Hello Ivonne and a warm welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark an artwork as a piece of Contemporary Art? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness? Honestly, Art? I don't know. A more colorful, overpriced version of the New York Times? Good Art for me is characterized by attitude and having something to say. It derives out of curiosity, playfulness, a very own opinion and the capacity to take responsibility for. Essential - a good sense of humor! Contemporary basically means today, so I guess Contemporary Art should talk about your own time and generation in an eloquent and unpretentious way. Tradition for me preserves values and rituals that influence social structures and norms, publicly and in private. Contemporariness is somehow a different basket. I associate this term more with trends in the fashion industry. Unlike tradition it comes along very unpredictable, eccentric and a bit overrated. But a well executed contemporariness may transform into a tradition one day? Would you like to tell us something about your background? Besides your studies in Visual Communication at the University of the Arts in Berlin, you have attended classes in Israel, Spain and in the USA, where, among the others, you attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. How have these experiences impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point? My studies were an unforgettable 10 year life experience. I received my Meisterschüler in Visual Communication, cross studied in Experimental Media Design and finished with a Master in Fine Arts in Israel. Coming from East Germany, I saw my "education plan" as a free ticket to conquer and explore the world, not just creatively. Being a student at the University of the Arts Berlin, I have spent 70% of my time abroad. By learning within different creative fields and manners abroad, I created considerably, with a clear agenda attached my personal "box of tools". These skills now define the spine of my daily work flow and led to a personal freedom and artistic independence. It was a very privileged time and experience. I don't believe in a formalistic discourse of "art education". The outcome is very hollow without significant substance! In my opinion it is of relevance to have a life first and with it, hand in hand, a good education which will help to sharpen your qualities, to find your own language and to have the opportunity to encounter great people on the way. I am drawing since I am 5, I guess the only though very comforting consistency in my life so far. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Broad street line and Aktivisten und Westarbeiter 1 & 2, that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article. Would you tell us something about the genesis of these projects? What was your initial inspiration? A&W was based on a collaborative project with the German author J. Kuhlbordt, now living and working in Leipzig. I produced a series of black An interview by Josh Ryder, curator [email protected] Ivonne Dippmann LandEscape Ivonne Dippmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets
and white drawings for his upcoming publication "Stoetzers Lied - der Gesang vom Leben danach". Stoetzer is a character who takes on everything that rolls him over: politics, economics, art, history. Out of statics he is commenting the movements, the decay of the past and the arrival of the new millennium. It is a philosophical interwoven volume of poetry, that addresses with humor and sharpness the complex approach to history. I connected to his work right away since we shared common grounds by being raised and educated in Karl - Marx - Stadt. Aktivisten und Westarbeiter works with the former qualities of my hometown, which has been the center of textile production in East Germany. I basically grew up in the middle of cotton and wool. The center pieces of the two installations in A&W 1/ 2 were made out of yarns of different colors of VEB POLAR KarlMarx-Stadt, taken from my personal archive of my family. All the drawings and wall-paintings were based on the drawings for Kuhlbordts book. My works are oftentimes inspired by texts, by works of authors I collaborated with for their own publications (J. Kuhlbrodt, C. Wagner or R. Winkler). I also use dialogues from movies (I had a great Woody Allen time in Jerusalem), the everyday talk outside, dreams and outside observations which I write down separately. Broad street line is a textile project, executed within a 3 month apprenticeship at the FWM in Philadelphia. Out of my own designs, I created a two (Broad street line) and a four way repeat (Hallah). I printed 3 months straight and it was a pleasure experimenting and playing around with techniques, shapes and colors. As in A&W the initial design was drawn out in one of my sketchbooks (Book 05 PH2012, Broad Street Line). Some of the printed fabrics were used for designing the fashion line "Hallah", a project in collaboration with the Berlin designer Kunji Baerwald. It was very much a last minute project for a shooting planed to be included in an art book publication (Ivonne Dippmann - My hostilities Are Distributed In A Justified Way, 2013 Revolver Publishing). As you have remarked in the starting lines of your artist's statement, "the artistic discourse is situated very much within the aesthetics and appearance of my environment"... I can recognize such a socio political feature in your pieces, and even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naïf, I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion, but I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can steer people's behavior... what's your point about this? Do you think that it's an exaggeration? Art talks about time, to some extend it embodies history, which is more less an archive of "steering" peoples behaviors. I think the power of art is that a piece of work keeps on communicating without you. It shapes time historically and provides a peek into someone's personal agenda and perception. By showing a specific selection of art to the public, institutions create an archive stuffed with experiences, remarks, thoughts and insides, defining and redefining a "Zeitgeist" within an era or time period. By walking through a retrospective feels like flipping through someone's fotoalbum which is for generations to keep and remember. My personal decisions or choices can be seen as a summation of experiences based on the people I met on my way and whose works and personality touched me somehow. Another interesting pieces that have particularly impressed me and on which I would like to spend some words are from your Les Modes Personnels project: by the way, as our readers can view at your website, http://www.ivonnedippmann.eu/index.php?id =123, multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your art practice: I would go as far as to state that you seem to be interested in creating a multi-sensory, kinetic and relational art experience... while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only Ivonne Dippmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22
way to achieve some results, to express some concepts? I think "disciplines" how you call it or a medium are simply tools to execute an idea. The more you have the more freedom you experience in expressing your thoughts and ideas. LMP just happened by going through old fabrics and towels made in former East Germany at my parents house last summer. I found those old, worn out crystal salt bags from my grand father in our basement and wanted to make something out of it. Since I planed a shooting for documenting "Broad street line" anyways, I thought why not including a recent line of textile work? I had an apartment to work in and a printing place at a friends design firm (Zwoelf Medien Berlin). Since I had no budget, I could not hire a model / make up person in Berlin. As I was looking desperately, a friend just commented on fb: "Why don t you do it yourself?" So based on the circumstances I did everything myself and I had a very patient and passionate photographer. I see LMP like a series of drawings, it flips through shapes, material and movement in real time. It is one of my favorite pieces so far, it really came out of nothing and says everything. Your pieces La vie c’est moi!, Wir sind viele (we are many) and especially the interesting Reformation clearly show that your art practice is strictly connected with the chance to create a deep involvement with your audience, both on a intellectual aspect and on an emotive side... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? Well I guess this phenomena of being disconnected from a direct experience is called "conceptual art"? I am not a fan. It feels like a dry dessert. I personally admire artists who work passionately hands on, going through a work period which requires time, involves physical movement and transpiration on the way. My drawing routine is the spine of my daily life experience and vice versa. It is a safe place I can always go back to. I started literally "shooting" 22 LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Ivonne Dippmann
Ivonne Dippmann Land CONTEMPEORARY ART REVIEW scape 22
22 LandEscape Ivonne Dippmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
myself by documenting myself in relationship to my work or to a specific environment. It helped me to establish a connection with a new place. It caught the way I felt. For La vie c’est moi!, Wir sind viele (we are many) I was meeting a friend in Paris who works by chance in the Louvre, Paris. He gave me a tour in the Museum after everyone left, no lines, no crowds, no school classes. The place was empty and while walking with him through this impressive collection of art, I felt the urge to make a work there. Two days later we got the permission to photograph for 10 minutes. Of course I did not find the room I wanted, so I chose the center hallway of the old Masters. The piece goes together with a 3 m x 6 m written wall work, containing excerpts of dialogues of the war movie Lakonia in combination with expressions of a crossword puzzle. The works mentioned are not performance pieces, I see them purely as a documentation of a work. And I couldn't do without mentioning E/Scapes - the disappearance from landscape, an extremely interesting collaborative project that you have established with Andrea van Reimersdahl... I personally find absolutely fascinating the collaborations that artists can established together as you did, especially because this often reveals a symbiosis between apparently different approaches to art... and I can't help without mention Peter Tabor who once said that "collaboration is working together with another to create something as a synthesis of two practices, that alone one could not": what's your point about this? Can you explain how your work demonstrates communication between two artists? "We believe that interdisciplinary collaboration today is an ever growing force in the art-, fashion- and design world. We believe that our traditional distinction between these fields is rapidly breaking apart, making room for crossplatform projects that question the authority of each classification. We strongly believe that most exciting things happen when creative minds from different fields of practice meet and collaborate on a project." Those 3 lines are Ivonne Dippmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22
taken from a recent proposal for an interdisciplinary workshop "The Art of collaboration", drafted by a colleague of mine (Marek Polewski, Floor5 Berlin). There is not much to add. For me to collaborate means an enrichment of my quality of life as an artist. I do only collaborate with people I like and get along with well, based on a mutual understanding of work attitude and respect. Collaborations are a great opportunity to learn and to have an artistic dialogue on a daily basis. I don' t want to be surrounded with my own state of mind and work always, so I decided to collaborate at least once a year in whatever field, rhe more diverse the better. E/Scapes is an ongoing textile based project in collaboration with the Berlin artist and designer AVR who I met by coincidence through a friend. What finally brought us together is the empathy and the immediate use of textiles and the material related printing craft. We are still looking for funding in order to finally execute this project in the coming months. 9) During these years your artworks have been exhibited across your country and abroad, and you recently had the solo CADAVRE EXQUIS in collaboration with the French painter Asnaby at Blick Gallery in Tel Aviv... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of positive feedback- could even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art... Awards and grants provided me with the financial basis in order to live and to execute my art work as I do. Without this support system I would not stand where I am now and I am grateful for that. Regarding feedback,I think you are better off if you don't give a crab. It doesn't really matter what people think of you. I did not become an artist in order to get compliments or to be liked. My audience should enjoy the ride and remain critical and opinionated. To push myself further, I appreciate honest, constructive critique. Business is something different. Therefore it is a lucky win, if you are represented by a gallerist who is professional and trustworthy. A genuine relationship? Never!, therefore the art market is too chaotic and biased. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts Ivonne. My last question deals 22 LandEscape Ivonne Dippmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? Well, on one hand I am looking for a studio in Berlin in order to have a home base for production and meetings. On the other hand I would like to spend some time in Paris for collaborating on a fashion project, creating exclusive designs for a brand or label. Ongoing projects are the fundraiser for the project E/Scapes - the disappearance from landscapes, which can be accessed through both of our websites. There is a show coming up at the Kulturforum Alte Post Neuss next year and of course, worthwhile mentioning my recently published art book "Ivonne Dippmann - My hostilities Are Distributed In A Justified Way", 2013 by Revolver Publishing Berlin. Ivonne Dippmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22 An interview by Josh Ryder, curator [email protected]
worked in different participatory projects and countries as contemporary multidisciplinary artist to research with experimental materials like blood, inner tubes and chains, to find new borders between fashion design, art, ephemeral concepts and space, getting a better comprehension of fashion and art as communication concept and I found a new visual language for me. Since my studies at Istanbul I'm working between two countries and I've got inspired by both worlds to forge a unique connection between apparently contrary features of Turkish and German culture. The dissolution of boundaries, the fusion of both concepts is at the core of my works. This allows glimpses at a union of opposites. The pieces references duality concepts, combining masculine and feminine elements. Textile structures play with borders and opposites, combining art and design. Embedded in space, the disciplines flow into each other and I like if shape, texture and the materials or structures create an expression in space. For me it's relevant to see the impact of a body in a space. Be aware of textiles as a second skin and the combination of both to create a fugacious sculpture. When can you perceive the body in combination with textiles as a sculpture and where is the border? Has the body to be complete, or is a head enough for an artistic reflection? I follow those and more questions in my installations and concepts to reach a new reference between design, art and contemporary visual language in fashion. For this purpose I use textile materials and ephemeral concepts as a base for a bodily transformation and searching for new connections between the disciplines and the space. An artist's statement y work researches boundaries between fashion, art and Msociety. In the last years I Gerd G.M. Brockmann 22 LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Gerd G.M. Brockmann Lives and works in Freiburg, Germany
LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22 HERE`S STILL LIGHT Photographer: FM BECKER Fotografie FL/Germany /Wood Concept Design & Craft by Korbinian Petzinger
Gerd Brockmann accomplish the difficult task to capture the essence of human experience and immediately conveying it into though-provoking installations: far from being an end in itself, the captivating sociopolitical criticism that marks out many of his cretions, as the interesting Here's still Light, that we'll be discussing in the following pages, urge us to question the reductionist tendencies that pervades Western culture, highlighting paradoxical situations od modernity and always showing us unexpected but ubiquitous points of convergence, in which the viewers are urged to explore the unstability of contemporary age: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to Brockmann's multifaceted artistic production. Hello Gerd and a warm welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview I would pose you some qustions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you after earning your Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art & visual Media, you eventually refined your education with a Master of Fine Art & visual Media, with a major on Textile & Fashion, that you received from the Flensburg University. Among the remarkable experience you did over these years, I think that your Erasmus year at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul has to be mentioned as well: how have these experiences influenced your evolution as an artist? And in particular, do you think that being exposed to a wide, international scene may have informed the way you conceive and produce your works today? Hello LandEscape and thank you for the Invitation. Yes, my Studies at the University of Flensburg gave me some basics about the combination of textile, art and visual media concepts and I learned to use my experiences from the early years. In the 90´s I finished an apprenticeship in an old tradition house (since 1899), near Hamburg and I learned a lot of things about fabrics, garment, sewing and all that stuff in a really “old-school” way. It was the intense beginning of my new work periods. Between ephemeral works, the body as media, textiles as second skin, nature and environment as artistic space. I was able to use my “old-school” experience as well as my science from the university basics at Flensburg´s art and textile departments, to create new works and my new research projects became a short time later reality. In the same year I realized a small project at Istanbul, after I meet the members of a small independent art space at the Contemporary Istanbul Fair while showing my portfolio to the galleries. And step by step my works got an international touch and I started to work between both countries and I love the cultural exchange, the idea to develop a new visual language for me that includes both cultures. The hallmark of your approach is a multidisciplinary symbiosys between several visual viewpoints, that you wisely Gerd G.M. Brockmann An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator [email protected] 22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets
condens into a coherent unity, providing a dynamic life to your pieces: before starting to elaborate about your works, I would suggest to our readers to visitI http://artprojectbrockmann.com in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted artistic production. Have you ever happened to realize that a symbiosis between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express the concepts you convey in your works? In the contemporary art world of the modern era it is essential to enter into a symbiotic relationship with other disciplines to develop yourself as an artist and to create a new visual language. Through the networked world of fine arts mutated into a global activity and in this age of globalization it is essential to get new realms by fusing art, fashion, photography, design and craft, to create new perceptions for the observer. My work is characterized as a new form of public in art and at the same department it offers an insight into the geopolitics of the art system of the 21st century. To survive in today's art market, it is necessary to develop critical tools to allow the viewer a glimpse behind the curtain. The multidisciplinary symbiosis as you call it allows me to develop a broad-based oeuvre as an artist and is actually the only way some of my concepts had been realized. For Example, THE SUPLENESS PUCK´S… The artwork to us viewers, is a different experience to my interaction with the work - the artwork itself is performative - it is not really a photograph, nor is it really a sculpture. It is an action, and it is an encounter between two people; one a viewer, and one the performer who is wearing the costume, their body moving slightly with each breath, and shreds of fabric moving with a small breeze. This is such a harmonious amalgamation of costume becoming installation; installation becoming performance; performance becoming 22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
22 Gerd G.M. Brockmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW HERE`S STILL LIGHT Detail Photographer: FM BECKER Fotografie FL/Germany
sculpture; sculpture becoming a photograph; photograph entering the online sphere. With elements of identity removed; masked faces and wrapped figures, my work seems to have created a repeated motif - a human captured in time and captured (encased, even) within various mediums. It is a tension which exists in the work, and in the characteristics of the mediums used. I would start to focus on your artistic production beginning from "Here's still Light", an extremely interesting body of works that I have to admit is one of my favourite project of yours. I like the way your careful exploration offers a rigorous but at the same time lively visual translation of the issues that affect contemporary societies: far from being an end in itself, this work reveals the importance of the ongoing social process that leads its creation, and that it's intrinsically connected to the chance of creating an area of intense interplay with the viewers. While conceiving Art could be considered a purely abstract activity, there is always a way of giving it a permanence that goes beyond the ephemeral nature of the concepts you capture. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? I believe that one's personal experience accounts for a huge part of any of my works and the mentioned “Here’s Still Light” concept merges to this experience with the experience of all 20 team members to become a great social sculpture. A separation of the creative process of one's own experience, I think indeed possible, for me however, not desirable. In today's society it´s in my opinion very important that new experience spaces and projects for 22 Gerd G.M. Brockmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
KING NOTHING Concept by YILMAZTÜRK&BROCKMANN FASHION DESIGN Draping/Photographer: Nejla Yilmaztürk
Univocal reference, 38x42, 2010 underestimating groups exists and that we learn to provide and handle socially disadvantaged, to bring them into contact with art and to experience what we can learn from each other. Would I disconnect all from each other, I would deprive myself of my own feelings and the transience, the social or creativity would no longer reach me and I would be separated from the social relevance of my work and would be immune to any resonance. When I was preparing myself for this interview I have got to know that the term social exclusion first originated here in Europe, where we experienced a considerable emphasis on spatial exclusion, that sometimes resembles to a 22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW ONE MOMENT YELLOW SILENCE FASHION DESIGN Draping/Photographer: Nejla Yilmaztürk & Aykut Yilmaztürk
form of confinement. The nature of your insightful investigation about marginalization of the elderly people from public sphere reveals an admirable sociopolitical criticism: I have appreciated the way you do not just restrict your analysis to a mere reportage of the situation, but you stimulate us to react to this loss of potential concerning not only wisdom but also talents that need a whole life to be improved... Although I'm aware that the following assumption might sound a bit naive, I'm convinced that nowadays Art can play an active role not only in exposing and interpreting sociopolitical issues, but also and especially to offer us an unexpected way to solve them... what's your point about this? And in 22 Gerd G.M. Brockmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
particular, how can an artist give a move to the contemporary unstabile society? In my opinion spatial and social exclusion are only a small part of an ever-accelerating society. We all develop different mechanisms to this new society order to come to the company and manage the age affects us all. In my time the immortal youth in which I found myself up to my twenties I have recognized this instability of society and was helpless at that time and I could do nothing about it. With the maturity of years and the courage to address people if they would work with me on something together I brought this process in motion. It was possible to actively involve art into sociopolitical criticism. The interactive and participatory has long been a part of the art market ... but this “Here´s Still Light” concept is now to be filled with socio-critical content and to find a platform for this artistic social process was the challenge for me. I was very happy to found my team after a two years research and set it up at the Nexus Gallery in Denmark to give this work the worthy setting. Who will assume responsibility for new and innovative ideas in the world of social exclusion ... unless we artists? How can an artist change something in the modern unstable society? I guess, with new and surprising ideas and the hope to change something, and if it happens only in small… it's a start! There is a very special synthesis between me and my partner and very talented Fashion Designer Nejla Yilmaztürk. The YILMAZTÜRK & BROCKMANN Concept was born in January 2012. After the work for a Gallery in Istanbul, we decided to work as an artist couple between the border of Fashion Design and Fine Art Concepts. And I couldn't do without mentioning "Ego Has Fallen", that has provided me of the 22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
22 Gerd G.M. Brockmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW EGO HAS FALLEN Pic by Artist
22 LandEscape Gerd G.M. Brockmann CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW GRAND ELIXIR SECRET OF SECRETS…THE URBAN ALCHEMY - Pic by Artist / Model: Korbinian Petzinger
22 Gerd G.M. Brockmann LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW same sensation I received the first time I had the chance to get to know Boltanski's Exit. Although each of your projects has an autonomous life, there's always seem to be such a channel of communication between your works, that springs from the way you juxtapose ideas and media: as Thomas Demand once said, "nowadays art can no longer rely much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead". What's your point about this? EGO HAS FALLEN has certainly parallels to Boltanski's work “Exit” to pull, since this dimly the likeness of a human being gives and gets a mood of melancholy forth the leaves appear the presence of the past as irretrievably past. The memory work thus becomes a part of the work. This work contributes similar Boltanski's “Exit” not only a media criticism in itself but also an institutional critique that affects society as a whole. In my decision-making process of the artistic work and the implementation of ideas, this only partially plays a role. I think about it if I move into a different cultural process, working with a new group, or as usually, if I work between two cultures. Then I try to do research with great respect and it makes me aware of during the process as the context that could affect the visual language to the viewer. The process with my HOMECREW..Like, I call my team of the Here's Still Light project, was like that and that’s why it took two years to complete. Working with the elderly women from the Danish and German culture in considering the old war history required a cautious approach and found expression in the work "War is over".
Marta Wapiennik intuition and emotions. I am trying really hard to give the most from me during the process of creation which has become more important for me than it was few years ago. I think this is the best way to deliver powerful and strong images that can move the viewer. I find inspiration in colors, textures, surroundings and nature. I treat photographs as sketches for further exploration. Modifying reality in them has become some sort of language which suits the best to my feelings and a way of perceiving the world. owadays I am creating Nworks guided mostly by Marta Wapiennik Lives and works in Cracow, Poland
Multidisciplinary artist Marta Wapiennik's work explores the notions of memory and perception: her works could be considered as visual biographies that draws the viewers through a multilayered experience. In her body of works entitled The illusion of reality that we'll be discussing in the following pages, she urges us to recontextualize elements she draws from universal imagery. One of the most impressive aspects of Wapiennik's work is her successful attempt to trigger the viewers' most limbic parameters, to challenge their perceptual categories: we are really pleased to introduce our readers to her multifaceted artistic production. Hello Marta, thanks for joining us and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and you graduated from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, in Cracow: how does this experience influence your evolution as an artist? In particular how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general? Hello, thank you for having me. I studied at the Graphic Department, I mainly focused on improving my skills in drawing and painting. I wanted to master those crafts and this was my aim. First year was hard but on the second year I went to the prof. Włdzimierz Kotkowski’s (let him rest in peace) drawing workshop and he opened my eyes to many ways we can see the subject that we are working with. Basically whatever I do in art I begin with some sketch/ drawing I have in my mind. It’s not very strict, It’s changing constantly, probably that’s why I use many layers on my photographs. I often see in a multilayered way. I evolved very slow during my studies, due to my problems with health I was excluded from the social life, art life. I had to change workshops frequently because not every teacher understood my situation. This gave me the (not necessaliry wanted) opportunity to find myself in completely new situation - for example: when I decided to do my diploma in the Poster Workshop, I found out that I am not wanted there. My last chance was to turn back to the Screenprinting Workshop run by prof.ASP Marcin Surzycki, where I stayed and developed my idea of „The illusion of reality”. That’s also the title of my additional diploma works made in Digital Photography Workshop led by dr Lech Polcyn, who helped me in solving problems that were quite new to me then. You can say that I ended up in this area of art partly by coincidence, but it was a good fortune. There were lot’s of difficult moments at the Cracow’s Academy of Fine Arts which is seen as a conservative one. In my opinion it’s true although they are trying to change it. Still one can quickly learn how to paint well, or draw there rather than gain knowledge about Marta Wapiennik An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator [email protected] 22 LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
computer programs. Which can slow the process of developing talents especially at the Graphic Department. Nevertheless students are very smart and pick up all technology news by themselves at their homes. Does my cultural background plays some role in my art ? I don’t think so. I was always inspired by foreigners: Hockney, Richter, Stella, Rauchenberg… they have energy that can move the viewer. They are fresh and for everyone. Polish art in my opinion is very much connected to our history which was not a happy one so artworks can be also let’s say - heavy. There are exceptions of course but my nature tells me to run away from it and look for something what brings the NEW. Your approach reveals an incessant search of organic investigation about the realm of emotions and the results of your practice convey together a coherent and consistent sense of harmony and unity: before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.martawapiennik.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process and set up, we would like to ask you how did you develope your style and how do you conceive your works. Incessant search - yes, everyday I am looking for answers, I have lots of questions in my head, also much conflict. But the last thing I would say about my works is that they are coherent and consistent. I feel like I am frequently changing my „creation routine”. Style… is the worst thing that one can have as a true artist. Because what is style? Characteristic quality? If one really is looking for the truth he/she will never know what the outcome of the research will be. Style is very predictable trait which I don’t want to have. I always feel free while creating and I never try to limit myself. That is why I use photography, painting and I mix them. I treat photos as sketches and I am always surprised when they are appreciated by viewers. For me they are mostly „not finished works of art”. This is the reason I digitally modify reality that is The Illusion Of Reality 22 LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
captured on them to emphasize my point of view. For this special edition of LandEscape we have selected The illusion of reality, an extremely interesting series, that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. When walking our readers through the genesis of this project, we would like to ask you what is the role of chance in your process: how much improvisation is important for you? 22 Marta Wapiennik LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
„The illusion of reality” tells about how what we see everyday can be perceiving. What is reality to us? For everyone it’s something different that’s for sure. But do we ever try to examine, question it? Check what is the truth and what is not? Or do we just accept the things as they are because it’s more comfortable. Basically the genesis of this project was my inspiration - the topic of deconstruction. In a short story - a way of thinking that make us verify our thinking method The Illusion Of Reality 22 LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
nowadays. I would reccomend to search for the name Derrida, philosopher. The project was also an outcome of my combination of paper folding, print and photography. It’s not all done digitally, only by little part. They are real folded copies of reality put in the exact same places they were taken from, only destroyed. Should I call it an improvisation? No, it was planned. But I use „accidents” in my paintings - always. You draw a lot from your perceptual reality and The illusion of reality could be considered a successful attempt to create a body of works that stands as record of existence and that captures non-sharpness with an universal language. Even James Turrell’s obsession with light and color is often associated with his early experiences as a pilot... So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? It cannot be disconnected. At least I put everything I have experienced with my senses into my art. It happened that the most important for me is sight so I communicate with people through images. I wouldn’t be able to create artworks that don’t contain the truth. Arists work with their souls so what they have inside they can only give to others. If one tries to fake it, then it’s not art at all. I like to think that some people really show create works that reveal a hidden part of themselves, unnamed, that sometimes even they cannot understand. Like fears, desires, dreams etc. Your photographs seems to be the result of a lot of planning and thought, but at the same time they convey a sense of direct spontaneity that is a hallmark of your style. You seem to be wanting to move beyond a standard representation and the way you manipulate the images you capture unveils a trascendental substance, making the viewer realize that your work has a different message. How important is Marta Wapiennik LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22
the character that you as the photographer impose on your images? Thank you for such a kind words. You exactly guessed they way they are made. They are as planned as spontaneous. For example I wake up and there is a nice wheather and I feel like going to the park to take some pictures (a plan). When I’m there I just run, walk, sit - do whatever I want to feel the place, space, atmosphere. At the same time I photograph anything that catches my eye. I don’t think a lot during the process because that would take a lot energy from the shots. I learned to go with the flow. Later I work on the digital modification. Transcendence is very important for me. I wish I could show more in photography - give more - like smell, wind, temperature, all the ingredients that move me. As a fragile person I am very sensitive to any change in my environment. I found that my paintings reveal more from my spirit than any view I can capture by the camera so I decided to combine them. That gives this „style” you mentioned. I still treat them as sketches and try to keep them fresh. I don’t really care about the „high quality” of the photographic structure - let’s call it that way. For me photos are basic grounds to start my work from. I destroy them multiple times: pixelize them, solarize, desaturate, increase the color, cut - whatever gives me provocation, excites. If I feel it with my guts, I know that my work would have the character. It’s hard to describle what could lead to „ you must see it ” reaction, which would be the best reslut you can achieve. Staying very close to the topic of my interests, makes me very aware of any tiny detail that might weigh on the quality of works, like light, texture etc. As the late Franz West did in his early installations, your work shows unconventional aesthetics in the way it deconstructs perceptual images in order to assemble them in a collective imagery, urging the viewers to a process of selfreflection. German multidisciplinary The Illusion Of Reality LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22
artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how 22 Marta Wapiennik LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
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do you conceive the visual unity and narrative for your works? Generally art in postmodern times has no easy way to get to the viewer. Peaple change, times change, technology changed it all, also the way we live: fast - faster, cheap - cheaper, consumptionism over good education… all those things made humans got lost in my opinion. What to believe in? Who do we trust? No time to even think about it. Since I was I child I felt everything around me is going to fast. I am very slow person and I like to look at things from the distance because then I can get clear image. This is how I see it - we live in a such a way that doesn’t allow most people to relax and focus on things that really matter. There are too many things around us for example: colorful commercials on walls, newspapers, in television. Many symbols are just overused and they have lost their prior power and meaning. Nobody sees them in this crowd. I would even call it a visual mess. What works in that environment are elements of persuasion, also used in commercials - not without a reason. If people don’t know what they want, they would be more likely to listen to „good advices” or „touching stories”. What govern nowadays are emotions rather than a clear mind. When it comes to my works I don’t prefer to use narration because I want to make the viewer feel something more than understand. This is the aim of my creation process. I was thinking about using symbols but nowadays it’s pointless. Harder part is to find what would work better than them. Every artist finds his/ her way to achieve this goal. To be seen. Visual unity is good for series but looking on the whole collection of works that I’ve done so far that wouldn’t be the best way to describe it. It’s important not to be labelled and assigned to some certain modus operandi. Marta Wapiennik Land CONTEMPEORARY ART REVIEW 22 scape
You also produce stimulating paintings: while marked out with an intense abstract feature, your recent pieces also convey references to reality and seem to speak of intense struggle. We have really appreciated the consistent balance between such abstract feeling and reminders to perceptual process: how would you describe the relationship between experience and the process of abstraction that marks out your practice? I am painting because I really love this technique - I use oils on canvas. This gives me much freedom and happiness during the process, you can say that I do it for my own pleasure. When I came back to painting after 3 years of break I wanted to start exploring tha unknown which was for me - abstractionism. I used to paint a lot before but only still life or nudes. They were appreciated works but I didn’t feel good with them. It seemed for me that this is not enough I could give. I truly wanted to break out from this cage of realism. As I was working on my diploma in screenprinting, focused on art without narration, I had the opportunity to rethink the ideas concerning creation that I used to follow previous years. That was very stimulating time for my mind. Your paintings are quite elaborated and the dialogue established by vivacious colors and abstract texture is a crucial part of your style: in particular, the effective combination between intense nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time? Interesting question. To be honest I started with only gray tones, that was 10 years ago. I think I was afraid of color, I didn’t know how 22 LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
Body Illusion 22 Marta Wapiennik LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
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to use it, how it all worked on canvas so I preferred to stay safe. They were nice works but they looked like from XIX century because I used too much oil and I didn’t clean my brush properly so they even get darker with time. Seems funny now. I knew that this wasn’t going anywhere and I needed change. I worked hard and I had a good teacher before my studies - painter Agnieszka Sajda (runs Salwatorskie Artistic Studio with Filip Konieczny in Cracow) who had the patience and believed in everyone. With her support I managed to evolve grom gray to nice monochromatic pastel tones, still delicate but it was huge progress back then. As work with canvas was getting better I managed to got to the Academy with high scores for my exam painting. And that was the best I did at Matejko’s building. Something bad started to happen since I became a student a spirit died. Especially after one proffesor told me that there is no need for me to explore color because I am doing so well in gray and monochrome. I have lost my power, changed workshop but the general atmosphere was not pushing me to work on myself or develop anything. With other circumstances mentioned before in interview I was not able to paint at all to I did only the little just to pass examination. I was depressed but maybe that’s why I am so lucky now to create what I have always wanted. I feel like I am putting all my heart in my works. Like in photographs I want my pantings to have a nice textures that catch viewer’s eyes. My palette is always the matter of my intuition. I wouldn’t be far from the truth if I said that sometimes I am surprised by the outcome of mixing colors. I use many different objects to transfer the paint on canvas, almost never brush. I just got bored with it. I seek out for new marks to provoke, raise curiosity and engage more. I don’t use any thinner anymore, after many years of living in the terpentine’s fumes I got allegric to it and I can’t stand the smell. Moreover I like the texture of oil paint 22 Marta Wapiennik LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
itself and working with it is fantastic. This is perfect tool to express myself through colors and all the nuances you mentioned. Does it show my personality? Maybe it shows my everyday struggle. I find it hard to balance myself and there’s a big conflict under the surface. I make art because I must get rid of the overflow of emotions and thoughts. It can be said that they combine images in my mind that I am trying to recreate on canvas. The viewer can imbibe this energy. Over these years your works have been internationally exhibited and you are going to take part to Pre-During-Post Contemporary at the Bayer Gallery, in Stara Zagora. One of the hallmarks of your practice is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context? Before entering the world of art I read a lot about it. Among many important notes I made, one was that the good artists always talk as a voice of their generation. I carefully listen and observe what are current issues, what seems to be the main problem among the people. Sometimes it shows in my works. I suppose this is the reason you were interested in series „The illusion of reality”. It speaks about the times we live in. Works with lack of common sense are not available, not possible to understand or translate. On the other side too much narration creates many fake assumptions, thesis, there is no place for such things nowadays. What is crucial for me? I would say to address simple, strong, straight messages that as many people comprehend, digest as possible. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Marta. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? I am enjoying painting a lot so I will definitely continue to explore this area. I think I’ll only take bigger canvas. I miss drawing with coal so maybe getting back to this might be a good idea. Recently I’ve been wondering what it would be like to work with textiles and create some nice structures. Also making a short video with sound seems tempting. I am switching from one project to another before even making any decision - as you previosly noticed - I like to plan. So now I am searching for something, My work evolves in a direction that is impossible to predict. It depends on what will happen in my life. People I meet sometimes inspire me to do new things. For example I’m collaborating with USA illustrator and Pratt Institute professor Cheryl Gross on a project „Freak Show” that is a mix of her illustration and my photos. You can find a digital version of our book on my website. We are looking for a publisher, maybe thanks to this opportunity you gave me to talk about my work somebody will notice us. Hoping for it. Future seems to be interesting so please stay tuned. Thank you very much for the interview! An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator [email protected] LandEscape Marta Wapiennik CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW 22
cinema, painting, sculpture and installation to demonstrate a keen interest in communicating complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories. Her work is often minimalistic while emotionally charged and speaks to the beautifully intricate limbo of indigenous peoples today. Monnet has made a signature for working with industrial materials, combining the vocabulary of popular and traditional visualcultures with the tropes of modernist abstraction to create unique hybrid forms. Monnet is always in the stage on experimentation and invention, both for herself and for the work. Monnet has exhibited in Canada and internationally in such venues as the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and Haus der Kulturen Der Welt (Berlin) for the Rencontres Internationales, Toronto International Film Festival, Aesthetica (UK), Cannes Film Festival (not short on talent), Smithsonian Institute (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Art and Arsenal (Montréal). Monnet lives in Montréal where she is the artist in residence at Arsenal Contemporary Art Gallery. An artist's statement elf-taught multidisciplinary artist from Outaouais, S Québec, Monnet uses Caroline Monnet 22 LandEscape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Caroline Monnet Lives and works in Outaouais, Québec
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Multidisciplinary artist Caroline Monnet work accomplishes the difficult task of providing the viewers of an Ariadne's thread that unveils the hidden but ubiquitous relationships between oral histories, ancient life ways, and generational legacy. Her evocative storytelling urges the viewers to investigate about the relation between reality and the way we perceive it: capturing the ephemeral nature of experience, she materializes it into a coherent and permanent unity. One of the most convincing aspect of Monnet's practice is the way she creates an area of intellectual interplay between perception and memory, that invites the viewers to explore unstability in the contemporary age. We are very pleased to introduce our readers to her refined artistic production. Hello Caroline and welcome to LandEscape: ranging from painting, sculpture and installation to film and video, multidisciplinary is a crucial feature of your work, that shows an incessant search of an organic symbiosis between a variety of viewpoints you convey into a consistent unity. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for producing your works? In particular, have you ever happened to realize that such synergy is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts? The way I produce my work depends on the project itself. I usually don’t approach a film the same ways I approach a sculpture let say. But I agree that there is always a form of personal interaction with the work. I am interested in creating works that have meaning and evoke feelings. This is why most often I research intensively before I actually start making the work. It is part of the process and acts as the foundations of the works. I became a multidisciplinary artist out of necessity really, because film and video was just not enough for me to express certain ideas An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator [email protected] 22 LandEscape Caroline Monnet CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets Caroline Monnet Caroline Monnet