “story” in mind when I start shooting. I like to think of my art as a book, or a story you can read. Similar to reading a book you can read the image and see what the photographer wanted to show you, but at the same time it can trigger your memories or feelings as well because of who you are as a person and because of your experiences. When I create my pictures I think of everything I include (or not include) as “the next sentence of my story”, something that will bring the story further, help the viewer understand my view and together with everything else make a whole.

Relationship between reality and imagination is basically the base of my artictic practise. J I have always loved fantasy books, where the writer has the possibility to create a whole new world without the limits of the real world. The endless possibilities and the mystical, dark atmosphere in these books have always amazed me, mainly because behind the magic and wonders these stories are so real, we just have to look at them from a different point of view and we can learn so much about our life, about ourselves. I think when we open a book we are able to step into a different world and this is truly magical. This is exactly what I want to achieve with my art as well and I hope when people look at my images they can see both the truth and the magic behind them, because if they are then I already achieved my goal. I believe photography gives me the possibility to create the same mood by building and capturing my own fantasy world without having to say or write a word.

We have particularly appreciated the juxtaposition between human body and miniaturized objects in Opening the Mind: would you tell us something about the importance of symbols in your imagery? Do they act as metaphors? Yes, to be honest basically everything in my images acts as a metaphore, I never include anything random. My work is conceptual so everything I include playes a significant part to lead the viewer’s attention to certain things and help them understand what lays beneath the surface of each image.

As I love reading I definitely think the books I read has a huge impact on my art as well. One of the most prominent books from my childhood were definitely the Harry Potter-series. I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when I was 11 and it had a huge influence on me. I am a big fan of the books ever since, furthermore I feel like the Harry Potter-series sort of defined what kind of books I enjoy the most; I read many other books in the genre of science fiction and fantasy and, although I am 24 years old now, they are still my favourite. I love fairy tales as well, because in my mind they are pictures painted with words and they gave me loads of inspiration for my photography practise. I believe, looking at my images influence of books and fairy tales can be clearly seen. I always go back to the theme of fantasy and reality, and through my images, I like to play with the idea of things as they actually are and can be seen and experienced, and things which exist in only our imagination.

I do fine art photography because I never liked taking very “straight forward” pictures. The result never satisfied my artistic needs, I felt like I don’t even need to explain anything because there is nothing to explain, it is just what it is. What you can see in the picture in front of you is exactly what I saw in front of me, when I took this picture. Of course it doesn’t mean I don’t value nature or landscape photography for example. I absolutely adore these type of images, the way other artists can capture wild life for example, and I love looking at this type of photographs and talking to artists about how they achieved certain things in their shots. I just simply won’t be able to take these sort of images because they don’t satisfy me as a photographer. Getting into fine art gave me the possibility to create whole stories with very strong emotional impact behind them. I can show certain feelings or experiences and it doesn’t mean I have to take a picture of that exact moment when I felt a certain way. I can create this mood by using everyday objects and tools to symbolise certain aspects of the theme I have choosen. For example in the image, Opening the Mind the butterflies symbolise the endless possibilities and inspirations you can find every day around you to create. I got so many ideas randomly when I was walking to college or watching a movie or reading a book. We can get inspiration from anything we just have to open our eyes and actually look around! When I started photography I had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t know where I want to go with my art, I just wanted to show that everything can be beautiful if you look at it from a different point of view. I think this thought is still applies, I don’t want to show beauty as we know it, I want to challenge my viewers, to find beauty where you wouldn’t look for it.

As I mentioned it before I often look at paintings to get inspiration for my images. I use Photoshop to create photographs sort of in between paintings and photos, because this program gives me endless possibilities to manipulate my work. Most of the time I make specific changes on my raw image straight from the camera to create painterly, dream-like images. I always change the colour tone and play around with the saturation, to make the scene darker, plainer and the colours more neutral. I always make sure I use neutral, cold colours during the shooting, such as the costumes or anything in the background. I only use vivid, warm colours or something that really pops out from the composition if they have a specific meaning or they play a certain part. When I edit images shot outside I almost always add a fog effect as the last step of post production because it helps me neutralise the colours even more and it creates a dream-like atmosphere which I believe goes very well with my photographic style.

As I said symbols are very important in my photographic work,

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reach my goal and I was very happy with the result. However I think it’s amazing how different people can read the exact same image completely differently, now I understand how important it is to communicate in certain ways to help your viewer understand what YOU, the photographer want to say.

and I like the way everyone can take something from my imagery because it is very open for interpretation, mainly because of the symbols I use instead of showing the actual thing a certain picture is about. However I believe it is very important to show my own view as well. I used to think I didn’t have to say a word because the picture will speak for itself and everyone will take whatever they can from it. After years of learning I slowly realized that this is not true at all. Every artist need to talk to the audience to build a relationship and trust. Most of the time people look at images because of the connection they noticed between their own life and the art or in many cases the artist. Now I understand that photography is much more than just taking pictures and showing them to the world.

I want them to understand my message but at the same time I love when people come to me and tell me about their own feelings and thoughts when they look at my images. Many people told me that they feel a sense of loneliness when they look at my images, but they always tell me that somehow this fascinate them and they feel like this is definitely a positive thing. I am always delighted when I get feedback like that because this is exactly what I want to give to my viewers. Although the colours I use and the overall colour tone of most of my images are very dark and bleak, my message is definitely positive. For example as I mentioned when I moved from Hungary to Ireland photography was a therapy for me, the way I dealt with my feelings. I dealt with them by photographing, by expressing myself and by doing so I was able to understand them and move on. The most important lesson I have learnt during this time of my life is that you have to feel bad sometimes, in order to appreciate happiness. You have to lose people a little bit to learn how much they mean to you. You have to be brave enough to move on, even though it means leaving something behind. These things can be scary, sad and strange, but it doesn’t mean they are bad which is exactly what I want to emphasis in my art. And which is why people often think that I must be sad, but it’s not true at all. These things I are vital to develop and improve, these things make us human. It is very important for me that people can relate to my pictures. Yes, I often cover the face of the person I am photographing in some way, indicating that the model is not as important as the message of the image. The other reason why I do that in most of my pictures is because I feel like my audience will be able to relate to my images even more if the face of the model is not visible.

As you have remarked once, you have always been fascinated by human being, and as our readers have noticed, in the central position of all of your pictures there is a model. However, is important to remark that, as in Cutting the Cord, you often cover the face of your characters, indicating that the model is not as important as the message that you want to convey. Are you particularly interested if you try to achieve to trigger the viewers' perception as a starting point to urge them to elaborate personal interpretations? The definite answer to this question is yes, absolutely. I want to trigger emotions with my pictures, I want to make people think when they look at my art. Before I went to college I didn’t think too much about how my viewers will react to my images, how they will read it and what they will get from it. When I went to college I was surprise by how much we learnt and focused on the why instead of the how. I went to college to be better at taking pictures but I quickly realized, that the first step to become a better photographer has nothing to do with settings or lighting. I learnt how to build my image from planning to shooting and create deliberately, knowing exactly what message I want to convey and how to build my image accordingly. I remember I had to submit a project in college with a detailed assignment explaining my decisions in relation to compositions, colours, lighting etc. I had an idea straight away when I received the project brief so I started planning the shots and working on the project. A few weeks later I had a one-to-one session with my lecturer and I was very excited to show him my ideas and what I have done so far. Looking through my project he said “There are a few problems with this. I don’t think people will get what you want to say. This is too abstract.” Well I thought they will get whatever they want from it. I was a bit disappointed because I thought I had a very strong idea for the project and first I didn’t understand what the problem was. I took his advises seriously and tried to go to a different direction afterward. I actually thought about what other people will see when they look at my final project and deliberately made decisions to “lead” my viewers to see what I want to show. At the end when I handed in my project I got many positive feedback, my classmates came to me to say how much they like my project and my lecturer told me he was very impressed with my work. I appreciated his comment a lot because the first time he saw my images on that session he said I had to convince him because he wasn’t sure my idea will work as a project. At the end I definitely

All in all I feel lucky I have found my “voice” as a photographer so I can connect with people through my art. I always thought I am not very good with words I have a hard time talking to people I don’t know very well. In all my life the word which would define me the most I heard from most people after they met me was “quite”. It never really bothered me because it is not something I want to change, it is just who I am. I feel like showing my feelings and “telling” my opinion on certain things by taking pictures is my way of connecting to people. Contemporary culture is dominated by images and German photographer Thomas Ruff once provokatively stated that "once nowadays you don't have to paint to be an artist. You can use photography in a realistic way. You can even do abstract photographs". What does in your opinion make photography ever and ever important in our unstable contemporary age? I think photography definitely means the opportunity of selfexpression more than anything else in contemporary culture.

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camera to turn my ideas into reality, because it gives me the possibility to create something I simply wouldn’t be able to create only with my camera. I enjoy the post production as much as I enjoy taking pictures, and I am very happy I can fully express my ideas with these tools. Working on my pictures in Photoshop is an important part of my creative process and this is the one I enjoy the most because it gives me the complete freedom to transform my picture into something completely different and I don’t have to stick with reality. In my opinion in the evolution of visual art the development of digital technology played a key role. Nowadays almost everyone is on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, people uploading millions of pictures every day and they can get hundreds of feedback immediately. In my point of few the rapidly developing technology has their advantages and disadvantages for artists. The main advantages are that it is very easy to connect with other artist or people who like your work. Artists can create their online portfolio and share it very easily. Because of these online platforms artists can be recognised and get further opportunities to showcase their work. Online platforms are also great for marketing photography. Every day with all the new digital developments it is becoming easier to advertise art online, but because of the incredible amount of competiton in the art world, artists have to find the right way, their own way, to advertise their work to become successful and not get lost in the crowd.

Although the question is always relevant: is photography art or just a tool for documentation? As a fine art photographer I am very happy about how much photography as an art form improved and developed in the last decade. I think, considering how rapidly technology improving nowadays, more and more people will see the opportunity of creativity and uniqueness in photography as such. Although in my experience in certain areas conceptual photography and photo manipulation is still not widely accepted and practiced. I do think that most of the time the fact that an image is Photoshopped is associated with bad photography. I personally was never criticized for my images being highly manipulated, but I saw people commenting on other photographer’s work, saying the photographer should learn how to take pictures so they wouldn’t need to manipulate the image so much in post-production. Although generally speaking my work might be closer to some kind of visual art than photography, the reason I use Photoshop is not the lack of my technical skills. The reason is that I feel like by editing my pictures I can visualize my ideas in my head and turn them into reality and fully express myself, and I am sure many other people feel the same way. I remember when I was growing up, in my family, photography was for documenting the most important moments of our lives, to remember them the way we experienced them. It was simply a tool to record what was in front of us. I am glad that in the last few years photography became something more, and I hope it will keep improving as an art form.

On the other hand there are certain disadvatages of modern digital technology. My personal opinion is that nowadays it almost doesn’t matter how good someone’s work is as long as they are active on social media. If someone follows thousands of people, they are going to gain thousands of followers back. As I said it is just my personal opinion, but I noticed that artists with amazing portfolios on Flickr or Twitter only have a few followers, and people who obviously need more practise on their photography or editing skills in some cases has many followers just because they follow loads of people. I really like social media sites, where I can engage with other artists and look at other people’s work. If I have a few minutes during the day I always spend it on Flickr, but I simply don’t have time to spend hours commenting other people’s work and follow them just to get followers. Even if I had more free time I rather spend it on working on my pictures, creating something new. I think today many people think it is a trendy thing to be a photographer. There are thousands of people creating photography pages on Facebook and promoting themselves as photographers on Instagram. The question is: when do you become a photographer? In my personal opinion what makes someone a photographer is the work the person put into their art practise. I don’t definitely mean going to college or anything like that as I said most of the things I know about photography and Photoshop I learnt from blogs and Youtube. I mean the time and effort they put into their work: months or even years to figure out their personal style and more importantly to figure out why they are different than the thousands and thousands of other people doing the same thing as such. I mean the effort they make every day to be better, to make mistakes and learn from each of them. I think

Your photographs, as the interesting Confusion, deviate from photorealism and you develope the true potential of the images that you capture in the post editing process, addressing the viewers to enter a simultaneous. Especially in relation to modern digital technologies, what is your point about the evolution of visual arts in the contemporary art? As a fine art photographer I am very happy that fine art and photo manipulation becoming more and more acceptable as an artform. Photo manipulation by Photoshop is a vital part of my work. One of the main reasons why I got into photography is definitely Photoshop and I love this part of my work. When I went to college I was surprise how much everyone wanted to avoid using any photo editing software. My lecturers always told us to use the correct lighting and setup so we don’t have to waste too much time using Photoshop to correct the little mistakes. In my photographic process Photoshop plays a completely different part. I mainly use the program to transform my images completely, not to correct my mistakes. I love the way that I can transform my image into something magical or change it entirely. Although with some of my ideas I can “build” the setup myself and shoot the model (or myself) in it, most of the time my ideas are so painterly or the model simply cannot be photographed in front of the background I imagined for the shot. In these cases I have the shoot the images separately and cut them together in post production. All in all Photoshop is the most important tool along with my

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this makes someone a real photographer.

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Anett. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

One of the hallmarks of your practice is the capability to create direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?

Thank you very much for having me here it was a great honour to be selected for this interview and I enjoyed it very much. After Christmas I got back to work straight away and I have so many plans for 2018, I can’t wait to start working on them. I think having to complete my course at Griffith College, Dublin last year, and getting my qualification and therefore becoming a qualified photographer kind of prompted the question: What’s next? I recently started studying marketing in order to be able to bring my images to more and more people who would be interested in what I do. First, I didn’t even know how much time and effort I have to put into marketing if I want to be successful in my field. This is just something I have never thought about before, but I enjoy doing it very much. As the first step of my plan for this year I have created my own social media sites. I try to be active on them and connect with more and more people:

This is a very interesting question because to be honest when I got into photography I did so much research on the equipment, lenses and settings, basically how to take good pictures. Back then I didn’t even think about the questions I should ask before I take a particular shot in relation to my viewers. When I started photography I created what and how I felt is right. I believe unintentonally I was trying to lead my viewer’s attention to what my central idea was, but I didn’t really know how to do this effectively. I didn’t even know how important it is to think about these things even before the actual shooting, from the very beginning when I start planning my images. When I went to college I was surprised how much I was learning about this. Now that I finished college, as my art is very conceptional, I ask many questions from my viewer’s point of view before shooting. Let’s say I create a picture based on my own experiences. I sit down and think about how I feel, and how I would be able to visualise these feelings in one frozen moment, which would be my final picture. I could create this piece, look at it and see exactly what I wanted to convey through this image, because first of all I created them in a way I thought would be accurate, knowing exactly how I felt and how I wanted to show these feelings. Second of all when I visualise my own idea, I use symbols and when I look at my own picture I know exactly where to find these symbolis and most importantly I know what I want to show through them, what they symbolise. If I look at the exact same image from the point of view of a stranger who is seeing my image the first time, that would be a completely different story. That person doesn’t know me or how I felt when I created that image and what is the message, I want to convey through my picture. Of course they can read my thoughts and the story behind the picture and by doing so they might discover all the hiden (or openly diplayed) signs and symbols in the image and they will get an even more complex view. However it is very important for me to be able to “give” them that word which would define my image, and if they get it staright away by only looking at my picture than I feel like I reached my goal.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnettUdud Twitter: https://twitter.com/anettudud Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/anettudud/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anett_udud_photography/ Saatchi Art: https://www.saatchiart.com/anettudud I am currently working on my own website which is a very exciting process for me because I have never thought I would have my website. Well to be honest I have never thought I would have the courage to create my own website, so I am looking forward to it. Beside showcasing my images on my webpage I will start a blog to share my experices and thoughts mainly about the difficulties of being a photographer. I know based on my own experinces how hard it is to put your name out there where there are so many other artists doing the same thing you do. During my journey as a photographer I often felt dicouraged and down in relation to my art and I thought there is no point of any of this because noone will care... As I set my goals and going forward I am learning a lot every day and I feel much more confident in my work and myself. I hope sharing my thought and my story would help other artists who are feeling the same way. I have gotten a few great opportunities to show my work in 2018. One of my images has been selected by LoosenArt to be featured in their next book, Open Boundaries which will be published in February. In addition to the publication, an exhibition will be held in Rome as well, featuring 15 selected artists' work, in which my image might be included as well. I have recently been enquired by CreativPaper (an online portfolio magazine) if I would be interested in being featured in their next issue. I am currently discussing the details of the publication with the magazine. Of course I definitely want to keep working on my ideas and turn them into reality as well. I feel like I am very inspired and have many ideas I would like to work on, but it takes time and work to shape these concepts into something physical. I feel like the possibilities are endless and I feel very excited because I have definitely found my way as a photographer and I can’t wait for what the future holds for me.

So yes, I am definitely think about what my viewers will get from my images but at the same time, I wouldn’t be able to create based on what people want me to do. The reason I fell in love with fine art (and I woulnd’t be able to do wedding photography for that matter) is the complete freedom I have while creating. I would love people to see my view and understand my thoughts through my images, without them getting involved in the creating process. I think it is amazing when people come back to me telling me their own interpretation of my images, and I always feel very happy when they can relate to the feelings and expriences and therefore “connect with me” because of their own experinces.

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Peripheral ARTeries meets

Agnieszka Ewa Braun Lives and works in Wroclaw, Poland My artistic activities generally transgressing beyond the traditional formal means. I am experimenting especially in the area of video, creating multimedia objects. I am looking for unconventional solutions for my projection screens and forms of a creating the obcjects. Often I try to define my own identity in a broader context of human being. For this purpose, consciously treat own bodies as a special kind of plastic material. Mostly I move the problem of time, in the context of human mortality and the process of transformation of women's spiritual and corporal.

An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator

Wrocław: after having earned your BA in Multimedia Design and in Studio of Multimedia, you nurtured your education with a MA (hons) in Multimedia Design Studio: how did these experiences influenced your evolution as an artist and how does your mentors informed your approach to art making?

and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Moving from video installation and visual arts, artist Agnieszka Ewa Braun's work deviates from traditional trajectory to explores unexpected synergies between different media: in her multimedia installation Ablution that we'll be discussing in the following pages, she triggers both the perceptual and cultural parameters of the spectatorship, to provide them with such multilayered experience. One of the most impressive aspects of Braun's work is the way it accomplishes such insightful inquiry into the problem of time, in the context of human mortality and the process of transformation of women's spiritual and corporal: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating and multifaceted artistic production.

Greetings, it's great to be here. I'm excited to be able to share my artistic productions and approach to art as part of Peripheral ARTeries. Looking back, I think of my art studies as of a critical experience. First and foremost this was an exploratory period, during which I set my initial forays into different areas of art, ranging from traditional techniques such as graphic arts, printmaking, painting and sculpting to digital techniques, photography, short films, animation, elements of 2D and 3D graphic design and spatial multimedia projects. My childhood dream was to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts and I followed my passion with an early interest in drawing. The main topic of my early works were portraits, mostly of women. At the same time I was interested in theater and psychology. I was fascinated by Greek mythology, which I referred to in my poems.

Hello Agnieszka Ewa and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you attended the Faculty of Graphic Arts and Media Art at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in

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Ablution, video-projection on water, 2013

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During my studies I was interested in developing my craft in various artistic areas, acquiring new formal techniques, which gradually would enable me to better express myself, and finding my own personal voice as an artist. From the get-go I did not limit myself to the university schedule. I had a plenty of ideas and those that did not fit any of the coursework I arduously followed in my own spare time. I discovered relatively quickly that works that were a meeting point for new technologies and traditional craft were what I was most passionate about. I experimented with video projections, intuitively returning to the themes that were deeply rooted in my subconscious even before I began my studies. When it came to selecting a supervisor for my diploma work, I was motivated by the desire for artistic freedom on both formal and intellectual level as well as a form of a spiritual connection. This is where talks with professors proved very useful, as they always went beyond simple formal correction of my works. In both of my BA and MA workshops I developed artistic discipline, learning how to utilize image in a way that clearly relates multidimensional ideas.

My passion for numerous artistic disciplines, especially for combining together the traditional and the modern, is a result of my openness towards the changes brought about by the second part of 20th Century, while simultaneously respecting and admiring the cultural achievements of the past, especially ancient classical and Renaissance eras. I was brought up in the spirit of tradition, in a teachers' family, in a home that valued history and broadly understood culture and art. From early age I felt the creative need, which took on various forms. My interests formed in a natural manner, partly dictated by my upbringing and genes as well as the times in which I found myself growing up. The Nineties in Poland were the times of substantial social and economical changes. My generation quickly became acquainted with new technologies, learning how to use the Internet and mobile phones, becoming more adept at digital photography than its analogue counterpart. Being active in these postmodern 'no holds barred' times, so to speak, led to my fascination with complete artistic freedom, interdisciplinary approach, new technological opportunities and formal simplification, while at the same time stimulating longing for classical order in art. In my works I frequently balance on the border of the aforementioned values, both in aesthetic and intellectual aspects. I always put a lot of stress on honing my artistic skills. It's difficult for me to clearly state, which moment in the course of artistic process do I view as the final stage for my projects or even if such a moment exists. My works are formed cyclically, they constitute a continuum of a kind. One project opens up an opportunity for another one to appear. The motif of hair frequently recurs in my works. It saw use for the first time in a personal short film from 2010, and since then found its way into some of my images, especially pieces inspired by the myth of Thanthos: the 2012-

Your practice is marked out with such captivating multidisciplinary feature, revealing that you are a versatile artist capable of crossing from a medium to another, including installations, photography, paintings, drawings and graphics. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.agnieszkaewabraun.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you tell us what does draw you to such approach? And in particular, when do you recognize that one of the techniques has exhausted it expressive potential to self, in order to express the themes you explore?

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2013 multimedia installation and film “Frame of reference” and “Hairbook”, a project with an open time-line, which is my personal diary and consists of hair locks being cyclically cut, depending on the condition of my hair, and then collected and filed away with an annotation concerning the date, location, age and weight of my body. The cut blonde hair locks are then fixed onto dark pillows and enclosed in deep glass frames. All of the aforementioned projects involving the motif of hair refer to ritual care as well as body's mortality and the associated cultural and social beliefs in hair's special power. I'm partial towards viewing women in terms of their spiritual and corporal transformations, referring to relations across generations and genetic connections. Corporeality for me usually forms a basis for contemplation of identity, of how we ascribe a spiritual meaning to a body and how we treat it as a costume, a tool used to communicate with the world, as is the case in my 3D paper installation „Corporeality of an object” (2013) . In terms of form, my works vary, among other things, in their use of colours, which I deem to play a major role when it comes to establishing mood. My works can be divided into monochromatic periods, exemplified by painting miniature cycle „Melancholy” (2013) or a set of prints „Archetype of Animus and Anima” (2011) and periods of intensive colour usage like in the „Immanence” (2011-2012) cycle. In addition to differentiation by the means of colour and technique, I'm also interested in the spatial arrangement of exhibited pieces and creating projects that in themselves constitute illusionary space, like in my polyptych „Spaces” (2016 – 2017) or are directly connected to space as is the case of my installations “„Frame of reference” (2012) and, „Shapes of Time”(2014).

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Frame of Reference, multimedia installation, Body and Things exhibition, City Gallery in Wrocław

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Ablution, video-projection on water, 2013

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Agnieszka Ewa Braun

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For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Ablution, a stimulating multimedia installation/video projection on water that our readers have already started to got to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your inquiry into the notion of ablution as a symbol of purification and revivalism is the way you have provided it with such autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through the genesis of Ablution, would you tell us your usual sources of inspiration? â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Ablutionâ&#x20AC;? was inspired by a ceremonial dimension of an act that appears in different religious systems as an actual or symbolic ritual of cleansing of a body or its part, in addition to cleaning of offerings or sacrificial tools. Ablution is usually performed using water. This was one of the ways to achieve ritual purity, which translates in my work into a meditation on psychological and philosophical matters, posing the question about our ability to be completely purified on a spiritual level, which was expressed in a symbolic manner by the means of a physical test of body. I frequently focus my attention on rituals, often ostensibly banal, that relate to body care and routine repetition of actions, which are not devoid of additional, sometimes even magical aspects bestowed upon them culturally or socially. It's this aspect of transformation that means a lot to me. We like the way Ablution also address the viewers to consider the ambivalence between the face reflected off the water and the real reflection of it on the water: How would you consider the relation between the gesture you have represented

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Shapes of time, 3d printing installation, 2014

on the physical level and the nature of the concept you aim to communicate?

pursuit of an idealized appearance achieved through face painting. It becomes an attempt at a spiritual and emotional purification. Video, which forms an element of the aforementioned test, is a recording of my

The work alludes to ritualized forms of behaviour. One of the motivating factors behind this piece was to contest the cultural

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own faces, covered with a thick layer of makeup and submerged underwater. In the video recording I tried to achieve the eponymous ablution without use of hands, merely by moving my head. This resignation

from the use of my own hands has a symbolic meaning as it highlights restraint, the feeling of being enslaved and the attempted emancipation that follows. The gesture of actual ablution an of leaning over my own

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multimedia image reflected in the waterfilled basin, despite direct contact and doubled participation in the ritual, has an illusory character and does not truly complement the ritual of ablution. The physical act stresses the inability to achieve a spiritual state of ultimate purification. In combination with this physical gesture, the installation somewhat separates the corporeal body from the body that constitutes its representation and the memory of a painful experience. In addition to the self-imaging aspect, which is the dialogue between the author and her work, the installation also allows viewers to interact with the created facial image, making it a universal matter subjected to subjective reflection. The act of observing your own reflection introduces other dimensions and associations, drawing connotations to the story of Narcissus, although in this case instead of a beautiful effigy we meet the part of us that struggles against the oppression of cultural corporeality. The makeup in this work does not only refer to the question of feminine beauty, rather it is a tool used to provoke more queries about our ability to attain spiritual and emotional purification, in addition to asking about the nature of good and evil, of sacrum and sin. Your practice also conveys such insightful captivating socio political criticism: Ablution tries to emphasize the cultural meaning of contestation in the effort to achieve an idealized facial image by painting the face. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role differs depending on which part of the world youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in. It depends on the political system youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re living under". Not to mention that almost everything, ranging from Caravaggio's Inspiration of Saint

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Shapes of time, 3d printing installation, 2014

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Spaces, acrylic on canvas, 600 cm x 220 cm, 2016-2017

Matthew to Joep van Lieshout's works, could be considered political, do you think that your works is political, in a certain sense? what could be in your opinion the role of Art in order to sensitize the viewers in our unstable contemporary age?

address important issues. I feel that this comes with a great responsibility and therefore I'm striving towards artistic independence that neither is subsumed by politics nor offends religious sensibilities. This freedom in my opinion is used to defend and express values, which matter to me the most, and at the same time attempts to highlight problems and dangers of contemporary world. In the installation â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Ablutionâ&#x20AC;? I fathom the topic of image. Face is a carrier of emotions, it allows for recognition, it forms

I think it's difficult to completely seperate art from political and social context, especially if it is tied to existential themes. Artist have a powerful tool in the form of art that could be used to stimulate viewer's imagination and

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Agnieszka Ewa Braun

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an external part of 'self' and thus is connected to our identity. As J. Tischner wrote „we meet the other in his face”. Following the contemporary canon of beauty and the cult of youth can lead one to assume a false mask, which takes away our authenticity and individuality, as a result of social pressure and expectations. Art fulfills a cognitive and critical function, among other things allowing us to enter into a dialogue with the surrounding reality expressed through artist's sensibilities as artist, as an

individual, also constitutes a part of a community. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you move the problem of time, in the context of human mortality — and in particular the theme of human transience, that you have explored in Shapes of time — as well as the process of spiritual and corporal transformation of women: how does spirituality affect your artistic inquiry? In particular, would you tell us if you think

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that your being woman provided your artistic research with some special value?

role of the artist has changed these days with the new global communications and the new sensibility created by new media?

Certainly my gender and experience of femininity is not without significance, given the topics I explore, however I try to leave the door open for interpretations of my works, as they contain universal messages pertinent to all of us. For instance, that's the case of 3D installation “The Shapes of Time”. In the shapes of dresses we can detect female bodies reduced to the generational roles of a child, a mother and a grandmother, by the means of which a natural, inseparable aspect of every existence, evanescence, is being conveyed. The piece associates woman with nature, which is the giver of life and fulfills the repetition of birth, growing up and death. These elements compose an image that showcases spiritual transformation, which seems to be a comprehensive, natural and intimate part of life. Spirituality plays a significant role in my art and is manifested in reference to philosophy and psychology. Additionally, it constitutes a value in and of itself, expressed through personal development and self-improvement.

I think that by utilizing new technologies a contemporary artist becomes more believable in the eyes of the new generation. However the means should not be the ends, especially in the times of very rapid, chaotic communication and exchange of picture messages that serve mostly as entertainment and consumption. I'm far from setting technology as a criterion. I get the impression that these days it is very easy to cross the line and turn an artistic project into an attractive gadget. Use of technology should be the means to an end, not the other way round. This is why in my installation “The Shapes of Time”, the 3D printing is not merely a method of depiction but actually stems from the content of the work described in the other parts of the interview. What's most precious for me in art is the selfless, nonverbal communication on a spiritual level. Nevertheless, I'm a careful observer and participant in the virtual world, which has become the topic of my new words in the form of „Virtual Graves” cycle. Inspiration behind this painting installation was provided by the phenomenon present in popular social media, which relates to the conversion of inactive user profiles into a network of virtual cemeteries. There is supposition that in 2028 Facebook will become the world's biggest cemetery and thus the number of deceased users' accounts will overtake the number of the living users. Presently my work consists of 50 paintings in 40 x 50 cm format, which are symbolic depiction of virtual profiles of the deceased, both people and animals, for which owners created social media accounts. The paintings, painted on canvas using acrylic paint, depict skulls that resemble 3D objects.

Technology plays a crucial role in your approach and your MA thesis "The shapes of the time" was the first in Poland multimedia installation using the innovation printing 3D technology. Multidisciplinary artist Angela Bulloch onced remarked "that works of arts often continue to evolve after they have been realised, simply by the fact that they are conceived with an element of change, or an inherent potential for some kind of shift to occur". Technology can be used to create innovative works, but innovation means not only to create works that haven't been before, but especially to recontextualize what already exists: do you think that the

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Frame of Reference, multimedia installation, 2012

Corporeality of an object, 3D paper installation, 2013

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eponymous “Shapes of Time” originate from a personal association, analogous to fossils, so in other words, they resemble the calcified remnants of organisms and traces of their existence. The classical approach to the body form and dress, traditional image of woman and nature, contrasts with the use of modern tools. I decided to refer back to the past, which I embodied in the feminine silhouettes impressed in molds of fairly classical, oldfashioned, even archetypal women dresses, which contrary to expectations were stitched together out of numerous pieces by the means of modern 3D technology. In the context of time I view this choice as a measure of modernity and as a reflection about the change that female attributes undergo. Our grandmothers' generation was not unfamiliar with crocheting, embroidery and knitting, while the contemporary women are perhaps more familiar with modern technologies.

The method of depiction alludes to the contemporaneity and virtual communication, while the way of exhibiting this polyptych reminds one of a skull chapel and recalls the Vanitas motif present in baroque art. „Shapes of time” is a reference to fossils, that in your installation appear as a body shape imprinted in the material layer of clothes: Michael Fried once stated that 'materials do not represent, signify, or allude to anything; they are what they are and nothing more.' What are the properties that you search for in the materials that you combine? For me these materials are something more than a void that was bereaved of meaning just because it hosted symbolic life. Clothes or items do not really mean a lot without human interaction, however they also do not exist without human interference. For centuries people have had this need to surround themselves with items that they inject with meaning, to wear clothes that are supposed to stress their individuality or material status. In the context of death, there is this sentimental approach to items and clothes such as keeping memorabilia related to the deceased, burial in an outfit that was specially prepared for the occasion, or placing the deceased's favourite items in the coffin. In a way, material items play a witnesses to life and death and their hoarding is often driven by the fear of losing memories. The cult of things could lead one to identifying with one's belonging as it focuses its attention on Erich Fromm's question of “to have or to be” and finds an answer: to have means to be. My work could evoke associations to the vanity of human body, the motif of Vanitas, as well as the fragment of a poem by Polish priest and poet, Jan Twardowski “Let us hurry to love people they depart so quickly / Leaving only their shoes and silence on the phone (…). The

Over the years your works have been showcased in several occasions and you participated to a number of group exhibitions and festivals, including two solos. One of the hallmarks of your practice is the capability to create direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context? I really appreciate the chance to confront a viewer with my works. I create art out of inner necessity, because this is what my inner imperative tells me to do and despite the fact that my works are frequently very personal, they assume interaction with an audience. In

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my opinion art does not exist without an audience. Although it does not imply that everyone must understand art, I feel it's important to engage in an invisible dialogue with different communities. When I work on an artistic project, I do not try it to adjust it to the liking of a small social group, no, I'm looking for a broader perspective. Whenever I have an opportunity I try to measure the reaction and reception of my works by people from various social and age groups, and in that sense, places that exhibit substantial cultural differences provide an interesting platform for contact. Presenting art in different exhibition spaces in itself is interesting and adds another quality to a given work. Some ostensibly do not fit in, jar not only with their surroundings understood as space but also stand in stark contrast to the works of other artists, as is frequently the case for group exhibitions. What initially seemed to me as a flaw in an exhibition setup, nowadays often appears to me as an advantage. All of these contrarieties that I frequently encountered, especially while assembling spatial installations, allowed me to reflect upon myself and my works, and opened my eyes to myriads of meanings that could be found in works, which prior to then were fitting ideally only in the imaginary exhibition space in my head. Some of my artistic activities are para-theatrical in character and interact both with light and space and provide numerous stimuli, some give an opportunity for direct confrontation and are sensual, engaging the sense of sight and touch, as is the case of â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Frame of referenceâ&#x20AC;?, which plays a role of a symbolic time machine and sees the natural hair shown in the video projection as tied together to their imitation, which forms a projection screen. The public who go through this installation, experiences transformation both

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on a symbolic and physical level as the displayed visages are superimposed on their own faces. In my opinion this is a unique kind of initiation and live transition as the virtual face, combined with a real face, creates a new image. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Agnieszka Ewa. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? Currently I'm focused mostly on the topics related to the creation of a parallel world, in other words virtual reality and social media. My attention is drawn to the relationship between man and nature in times of major technological advancements. I'm interested in examining the impacts of technology and media on various levels of human activity, looking at the cultural, social and psychological spheres. I'm looking for a multidimensional references that will allow me to construct a broader context for the aforementioned issues. In my newest works there are motifs of interplay of values, truth and fiction. The virtual reality in my works depicts elements of the real and the fictional world, it mimics or perfects nature. In my present projects as well as future endeavors, I am going to continue to create art in a interdisciplinary manner. I'm working on a concept for a solo exhibition that I plan to finish this year. However, at this stage I don't want to share too many details. Thank you very much for having me here. An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Ablution, video-projection on water, 2013

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Ashley VanGemeren Lives and works in Laurel, Maryland, USA Ashley VanGemeren is a visual artist currently working and living in Central Maryland. Specializing in mixed media, she combines traditional and non-traditional materials to create visceral paintings and collages. VanGemerenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is inspired by romantic relationships and mental illness, often depicting singular narratives rendered through color, texture, and found objects. She earned her BFA in Fine Art from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design/George Washington University in 2015. VanGemeren is represented by Unruly Collective in Brooklyn, NY.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator

uses the relationship between color and texture as a vehicle to communicate her experiences with romantic relationships and mental illness: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to VanGemeren's stimulating and multifaceted artistic production.

peripheral.arteries@europe.com

Rejecting any conventional classification regarding its style, mixed media artist Ashley VanGemeren's work draws the viewers through an unconventional and multilayered experience: in her body of works that we'll be discussing in the following pages she uses such insightful combination of traditional and non-traditional materials, exciting the observer to motivate their imaginations to extract personal interpretation out from the artist's vision. One of the most impressive aspects of VanGemeren's work is the way she SPECIAL ISSUE

Hello Ashley and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You hold a solid formal training and you hold a BFA that you received from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design/George Washington University: how did this experience influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works? 66

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My time at the Corcoran has had an indelible impact on the formation of my practice and the process in which I make art. During my second year, my classmates and I were encouraged to explore new media. I began experimenting with performance art, developing an awareness for my body and how its movements inform my work. As a result, my pieces became larger and more gestural. The brushwork in my paintings became looser and more fluid. I learned how to let go and relinquish control, allowing my work to develop organically with minor manipulation. Most importantly, I learned how to use art as a means to cope with painful, complex emotions Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d otherwise suppress.

didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t anticipate how excruciating the journey would be. I was digging through trauma and uncovering feelings I didn't know how to handle. Instead of acting on old behaviors or keeping it tucked inside, I turned to art for articulation. I started collecting things associated with my treatment such as worksheets, food wrappers, bottle caps, hair, and clothing. I took sheets of plexiglass and laid them flat before collaging these items with pools of paint and silicone. I explored this new mode of working that was physical, visceral, and immensely healing. It provided a way for me to cope that honored my physical form instead of criticizing it. I gained a new appreciation for my body, and have since been an advocate for art as a tool to navigate the challenges of eating disorders, addiction, depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.

Growing up, my family faced a lot of hardships. We endured the challenges of addiction and depression as well as the debilitating effects of bankruptcy. I felt angry and confused, and I carried that heartache with me for years. Eventually the pain manifested itself in the form of an eating disorder. In my final semester at the Corcoran, I decided to get treatment for bulimia. I

The results of your artistic inquiry convey such coherent sense of unity and before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.ashleyvangemeren.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask

And in particular, how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making?

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you if you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work as an artist. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a painting or collage, every piece I make represents a moment of introspection; a tangible rendering of emotional analysis. My works often reflect my current situation as it relates to romance and my position in recovery. Be it canvas or paper, I enjoy building upon the substrate and exploring the way texture and color intensify certain aspects of a narrative. For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we hve selected My Fire and Late Night Magic, a couple of interesting works from your recent production that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your insightful artistic inquiry into the relationship between color and texture is the way you have provided the visual results of your exploration with such autonomous aesthetics: when walking our readers through your usual process and set up, would tell us how do you select the subjects for your artworks?

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Most of the time, the items I collect hold some sort of sentimental value. They serve as little trinkets and souvenirs from specific happenings throughout my life. For example, if I start a piece inspired by a previous partner, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m inclined to use things collected during my time with them. If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a particular color that reminds me of them, I tend to mix that up and apply it to the surface first. Occasionally Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll add something that isn't necessarily related to the subject but rather enhances the formal qualities of the piece. Though the majority of what I include and what the viewer sees directly correlates to a unique occurrence. You are a versatile artist and we have really appreciated the way you explore expressive potential and the feelings associated with natural and synthetic materials, as in the interesting The Least I Could Do: Michael Fried once stated that 'materials do not represent, signify, or allude to anything; they are what they are and nothing more.' What are the the properties that you search for in the materials that you combine? In particular, how do you consider the relationship between traditional and non-traditional materials? 73

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you convey in your pieces, elaborating personal meanings?

The emphasis on materiality and its ability to be the main focus of a piece has become a crucial part in the way I render concepts. As it pertains to two dimensional work, abstract art is not about what the piece is “supposed” to be but rather what the piece is based on what's happening across the surface. In my abstract works on canvas, nothing is illustrated literally. Any associations made by the viewer is a product of their own interpretation. When I combine acrylic and latex paint with soap, lotion, soil, lubricant and so on, it transforms the substance into something luscious and rich. Pouring high-gloss resin over the entire surface further heightens the work’s physicality. It becomes seductive and captivating, while the viewer’s experience becomes exploratory and inquisitive.

It is imperative that the viewer reflects within themselves while viewing my work. The nature of abstract art invokes a wide variety of interpretation, and I think that’s beautiful. There are no right or wrong answers. Every so often the meaning assigned by the viewer aligns with my original concept. At the time I made Stacks, I was cultivating financial abundance. I found a piece of green, rectangular bubble wrap that reminded me of bundles of cash. From there, I started thinking about the allure of wealth and how I could incorporate gold and green glitter to emulate its enticement. When I uploaded the painting to social media, I was amazed by how many people saw the same thing. Some people said that the piece evoked feelings of luxury and prosperity. Others felt inspired to manifest their own wealth. Whatever the perception, simply knowing that my work has the power to speak to people in such a way is truly special, and I am so grateful for that.

Provided with such seductive beauty on their surfaces, your works are marked with ambivalent visual quality: rather than attempting to establish any univocal sense, you seem to urge the viewers to elaborate personal associations: would you tell us how much important is for you that the spectatorship rethink the concepts SPECIAL ISSUE

We have really appreciated the way your use of resin on Crossing 74

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The color palette of each piece develops in response to the acquired objects and imagery Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m most attracted to as it relates to the concept. I introduce colors that are pertinent to the subject, and create slight variations of the same hue to increase dimension. While I was working on My Fire, I held sheets of paper over the canvas and set them ablaze. I enjoyed watching the delicate gray ash curl and detach from the flame. I started mixing up various tones of orange and red, placing globs of paint among the fallen ash. I then sprinkled turquoise glitter over the predominantly orange surface, boosting the tonality while adding a sense of balance between complimentary colors. provides the wotk with such vibrancy: however, other works as How are you doing? and Be Still show that vivacious tones are not strictly indespensable to create tension and dynamics. How did you come about settling on your color palette? And how much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develope a texture?

Developing texture is a matter of push and pull. When applying dry materials over wet areas, magical things tend to happen on their own. I particularly love saturating tissue paper until it's translucent, as well as taking borax powder and pouring it over liquid to crystallize. I embrace the way these things interact with each other, manipulating the medium as little as possible. I experiment with a variety of tools and techniques, and am not afraid to make mistakes, remove sections, or 77

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start over. Finishing with a coat of resin not only preserves the work but gives it a fresh sense of life; inviting light as a means to activate and accentuate the physical intricacies. You works often include symbols (as references to parts of human body) and written words, as the interesting I'd Like to Scrape the Grain Off and That's Why it's Called a Wish: what role does play symbols and written words in your works? Moreover, how do you view the relationship between reality and imagination playing within the way you conceive your artworks? Another vital part of my practice is working in my sketchbook and using it as a visual diary of sorts. I find that I’m more inclined to include writing and symbols when I want to speak candidly about a subject. I like being able to offer the viewer a textual entry point where they can read and identify something easily and grab onto it, whereas my paintings utilize the sensuality of texture and color to lure the viewer in. Working in mixed media and collage allows me to take items from my reality and rearrange them to create whimsical forms in imagined worlds. Distorting evidence from the real world fosters a sense SPECIAL ISSUE

of wonder for the viewer so that their experience is less about figuring out what I’ve used but how I’ve used it to communicate the essence of an idea. 78

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As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you use the relationship between color and texture as a vehicle to communicate

your experiences with romantic relationships and mental illness. How much does your everyday life's experience fuel your creative 79

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process? In particular, do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? My work is constantly fueled by everyday happenings. Like everyone, I encounter new experiences on a daily basis that contribute to my personal growth and expansion. Not everything that moves me is sad and hurtful. I use my work as a way to communicate all things. Being in eating disorder recovery for two years, I’ve become so much happier and healthier. Yet I still struggle with waves of depression, anxiety, and negative body image. For a brief period, I made paintings of water droplets and condensation. I also made works illustrating soft, vibrant orbs and masses of light floating in darkness. These were made during a period of emotional cleansing; a time that called for clarity as I washed away residual hurt from the past. I think our direct experiences influence our creative process whether we’re conscious of it or not. Even when the subject seems trivial and detached, we’re still communicating our response to it. Our position and perspective is what 81

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guides the direction of our execution. How do you go about naming your work? In particular, is important for you to tell something that might walk the viewers through their visual experience? The titles of my work provide a tiny bit of insight into what I was thinking of at the time of creation. For example, Late Night Magic was about relishing in the creative flow, while The Beautiful was about admiring those who are outspoken. By keeping the titles vague, I suggest a starting point for the viewer to build on. I want the viewer to feel as though they have room to conspire without the pressure to “get it right”. Allowing freedom and open interpretation is what’s most important to me when it comes to directing viewer engagement. Over the years you have been an active participant in various group shows including Out of Order (Baltimore, MD), Collector’s Choice (Camarillo, CA), New Beginnings (Longmont, CO), and SIAMO QUEL CHE MANGIAMO? Sustenance and Art (Milan, Italy): one of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to SPECIAL ISSUE

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create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Ashley. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? My work has evolved considerably in the last six months. I reached a point in my recovery where I needed to confront my long standing issues with body image head on. I started working figuratively, using my body as the main subject. I’m still collaging found objects and using unconventional materials, but I’m using brushes and sponges rather than jugs of paint. I’m also working larger, branching out to different substrates like masonite and stainless steel. I’ve been experimenting with electro fluorescent lights, rendering the form in bright colors atop sections of softened hues. I’ve always enjoyed portraiture and including my literal self in a piece, and I look forward to seeing how this body of work develops throughout the year.

As cliche as it sounds, I believe art is for everyone. Like many creators, I strive to make work that’s accessible to a wide audience. I’ve experienced work that intimidates me; that makes me feel inferior as though I lack the capacity to comprehend its message. I don’t want the viewer to feel discouraged or kept out when viewing my art. Therefore, I’m mindful of the language I use, maintaining a clear, genuine voice that lacks pretension. Being approachable to spectators regardless of their knowledge and experience with art is crucial. I feel that I’ll always be working towards finding that sweet spot; that happy medium where my work satisfies those who value concept, those who appreciate aesthetic, and everyone in between.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator peripheral.arteries@europe.com

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