illusion: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood? Once at one of the exhibitions was a funny case. The visitor wanted to buy my artwork, but he did not like the fact that there were cigarette butts (there was a flower which smoked). That is, he liked the look of the artwork, but he failed to grasp its meaning. Sometimes viewers like external effects first. But this is only a beautiful door that leads to the most interesting. I like when viewers offer their versions of my artwork. It is always interesting to take a fresh look at your idea. And at this moment the idea is no longer mine, but just a part of space, and I watch it with others. For example, my installation "Odysseus is not here" always eludes me — every time I look at it, I rediscover its meaning. Every time I think about it - every time I go through the sensation of discovery from beginning to end. At an exhibitions and on the Internet I wait the same from the viewers and I am ready to go on these consciousness trips with them again. Marked out with such a powerful narrative drive, you sapiently combine childhood memories with dreamlike atmosphere to explore the theme of the fragility of human, as in the interesting Odysseus is not here. We dare say that you seem to turn your memories into new components and experiences: how do you consider the role of memory playing within your artistic research? And how does everyday life's experience fuel your creative process? I would say that recalling something from childhood I perceive myself in a new way in the present. You are right, memories become new components. Memory is the context for the present. Also in art - rethought memories become the ground for a new interpretation. Everyday life becomes interesting if you begin to see around everything that you have previously seen in the art gallery in the hall of 20-21 century art. You have to be a little alien in order not to get bogged down in your daily routine, like the hero of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth (who by the end is mired in it too). And this is life - constant balancing between routine and space. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, your process the opportunity to realize yourself anew and to find internal path to identity: how do you eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Natasha von Braun agazine 19 SPECIAL ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 consider the role of art making as the opportunity of living a cathartic experience? For me, this I almost always a dramatic process. The path to the new passes through pain. Sometimes through the need to re-experience some memories and rethink them. Sometimes this is a completely new experience, which can only be accepted through non-resistance. When need to surrender. This process agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Dreams project Papier mache, mixed media, 2016
19 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Natasha von Braun agazine reminds me love, because true love between the two is impossible if one person cannot surrender to another. And so you need to surrender every time to grow and develop. This is the initiation path. And how to go through it if you look back all the time? To surrender to the creative process then to become a new person, that is, to become yourself. You are an established artist, and over the years your works have been A dream about a fat boy / Dreams project Papier mache, mixed media, 60 cm, 2016
Bitter herbs (fragment) / Darkness Spell project Resin, mixed media, 105 cm, 2018
What a dark night, mommy… / Darkness Spell project Resin, mixed media, 105 cm, 2018
exhibited extensively in many occasions, in Russia, Europe and the United States, including two a dozen group exhibitions and more a dozen personal projects: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? In particular, how do you consider the role of emerging online technosphere — and platforms as Instagram — in creating new links between artists and worldwide audience? Now artists have amazing opportunities for self-presentation. But of course the Internet will never replace the experience when the viewer looks the artwork live. As for the sculptures and installations, any photograph, even very professionally took, express only 50% of the effect of the artwork. So sometimes I take photos of my projects with film camera. I have an old camera and from time to time I experiment with film. By the way, photos of Tao of Love and Hunter are took with film camera. And I didn't specifically make digital photos for them. Absolutely cannot imagine the Tao of love on digital photography. Returning to Instagram, I can say that besides the obvious plus for artists there is another side. At some point it just stops working. Information satiety prevents the viewer to understand the value of a work of art, which he finds on the Internet. And there is no more time for it. So many things that a person no longer has time to ponder over something, otherwise he will miss something else. Sometimes it greatly destabilizes both the viewer and the artist. Therefore I think that for the artist is still the best thing is the personal contact of the art with the audience. We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Natasha. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Now on the wave of universal attention to ecology, I am interesting by the idea of human’s internal ecology. I think the ecological situation on the planet is rooted in our consciousness, in our internal ecological condition. A person can sort garbage and not wear leather shoes, but at the same time be rude to parents or be indifferent. I have already come into contact with this topic, creating “Don't make me oil”, but I still have some ideas in this way. Natasha von Braun eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 9 SPECIAL ISSUE An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
SPECIAL ISSUE 4 Hello Kay Leigh and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would invite to our readers to visit http://www.kayleighfarley.com in order to get a synoptic idea about your artistic production and we would start this interview with a couple of introductory questions. You have a solid formal training and after having earned your Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University, you nurtured your education with an MFA, that you received from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? Kay Leigh Farley: Texas A&M focused on the formal practice of 3D animation. Classes were centered around being technically proficient and industry focused. I think it was in reaction to this that the student body focused more on being as artistically and philosophically minded as possible. We organized a student group that would meet for coffee every Friday to discuss art and philosophy we found interesting. For class assignments we would test the limits and see how far we could push an animation into the art realm and get away with it. We were still focused on making all of our work technically sound but we were equally interested in making something new - something with a different aesthetic or narrative structure than your usual Hollywood affair. Animation is interesting like that. It’s a field that is still very commercially focused but has so much potential artistically. Of course it’s been ages since undergrad and 3D animation art has Kay Leigh Farley Lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Peripheral ARTeries meets Kay Leigh Farley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She received her MFA in studio art from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and her BS in Visualization from Texas A&M University. Her work utilizes video, new media, and narrative to reveal hidden realms and communicate abstract truths. Farley has exhibited and screened work at venues including The Wrong Biennale, The Knoxville Museum of Art, and CoProsperity Sphere. She is in collections in the United States and Brazil. An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
SPECIAL ISSUE 8 exploded on the web. It’s very exciting to watch the community grow. Graduate school was like being dumped into the artistic deep end. Almost everything I knew about artistic practice had been self taught and everyone around me had received a formal fine art education. I’d had art history survey classes but I wasn’t prepared for the in-depth painting discussions about surface, depth, and Picasso. My department had one faculty member working with digital art and the students doing animation were creating commercial work. I quickly became more acquainted with printmakers, sculptures, painters, and others. I had never met a peer who practiced art professionally and I found it endlessly interesting. It was these interdepartmental relationships that made me explore fields outside of animated short films agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
11 SPECIAL ISSUE and incorporate more physical media in my work. Texas and Tennessee aren’t the friendliest places for artists. It’s because of this that tight-knit communities of artists and art lovers pop up. They’re larger than you might suspect. People are supportive of each other. They go to every show, help create new spaces, and are radically inclusive. They’re not scared to push boundaries. During a panel at the 2015 CAA in New York the speakers chided the south on not creating any sexually explicit work, which I found hilarious. I had just been in a group show titled Butter My Biscuit that was one of several art components to an educational event called Sex Week. The repercussions involved the Tennessee Senate attempting to pull state funding from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. The lasting effect of all Kay Leigh Farley eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries this for my practice is that I value community, I value supporting other artists, and I’m not discouraged by a lack of recognition or negative criticism from authority. For this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries we have selected Eulogy for a Living Father, a stimulating two year digital performance where you have a one sided conversation with your estranged father on Instagram. When walking our readers through the genesis of this interesting project, would you tell us how important was for you to draw from your personal experience, in order to make a work about a theme that you know a lot about? Kay Leigh Farley: “The personal is universal.” I know it’s an extremely tired adage but I do find it holds true. The more honest and specific I am, the more it connects with the audience. Each post tells a personal story but
13 SPECIAL ISSUE Kay Leigh Farley eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral the emotion at the center of it connects with memories that contain similar emotional undercurrents in the reader. My audience commonly approaches me with their own story to tell. There’s an air of validation - of finding someone who might understand and who might believe them. Emotional abuse is hard to communicate. It’s not as understood in our current culture and victims frequently get push-back. There’s an internalized toxicity, especially for boys, to just get over it. The goal of my work is to show that they’re not alone. There are other people out there who are hurting in the same way that you are and that it’s ok to still be recovering in the wake of it. Even if a parent wasn’t abusive, no one is perfect. Nearly everyone has a story of being hurt by a word or action from a guardian. There’s a longing to talk about it and receive
SPECIAL ISSUE 16 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries closure, but there’s always a reason why it’s not possible. You don’t want to hurt them. They’re no longer around. They’re no longer the same person they were when you were five. I hope this performance helped clear up any misconception that it’s wrong to feel this way or that you’re alone in these feelings. I don’t provide any answers on how to fix a relationship between parent and child. I just know that it hurt more when I was alone, when I thought something was wrong with me, or when I thought I was a bad person for not being able to forgive. It was my therapist and then later online message boards that made me realize how common this was. I hope my work reaches out to people and helps them the way those spaces helped me.
eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Kay Leigh Farley agazine 17 SPECIAL ISSUE Inquiring into how rapid and dramatic transformation affect the online technosphere, the way Eulogy for a Living Father also touches the theme of identity in the online technosphere, raising questions about the relationship between the private and the public sphere. Paradoxically, it seems that in our ever changing contemporary age everyone appears to be more isolated despite being more connected. How do you consider the issue of the perception of the self in relation to the augmented experience provided by new media? Kay Leigh Farley: People are more bold on the internet. Back in the early days, this was blamed on the anonymous nature of the internet. People acted differently than they did IRL because of usernames and avatars. Then JohnTron started parroting far right
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19 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Kay Leigh Farley agazine talking points while live streaming, so there’s that. On the other end of the spectrum, people also use this boldness to talk about subjects that would otherwise be too niche, embarrassing or unsafe to discuss. I don’t think the ASMR community would have ever flourished without the internet. The phenomenon is certainly a double edged sword. I’m more bold on the internet but not in the way that ends up on CNN with Anderson Cooper. It’s easier for me to talk about abuse. There’s few consequences for not saying it the right way the first time. I can just delete it and replace it. It doesn’t have to be a conversation if I don’t want it to be. It allows me to feel validated and validate others. Without the internet I’m not sure I would have disclosed much of my childhood to anyone other than my therapist. Without the internet, I’m not sure I would have felt bold enough to seek a therapist. Ironically, I do think I’m more disconnected from others due to the internet. I’m observing this from personal experience, so I’m hesitant to say it’s a universal truth. I had a friend reach out via facebook status with what looked like a suicide letter. It had no comments or reactions to it. I checked in with them. They were ok but it made me realize how rare it is for something online to result in real-world action or meaningful interaction. I think this disconnect between online and offline action is part of what facilitates people to act more boldly when on the internet. Another old internet theory was this romantic notion that you’re a different person on different internet platforms. I think that still holds true, if not as dramatically as people imagined. The contemporary phenomenon is more similar to the Normcore concept that K-Hole piched way back in 2013. People change to fit in with different groups. The way I act at work is different than how I act at home. The way I act on Instagram is different than the way I act offline. Who I am offline is quiet, private, and cautious. On Instagram I’m an optimistic archivist, loving scrapbooking each day. When my father and I cut off contact I was most disappointed that he would no longer be involved in my day to day life. His knowledge of me would extend to that terrible conversation and go no further. I unfriended him on Facebook, changed my number, and moved addresses. Our only point of connection left was Instagram. I had set up an account for him years prior and I knew he barely used it. Instagram was only populated by my friends and him. It was a place I already felt comfortable talking. I had been reading a self-help book for abuse survivors that recommended writing a eulogy for a parent or a relationship that was wished for but never manifested. This is how I started using Instagram for a purpose far outside its programmed intention. I was still archiving my life but only for one person, an idealized person, and I was using it to say goodbye. You are a versatile artist and your practice includes video, new media, and narrative, to invite the viewers to question their perceptual categories, to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface: what does address you to such multidisciplinary practice and what does appeal you of new media?
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Kay Leigh Farley: There is a constant stream of new and obsolete technology. Each have hardware, software, and aesthetics that are uniquely, conceptually interesting. Each technology attempts to hide its code, hardware, and assembly in order to display an interface appealing and useful for the user. In Gene McHugh’s Post-Internet, he writes “I use the Internet but hardly ever think about the fact that it is all code. I know the code is there - if you ask me if it exists, I’ll gladly tell you it does - but, it makes me anxious to see it there in front of me, despoiling my fun-land of uploading pictures for family and friends.” I don’t think he’s alone for not wanting to be confronted about what happens behind the scenes. I think that’s an interesting parallel for abuse and the head-in-the-sand treatment people can receive when asking for help. The parallels don’t end with code. For example, I also love the conceptual implications of 3D print supports, the extra plastic that printers auto-generate while creating a sculpture. It supports and aids in creation while also anchoring it to the ground and deforming its intended shape. Marked out with such unique visual identity, what has particularly deeply struck us of the narrative aspect of your artworks is way they incite the viewer to make new personal associations. Austrian Art historian Ernst Gombrich once remarked the importance of providing a space for the viewers to project onto, so that they can actively participate in the creation of the
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19 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Kay Leigh Farley agazine illusion: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood? Kay Leigh Farley: The performance itself was only for me and my dad. When I was going about the posts I only wanted them interpreted one way. There was no way I could reach out to him in a vague or abstract manner and not be brushed off. I hoped that being honest, specific, and straightforward would make him change his mind about me. The artifact I created, the eBook, is meant for everyone else. From my experience talking with my viewers, it’s the specific narrative in the work that allows them to discuss their own trauma; to confront it specifically, and not the guilt, anxiety, and insecurity that has built up around it. Even though I’m discussing specific events from my life, nearly everyone can connect with the underlying emotion: being hurt by a loved one and being disconnected from them. We really appreciate the way A Sinking Sensation combines references to human body and such a surreal ambience, to invite the viewers to explore the point of convergence between the figurative and the abstract, to challenge the viewers to explore realms of the imagination, how do you consider the relationship between the real and the imagined playing within your artistic research? Kay Leigh Farley: Sinking Sensation expresses my abstract feelings related to home, family, and the body. I used to feel very trapped in my body. My facial expressions, my arm positions, my tone of voice were always getting me into
trouble. I felt trapped at home. Every shared meal felt like a minefield that needed to be expertly navigated. Yet I was warm and fed. I had a roof over my head. Home had some truly wonderful moments. Sinking Sensation tries to communicate these amorphous, complex relationships twisted by trauma. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "artists's role differs depending on which part of the world they’re in": does your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? In particular, do you think that artists can raise awareness to an evergrowing audience on topical issues in our globalised age? Kay Leigh Farley: From the conversations I’ve had on forums, people seeking advice about abuse gather from all over the world. They’re often looking for validation. They ask if what is happening to is this wrong. They ask is an even was normal or if they’re overreacting. While legal advice varies by region, the answers to these questions remain the same. Verbal and physical abuse are wrong no matter where you are or how old you are. While my work has an audience limited by language and internet access, its themes are global. I try to keep this in mind as I work and brainstorm new projects. You are an established artist and over the years you have exhibited and screened work at venues including The Wrong Biennale, The Knoxville Museum of Art, and Co-Prosperity Sphere, and is in collections in the United States and Brazil: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Kay Leigh Farley: There are three functions I would like my art to serve. The weight of each category changes depending on the project. I enjoy making, and when I’m lucky, the process helps me work through trauma. I also want my art to reach people who have who have encountered abuse and help them work through their own persistent or abstract thoughts. This sort of outreach helped me when I was first coming to terms with my experience and mental health issues and I hope to be that person in return for others. I would also like to reach people who have no experience with abuse or mental illness. An outsider has difficulty understanding the full gravity of these experiences. I hope my depiction can help those who would like to sympathise, understand, or aid come a step closer to doing so. Direct relationship with the audience in a physical is definetely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm increases: how do you consider the role of emerging online technosphere technosphere — and platforms as Instagram — creating new links between artists and worldwide audience? Kay Leigh Farley: I would argue that a physical relationship with art is only most important when the work itself is meant to be encountered in a physical space. Many new media and internet artists harness the medium of the private computer and utilize its elements to create an experience unique to the hardware and software. I would say SPECIAL ISSUE 10 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
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Kay Leigh Farley eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 9 SPECIAL ISSUE Gone Home is more effective as a game than it would be as a guided house tour. Art on social media plays a similar role to performance art. It forces the audience to confront the nature of a world that is usually consumed passively. In Jon Rafman’s Kool-Aid Man in Second Life he used his avatar to reveal niche aspects of an MMO that most players never experienced, showing the limitless possibilities of the game and human imagination. It also confronted the fantasy, breaking the illusion that players had created and immusers themselves in, forcing them to acknowledge the non-reality of the world they had painstakingly created. Instagram has some unique facets for artistic exploitation. Photos are primarily viewed in a feed of unrelated photographs. Secondarily, users can scroll through individual profiles or a specific hashtag. Regular users are already subverting the app by posting photos that only make sense in the grid system displayed in profile view. My utilization confronted Instagram’s framework which encourages communication and engagement with as many people as possible. In the text below every photo I was only talking to one person. I didn’t add any tags because I didn’t want to reach anyone else. I didn’t overly explain. I used language meant for a one on one conversation. It revealed the app’s vagueness about who we are speaking to specifically when we post. It confronted how we conduct ourselves in this public sphere; what we say and don’t say. We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Kay. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Kay Leigh Farley: Thank you so much for having me! I very much enjoyed this simulated conversation. I am currently grateful to The Pajama Factory in Williamsport, PA for hosting me as an artist in residence this summer. I am using the time and space to experiment with interactive projection. I have done some work with it in the past but I really needed time to reteach myself coding and to really play with trial and error. I hope that using projection will help make my work more accessible to demographics with limited internet access. As for subject matter, I’m still working through my self-help book, as cheesy as that sounds. I’d like to make something about breaking out of obsessive thoughts and how asking for help isn’t a burden to others. I hope y’all have a great summer. Remember, there’s no sun on the internet. Talks, writings, and art referenced: 1. Casualties of Culture War: Sexuality in the North American Museum East Ballroom, 3rd Floor Chair: Jonathan D. Katz, University at Buffalo, State University of New York Arnold Lehman, Brooklyn Museum Stephanie Stebich, Tacoma Museum of Art Richard Brettell, University of Texas at Dallas Barbara Fischer, University of Toronto Art Centre and Justina M. Barnicke Gallery Thom Collins, Pérez Art Museum Miami Wednesday, Feb. 11th 2015 2. http://khole.net/issues/youth-mode/ http://www.digiart21.org/art/kool-aid-man-in-second-life
SPECIAL ISSUE 4 Hello Shankar and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://vimeo.com/user10695142 in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production and we would start this interview with a couple of introductory Shankar Lestréhan Lives and works between Paris and Brussels Peripheral ARTeries meets First signs of the night. Not fixed timing to feel at least first signs of life. Limited frame to share. Find a focus to forget about timeframe. I'm comfortable of being an image as well as a living form. I am sharing this form from the body I’m in. Parts of the body members are remembering, excavating. Dance quote as a desire to live and be watched. Be professionals of copying. What is energy? Nothing last as decision. Drain, take, gain, regain, rest, energy. sleeping energy, distant energy, OK energy, fluid, non-thinking energy. Impermanence. The signs among us. Immediacy. Forget Forget Forget. Long exploration, keep talking, ways to continue to dance, talk and dance, talk in dance. Considering the world production, a massive pile of trash, materials from the gesture of abandon. I have an interest growing for the closeness death and dark humour as a response to absurdity and incoherence present of everyday life. The theatre of an outrageous adaptation. And what could bring spirituality hereby? Myths slipping over trivial elements foreseeing funerals of artefacts. Or some afterlife affect of life. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
SPECIAL ISSUE 8 questions. Are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? Sure, but it took me more than I did, I could not resist in mixing up cultures, ideas, images. I feel I kind of arrived late in the popular culture in France when everybody was having the same reference, I felt completely out! At an early age, I was travelling between India agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Approaching Portland 2018 Centrale for contemporary art, Brussels
11 SPECIAL ISSUE and France, seeing what could be the limits of luxury and poverty. I received a lot of solicitation to do and see art practices, from the traditional form in small villages to new contemporary performances. Works in devoted forms of art, and thing going on the edge of historical reproduction of modes of representation inscribed in today's every day. Then going back and forth, seeing the evolution of the surrounding both in rich and poor milieux till now. How could be conceived a big brother's organisation with so many distances between what Shankar Lestréhan eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries contrasts in our society? From where I'm now, I can't wish more than a language talking to and for myself. Of course, I wish I could always accept to be contextual and add more references, borrowing everywhere, but I also try to respect the space of decision of everyone. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article has at once captured our attention for the way you draw the viewers to such immersive experience. When walking our readers through your
13 SPECIAL ISSUE Shankar Lestréhan eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral clear grab to hold the spectator, the time it needs to be in contact with art. Like communication. I often question spirituality and devotion with peculiar humour from what stands there as a statement and why? I often want a serious matter of concern to show up in the presentation even making fun of it, like a bad joke. From raw situations, either with found objects, raw materials or crude images, I want to involve melted, complex, infected gift to the spectators. I'm not sadistic, but I like to work with feelings. The first impression is crucial. As you say, immersive might be something I like, weather, it's because the whole space around is built up, or because it is 'in situ', or when a performative state starts to spread out from the art piece. I want that, for the spectator to see art as one solution of the surrounding, not only distant artefact. has drawn heavily from the specifics of its locations, both: we have highly appreciated the way you have created such powerful resonance between space and choreographical gestures: how do you consider the relationship between movement and space? And how did the locations affect your shoting process? At that time I had an urgency for creating an aesthetic without meaning, without purpose as I was working with an NGO on very serious and tragic footages of usual workflow and process, we would like to ask you if there are any central idea that may define your artistic production. "Ho, it's all so quiet!" I can't manage to waste the time of the viewer. I want an instant impact, or a very
SPECIAL ISSUE 16 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries chemical weapons and their direct consequences in the war in Syria. Oppositely, I was seeking an intimate relationship from the image to the viewer, soft and simple. Approaching Portland is an open experience interested in defining a form as a point of view in which to observe the performance. Imagery is impermanent: it alternates black with concrete or abstract visions at a state of remembrance. Celestial forms of abstraction and intention are signalizing forms of life floating out which soon will leave our field of vision. My interest in the simplicity of the gestures leads me to build my work through economies of means and translations. I was also inspired a lot from the series of Twin Peaks from David Lynch. The aesthetic of the night, the surreal, the digital. With its unique aesthetic identity, conveys sense of freedom and reflects rigorous approach to the grammar of body language and the tension with the exhibition space, reminding us of Pina Bausch's approach to Tanztheater: To emphasise the need of a bond between creative process and direct experience, British artist Chris Ofili once remarked that the importance of chance, stating that "creativity's to do with improvisation ― what's happening around you". How would you consider the relationship between the necessity of scheduling the details of a performance and the need of spontaneity? How importance does improvisation play in your creative process? During the process of Obliterate Project, I spend a lot of time encountering the performers, listening to how we would like to develop something together, individually and later collectively. I also worked a lot on defining a structure for the dancers to allow anything to happen in between. Such as the organisation of the space, which came out to be a form of an exhibition with what it socially implies, some specific physical key moments and music signals. What we're doing mistaking from the situation, raising specific energy adapted to the context, we're listening to the present pieces of information. I had to be selective in the hazardous process as I didn't know where the project would end. Misunderstandings always helping. With dance-choreography, next to how I imagine it could be, I accept improcreation and its limitless power of representation! The rest gets boring and soon not dance-performance anymore. So, how to take the stage still as a free space to improvise a space of allowance between us? Otherwise, errant art. Which I'm okay with but personally I will always need the public to confront directly what is live works. For the projects, I think of for now. On the other hand, with visual art, it's more easy for me to make the whole process a creation. I became obsessed with contexts, how everything can be organised for the ultimate trip! I want the attention to be sharpened like there is no exit. From these elements, you know an
Obliterate Project 2019 Les Brigittines, Brussels
eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Shankar Lestréhan agazine 17 SPECIAL ISSUE interaction should happen, yet, not knowing how to approach it. Some of your works involves objects, as the interesting : would you tell us about the importance of using of found objects and materials? How do you select them and what are the qualities you are searching for? Of course, this performance is about a meeting, as one could happen normally, but that time, orchestrated around a phrase and Rémi around to talk to and maybe become his new best friend. You are someone, taking forgiven that you are able to talk to a piece of a performance part of an art piece. I wrote with coffee because it was there. I never worry cause everywhere is so stuffed of things, even the thinnest. Let's keep things accessible to us, seeing what's there, just trusting the encounter with the solution. Creating quirky situations seems to me to be an effective means of bringing my concerns, so a large part of my productions play with assemblages of objects that come to hand with which I interact directly. Let's borrow, rent or steal gently. I could not predict what became more efficient than ever. Many artists express the ideas that they explore through representations of the body and by using their own bodies in their creative processes. German visual artist Gerhard Richter once underlined that "it is always only a matter of seeing: the physical act is unavoidable": how do you consider the relation between the abstract nature of the ideas you explore and the physical act of creating your artworks? Things are temporary. Things that give you emotion are important. I see the world of objects as cold and defined shapes in front of my body in movement. I consider them trivial, they appear physically, have no more function, nor a concept. I'm interested in the elementary. The way in which I treat most of the elements: water, light, sound, food ... I sometimes use these elements as bases of my work and they serve me "Safe value". Their fundamentalism allows me to consider them as the foundation of my practice. It's a landmark for me at some point in my production. From the selection of work that I consider is important to do, there's an important focus on re-embody some deformed mythologies, believes or stories. Those need to publicly announce something to not kept shut down. A necessity from the deads, from the trash of the world, to express a last sign of agony. We daresay that your works can be considered a combination between understanding reality and hinting at the potential of unknown: we daresay that your artistic practice — and in particular Introduction to the Dharma Words of Master Lu — seems to aim to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its
SPECIAL ISSUE 18 surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception. How important is for you to invite the viewers to elaborate personal meanings? And in particular, how open would you like your artworks to be understood? I dare to say that the unknown is everywhere, we have all our own way to modulate it. If our vision is a happy version, cool! I think I'm at a point where I don't laugh so much, only maybe when things come to be stable or there as a statement, I find them intriguing and that's where I'm stepping over, not being able to be serious in my way, with videos, texts, and performances. It helps me to understand a distance between how I feel: bad, sad, irritated, exhausted.. with what I see and finally what I come up to, with fun over something weirdly serious. It's a funeral celebration, a vivid ceremony, the theatre of an outrageous adaptation. Some of my works are open critics. There are as a judge, so obviously, it might not always be easy to receive them as such but to see that the present statement is simply a reaction to the world appearance, it's not me or my work to blame but the rest around. Also, I hope that the work could talk for itself, that you can get it well, easily. With visual work, I wish to touch individuals at the same point. I can change this slightly with the way to instal or to introduce the work. On the other hand, with more agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
19 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Shankar Lestréhan agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Plastic Love Excerpt from : Some Troublesome 2017 La Raffinerie Charleroi-Danse, Brussels
complex projects like exhibitions or performances, it's harder to say where I wanna get the spectator to, cause they are made with numerous ideas. Meanwhile, I'm always motivated in talking about art through art, engaging significant distance and discourse about the process, the product or the purpose and not leave this a matter for granted. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "artists's role differs depending on which part of the world they’re in": does your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? In particular, do you think that artists can raise awareness to an evergrowing audience on topical issues in our globalised age? With today's Instagram influencers, I hope some 'nice' people could lead movements in 'better' directions, honest and fair. But it isn't in any way the responsibility of the artist to bring something to clear up this world. Trash world. Art can serve as a mean for any purpose from anyone, but not every artist are willing to inform the other of bad news. Sure, art can bring a possible distance, a step back or aside, a time for reflexion, a time for peculiar experience, deconstructing contexts, aesthetics, reconstructing ways to embody the world. You are an established artist and over the years your works have been showcased in several occasions: how eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Shankar Lestréhan agazine 19 SPECIAL ISSUE
My fixed resentment