BOOK DE LOS MUERTOS

WOODENLEG

VOL. I

BOOK DE LOS MUERTOS

LIFE

DEATH

REBIRTH

BOOK DE LOS MUERTOS curated by Giovanni Cervi

WOODENLEG www.woodenleg.me

CONTENTS INTRO SQUP FAITH47 ALESSIA IANNETTI DAVID HOCHBAUM ROWAN D G CORKILL STANISLAV GINZBURG ISABELLE MENIN HIKARI SHIMODA NATASCHA STELLMACH BORIS ELDAGSEN SANDRA HAUSER MEITAL KATZ-MINERBO KARIN ANDERSEN DANNY VAN RYSWYK CORPICRUDI BILJANA BOSNJAKOVIC OLE TERLØSE JENSEN REGAN ROSBURG LUISA CATUCCI DANIËL VAN NES KEVIN EARL TAYLOR JADE TOWNSEND JOSÉ LUIS ROJAS/PASTICHE HARA KATSIKI DANIEL MARTIN DIAZ DIEGO KNORE

5 6 8 11 14 17 20 22 24 27 30 32 35 38 40 42 44 47 50 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68

INTRO Book de los muertos is a collection of interviews of artists that deal with the alchemy of life/death/rebirth in their creative research.

I look everyday at the world around and I feel that Death is no longer part of our lives. Maybe we are so absorbed by material matters that we are losing our inner life; Death is not a “passage� anymore, it is something to deny and reject, we only accept it on tv and in books and on the big screens, these are safe zones we can control.

I chose to make the same nine questions to all of the artists. Each one of them answered the way he or she felt. One chose to not answer, in his email I felt the perfect recap of how the contemporary world deals with Death.

/ life / the state or quality that distinguishes living beings or organisms from dead ones and from inorganic matter, characterized chiefly by metabolism, growth, and the ability to reproduce and respond to stimuli. / death / the permanent end of all functions of life in an organism or some of its cellular components.

/ rebirth /

a second or new birth; reincarnation.

05

SQUP I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Sometimes I think we should produce less images, a kind of visual ecology. We are overwhelmed by images, even our computers have storage difficulty with all of our images so we have to resort to external hard disks. I think it’s time to carefully select what we really need instead of expanding.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

Since the mid-400s with the invention of the Renaissance perspective, our vision has evolved. Even today’s computer software offers us both 3D and 4D images, which stems from the Renaissance, and so, I believe, the frigid and cold sculpture of this hyperconnected world.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

No, I do not feel this way about my work, but instead I am under the impression that through the years my sight has been mutated in such a way, that now I see things I never would have noticed before.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In the sea water. There you can hide or be lost forever.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Neo-pantheist, mutant beings, exoskeletons, bodies that can not be cataloged as a species.

What is your first memory about Death?

Death is always present in my work since photography, as a medium, constantly reminds us of things that were once there but are now gone.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

It is often what we see in our society, death is a disguise - and thus hidden - or idealized, that has nothing to do with the natural process. Even the sarcophagy and embalming practices are used for the artificial preservation of the flesh and serve mainly to ward off the signs of death.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I have had two dreams since childhood: to have a house full of cats and to express myself through visual arts. The first dream did not come true because I live in a very small house that can only hold me, while the second one I haven’t completely fulfilled but the restlessness drives me to continue to do research to look for something deeper.

Do you believe in magic?

Yes, in particular in the magic of numbers. Interpreting a number, means for me, decoding the energy and chasing one’s own destiny.

06 Squp - Black Water

2012

FAITH47 I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Human beings have always been lost. Perhaps that is why we are here, fumbling about in the darkness trying to make sense of ourselves and what’s around us. There is a great vacuous emptiness inside each of us. We try so hard to fill it, but we can never fill it. We can only accept it, and by doing so we gain enough insight for it to no longer bother us as much as it used to.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

Artists insist on the luxury of spending their time creating reflections of the world in the way that they see it.

It allows others to pause for a minute from their daily life and look at things from a different angle. This must be an important part of any society. People are not machines, were sensitive organic electrical beings. Life is complex, there are many riddles that we cannot solve.

The world is constantly at war and there is a sickness of overconsumption and underconsumption. New perspectives are vital if we are to survive ourselves.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Sometimes I feel like I am on waves of imagery, they cover me when I sleep and I pick and sort them when im awake. Dissect them and find meaning in the symbols, give muted colors to emotions. Pair up thoughts to animals and place them in direct contact with human deities. It’s not a science, because the process embraces the uncertain. gives sound to the unknown, in indescribable ways.

I feel more like a storyteller, a wanderer of sorts. wal-

king long distances and collecting beautiful stones.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

I hide in my heart, behind the memories of previous lives and actions past.

There’s a small room in the deepest chamber, with endless books and mountain passes. The door is always open but its locked from deep within.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

I have not yet read any concise or accurate definition of my work What is your first memory of Death?

There have been some deaths, my dearest grandmother for instance, my first boyfriend in school who was killed in a hit and run. I held his hand under a small tree as we waited for an ambulance to come. the most engulfing one was my father. It was after months of his suffering, one night I sat at his bedside and held his hand. I was staring into his eyes and I was trying to find him in there, it was like staring into the infinite night sky, an immense void of emptiness. My whole being was with him somehow, between worlds. I cannot put that in words. I went home, and a few hours later received a phone call to say that he had stopped breathing. I went back to his house and sat next to him again. The whole room had changed. He was no longer there. I could feel his absence permeate the furniture and the walls.

Later I dreamt of him lying on the ground, the wind was bringing autumn leaves, falling and covering his body.

That dream was not a projection in my mind, his spirit had come to visit me, I could feel that when I woke up.

That is the closest I have come to death. Stared him in the eyes. It broke my heart and my whole understan-

08 Faith47 - Rhapsody

Rochester, NYC - 2012

ding of reality. The disillusion of stability. The time is coming when each of us will need to let go of this time and space. Of ourselves. This is perhaps the most profound truth that we can be sure of.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

To die well. That is the greatest aspiration.

To prepare for the last breath, that one could be calm, and let go gracefully and with acceptance. If we can find within ourselves an understanding that life is so temporary, that everything and everyone in our lives is just there for a short time. Then we would truly appreciate the situations and souls that are with us. It would help us to live with passion and humbility.

We become very secure and rooted in this reality when it is in fact not a solid thing. We cling to religions in order to make sense of it. To our ego in order to feel that we exist. But perhaps embracing our vulnerability, accepting the ephemeral nature of being would be a good preparation for the inevitable.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

Actually when I was much younger I really wanted to work with animals and nature. But my path moved into art, I think my emotions and thoughts are so strong that I had to find some way of channeling them. But there is still a part of me that longs for the ocean. The mountains, the pace of nature.

Do you believe in magic?

Of course. How could anything exist at all without magic.

10

ALESSIA IANNETTI I see a lot of emptiness in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Actually, the emptiness you’re talking about may be considered as the leitmotif of my quest, if by emptiness you mean the outspread of that sense of disillusionment and the disconnection from the inner and emotional sphere that mark our age. My work is a reaction to it, both from the poetic point of view and the technical ones, considering the style I adopt to express myself. My characters are creatures that have averted the danger to lose their souls. Empty shells with fake skin scratched by cracks that save themselves by blending with a natural and fantastic universe, thanks to the miracle of art and imagination. Artistically talking I think that all the confusion, the superficiality and the cynicism of the world started a magnificent artistic explosion.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyper-connected world?

Maybe creating a break, a pause that interrupt the constant stream of information that kidnap and confuse us.

Art, with its questions, makes us stop and think, it can reshape the evanescent borders between our inner space and the rest of the world. By reactivating the ability of being alone with ourselves, we might recreate a bond with our inner world.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Yes, in a sense that’s how I feel when I paint. Painting is like an experiment or an ancient magic ritual. When I paint, I bring life to the creatures who live in my mind while I’m suturing their wounds or blending their human parts with animal and natural elements.

11

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Always in my imagination.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

My art has often been associated to the music I love and once someone was able to recognize what I was listening to while I was creating one of my early paintings.

What is your first memory about Death?

The first time I went to a funeral. I was a child and I remember a feeling of sadness and mystery. After that experience I used to do funerals for each dead animal I found in my garden, birds or small insects. I still remember burying dead ants inside pine kernels shells.

I believe one of the most important issue in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

If we look back in time we realize that ancient civilizations accepted Death as a natural event, similar to the alternation of day and night and the changing of seasons. For this reason, this special period that marked the end of the summer and the beginning of winter, and so the beginning of a new year, was associated to Death and dedicated to the celebration of the dead. In the past, Death walked closely to men, it was always in men’s mind and they found ways to exorcise it. Today Death seems to be removed, pushed in the recess of the mind and this is a big contradiction if we consider that Death is made so spectacular on Tv. I think that in our culture, where everything can be fixed or replaced,

man hardly manages to think he can’t live forever and maybe for this reason things are wasted. We’re ashamed of getting old, getting ill, suffering and even dying.

Death assert the importance of life, of feelings and the relationships we establish with people, these fragile things are precious because sooner or later they cease. I don’t know if we can use the word serenity when we talk about Death, for the following annihilation, loss and pain but I think that if we could carry a little piece of Death with us every day, it could help to discover what is really important. In the same way I think it’s important to remember, notwithstanding the pain, all the vanished things, to keep them alive in ourselves and to draw on the good they gave us in our lives.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I’m always asking myself if the child in me would be happy with the way I’m walking, the choices I made.

The memories of what I wished are a kind of compass that I use to guide me. I can say that I’m doing what I love and this is a beautiful gift so I’m happy although I’m not a rock star! :D Do you believe in magic?

I think that something special happens when we are experiencing something that takes us beyond ourselves.

12 Alessia Iannetti - Just one kiss

(graphite, watercolor and ink on wood, courtesy of Dorothy Circus Gallery) - 2013

DAVID HOCHBAUM I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Well, I am not so sure about the emptiness. Isolation, maybe, but not empty for me. If I am to follow the idea of souls, that we are born with them and that they linger after we die, then I don’t know if we ever, as a majority, have ever really been too in touch with it. A lot of people I believe have some balance, some connection or harmony within themselves for sure, but as a whole, a race, I don’t think we are given enough of a chance or guidance to enlightenment.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

Whenever I am confronted with a question of what I feel the role of the contemporary artist is, I have to refer only to my personal view, I cannot bring myself to have any authority as to what the artist should be or do. The most common connection for me amongst my peers I believe to to record and convey my present in a visual language that references and build upon what I have learned in my journey and to share or give back as to continue he cycle of inspiration and exploration.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

I personally find the act of creating art very connected to the ideas and philosophies of science, and yes, I feel quite mad at times. The term “new” worries me. There are way too many perspectives on what that means to lay claim to or even seek to create something new. If it happens, I want it to be organically Where do you like to hide yourself?

In my studio/home. If the confines of my personal refu-

ge becomes too much, I like to hide in places I have never been. I like to travel and experience the anonymity of being the stranger.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

There have been quite a few people who have explained their view of my work which I have felt really got me, at that particular time. It is hard for me to really point one out.

What is your first memory of Death?

I think in order for me to be honest with that answer, I will have to skip it and keep it to myself.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

Well,it is strange that even though we are constantly confronted with death in this world, we have become numb to it happening to others. When it hits close to home, we all wind up on the same plane. I believe part of our ignorance to it is our lack of attention and concern for older people, the elderly. We push them aside so quickly and ignore them. I think we project our fears of death in them and find our outlet to deal with death as a thing, a person, an object to hide away and pretend is not there. They are mirrors of our own morality and few focus on the surface, the decaying and aging flesh. But in this we ignore the knowledge and information and life experience which would enriches and enlighten us. The lack of respect for older folks, at least for what I know in my country, is shameful.

14 David Hochbaum - Somnambulist Garden

2012

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

My dreams as a child were the dreams of a child. Myself, as a child would never understand why I spend so much time worried about such trivial things and the reasons for making art. But I think he would be pleased with my attitude towards how I choose to live my life and play with others.

Do you believe in magic?

Like God, for me magic is my chance encounter with the universe and the splendor of the balance and coincidence in this chaotic nature. So yes, I do believe in magic.

16

ROWAN D G CORKILL I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I think that most human beings have lost their connection with nature, which is the most important connection of all. We excel in so many things yet we fail to see and acknowledge the damage that we increasingly do? I think the special spark that makes us human is also the spark that can destroy us all.

A lot of my works refer to cultures and belief systems that are firmly rooted in nature, unfortunately many of these cultures are dying out and I suppose this probably resembles a kind of emptiness and melancholy in my work.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

I think every artist creates their own role. For me, my work attempts to acknowledge past cultures symbolisms and belief systems as well as forming similarities and relationships to the present day. How can past thoughts and ways of thinking be used to acknowledge and tackle current issues and can metaphorical relationships be drawn.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

I often find that a lot of the things I make resemble strange unknown creatures or objects form unknown places. I think this is probably because I am hugely influenced by so many different cultural and ethnographic references. I always end up merging them together, amalgamating them into these hybrid creations which seem familiar yet completely unknown?

It’s a bit like Frankenstein.

17

Where do you like to hide yourself?

I like to hide in my studio. It is in the old docklands area of south East London and there is absolutely nothing to do around it! This is great because there are no distractions. I am very anti-social when it comes to my studio and there is a glass window on my door which I have covered so no one can see when I am in. I like to go to my studio so I can be alone and really concentrate on my work. Also the internet is terrible in my studio so it’s minus one more distraction.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

The best definition of my work was from Mr Woodenleg himself -Giovanni Cervi. Giovanni kindly called me an image alchemist which I feel is a pretty spot-on definition of myself as an artist. He also defined my work as being on the edge of times, linking old and new elements in a newborn creation. At the time this was written I had not put up any proper information about my work, so it was great to find someone who really understood my practice and the influences surrounding it.

What is your first memory of Death?

My first memory of death would probably be when our family dog Penny died, I would have been around four years old. I remember everyone was really upset and it was the first time I had seen my parents cry. Penny was wrapped in a black bin bag and my dad dug a hole for her in the garden. After she died we planted a rose bush on top of her grave, my parents still have the rose bush twenty three years later.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I

think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

Since my late teens I have had a strong fascination with death, and when I was a student I spent the majority of my student loan on Victorian post mortem photographs and mourning jewelry. I was amazed at the close relationship that people had with the dead, not just through images and keep sakes but also through strange customs such as retrieving old ancestors’ bones from the graves to wash, or keeping parts of their bodies on display to introduce to younger family members. To me this was a bizarre thing to do since we know longer hold onto the dead or really acknowledge them? Death is a natural occurrence that should not be feared and by having a greater acknowledgment and appreciation of death we might in-turn hold a greater appreciation for life also.

People’s views on death shift with cultural change, and the more technologically advanced we become the less prominent death becomes. Who knows how this will change in future generations? Do we have to devolve culturally for death to be accepted again?

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

When I was a child my biggest dream was to become a horse… Now my biggest dream is to taxidermy a horse! I don’t know if my inner child is happy with how I have turned out but I’m pretty happy!

Do you believe in magic?

I believe that all magic stems from mankind’s innate relationship to nature. Nature is the most magical thing

conceivable in my minds… so yes I believe in magic.

18 Rowan D G Corkill - The Other 2012

STANISLAV GINZBURG I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

One of the central themes in my work is the universality of biological form. The same shapes and patterns that make up the plants, insects and even the smallest, most primitive of the sea creatures are also part of our own anatomy. We adhere to the same natural design and that makes us less special and rather ordinary in certain respect. Perhaps, this realization brings a sense of melancholy to my work.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

I believe art puts us in touch with our emotions. In this day and age when technology has become the new religion, the role of an artist is more urgent than ever. It is to make us look on the inside, to make us feel, to connect us back to ourselves.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

I meticulously research and study up-close a wide variety of invertebrates for every piece I make. I am continuously awed at evolution’s mastery and somewhat perverse ingenuity. I am convinced that nature is the maddest scientist of them all and no human being comes close.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Physically-in my beautiful studio on the top floor of a historic building, a former Mechanics and Traders Bank in Brooklyn, NY. Metaphysically - there’s a part of me in every piece I make.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/ read so far?

Someone close to me once described what I do as “cap-

turing complex beauty in simple moments.”

What is your first memory of Death?

When I was growing up in Russia, my father used to go out hunting for rabbits every winter. I remember him laying out bloody skinned carcasses in our bathtub after he’d come home from yet another successful weekend getaway.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I am one of those people that have a hard time talking about death, especially of loved ones around me. Yet I evoke the theme of death quite frequently in my work. I believe art is a form of self-therapy. Perhaps, we can all learn to deal better with death through art?

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I never thought I’d be an artist when I was growing up in Soviet Russia. I spent every summer at our dacha (country house) coming up with various ways to pass the time.

I remember catching grasshoppers and putting them in glass jars. After they’d die, I would tear off their limbs and study them under a magnifying glass. I think my childhood self would be quite surprised to see how little has changed. Insects continue to fascinate me and have become a major part of my work. However, my methods for studying them have evolved to be more humane. I simply look at a lot of reference images I find on the internet.

Do you believe in magic?

I believe in the limitless wonders of the natural world.

20 Stanislav Ginzburg - Forget me not

2013

ISABELLE MENIN I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I’m not sure what you mean by “emptiness”. On the contrary there is not that much blank space in my work except sometimes large expanses of black. I also work on the possibility of finding a breath inside all that cacophony, that fast and perpetual movement which takes us away.

We can’t lose the special spark that makes us Human Beings. We can’t lose it as it’s what makes us. But we can deny or forget it. And often, that’s what we do. We have to find in the middle of the magma the special and particular point of our own life, our singularity and how it’s inherent to the incomprehensible brouhaha.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

To show different ways of being connected, different connexions. Ask questions about connexions. I don’t think the artist’s role changes with time and civilizations. Artist have always been hyperconnected people working on linking their inner network to the external one. Connected to the world in a special way that probably most of the people don’t. We live in a hyperconnected world, we are connected through phones, screens, pads but what do we connect to? Why are all those little fingers all around the world typing on keyboards night and day? Those new kinds of connexions are probably the same as the little egyptian slaves had around their ankles whilst carrying stones to build pyramids.

But we don’t even build pyramids anymore.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Mad. Just mad. Not a scientist. I try to give life to myself, to build my inner pyramid!

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Definitely in music. Best place on earth.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“Beauty can be revolutionary” and “Inspiration junkie”.

What is your first memory of Death?

Somebody committed suicide.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

We should stop fearing making little marks on our smartphones. Break the walls we have built in order to deny it. I train myself everyday by having conversations with the certitude of my death. But it’s not easy. I really don’t know what it’s like to be dead and even if it drives me crazy I tell myself everyday “behold!”.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I don’t remember my childhood dream. And regarding my inner child, I don’t know if she’s happy. Anyway, she’s still there, going everywhere with me so I guess that it is not that horrible for her.

Do you believe in magic?

Magic is a point of view and I believe in points of view.

22 Isabelle Menin - Travelling Grace

digital photography - 2013

HIKARI SHIMODA I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I think Human Beings today live with wordless emptiness such as anxiety and loneliness. In my artworks those characters of person figures are receptacle for my sense and feeling. So I’m always care to paint person characters so that they look vacant as outlets of human feelings.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

Artist of today including myself could grasp every news and facts timely through the internet. It’s the big difference from the past artists. That means we could get information from all over the world. I could catch something that someone in some country thinks at a moment. And there might be someone who have the same idea with me in this world. That implies that we could find some common thoughts of the earth. And artists could be mediums that could tell people what this world looks like. Maybe today’s artists could even tell audiences some future of this world by observing things.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

The more I paint, the more I recognize I am just an ordinary person without any special abilities. But I always focus all of my effort on creating a thing that everyone in the world hasn’t experienced yet.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Suppose inside of my blanket…

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“Her painting doesn’t allow me to leave it by the strong gravity. I almost wanted to escape from her piece, but at the next moment I found myself gazing at it again.”

What is your first memory of Death?

When I was a little girl, I had a cat and rabbit. I loved them so much. One day, I let my cat go towards my rabbit. Then the cat bit the rabbit to death. I had no idea what happens by letting the cat to rabbit. Maybe I thought they could play with each other. But my act had brought an awful result as the rabbit’s death. I had been shocked and deeply hurt. I think it was my first memory about Death.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

Nuclear power plant’s problem is one of our big issue today. Nuclear is dangerous and it has a huge possibility to kill many people. But governments just pursue their profit that nuclear brings about, ignoring the big risk. And the same thing is said about wars occurring all over the world. Seeing those situations, I can’t stop feeling that human beings are going to destroy the world.

The average life span has decreased because of medical progress, but as the result of that, Death has been a thing so far from our life. Human beings had lived with Death in the past and we should do the same. We need to be closer to both life and death.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you

24 Hikari Shimoda - The world we do not know, That today

(oil on canvas) - 2012

have arrived?

I used to have a dream to be a dancing and singing cartoonist when I was a child. For now I still love singing, but couldn’t dance. Anyways me as little girl must be so pleased to know her paintings are shown all over the world when she grow up as an adult.

Do you believe in magic?

Yes I do.

26

NATASCHA STELLMACH I see a lot of emptiness in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Emptiness is defined as being vacant or devoid of content. I’ve actually never had anyone describe my work in this way (in fact the reverse is true) so I’m fascinated to hear why you feel this is so?

And no, I don’t believe we are losing our souls as human beings. Perhaps we just sometimes forget how to access our deepest sense of self and frankly that’s what makes us human and pretty normal in our fast paced lives. Through my work I aim to facilitate self-inquiry, to create insight into the things that hold us trapped.

Things we can’t help but attach to, like strong emotions around identity, love and taboos.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

The same as it always was: to make authentic work that you believe in with all of your might.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Mad at times: yes. Scientist: no. Although my undergraduate studies were in the applied sciences, so go figure.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

That depends where and who I’m playing ‘hide and seek’ with.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Oh I’ve been called all sorts of badass names, which I’ve re-appropriated and used in works (ie: the Threat series), as well as poetic and touching renditions from writers in relation to my current inkless tattoo Letting

27

Go project like “modern shaman,” “gracious doctor” or “You give voice to vulnerability” but one of the most powerful was when a curator said she didn’t like my work because it held up a mirror. I admired her honesty and courage in admitting to me that confrontation with herself, via my work. That gave me goosebumps.

What is your first memory of Death?

Before I was six I’d experienced the deaths of a menagerie of pets including ducks, guinea pigs, a cat, dog and even my bunny Peter, which my father slaughtered for dinner! – all full of drama and tears – but it was at six that the gravity of human death really hit home. I was about to go on my first overseas holiday, from Australia to Germany, the country that both my parents had immigrated from. A month before we were due to leave, my Grandmother died. She could have waited!

My mother’s siblings who were all in Germany – in a bizarre act of protection – didn’t tell my mother about the death until a day before the funeral. So we could never even make the funeral. I remember vividly my mother becoming very still during that phone call and then just heading to the bedroom to quietly weep. A week later, our little family was all standing at the grave, jetlagged and staring vacantly into the wilting flowers.

It was so solemn, alien and lonely an experience for me and essentially so powerful. I had never met this special woman and could only construct her from stories, photographs and gifts she’d sent and so I found it difficult to fathom the intense heaviness and lack of ritual.

I wanted it to be a celebration of a wonderful person and life, whether it was laden with drunken wailing or joy. And although it took me decades to describe those feelings in words, I wanted to feel energy and transfor-

mation. I think this moment was formative in the way I relate to death.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again – it’s a part of life after all?

We’ve become very clinical and removed from Death.

I believe we need to learn from our ancestors again. I wish for these commemorations to be full of intense reverence, in a personally designed ritual that relates to the Dead and allows all the mourners the opportunity to pay their respects. This takes great courage in times where we’d all rather just ‘get on with things’. Wouldn’t we all rather visit funerals or be remembered in this way, whether it be a long drawn out affair (such as the Mexicans and their Day of the Dead) or a quiet or wild party, which ultimately celebrates a life? This idea, alongside the critique of our attachment to celebrity, was one of the intentions of my work, Complete Burning Away and the smoking of Kurt Cobain’s ashes. I feel it’s time to revisit how we let go of pain, how we deal with unresolved grief around complex deaths (such as suicide) and how we commemorate in general. I’m interested in how perhaps that is possible using ancient rituals combined with contemporary thought.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I’m still playing in that dream. And it rocks.

Do you believe in magic?

Always. And by magic I define this as interconnectedness to all life, which enables us to experience serendipity. It’s always present, it’s just that we are often so closed to it, lost in the past or future or caught up in emotions. It’s an experience that is indefinable and so exquisite – but we all know when we’re in it and we’re usually in it when we are completely NOW.

28 Natascha Stellmach - I have a tattoo machine

(archival ink & pen on photo paper, 69x86 cm, unique piece, courtesy WAGNER+PARTNER, Berlin) - 2013

BORIS ELDAGSEN I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I don’t. An understanding of the void has always been part of what makes us human.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

The role is timeless: to become more and more conscious of the world inside of and around me. And to express this consciousness in an authentic form with all my technical skills.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

I am a mad scientist giving life to a new creature, made from the bones and carcasses of the past.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

I stopped hiding.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“What I am looking at is very non-standard in the world of photography (…) it is very much like a rêverie, or like a dream. (…) Because it is a dream, I want to revisit it, I want to live with it for a while, I want to think about it for a while. And I am having a kind of pleasant journey with this dream, but I don’t know – it might turn into a nightmare. I might wake up and be very happy to forget this dream. Or I might find that tomorrow I have this dream in my mind.“ Linda Benedict-Jones, Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh / USA What is your first memory of Death?

Stopping at a car accident early in the morning, trying in vain to feel the pulse of the driver who was scattred

across the road with an open skull. Then the paramedics arrived, telling me to let it be. I jumped back into my car and drove as fast as possible to the nearest filling station to wash my hands.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

The main reason why death has become so abstract is that people do not die at home, but in hospitals. We kept my father at home when he died. I felt his pulse disappearing. Then our dog left his place under the bed. I tried to close his eyelids like in the movies but it didn’t work. We kept him at home overnight. The next morning I helped the doctor and the undertaker. This was very real.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

To become an artist. Life has many detours and every reached goal turns out to be just another starting point.

My inner child is starting to become comfortable with the idea of never arriving. We will all die unfinished.

Do you believe in magic?

Magic as in concentrating will power and imagination: yes.

30 Boris Eldagsen - Poem #76

2012

SANDRA HAUSER I see a lot of /emptinessvoid in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes Human Beings us all?

I think a human being can’t lose her soul. She can only lose the key that opens the door to the wonderful dark room with the small, intriguing sparkle in the center that each one of us has inside. The void is the wide space laying in silence between the walls and the sparkle.

Cross it!

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyper connected world?

Sorry, I have to go. I have to do art…

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

I feel like a mad psychologist who digs deep into her own psyche, uncovers hidden emotions and tries to explain them in a language that is not made to be spoken with words. Rather than a scientist, I feel like a sponge that absorbs the energy around it. My creatures are feelings, mine or others’, that re-new themselves every second and that live their own lives. I just have to find them. Maybe I’m more an emotional researcher.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In the dark room inside myself, trying to reach the sparkle…it’s a long, long journey.

So when I’m hiding, I’m walking.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Hans op de Beeck once wrote: “She uses a medium as the most adequate means to express a certain content, and not because of the medium itself. I consider that a very valuable point of departure. Sandra is a gifted writer, is strong in conceiving

and producing balanced video works, has the skills to direct, sculpt, make photos, perform, create total installations, design costumes and many things more. What I highly appreciate as well is the fact that she, amongst other subjects and domains, is not afraid to work on emotion and beauty, and, by doing so, knows how to avoid the dangers of both pathos and empty formalism.” and - I’m sorry Mister Cervi, but I have to cite you: “She is an emotional explorer, her art discovers today little emotions and turns them into light and pulse through aesthetic and thoughts. She walks in different media and darkness just like an equilibrist on a razor wire.”

What is your first memory about Death?

The death of my uncle had a big impact on me. Apart from my mom, his sister, he was the most lovely, intelligent, deep and authentic person I’ve ever met.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I suppose closing the eyes in front of a fact is already very close to death without noticing it.

For three years I lived nearby a cemetery. My mom and I often walked through it while talking about this and that, if we like the tombs, wondering who has been Mister ... I remember that my boyfriend at the time was very shocked by our walks and said that it scared him. I couldn’t at all understand why.

What we can do? Open our eyes.

34 Sandra Hauser - La piccola Kaspar Hauser (selfportrait)

2011

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I remember an emotion, which is very important to spell my inner dream. One afternoon I was standing on the bench of our dining table in the house I grew up in, looking out of the window onto the white snowy silent landscape.

Nobody was there.

The silence, the white and the soft light of the snow hugged me.

I was three or four years old, not more. I felt completely myself. In peace. Completely lost in my thoughts.

After a while a man appeared far away, walking slowly on the street. I wanted to connect with him. But he was too far away, wrapped in his cloak. I was inside and he outside.

In my head I started a silent conversation with him.

I think the feeling of this memory is my greatest dream.

Being completely myself in peace. Relate to other human beings without losing myself.

Living my inner child.

Thinking about that today, my inner child is happy to see how far I’ve come, but, again, it’s certainly still a long long way to walk.

Do you believe in magic?

How could a magician not believe in her profession?

36

MEITAL KATZ-MINERBO I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I agree and that is why the subjects of my art are objects.

I see in them more life than in a human beings but without being objects. I am not interested in humanizing them. They are objects and they have their own way of living, breathing, decomposing and moving.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

The role of the artist is to keep the hands working, feeling and thinking. “… five different fingers. Each of them articulated on three knuckles, has its own aptitude and its own mind”. (Henri Focillon, The Life of Forms in Art) As Focillon wrote our Hands are autonomous entities that have knowledge from the time of the cave man up to the man of today. The knowledge of entire humanity is placed in them so they know exactly which is the ultimate texture of the stone they are working on, only by feeling it.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

This is the exact feeling I have when I work in my studio. I am a painter who is tired of painting. Out of this feeling of hopelessness I try to expand the limits of the genre. I make experiments and try to rediscover it again as something renewed.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In my studio. it is an underground anti bomb shelter.

There are no windows and the darkness reigns. It is like a tomb. There I feel warm and out of reach. Apart from the upper world.

What is the best definition of your work you ever he-

35

ard/read so far?

I loved it when a college artist said my paintings are like the photography of one of my favorite Israeli photographers. I like the idea of my paintings reminding people of any other genre but painting. Its lack of identity mixes with its demonic nuances.

What is your first memory of Death?

I don’t remember but I do remember that I used to see myself sleeping in the cradle.

When I was a baby I use to have out of body experiences.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I believe that art is a spectral phenomena, it is a ghost.

It is what hasn’t been born and it what hasn’t died yet.

It is like an un-dead entity. It is neither an object nor a subject. It is different.

The artist making art is the one dealing with death, dealing with the otherness or difference from the metaphysical dichotomy of the presence.

To change the idea of high and low, beauty and ugliness, good and bad or life and death, people need to see art through the prism of the spectral and monstrous. This can change and will help in accepting death as part of life.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you arrived?

I don’t remember my dreams but I remember lots of

empathy and sensibility.

For many years I had a big conflict with my inner child. I can say that today I embraced my inner child and even learned to love her. I think she is proud of what I became today.

Do you believe in magic?

I do. If I didn’t believe, there would be no purpose in making art.

36 Meital Katz-Minerbo - Carrie 1

(ink and water colors on paper) - 2011

KARIN ANDERSEN I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Actually I hope to lose that special spark that makes me a human being: I consider myself as an animal, belonging to the Homo Sapiens species, nothing more. Maybe the emptiness you perceive is a loss of humanism: once upon a time it was a positive value, but considering what mankind with its humanism has done to the biosphere, I think it is an obsolete notion...

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

The same it has ever been, I guess... in my opinion, artists are people who raise questions and who stretch out their antennas to capture subtle signals of ongoing social, political and cultural change, transmitting them further in their own specific medium and language before anybody else becomes aware of them. No matter if they do it in a primitive world or in a hyperconnected one…

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Not really… although my art is often about weird creatures half way between human and animals, I consider this as a kind of mental exercise, more than an image of something that could become reality in future.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Behind the curtains.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

As to myself, I am in trouble when I need to define my work in words. And I am in trouble to decide which definition by other people could match…

What is your first memory of Death?

I think I was around 12 years old. I was hosting a little field mouse at home, I had saved it from a cat’s attack on the street on a cold autumn day and wanted to keep him safe and warm until springtime. One morning in March or April, when I was already planning to set him free again, I found him dead. I can’t even describe how desperate I was.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I’m not sure if there can be any sincerely serene relationship with death. Personally I think that it’s just necessary to acknowledge and accept that Nature is beautiful and terrible at the same time, and death and dying is part of this.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

One of my biggest dreams was to learn to ride and go far away on horseback. I haven’t been able to do this so far. Therefore, and for many other reasons, my inner child is not yet happy and I’m not sure it will ever be!

Do you believe in magic?

Nature, with its mysteries like birth and death, is so incredible that it could be defined as pure magic. But there is no point to believe in it ore not, as we are a part of it. I don’t believe in “minor” kinds of magic, like people claiming to be able to bend tea spoons with their mental energy.

38 Karin Andersen - Marat (from Jacques-Louis David’s Marat assassiné)

(lambda print, courtesy of Traffic Gallery / Guidi & Schoen Arte Contemporanea) - 2007

DANNY VAN RYSWYK I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

My work is made out of curiosity for all things beyond understanding. I am the pioneer of my own dreams.

There is no logic or moral message at all.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

My role is to show another opinion of what we call “reality”. Are we sleep walking through life or wake-walking through a world of dreams? I believe that reality is experience, the observer is the creator of it’s own reality.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientists trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Yes. In a sense we artists create our own divine creatures, transfer them from our minds into the world of living. For the sake of immortality.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In my studio. To quote da Vinci “Who would believe that so small a space could contain the image of all the universe?”!

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

That it finds something mysterious in the aspect of decay.

What is your first memory of Death?

There was an unusual book shelf in my parents’ home.

I frequently read a book containing 19th century spirit photography. I could not stop looking at these images.

As a child these haunting photographs where real manifestations of the afterlife to me. When I became older I start reading books about Near Death Experiences with vivid stories about people going through tunnels

of light.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

“This is the dead land” T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem The Hollow Men. We live our lives surrounded by death, since all who have died are buried here. I think we should feel more relaxed in facing this inevitable end. I believe death is not the end of life, but merely the end of the body we inhabit.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

This is my dream and I am living it! I’ve always wanted to become the creator of all things weird.

Do you believe in magic?

Yes, for sure. The belief in magic is something that is hardwired in our psyches. We are constantly exposed to our own thoughts, and the line between fantasy and reality can become blurred. Call me anti-science but I prefer to hold on to a reality where ghosts and extraterrestrials do exist.

40 Danny van Ryswyk - The Vague Forms of a Dream

(digital painting, Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta paper) - 2013

CORPICRUDI I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Yes. What do you think is the role of a sculptor in today’s hyperconnected world?

To create ancient harmony.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

No. Maybe old kinds.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Inside a white flower.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“Their work is a combination of the Apollonian and the Dyonisian, perfectly balanced between harmony and disharmony, light and drama, good and evil. “ (Corpicrudi, WhiteHot Magazine, New York, 2010) What is your first memory of Death?

My grandfather’s funeral.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again – it’s a part of life after all?

I think people have to deal with Death throughout their Life, as these (I mean the beginning and the end) are two essential aspects of the cycle of our existence. I don’t believe it’s easy to reach a serene relationship with Death, but we can meditate on it through philosophy and the arts.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

To become an international artistic gymnast. Well, the road has changed, but I’ve been working with body in my art.

Do you believe in magic?

Sometimes.

42 CORPICRUDI - Le Vergini 003

2011

BILJANA BOSNJAKOVIC I see a lot of emptyness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I hope that the void you perceive in my art is the same that dominates and fills us in front of the mysteries, in front of all the phenomena that fascinates, frightens and attracts us, such as the universe, the human brain, or even death. As a non-believer, I don’t know if what I try to transmit through my art has anything to do with the soul. I don’t think that we are losing that special spark, or whatever it is. If it exists, it can’t be lost. It is only our arrogance and egoism to make us ignore those sparks, to make us forget who we really are - creatures of the Cosmos that should have the utmost respect for this little blue planet. Art helps us to remember that we have a special gift - the power to make this world a better and nicer place for all.

What do you think is the role of a sculptor in today’s hyperconnected world?

Thinking about the virtual world that absorbs us more and more, I am convinced that the role of the sculptor today could become necessary more than ever, with the sculptures created to be touched, smelled, palpated, embraced, and even wearable, as I do with my wearable sculptures. Touch is something that the human being needs, as well as the smell. So, a sculptor could fill the gap that characterizes the hyperconnected world.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Always! The latest example is a long sculpture dress that I created for my last interactive performance and installation Apparently Dying, in October 2013. This dress,

not only was perfectly wearable, but had to be able to stand erected, without any kind of support. During the first part of the performance I created a tableau vivant, which lasted two hours. I was almost immobile while wore this black dress, covered with dead leaves. After these exhausting hours of non-action, I had started the final and most important part of this work - when I slowly left the dress, as a kind of shell, and the dress behind me, remained standing alone. I abandoned the dress not to set me free, but to show to the audience that under the dress is a living, green and pulsating creature.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In the Nature, untouched and unspoiled. The only way to escape from everyday life for me is to flee alone, in the middle of a forest, walking barefoot, lie down on the moss, naked, hugging trees, always naked, because for me being naked means to be free, finally stripped from all the superfluous things that I’m forced to endure. It is the only way for me to hide and to preserve myself (at least for a while), from all obstructions and constraints, from all the rules imposed by our so-called-modern society.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“Necessarily disturbing.”

What is your first memory of Death?

I was a child when my paternal grandmother died. The funeral was in my grandparents courtyard. It was a beautiful and calm summer late afternoon, in the mountain village where they lived. There were so many relatives and friends, all dressed in black. In the center of the courtyard was the body of my beloved grandmother, lying as if asleep, with her face and hands pale and too

44 Biljana Bosnjakovic - Apparently Dying

(performance and installation, photo by Gabrio Tomelleri) - 2013

skinny. It was the first time I saw a dead person. Around her body were many lit beeswax candles, without a breath of wind that could blow them out. Everything so calm and peaceful, like death itself, I suppose. And then so many flowers, those of ancient plants from my granny’s garden, and from the wild meadows around.

A dozen women with black headscarves, all around my grandmother, cried singing the old pagans songs. It looked like a scene from a poetic Tarkovsky movie. That atmosphere, the strong contrasts of colors, the warmth of candles, the air saturated with so many different scents, all full of sadness, all that I have never forgotten, and I never will. Only recently, some 30 years after the death of my grandmother, I found the courage to face another corpse. This time was easier, it was in Italy, with the funeral ceremony perfectly orchestrated to make the dead appears as still alive, by using so much makeup, and with almost theatrical scenes, as required by the protocol.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

Being an atheist, makes me free to draw upon unconditional conclusions, not so much about life, but about death, which is, I agree with you, nothing but a part of life itself. Death is taboo in predominantly Christian Western civilization. We never talk about death, except when forced. Death is avoided in speeches and thoughts, because of fear to approach it by simply mentioning of the word “death”. For me the things are

very clear: I believe in the cyclical nature of things, and therefore not in one concrete beginning or the end.

Everything mutates. One day my death will be just the launch of a process of my transformation so complex and complete, in order to be assimilated by other living beings. There is not a noble thought, like one that one day I will become the food for a tree. I would say that death is not just a part of life, but only one step on the infinite path of life. Life never ends. It was the hidden message of my performance Apparently Dying.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

My biggest dream was to find a good job that allows me to travel for free all over the world. As a child I couldn’t imagine that this could also be done through art. As an teenager I began to travel without even moving (at that time thanks to writers like Herman Hesse and many others). It was in the pre-Internet era - early 80s. Now, everything is more easily accessible, and my desire for the journey hasn’t yet exhausted - I still can’t keep still.

No, my inner child isn’t happy and satisfied, and pushes me even farther. No, that child is not disappointed and doesn’t expect much, but gives me the strength to go on, because if I stop, it will mean only one thing, the one we’re talking about here and now, without fear.

Why be afraid of death?

Do you believe in magic?

What is magic? Are we magic? If so, yes, I believe.

46

OLE TERLØSE JENSEN I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

My answer is another question. Have we ever had that special spark? To long for something you haven’t had at all and never will have, that is the fate of the desire of human beings.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyper-connected world?

To make pieces of art that you can’t make any connections to! Connections are all about relations, but the works of an artist are objects that are clearly defined as contrasts to their surroundings. Pieces of art are alienated creations that can’t really become assimilated with the world that surrounds them. A piece of art says: “Look at me! I’m here, but you can’t really make any connection to me. We can’t get familiar”. So art works become physical riddles you can’t solve, and therefore you keep getting back to them - trying in vain to make connections to them.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Making a lot of my works in 3d animation programs also used for movies like Avatar and The Lord of the Rings definitely makes me feel like I’m Frankenstein but I try to keep a positive spirit about it.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

In my imagination.

What is the best definition of your work you have ever encountered so far?

“Barmy indeed; you were warned!”

by Itzhak Goldberg - Art Historian.

47

What is your first memory of Death?

From a dream I had when I was twenty. I visited a kind of “land of the dead” together with my brother and my mother. It was a place where I had no feelings at all, and only existed as consciousness. I think this is also what seriously depressed people experience. It was scary, but it’s so many years ago.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again – it’s a part of life after all?

You’re probably right that it has become harder for modern people to talk about death. But bear in mind, that nearly all our ancestors had religious thoughts about an afterlife - they wouldn’t accept death either. Do you deal with “death”, when you want to go to heaven and fear hell? Not in my opinion; in both causes you somehow assume that “life goes on” when you’re dead.

I don’t know how we can get a serene relationship with death. We don’t know what will happen, when we die, and therefore people can’t get prepared for dying.

They react with fear.

However, the strange thing is that I don’t really fear death at all, and I can’t tell you why. Once I was flying and the plane flew into some severe air pockets. All the other passengers screamed because they thought we would crash. It was a dark night and I sat at the window watching my own reflection. I was dissatisfied with my nose, and I really didn’t care the fuck...

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you

have arrived?

My biggest dream was to be a beautiful hero from a fairytale. My life didn’t turn out as a fairytale at all, and I don’t react as a hero. Now, I’m just trying to survive without harming my fellow creatures too much...

Do you believe in magic?

I do! Here in Denmark summer turns into autumn and the days become shorter. People get depressed. No sun, no sex, no love - just rain and heavy clouds. But the magic is that life goes on - what a spell God has put on the world he once created!

48 Ole Terløse Jensen - Pupil

(computer manipulated photography) 2013

REGAN ROSBURG I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

Yes. We are losing our connection to our identity as organisms on a planet of other organisms, and we are increasingly not connected to our surroundings in the humble way we ought to be. As a species of great influence and forethought, a species that is capable of reason and projected outcome, we should be behaving more as stewards of this planet, rather than hungry, blind consumers.

Humanity has created a conundrum for itself: the imagined “ideal” of how life should be has dulled our true experience of now. In some instances, it has made our present experience so paper-thin that we casually toss it away in search of something better or more comforting.

Physically, we have closets, storage spaces, dumpsters, and now oceans full of thrown-away objects that maybe once upon a time fulfilled a need or brought happiness… but now take up space. Yet, we keep making, buying and tossing more. I don’t like this accepted paradigm of disposing/seeking. I’ve seen it cause disconnect in other areas of one’s life: the readiness to amass tons of disposable objects can also mean having throw away relationships and experiences, or seeking superficial experiences of life (dulled a myriad of addictions).

That’s why I have so much respect for animals. They are nailed to their circumstance. Their only experience is now. And that’s one reason why I put them in my work.

Literally.

The emptiness in my work is both the increasing loneliness of the human condition, and the potential of all living things to grow, evolve, and engage with their

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space. The emptiness is a “pausing” kind of space, allowing a viewer to take in what is actually happening in the painting.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

A hyper-connected world allows an artist to instantaneously reaching a larger audience, spreading new ways of seeing each other’s cultures; to break or create taboos; and to challenge boundaries once limited by poverty, status, political affiliation. This invisible network creates a virtual classroom of potential global understanding. We artists are able to slingshot a powerful idea or image further and faster than ever before. This is an awesome tool.

However, I think hyper-connectivity can dilute or change an artist’s unique vision if he is not careful. An artist can become too overly-influenced by what he/she is seeing, or too pressured to “produce,” create objects, send out that email blast, get more fans, build the audience, be that virtual somebody. Therefore, the role of the artist in these times is the same as what humanity’s role should be: be temperate, be honest, be patient, and be humble. In this world full of stuff and manic overproduction, my opinion is that an artist should do something that matters to you, and take time with it. The world has enough crap in it.

I keep my nose down and work, and I only produce when I have something to say. I know I need to have a certain level of restraint in the personal AND virtual work practice, so I honestly don’t look around too much, and feel that my vision, style and process are a direct result of that decision. I respect other artists who stay true to their own development of craft and style, because wi-

thin the background of hyper-connectivity, there is the ease and ability to copy, borrow, or flat out plagiarize.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

All the time. I have a few birds frozen in my freezer right now for future work, bones and skeletons on my studio shelves, and I routinely glue insects back together.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

I used to hide away on travels to far-off countries, jungles and rainforests and stuff like that… it’s much cheaper to hide in my studio now.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

I’ve been called an “insect taxidermist,” which is hilarious and totally true.

However, regarding the content, David B. Smith Gallery wrote “Rosburg’s finely tuned narratives are set in spaces created by humans to be a secure and comforting habitat. Just as human spaces decay when abandoned, here Rosburg questions the possibility for comfort or stability, when the ecological challenges presented to humanity are so very vast, and the global commitment to preserving natural spaces across the world and in the oceans seems disappointingly low. As she explores these themes, Rosburg does maintain a level of optimism, with works such as The Nursery and The Ballet, which hint at the potential for new life if it is protected, or the possibility for transcendence; these works suggest there is hope after all.”

What is your first memory of Death?

Our family returned from vacation when I was about 7 years old. I had a pet mouse, and when I got to his cage, he looked… different. He was twice as big, slightly

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darker, and younger. My dad said “sometimes they get bigger while you’re away”. But I knew something was up, and eventually my brother told me my mouse had died while I was gone and they got another to replace it. OBVIOUSLY. Anyway, while I understand my parents not wanting me to be upset, I remember being confused because death was presented as this bad, unavoidable thing to be hidden or skipped over? Move on, kid, here’s a new mouse. But what does a body look like? Where did the soul go? How long until the worms would eat it? The emotional attachment gave way to morbid curiosity, and I remember I waited in anticipation for the new huge dark mouse to die. :D I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I would agree with you. We focus on innovation and birth, not death. Death is a problem to be solved, not a natural transformation. If we respected death more and saw it as unavoidable, and really saw the reality of it, I think we would be more life affirming and kinder to each other.

I find irony in that we burn bodies of long dead dinosaurs, which were the casualties of a mass extinction… and in so doing we are creating conditions for our own extinction. We are literally burning and building with the dead. This is why my work is made of a petroleum product: resin. Instead of incasing these tiny animal/plant relics in tree sap, I encase them in our modern “sap”. It’s shiny and pretty and new, and I guess that’s the ironic

twist.

My work is very much about breathing new life into that which has passed on, and to honor the dead by honoring life. My paintings straddle the new and the past, the deceased and the newly birthed. Some call them “tombs,” but I look at them more as memorials or small monuments that honoring the humble nature of the world’s quiet, magnificent creatures. The imbedded cicada or bird in my work is just one tiny little piece of a huge network of interacting creatures that have nothing to do with me… but without them the world would not only be bleak, it wouldn’t function properly. I am fascinated and routinely awed by the resilience of plants and animals, the creative solutions, and the inherent beauty and perfect balance of an ecosystem (if left to it’s own devices). I can pick up a leaf, or stare at a praying mantis, and know that all life matters. I think THIS is how we have a serene relationship with death: by embracing the crazy amazingness of life, we can embrace the natural, unavoidable and beautiful passage of death.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I didn’t really have a childhood dream, I just wanted to be happy. I liked drawing and I liked being in the woods, and I liked showing people what I’d found or what I’d made. So I guess although she never had a dream, she had a purpose. And since she still has that purpose, I’d say she’s pretty happy.

Do you believe in magic?

I believe in greater powers working beyond human life.

I don’t call it magic. I call it God.

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Regan Rosburg - The Harbinger

(acrylic paint, ink, mylar, pencil, thailand cicadas, sea shells, wire mesh, plastic bags, tree mushrooms, red wasps and their nests, oil paint, plaster, baroque embellishments, resin on panel) - 2013

LUISA CATUCCI I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I dont’ think we all are losing our souls, but sure I can see lot of people ignoring the fact we all have one. On the other hand, I can see that there are some, maybe just a few, human beings that are working lot to fill this gap.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

An artist’s role today is, in my humble opinion, to remind humanity that there are other kinds of hyperconnections, not technology related, but cosmical, subtlebody-related. We are not just consumers.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Permanently. Mad scientists rock hard!!!

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Someplace in nature, maybe a stawberry patch, possibly all by myself.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

“Hey Dude, is it a group show or are you simply schizophrenic?”

What is your first memory of Death?

A little bird my father run over with his car when I was 4... I will never forget that.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after

all?

I think in our actual societies people are deeply disconnected from their true natural being. Our biorhythm is killed, forgotten or in best cases ignored. We do not have much of a serene relationship with Life and to pretend to have it with Death, wich has always been the most difficult task, is today asking too much.

Still, we previously never had the possibility to reach knowledge so easily. It’s today very easy for everybody to study and learn all ancient tricks humanity ever used to reach balance (or illumination, or sublimation, or heaven, or callitasyoulike). Seeing more and more people working on this direction, on many different level and field is quite comforting.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

My dream was to live a million adventures and to fight for Good so as to see Love prevail over Hate. Since I never stopped doing this, just as I never stopped playing and enjoying all that I do, my inner-child is quite satisfied. So said, more than being proud of how “far” I have arrived, both me and my inner-child are often amused by the crazy path we did to reach our actual stand point and we both are very excited about what is hidden behond the corner of future. You never know!!

Do you believe in magic?

Magic is all around.

07 Luisa Catucci - Tarots, Major Arcana XIII 2011

DANIËL VAN NES I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I don’t think we are losing our souls, but I do think that in times of mass media, mobile media, and targeted marketing, we kind of lose identities. Individuality is part of what makes us human, but how fundamental are the choices we have to make today in Western society?

In my work I create a world that reflects some of these thoughts. I’m not a spiritual person, but the emptiness may be a visual form of meditation.

What is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

In my personal opinion: to remind people that it’s important to be able to use your own imagination and not one that’s been tested by panels and then shot into your mind by a multinational. To show there is a lot of value in handcrafted work. There are plenty of artists that embrace modern techniques, which can be very cool and exciting. It’s very easy to be influenced by being connected world wide. For some artists their role is to explore that, for others it’s to keep hyperconnection at bay. Balance between the two is key.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Yes. Where do you like to hide yourself?

In my world, exploring.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Illuminating an undefined opera noir world, that may be waiting for us in the future, or for some already exist in the present.

What is your first memory of Death?

Two of my friends died when I was a child. One in a horrible accident and my best friend by cancer.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

It’s all too easy to close your eyes on things you don’t want to be confronted with. In the end everyone will be confronted with Death. There’s no escaping it. It’s in little things, like fruit rotting, or getting older. What I think is important to realize is that death is on TV and in movies continuously. It’s all fake, but still. Isn’t that weird? It seems as if we’re not respectful of death anymore until someone close to you actually dies. People should slow down, look around them, breathe and think of those that passed away a little more often.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

My dream was to be an astronaut. In a way yes, now I’m exploring a new world. So I’m quite happy.

Do you believe in magic?

Yes. There is magic everywhere. In nature, love, birth, death, words, laughter, surprise… Many people miss magic by being hyperconnected.

56 Daniël van Nes - Diode Rodeo

(illuminated engraving) - 2009

KEVIN EARL TAYLOR I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

For me, I tend to find that less usually is more. Simplicity with a subtle twist leaves space for mystery, imagination, and possibility.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

To observe and respond. To expose a certain perspective and whenever possible suggest a solution.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

A scientist maybe, but I’m not mad. Although, there are times when you do wonder about yourself.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Within and without.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

His work deals largely with humankind’s relationship unto environment and its positioning as animal within a visual landscape.

What is your first memory of Death?

My dad died before I was born in a car crash. I used to think he lived under the escalator at the mall.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

To see death for what it actually is - a new beginning.

When ice melts, water is born. Why would we be any different. It’s a simple transformation.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

When I was a kid, I had a big backyard with lots of trees and shrubbery. I used to tell all my friends that I had all sorts of pets running around back there. I had a tiger, a python, a cheetah, and many more. When people would ask where are they? I’d just say they must be hiding or sleeping in the bushes. Really all I had was an Afghan hound and a turtle. I guess if you think of my work as a sort of visual wilderness, I really do have all those animals running around in my head.

Do you believe in magic?

Oh sure. Mostly black.

07 Kevin Earl Taylor - Apparition

(oil on canvas) - 2012

JADE TOWNSEND I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I see a lot of emptiness and isolation in the world around me. I think more importantly I see a lot of apathetic comfort and societal delusion. Like everyone one is under some great spell, just dithering away the days and breaking up the monotony of their meaningless lives by the occasional irrational and misdirected outburst of what they have learned to be emotion. It’s nothing new i suppose.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

There are a lot of answers to this question. I guess, I would say that one of the more important roles of the artist is to create work that must be experienced in person. We live inside these little windows that sit on desk tops and give us all an excuse to never really contemplate or experience anything. I think artwork should make us think and feel for more than 2 seconds.

It sounds romantic, but I really believe in this.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Sometimes.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

Under the bed.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Someone once referred to my work as “Phantasmagorical”. I think that this explains a lot and gives away little.

What is your first memory of Death?

A friend of mine of mine was accidentally killed when I was seven. I then spent three years watching my Mom

fight and finally succumb to cancer. She passed away when I was eleven.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

I don’t know the answer to this. I agree with you that it is very much a part of life, but it is also a very painful personal experience. Maybe, as a society, we shelter ourselves from it far too much. We seem to do this with most everything anymore.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I wanted to grow up to be a garbage man. Glad that didn’t work out.

Do you believe in magic?

Yes, most absolutely.

60 Jade Townsend - The Devastation

(graphite, prisma color, charcoal, oil, and ink on paper, courtesy of Gallery Poulsen) - 2013

JOSÉ LUIS ROJAS/PASTICHE I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I don’t know, maybe emptiness is underrated. I do believe it is part of our souls and of all creative processes.

What do you think is the role of a sculptor in today’s hyperconnected world?

I think sculpture is as alive as always. We may be hyperconnected but we still live in a very physical world, and still under its rules; gravity, space, time... all essential elements of sculpture.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

In a way. I try to get the spectator inside the sculpture’s own environment, as I mentioned, it’s own set of physical rules, its environment or reality if you will.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

My studio mostly. And those dark corners of my head which are usually accessed under the influence of a combination of both, internal and external chemical agents.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

A dear friend wrote it years ago, here is an excerpt: “As a “toy soldier” collector, José Luis Rojas has given out the task of gathering these tiny characters who evoke adventures starred by the new military hierarchies.

Action figures, miniatures that, paradoxically own the strength and shrewdness of shy alter egos are willing to make evident too, the battered concepts of honor and pomp. The eclecticism seems to obviate the less persuasive purist speeches on behalf of Good turn out.” by Carmen Cebreros

What is your first memory of Death?

That is a tough one. I have muscular dystrophy, a degenerative incurable disease which has been with me from the beginning since it is genetic, and manifested pretty early in my life, when I was around eight.

When you are eight I don’t think most people think about death, or to be more specific, about existence or what the future may hold for you.

I did.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

There is no life without death and vice versa, I agree. I do believe people deal with death more often than they realize, maybe the difference is that today it is easier to get distracted or away from the moment you wish, you just have to take out your mobile and that’s it. But, as I stated earlier, this is still the same world humans emerged from, it is still pretty savage and governed by the rules of survival, and the second anyone is in a certain situation whether extreme or reflective about death, we all come to our senses.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I think I’m getting there. I do believe art is the right track for me. It has given me the greatest satisfactions so far and definitely the closest approach to my childhood fantasies, when I’m working, I sometimes feel the way I did when I played as a little boy.

Do you believe in magic?

Oh yes.

62 José Luis Rojas/pastiche - There goes the ox

2013

HARA KATSIKI I see a lot of emptiness/void in your art, maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I think this is a huge question, theoretical and practical. As we open ourselves into experiencing and observing, and in this case, in a form of art, we might fall into the “pit of the void”. In that moment we feel part of something so big that we either have despair and/ or happiness.

And at this exact moment we might doubt how we formally thought the world was and have a sense of emptiness and of loosing our “self”.

This can be a shocking revelation but a beautiful, challenging one in the end. It’s a journey to find peace and realize that we are all that there is.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyperconnected world?

An attempt , by filling this void, to make people dream and therefore to believe in the universal law.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Oh yes, many times.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

On a branch at the top of the tree.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

El arte onírico de Hara Katsiki (The onirical art by Hara Katziki n.d.t.). By Spanish magazine thvndermag What is your first memory of Death?

I don’t have any…

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I

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think this is not natural. What do you think about it and how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again – it’s a part of life after all?

We are just a drop of water looking for the ocean.

We are like these raindrops that fall from the sky and we are scared. Scared of being born, scared of each other, scared of growing old, scared of dying. We are scared that if we join the ocean we will disappear. We are scared of the other side. But if we let our conscious thoughts dissolve, like drops of rain, they can sink into the heart and join the ocean with no name, and there together as one, the zero point will shine through us bright as the sun.

Taken by Simon Welsh’ poem The zero point field What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

I didn’t think much of the future when I was a kid. I think I was more occupied in the present moment and enjoying it. The same happens till today. And I believe this has kept my inner child alive and happy!

Do you believe in magic?

Sure I do. It happens everyday!

Hara Katsiki - Vythos (A sculpture inspired by the treasures of the deep sea)

(stones, pearls, crystals, sand, gravel beads, stone granules, heki model, sand, glass nuggets and gold chains on mannequin) - 2011

DANIEL MARTIN DIAZ I see a lot of emptiness in your art maybe you assert we are losing our souls and/or that special spark that makes us all Human Beings?

I live in Arizona where there are vast desert landscapes. This vastness appears in my work and may give the impression of emptiness. In my latest Soul of Science book, I do touch on the way in which we are merging with computer systems and may become vulnerable to losing the subtleties of what makes us human.

What do you think is the role of the artist in today’s hyper-connected world?

I believe an artist’s role is to project oneself in new and interesting ways and question our existence and propose.

Did you ever feel like a mad scientist trying to give life to new kinds of creatures?

Often times, I do feel that there are new creatures that come into existence. I simply create and see what emerges.

Where do you like to hide yourself?

I have been escaping with my wife, Paula, to Arizona Ghost towns.

What is the best definition of your work you ever heard/read so far?

Paula has described it as Surreal Iconography.

What is your first memory about Death?

Seeing Christ suffering and bleeding on the crucifix behind the altar of the small church my family used to go to as a child made a profound impact on me.

I believe one of the most important issues in this millennium is that people are not able to deal with Death anymore: they just refuse it or close their eyes. And I think this is not natural. What do you think about it and

how do you believe humans could have a serene relationship with death again - it’s a part of life after all?

Once we embrace death as a society and let go of all the fears we have, I believe we will be able to understand and prepare for the final stages of our lives. The anxieties will be relieved so we can have a meditative and spiritual transformation.

What was your biggest dream when you were a child?

Today, is your inner child happy to see how far you have arrived?

As a child, I did not really think about the future. I did not have any plans or dreams to be an artist. I did have a propensity towards creative things and feeling unconstrained. I am grateful for where I am and the journey has been fulfilling.

Do you believe in magic?

To me, science is magic. The laws of physics are the miracles, Quantum physics is the new witchcraft, and modern chemistry is the new alchemy.

66 Daniel Martin Diaz - Iconoclast

(oil on wood) - 2011

Diego Knore Ciao Gio, I looked at the questions several times but I wasn’t able to give any answers that satisfied me.... introspection isn’t for me... I have a long line of “deceased” behind me that follow me and block me. I’m truly sorry that I wasn’t able to do it. I really like the project but I’m really quite bad at these things...

Diego

68 Diego Knore - Verrà la morte e avrà i miei occhi

(screenprint on 260gr Cordenons Modigliani Bianco paper) - 2011

SQUP FAITH47 ALESSIA IANNETTI DAVID HOCHBAUM ROWAN D G CORKILL STANISLAV GINZBURG ISABELLE MENIN HIKARI SHIMODA NATASCHA STELLMACH BORIS ELDAGSEN SANDRA HAUSER MEITAL KATZ-MINERBO KARIN ANDERSEN DANNY VAN RYSWYK CORPICRUDI BILJANA BOSNJAKOVIC OLE TERLØSE JENSEN REGAN ROSBURG LUISA CATUCCI DANIËL VAN NES KEVIN EARL TAYLOR JADE TOWNSEND JOSÉ LUIS ROJAS/PASTICHE HARA KATSIKI DANIEL MARTIN DIAZ DIEGO KNORE

www.strychnin.com/squp.html www.faith47.com alessiaiannetti.carbonmade.com www.davidhochbaum.com rowandgcorkill.com www.stanislavginzburg.com www.isabellemenin.com hikarishimoda.com www.bookofback.com www.eldagsen.com www.sandrahauser.org www.facebook.com/meitalkm www.karinandersen.com dannyvanryswyk.blogspot.com www.corpicrudi.com biljanab.com www.terslose.dk reganrosburg.com www.lapupazza.com www.nessed.nl kevinearltaylor.com jadetownsend.net www.behance.net/pastiche harakatsiki.com danielmartindiaz.com www.diegoknore.com

Special Thanks to: Strychnin Gallery Jaime Wallace Sweet Streets Nila Shabnam Bonetti

Cover image: “The world we do not know, That today” (detail)

by Hikari Shimoda Backcover image: “Somnambulist Garden” (detail)

by David Hochbaum

www.woodenleg.me

THE END

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