Dark Creatures and Peculiar Beasts: Inside the Mind of Artist Carisa Swenson

With a background in design and illustration, Carisa Swenson discovered her passion for sculpture after studying with renowned doll artist Wendy Froud (the creator of ‘Yoda’ from the Star Wars franchise). Swenson creates intricate and disturbingly wonderful art dolls that tread a fine line between eerie and cute, asking the viewer to question preconceived notions and even to consider wider social issues at play. Influenced by a variety of sources including the stop motion works of Ray Harryhausen and the Brothers Quay, Carisa is an expert in formulating her dreams into reality, giving her audience a glimpse into an alternate world where perverted animal forms are brought grotesquely to life.

Hi Carisa, can you tell us a bit about what you do as an artist?

Hello, and thank you for this opportunity!
I create sculptures and one of kind art dolls based upon creatures both real and imagined. Most of my dolls are a combination of either Magic Sculpt or Creative Paperclay for the head and limbs, with a wire and fabric body. All are painted with acrylics. 

How important is the incorporation of mythology and fairy tale in your work?

Both have been and continue to be a tremendous influence in my work, as I grew up in a household filled with books on Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology. My father was a high school English teacher who taught classical mythology, and much of my childhood was spent pouring through his books memorizing the different gods, goddesses and most importantly the fantastical creatures that inhabited them. Not to mention the rather raunchy exploits of the deities…
While many of my pieces are not outright interpretations of these tales, the influence of mythological archetypes and magical creatures is there. 

Let’s talk about your use of mixed media. Where do you find the materials that are used in your work and how much does that influence the final piece?

More often than not, the final sculpted piece and costuming tend to work together.  Most of my material is sourced from local fabric, vintage bead and art stores; and when beginning a piece, I have a general idea or feel for the personality or character. This often changes during the sculpting stage. I’ve found it’s better not to force a concept onto a piece that is taking quite a different path. Though I may have a specific textile or color palette in mind, once the sculpting phase of the piece is completed the final expression or attitude of the sculpture ultimately determines what costume and colors a doll will be sporting.

Where do you come up with the ideas for your creatures?

Where there is not a pen or piece of paper to be had! I’ve found that physical activity and leaving my studio allows my thoughts a sense of freedom. Running and taking walks through parks or forests clears my head and provides me with a source of ideas, often effortlessly. Of course, remembering them once I get home is another thing! I also find that going to museums creates an almost meditative atmosphere and allows my mind to wander, to pick up new concepts and ideas as well as break through creative blocks.

Your work often has an eerie quality that seems to pervert the traditional idea of a ‘cute’ animal or doll. To what extent do you think this impacts upon the audience and how important is it for you to play with ideas of culture and society in your work?

I’ve always appreciated the notion of pairing traditionally “cute” animals with a disturbing truth. The book and especially the animated film “Watership Down” certainly speaks to that and not surprisingly has been a huge influence on me since a child. Because I grew up having to live with all the stereotypes our society projects onto female children, and which was in my nature to subvert, I build a sense of unease in my mice, rabbits and other “storybook sweet” creatures. A rabbit will resist and fight just as viciously as any other creature when it must.
Growing older, I’ve found that the desire to incorporate issues into my work, such as how humans treat the environment and wildlife; gender, gender expression and the suppression of, as well as bodily autonomy is becoming more insistent. There is a climate of anti-science, anti-reason, and a persistence of holding fast to tradition right now in the United States that is distressing and I expect that these issues will be explored within my sculptures and dolls in the coming months and years.

Do you have a favourite piece?

Yes. “The Mouse King”, a doll inspired by the Mouse King of The Nutcracker, and hairless mice used in lab experiments. This doll was my first serious attempt at using epoxy clay and a piece that I am truly proud of. Many of my pieces up to that point were sculpted in an air-drying paper clay and had minimal detailing. Working with this new medium allowed me to get lost in the piece and discover a new sculpting style. It is also my first creation that felt much darker than any of my former pieces and allowed for a greater expression of my somewhat morose nature.

What, in your opinion, does ‘creativity’ mean?

Allowing yourself the freedom to let go of self-conscious thought and briefly transcend the mire of rationality to produce something which taps into your passion and joy.

What is the future of your artwork? What would you like to do that you have not already done?

There is still so much to do, and I have an ever-growing list of projects to accomplish! Right now, I’d like to explore the lives and worlds my creatures inhabit and allow them to have more of an existence then just sitting on shelves…whether that is through animation, puppets, or a book, I haven’t yet decided—there is much I have to explore within my stable of characters and personalities. Outside of my dolls, I would absolutely love to put my sculpting talents towards film or education, such as museum work.

What would your advice be to anyone interested in getting involved in the art world?

Having talent is wonderful and certainly helps, but you need more than that to achieve your goals. You need to be willing to sacrifice time on a consistent basis in order to improve—at the very least commit to devoting a half hour of your day to your craft. Be open to constructive criticism. I’ve noticed this concept has been lost as of late, and the idea of “constructive criticism” is now seen as just “criticism”. If you ask for someone’s opinion, try to let go of your ego and just LISTEN instead of defending your art. Often I see young artists ask for a critique, but what they really want to hear is that their art is brilliant.
You must actively pursue artistic avenues…expecting to only do your art and have galleries, publishers, etc stumble upon your work and propel you to stardom is unlikely. Many artists I know who have reached even a modicum of success have been toiling and working for years (10+) on their art (often not even fulltime)! Always be a professional in your communications and how you present yourself. Don’t take things personally. Get rejected? It’s going to happen. Not everyone is going to like what you do. While it’s disappointing, sometimes it can work out for the better and push you in a new direction. Most importantly? Find your own voice. To be inspired by an artist’s work is one thing…copying their style is quite another. Don’t grab that low hanging fruit — make your art truly YOURS. 

A glimpse of art, shock and social engagement

Social issues are explored with all manner of approaches by a wide range of artists. It is a subject of much importance and endless debate. Santiago Sierra’s controversial work sparks strong reactions of anger and offense whilst others such as Rikrit Tiravanit use more subtle ways to address issues. This article looks at some of those who go beyond audiences’ expectations and shock thresholds to deliver some truly thought provoking and outrageous works.
A huge part of contemporary art practice concerns itself with social change. Many argue that the purpose of art is to engage people with such issues. Joseph Beuys term social sculpture views the whole of society as an artwork, to which all members can contribute. Beuys believed that art has the potential to transform society;
‘Art is the only political power, the only revolutionary power, the only evolutionary power, the only power to free humankind form all repression’. (Beuys, 1973)

Santiago Sierra. Image via Lisson Gallery website
10 INCH LINE SHAVED ON THE HEADS OF TWO JUNKIES WHO RECEIVED A SHOT OF HEROIN AS PAYMENT, 302 Fortaleza Street. San Juan de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, October 2000
DVD projection (4:3 ratio)

Santiago Sierra. Image via Lisson Gallery website
Santiago Sierra: Dedicated to the Workers and Unemployed
Installation view

Santiago Sierra, «Laborers who cannot be payed, remunerated to remain in the interior of carton boxes», 2000
Eight people paid to remain inside cardboardboxes, 1999 | Courtesy: Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich | Photography | © Santiago Sierra

Santiago Sierra’s work has criticized the institution of art. His work seemingly aims to expose capitalism by strongly critiquing its corporations’ unjust methods of production, confronting the audience by highlighting poor, unfair labour conditions and the extremities workers will endure by reproducing these same exploitative conditions, inflicted in the name of art. He has often employed underprivileged workers, prostitutes and drug addicts to perform pointless and laborious tasks, paying them the minimum amount possible to do so. He implicates the audience and attacks the desensitised numbness of the consumer who accepts the inevitable crimes that must take place in order for them to buy their commodity.
 
8 people paid to remain inside cardboard boxes would appear to unsuspecting audiences at first glance as minimalist sculptures, unaware of the excruciating labour, to which it refers. The worker here is put in a position of shame in which they have undignified conditions imposed upon them with no control over the work.
 
Sierra is criticised for always inflicting these conditions on others and not himself, however, considering his work aims to imitate the capitalist system, perhaps his role in this is to be the very system he excoriates.  This reaction is not unexpected by the artist – when you put your name on the work it seems that you’re held responsible for the capitalist system itself.’ (Sierra 2004).

Image via ESCÁPIST(S)

Images via ESCÁPIST(S)

More recently, the Russian artist Petr Pavlensky is using his body as a performative means of highly political activism to oppose conditions implemented by the state, responding to escalating laws suppressing activism and banning the promotion of homosexuality
He was catapulted into the international public eye in 2013 after nailing his scrotum to the cobblestones in the Red Square, Moscow. After undressing and affixing himself, he continued to stare vacantly at his injury in the freezing temperatures. This figure represented someone of apathetic, disempowered political indifference. Pavlensky previously received attention by sewing his mouth shut in 2012 whilst holding a sign reading ‘Action of Pussy Riot was a replica of the famous action of Jesus Christ’. This form of silent protest is usually a passive statement, reaching people through the visual rather than volume but with the addition of self mutilation comes an aggressive passion and the spectacle is difficult to ignore.

Mutilating his body as a metaphor for the condition of the social body is performative but imposing himself on public places is an installation that the audience has no choice but to passively consume, and the police have to choice to participate in, perhaps even unwillingly collaborate in, adding a depth to the work.
 
Addressing social issues through participation is the underlying concept of Paul Harfleets Pansy Project, an installation based series of works as a reaction to homophobic abuse. The project was a response to daily abuse in the streets, in a country considering itself to be accepting of homosexuality and diversity.
 
Placing flowers is a ritual upheld to communicate an accident or tragic event. Harfleet used this tool to mark the damaging seriousness of abuse. With the pansy carrying the weight of the insult directed at effeminate men and using it as an instrument, it is a universal signal for passersby. Stark titles such as Fucking Faggot! add a jarring and sobering context to the seemingly delicate act and associated sorrow of planting flowers, exuding confrontation.

Images via The Pansy Project

The criticism of many of these bold works is the element of shock tactic. It is critiqued as a shallow tool used to attract attention, but to truly consider this as a criticism one must ask if it is effective. If the aim of these works is to bring about social change, this strategy does indeed utilise shock to reach its intended audience; the large general public who can enable the change it seeks. In a climate where art is so entrenched in politics and social engagement, it is often discussed whether it is the responsibility of artists to address social issues. Petr Pavlensky himself believes “an artist has no right not to take a stand”, but in many cases, whether an artist accepts responsibility or not, there comes a point when their works’ impact on society may well be out of their hands.

Santiago Sierra
Petr Pavlensky  
Paul Harfleet

 

Central Saint Martins’ Degree Show One: Art

Central Saint Martins’ final year art show boasted a colourful and eclectic mix of interdisciplinary art that is as fresh and cool as its students – exactly what the art world needs.

With alumni including Hussein Chalayan, Yinka Shonibare and 2013 Turner Prize Winner Laure Prouvost, Central Saint Martins is a hub for raw, new talent that only seeks one thing – prove itself to the world. This year’s show, made up of works across BA Fine Art and MA Art & Science, Fine Art, Photography and MRes Art, continues to hone Central Saint Martins’ reputation when it comes to the creative energy it harbours.

CSM’s Degree Show One is unusual in its content, and a treat for the eyes when it comes to its form – paintings share the wall with installations, immersive experiences, and regular performances across the room that transport you to other worlds. Upon entering the show, one is greeted by giant sculptures that lead you to the main area, where a student recreated the atmosphere and setting of a nail salon bar. Working around that particular framework, she greets visitors with a smile before proceeding to glam up their nails, while the adjacent space is occupied by another student and his aquaponics water plants (a system of raising fish and plants in a symbiotic cycle) and cosy sofas where one can read books whilst waiting to get one’s nails done, or for a friend to bring beer, or anything – you decide. The beautiful part about CSM’s degree show is that it invites you in a manner that other works of art placed in certain institutions don’t. Here, it is never a question of ‘is this lost glove on the floor art?’ or ‘do you think we can touch this?’ or even ‘can we sit on this or is it part of the work?’, rather it is completely interactive and herein lies the fun aspect of art – art can be fun too, and we more often than not forget it too quickly.

The showstopper of the night was undoubtedly Alexis Marie Sera’s big rock-like installation at the back of the room, which made the entire university look like a meteorite landing platform. After walking around the massive structure and feeling like an ant, you climb up inside only to be confronted by three creatures covered in black oil, wailing, rummaging around, circling around and staring at you –frightening and claustrophobic. Paired with some foreboding sounds, the giant ball opens up at the top to reveal some light, while the creatures moan and wail even more –a fascinating and immersive take that aims to recreate the instance right before death occurs.

Another immersive piece that transformed space and relationship towards the audience is the artists’ massage station, set up by student Yao Wang. The décor of the space, which had been constructed in a white, minimalistic salon, greeted visitors with the distinct sanitised yet seducing smell of all health stations –dentists, hospital, doctors. The crowd watched gleefully while one lucky artist got his shoulders massaged, while the space next to it, which was made to look like its complete antithesis –dark, dimly lit by candles and oozing an aura of mysticism, gathered curious bystanders. The great thing about CSM’s show is that the students blend in with the visitors, and the pieces are transformed whenever someone interacts with them. There is no visible hierarchy, and all are simply happy to experience months of hard work put into everyone’s art.

Other pieces which transport the audience into different immersive worlds and settings use film as a medium, creating sensations rather than linear narratives, such as Henrietta Young’s video installation that places the visitor inside a surgical framework by surrounding him with freshly cut pieces of flesh. Upon entering the space, one is cornered by double projections that emphasize the waiting of a hospital room.

Central Saint Martins proves again that it is filled with fresh, raw energy and talent when it comes to art.

Images by Suzanne Zhang

Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London |  27 May - 31 May 2015

Digital Graffiti Festival 2015 at Alys Beach

In two weeks, for three nights only, Alys Beach, Florida, will be opening its white washed walls to a hive of groundbreaking art, colour and digitally infused magic, for the Eighth Annual Digital Graffiti Festival, in one of our favourite and uniquely exciting venues. 

Digital Graffiti is the world’s first projection arts festival that provides artists from around the globe with an opportunity to use the latest design, aviation and projection technologies to display their art works simultaneously, wrapping the architecture of Alys beach with entirely new ways of experiencing the arts, devoid of any institutional restrains. This is a festival that stands out for its accessibility to all and exclusivity of a space promising a unique and intimate, multi-sensory experience that will challenge you to reconsider the different ways in which public spaces can be used. Digital Graffiti stays well and true to the view that our streets are one of the largest gallery’s in the world and does so in a way that will leave you dazzled and razzled and coming back for more.  

DG curator Brett Phares explains, “The works shown at this year’s festival will challenge how digital art is perceived. As technology progresses and becomes more accessible, we’re seeing artists softening their edges, with work appearing to be hand-drawn or painted. Viewers will second guess what they’re seeing, especially as it interacts with the architecture of Alys Beach.”

This year Phares will be kicking off the programme with an insider’s view to some of the selected finalists for the DG2015. Among them, our super talented, good friend and writer of ROOMS Jesc Bunyard will be exhibiting her work, skillfully using C-Type photograms to explore the interactions between colour, music and its audience. These talks will be closely followed by a vibrant and vivid demonstration of exhibitions, installations, an awards ceremony and a not-to-be-missed finale at the Caliza Pool. Prizes will be awarded by a panel of five judges including special guest, Robert Seidel, winner of the ‘Best of Show’ at Digital Graffiti’s inaugural festival in, and will select a Best of Show and award four honourable mentions. Among them, Brett Phares will also select a Curator’s Choice Award and a total of $10,000 will be awarded to the winners to help them further their artistic careers. 

Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach | June 4 – 6 

All images © Digital Graffiti

How Art can lend a helping hand

Photo by James Rowbowtham

Art can act as many things. As catharsis. As investment. As expression. As experience. Combining these, art can thus produce the formula to benefit those that are less fortunate. 

And those that are less fortunate include disabled people. Research conducted by Dr. Margaret Taylor in 2005 found that art was instrumental to the identity-forming process of disabled people. She concluded that art was a method of empowerment for young disabled people because it allowed them to have a sense of fulfilment by addressing ‘negative and oppressive perceptions of disability via their artwork.’ 

There are a plethora of disabled people who use art as a channel for self-expression. So much so that disability in the arts is breaking into the mainstream – we need look no further than the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London.

From 2005-2007 we saw Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn – a marble sculpture of the ever-intrepid disabled artist Alison Lapper, who is herself a spokesperson for the empowerment and autonomy of disabled people. This piece was so well received that Marc Quinn was commissioned to remake the sculpture on a grander scale for the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. And from 2010-2012 we also saw Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare – the British-Nigerian conceptual artist who suffers from a disability that renders half of his body paralysed. But that does not mar his talent – in spite of his disability, he was nominated for the Turner Prize for his Double Dutch exhibition in 2004.

And Dr. Taylor’s findings lend intuitive appeal to the growing field of art therapy. Combining psychotherapy with art – it is a tool that can be used to help not only disabled people, but one that is designed to tackle other social issues too. Dr. Sarah Deaver, the President of American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as:

‘A mental health profession in which an art therapist facilitates the client's use of art media and the creative process to reach a number of treatment goals or personal goals such as exploring feelings, reconciling conflicts, improving self awareness, behaviour management, social skills.’

The method works on the very simple principle of allowing individuals to express themselves non-verbally. It avoids the defences and social desirability biases that are naturally prevalent in verbal therapy. A person would be hesitant to vocalise exactly how they feel – but art therapy (as Dr. Deaver puts it) ‘bypasses this’ as a ‘rich avenue for self-expression.

There are several galleries and organisations that are structured around helping some of these less fortunate individuals. Shape Arts, a disability-led arts organisation aims to empower disabled people through their holistic mission – by including disabled people within the arts sector and encouraging them to have an influential role in to too. Conquest Art, a charity with a similar mission that uses art groups to help disabled people ‘regain confidence in their abilities and to find happiness through self-expression.’

The Free Space Gallery as well as the London Art Therapy Centre both promote well-being via the arts, utilizing the effective method of art therapy to showcase the work of artists that would otherwise be under-represented.  PIP online helps adults with learning disabilities on a range of different services – of which include the arts.

There seems to be a recurring theme of promoting self-expression. When one is given the freedom to communicate emotion through art – they are given the means to not only address their own personal issues, but to also gain the confidence to tackle them. Art is beautified through its inclusivity. It will not degrade or demean those with social issues but serve as a sanctuary for them. And with the numerous organisations that provide them with support, it seems that the future certainly looks brighter.

Shape Arts

Conquest Art

The Free Space Gallery

London Art Therapy Centre

PIP Online

Contained Chaos : Chris Burden

On the 10th of May 2015 the art world lost one of its most creative and daring artists to melanoma.

Chris Burden was an American artist who is perhaps most well known for his self-sacrificing performance works that paved the way for performance art, and indeed all of contemporary art today.

Burden studied first architecture and then sculpture at Pomona University and later The University of California, which is where he developed his interest in art that “forced the viewer to move”.

The sculptures that he was making at this time were large-scale objects that people could walk through, around, and on, making the viewers literally move. Later on in his studies he started working with performance, living inside a university locker for five days. This move from architectural works to more bodily works is where his work became truly captivating.

In his controversial work Shoot (1971), Burden was shot in the left shoulder at close-range by his assistant. This was carefully planned and orchestrated act that was witnessed by a few select people and documented by a grainy black and white film. It is unclear what this artwork signified in Burden’s mind, something which is no doubt entirely intentional.

Burden was interested in “the fine line between being too instructive, and letting people learn on their own.”, suggesting that his works are meant to be experienced and then ruminated upon, with no more didacticism from him.

Over in just a few seconds, many of his works leave the audience not only questioning what it is that they saw, but also why anyone would put themselves through such things. The works became “Beautiful in their hauntingness”.

These works were all experienced by an audience that did not know what was going to happen, and were as confused after as they were before. Burden was interested in the forced complicity of the viewers, placing his work halfway between theatre and art. The imagined curtain between the audience and the artist is removed, placing some of the responsibility for his actions in their hands. Should they stand by and watch him electrocute himself, or should they intervene? This uneasiness is what made his artworks so interesting, and impossible to forget.

Later on in his career, Burden moved away from performance art and back towards sculpture and instillation. The Flying Steamroller (1996) is a large scale kinetic artwork in which a steamroller is attached to a horizontal bar upon a central rotating pivot, counter-weighted by a cement block of almost equal weight. As the steamroller drives round in circles and gets faster, eventually the speed (and a hydraulic piston) lifts it off the ground and it rotates almost effortlessly. This work forces the viewer to ponder the horror and destruction that would ensue were the support to break, whilst simultaneously admiring its delicacy and balance.

Burden liked the idea of something with tremendous potential energy appearing tranquil and serene, something he also played with in his 1979 work, The Big Wheel, in which a flywheel was spun by the rotating of a motorbike wheel, and left to spin. If the wheel were to come off the wooden support it would plow through anything that stood in its way, and yet all of the time it didn’t it appeared graceful and methodical. A contained chaos.

His work was often dangerous, but it was never reckless. Seemingly spontaneous works had been methodically planned, and wherever necessary he consulted experts in the given fields in which he was working.

In 1972, Burden created his most shocking work TV Hijack, in which he literally hijacked a live TV broadcast and held a knife to the throat of the female presenter. Whilst threatening her life he also demanded that the live feed was not severed, or her head would be also, all the time threatening to force her to perform obscene acts.

This work steps one step further than simply shooting yourself in the arm. In this work, an unwitting participant is forced to become part of what no one but the artist at that time realized to be an artwork.

When witnessing something believed to be an artwork, the fear you experience is diluted as you know that the work is relatively safe. With Burden’s Flying Steamroller work for example, the work is initially intimidating, but subconsciously you know that this is an artwork and therefore has been safety tested and carefully planned. Even with Shoot, the viewers know that firstly their own lives are safe, but also that to some extent so is the artist’s.

Shocking artworks allow the viewer to experience safely the adrenaline one gets from fear, in a controlled and familiar environment. With TV Hijack, this ‘safe’ fear was removed in favor of inciting ‘real’ fear in all who witnessed it. No one but Burden knew that he had no real intention of slicing her throat, and for this reason the work is truly shocking.

Whatever the ethics of such a work are, an interesting and intense dialogue is created. And isn’t that the true purpose of art?

Burden was a fearless revolutionary, a pioneer of 'action' art, and someone that proved that art that shocks its audience can also have deeper meaning. He was always looking to the future, planning new works and inventing new technologies. His future is sadly now over at 69, but the legacy he leaves is immeasurable.

He was an artist, teacher, and inventor, and one without whom the world feels a little emptier.

In remembrance of Chris Burden, someone please shoot me in the shoulder and nail me to a car.

R.I.P Chris Burden

1946 - 2015

Stroke Art Fair 2015

The Praterinsel, a semi-island in Munich’s Isar river hosted the annual Stroke Art Fair for the third time this month.

Photo from Stroke Art Fair website

Founded by Marco and Raiko Schwab in 2009, the fair seeks to support and showcase young artists and galleries and present them with an opportunity to enter the art market by keeping the fees to a minimum. To brothers Marco and Raiko it is all about the idea of art without boundaries and notions of elitism. Stroke Art Fair shares their vision of art, design and urban life in the 21st century with participating galleries and art spaces from Germany as well as Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Since its inception, Stroke has attracted over 100,000 visitors, making the fair one of the top 5 art fairs in Germany for attendance. The fair offer a good mix by giving space to urban as well as contemporary art galleries such as Jealous Gallery from London and 44309 Street Art Gallery from Dortmund, independent art projects, art collectives, publishers, fashion and furniture designers, graphic design and print companies,  and individual artists for live painting and experimental art.

Photos by Heike Dempster

Despite a lot of rain, visitors flocked to Praterinsel for art, good company, food and drinks. Works that stood out were Berlin artists Herakut, Munich photographer Andrea Peipe, Telmo & Miel from the Netherlands with their “Glove Stories,” Mad C’s abtract pieces in watercolor, acrylic and spray paint, Anton Hoeger, Jakob Tory Bardon, Brigitte Yoshiko Pruchnow’s rainy canvases as well as Seungyea Park and Stefan Zsaitsits as part of a project by Størpunkt, a contemporary art gallery in Munich.

Australian artist Rone and Heike in rainy Munich for the Stroke Art Fair 2015

Seungyea Park’s portraits are tend to be scary and surreal as the artist uses deformities, additional eyes or limbs or animal heads to explore feat as well as the divide between our inner and outer selves. Stefan Zsaitsits’s pieces exist in a space between illustration and caricature, pointing to the depth of the human psyche and mirroring the human soul.

The ever-popular live-painting section, also adjusted due to the weather, featured, amongst others, Australian artist Rone as well as Soenke Bush, Anna Traut and Mittenimwald.

 STROKE / MUNICH 2015

Anish Kapoor at Lisson Gallery London: What we saw

Artworks that resemble the intimate recesses of the human bodies grow from the walls of the Lisson Gallery, in an exhibition that both disgusts and compels.

Anish Kapoor

Born in Bombay in 1954, Kapoor is one of the forerunners of British abstract sculpture and has been awarded both the Turner Prize (1991) and a Knighthood for services to the Visual Arts (2013).

Kapoor’s new show at the Lisson is as gruesome as it is beautiful. Dense undulating landscapes of thick reddish silicone are personified to resemble imagined bodily matter, smeared upon the walls.

The first work in the main gallery “Internal Objects in Three Parts” is a floor-to-ceiling triptych that is spread over three walls of the room. Large in height, width, and depth, these paintings are large enough to encompass real human bodies, a feeling that is increased by the imagined faces pushing their way through the paint in a haunting case of pareidolia.

These works seem to contain the whole spectrum of reds, offset against a brilliant white that raises itself to the surface occasionally. The sinewy red silicone resembles all kinds of bodily matter, including muscles, veins, and blood. Occasional bursts of yellow suggest fat, and thin black layers give the work the appearance of charred flesh.

The work is incredibly inviting to the touch (I did, I apologise Anish), and it is as spongy and firm as one would imagine. It is impossible when viewing these works to avoid imagining them as inside your own body, as part of yourself.

Anish Kapoor Installation view

Anish Kapoor Installation view

Anish Kapoor Installation view

Anish Kapoor Installation view

Anish Kapoor Gossamer, 2014. Pink Onyx

Like expectorated mounds of blood upon white tissue, or coagulated clumps on dirty bandages, the work is almost sickening. Despite this, it is impossible to look away. One is transported to the very depths of hell, with its volcanous landscape and inescapable voids. I stood transfixed below the first painting until I felt the compulsion to walk straight into it, and at that point I had to tear myself away.

These works, a new direction for Kapoor, bridge the gap between his smooth, shiny works (Cloud Gate - 2006), and his matte, colourful works (Mother as Mountain - 1985). Both the shiny and the matte appear together in these works, fighting for prominence.

As well as the visceral bloodlike paintings, Kapoor has included two prostrate pink onyx sculptures that at the same time resemble both orifices and protrusions. The smoothness of the surface and the sugary-pink hues are reminiscent of tongues and vulvas, and contrast brilliantly against the darker landscapes of the paintings.

As well as these there are a few polished reflective works that don’t seem to sit so well with the intentionally rough and perfectly flawed pieces, something that I’m sure Kapoor has intended, as displacement is something that he does very well. The contrast between these works and his paintings seems to exemplify and exaggerate the qualities of each. The mirrored pieces make the paintings all the more textured, and the paintings make these works all the more flawless. There is still a bodily quality to the mirrored pieces, one of which resembles a gold mouth, or another vulva, gilded and hung in the corner.

The main body of the work (excuse the pun) is the paintings, and it is these that are the most alluring.  One could get lost for hours in amongst these visceral topological maps of the internal human landscape. These artworks represent what is in all of us, and in this they are universal. What are we all but bags of gore.

As with all great works by Anish Kapoor, you are transported from the gallery into a personal space for contemplation. You lose yourself in his epic works and are able to ponder quietly for a few minutes, free from all of your real-world worries. Worries like death, disease, and coughing up blood.

All images via © Lisson Gallery website

The show runs until the 9th of May 2015

Lisson Gallery 52-54 Bell Street, London  NW1 5DA

ROOMS 17 presents Phil Ashcroft

Cave Paintings (Ramsey 1 & 2), studio view, both works acrylic on canvas, 122 x 92cm, 2014. photo: Joe Plommer

London based artist Phil Ashcroft combines influence from abstract expressionism, landscape painting, Japanese woodcuts and graphic street art to present a vision of environmental, financial and political threats. His works immerse the viewer in surrealist settings in which cartoon-like motifs deconstruct modernist ideals.

Was there a shift from some form of realism to the abstract work you do today? If so, what brought it about?

I switch between figuration and abstraction depending on the project at hand, but it is true that most recently I have focused on more abstract process-based painting. However, even the recent abstract works aren’t truly abstract; they hold a basis in landscape, even if its just a horizon line to ground the work in some way. I plan to work on more detailed architectural graphic works soon. It's something I’ve left since 2009 but have an urge to return to.

Practically and technically, how do you create your works? Do you make sketches first or is a lot of the work freestyled?

Basically pretty old school, I produce paintings on canvas, layering individual elements quickly over a period of months. I usually work on three to four at a time, developing all works as I go. These works are intuitive but do begin from an initial thumbnail sketch or idea I want to explore. I don’t know how the work will finish or whether it will succeed and that’s the way it should be. Some areas contain crisp gradients, other areas are flat colour. Loose washes of paint complete the work in a manner that can never be produced digitally. Practice, planning and not planning.

Cave Painting (Ramsey 9), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 140cm, 2014. photo: Joe Plommer

Galácticos (second version), acrylic on canvas, 122 x 92cm, 2013. photo: Joe Plommer

Cloaking Device, acrylic on canvas, 102 x 76cm, 2013. photo: Joe Plommer

You have described your work as depicting the detritus of the modernist ideals of the past. What are these ideals, why have they failed and how do you depict them?

This phrase related specifically to my more figurative architectural studies of ruins of buildings from 2006-2009. I wanted to show respect to those fallen ruins of the imagined future of the 1950s and 60s, a future that never came.

Their titles referenced ‘future music’ that I listen to, titles that I felt added an emotional charge to the work, ‘Fragments of a Lost Language’, 2008 (from Jacob’s Optical Stairway, London, 1995, 4 Hero at their best), ‘Good Life’, 2009 (Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City, Detroit, 1988), ‘Where You Go I Go Too’, 2008 (Lindstrøm, 2008). ‘The Skid Stops At This Point People’ 2006 was a phrase I saw on the back of a lorry whilst driving.

Are these modernist ideals in conflict with the corporate commissions you’ve done?

I don’t think any corporate commissions I’ve worked with to date could have any such impact.

What did the No Soul for Sale project hope to achieve?

This was a weekend celebration of independent artist groups to celebrate Tate Modern’s 10th anniversary in 2010. The curators’ idea was to bring attention to artist collectives on the fringe of the mainstream, hence Scrawl Collective’s involvement painting live in the Turbine Hall. Others participants included The Museum of Everything, Liverpool’s Royal Standard, Hong Kong’s PARA/SITE, New York’s White Columns. It was a fun weekend.

The intensity of colour and the hardness of the shapes in your work can make for intense viewing. What do you hope this intensity conveys?

I want my work to visually energise the viewer, to be dynamic. I hope it's not for sleeping to.

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently working on a new series of my ‘Cave Paintings’. Also just remixing an existing record cover album gatefold for ‘Beyond The Goldmine Standard’, an art project curated by Matthew Hearn at RPM Records, Newcastle.

What’s your favourite film?

‘Bladerunner’ (1982), as per usual, followed closely by Tony Hancock’s ‘The Rebel’ (1961).

Check out Phil Ashcroft's work in our new issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?

Rafaël Rozendaal: The Internet’s Artist

By Lucy Saldavia

In the rising field of Digital Art, Rafaël Rozendaal’s interactive websites, colour-changing paintings, and immersive installations offer a fresh take on the definitions and limits of contemporary art.

Where some artists specialize in oils, and others in sculpture, Dutch-Brazilian artist Rafaël Rozendaal is best known for his work in pixels.  His playful websites allow visitors to poke and prod a wobbling red jello mold, or unroll an endless roll of toilet paper, or simply watch an array of colors play across the screen.  Some websites are completely abstract, while others contain recognizable shapes and symbols for viewers to manipulate.  They are endlessly entertaining, and strangely hypnotic—like arcade games with a conceptual twist.  Websites as art may seem a like strange idea at first, but in the growing field of Digital Art, Rozendaal’s work is a pioneering example of the ever-growing opportunities available to artists working with modern technology.

www.nevernowhere.com

The internet, for Rozendaal, is both his platform and his canvas.  Like the works of other artists, Rozendaal’s websites can be bought and sold, but they must remain online and accessible to anyone.  Where other works of art can only be reproduced on screen, Rozendaal’s pieces can be viewed and interacted with by anyone, anywhere. 

Rozendaal’s ‘lenticular paintings’ are more traditional, but still involve the viewer to create their effect.  Using the same technology that makes the figures on baseball cards to appear to move, Rozendaal’s swirls, blotches, and shards of color shift hue and form as viewers walk past.  They give the impression of digital animations placed within frames.

abstract browsing .net

trying trying .com

Times Square Midnight Moment, New York

As well as his websites and paintings, Rozendaal also creates installations, drawings, haikus, writings, and lectures.  His installation works utilize light, reflections, and animations to cultivate an immersive experience, and his writings often explore the nature of his art and the art world in general.  In 2010, Rozendaal founded BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer), an open source series of exhibitions created by artists worldwide.  The idea is simple, as the BYOB website explains: “Find a place, invite many artists, and ask them to bring their projectors.”  This avant-garde approach to art and exhibitions, utilizing new media and the internet, is typical of Rozendaal’s progressive style.  His work has been exhibited at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, at the Venice Biennale, and at numerous smaller galleries across Europe, the United States, and Asia.  He has lectured at prestigious universities, including Yale and the École beaux-arts.  He currently lives and works in New York City.

Check out some his Internet works:

http://www.jellotime.com 

http://www.papertoilet.com 

http://www.fallingfalling.com 

All Images via © Rafaël Rozendaal

ROOMS 17 | Who decides what you see? Unravelling Perspective

How do you gain clarity in a world of instinctually different perspectives? Of minds fixated in black and white, oblivious to those standing boldly in-between? The greys, the what ifs, the could haves… the creators. This April, ROOMS answer exactly that and invite you to explore the ever-growing path of fresh talent and raw perspectives, bringing to you a carefully selected, impressive host of artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers and world class, working creatives.

Among them, exclusive interviews with former graphic designer and now director Greg Barth, composer and video artist Michael Nyman and the man behind the lens, photographer Luke Wassmann. Delve into the delicate works of Yuko Oda, the perceptive designs of Asa Ashuach and the playful works of Olaf Breuning. And skillfully mastering the art of art making with tea drinking, we speak to Carne Griffiths about his drawing rituals, catch up with the visual charmers of PUTPUT and Luis Vasquez tells his beautiful story of how his music turned into an engrossing passion of survival that saved his life.

Angel Chen

Bianca Pilet

Carne Griffiths

Assa Ashuach

realities:united

Olaf Breuning

We invite you to embrace the un-embraced, explore the unexplored, in an adventure of perception. Will you unravel yours?

Also in this issue, we talk to Addictive TV duo, Bianca Pilet, Daisy Jacobs, George Vasey, Realities United, Tom Hancocks and so much more.  

ROOMS 17

Greg Barth: Icons of the Unpredictable

The cover artist of ROOMS 17 uncovered

Greg Barth is a London based award winning artist and director from Geneva, Switzerland, and the cover artist of our brand new issue, ROOMS 17 -- photographed by Alexandra Uhart.

Barth is known for producing work that combines Surrealism, Minimalism and Pop. His work seemed perfect for ROOMS 17’s tagline: ‘Who decides what you see?’ This question combined with Barth’s image creates a cover that approaches both art and politics.

Is the mask an act of censorship or an act of art?   

A mask covers a person’s face. Who put the mask there? Is he forced to wear it, or is he willing? Why are his eyes covered up? What doesn’t he want to see? The mask could be obscuring his vision of the outside world, preventing him from seeing something. Or, the mask could be showing him something; inside the mask could be a digital screen or images, which showcases something, new and wondrous to him.

In either case the question still throws up political questions, both about state and about art. Thankfully in most countries, the state cannot control what you watch. This came to the fore when working on this issue of ROOMS, as many in the cultural world where still reeling from incident surrounding the infamous film ‘The Interview’. In art, the question of ‘Who decides what you see?’ is bound up is questions and theories surrounding the artist. Ultimately, when viewing an artwork the viewer’s thoughts return to the artist and why they created the work: ‘what do they want me to see?’ However, I would suggest more emphasis needs to be put on the viewer and what they can add to the work, rather than what they need to see. In this instance the same can be applied to our cultural freedom. I was encouraged when I saw members of the public, including the heads of film industries, critics and cinemagoers protesting and wanting to see the film. In the end we all have to stand up to our cultural freedom. We have a right to choose to look.

Jesc Bunyard interviews Greg Barth in our new issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?

Greg Barth

NEW PRINT | Benjamin Murphy’s Conversation Among the Ruins

Pigeonholed as the ‘best artist since sliced bread’, and quite rightly so, ROOMS are delighted to announce the release of London’s super talented Benjamin Murphy’s popular print Conversation Among the Ruins who, in following on from his electrical tape inspired image making, has transitioned seamlessly to create bold, striking black and white woodcuts, and we’re excited.   

Hand drawn, cut and printed, Murphy’s newest print inspired by Sylvia Plath’s poem Conversation Among the Ruins, reflects the bold fluidity of a poem rooted in tragedy and the searing pain of a poet who suffered in isolation. Free of any words, the print also allows for one’s own exploration and interpretation. The tragic story of a man’s animalistic capabilities, perhaps, or the struggles of a woman bound to her role as housewife and homemaker in the kitchen. Either way, it’s an undeniably morbid print with a subtle hint of humour and we love it. Grab yours today at www.benjaminmurhy.bigcartel.com 

Benjamin will also be exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery next month and will have a solo show in Italy this May. 

Details:  

A2 woodcut  

Fabriano Rosaspina Bianca torn edge paper 

Edition of 30, £150

Time-lapse | An interview with Jeffry Spekenbrink

Jeffry Spekenbrink is a photographer, filmmaker and visual image artist whose works are the result of a very long and dedicated process involving his camera and the unremitting power of earth’s multifarious landscapes. Using his photography to create time-scapes, Jeffry’s works transform the everyday into an otherworldly representation of stunning visuals, perspectives and pure cinematography, often captured in the space of a few minutes.

In 2014, Jeffry graduated from the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Enschede and was a finalist in the TENT Academy’s Film Awards for his hugely successful time-lapse film, Part of the Empire/Plague. His video presented a six-minute compilation of the many highlights captured on his journey that stretched between the uniquely desolate environs of Iceland to the densely populated French capital of Paris and with it, the realisation of a growing population living in social isolation.

Jeffry’s accompanying music adds an extra exciting, slightly unnerving feel to the film and the sheer spectacle of the entire video is incredible to behold. I caught up with the man behind the lens to find out more about his journey.

How did everything begin for you? What inspired you to start making time-lapse videos?

I bought my first DSLR in 2010. Shortly after I saw a short time-lapse video from the northern lights shot somewhere in Norway. I was really touched by this phenomenon, but also by the way it was shot. It gave me a very calm and serene feeling and I realised that, although it looked very surreal, this was a real life phenomenon, captured by just a camera. From that moment on I began to experiment with my own camera as often as I could.

With every meteorological phenomenon that I was able to capture around my house, I began to wonder what it would look like in a time-lapse video. Just like analogue photography, you could never tell what the actual footage would look like until the process of digital developing… making a video out of the few hundred pictures that you take.

A time-lapse video can also create a very different perspective…

I love the perspective of the time-lapse medium… it’s almost as if you are looking at the world from another sense of time. It’s the perfect medium to let people realise what their civilisation looks like from an outsider’s perspective. I didn't realise this until I started shooting cities. This changed the composition of a wide-angle view to a shot of the people from above. I wanted to give the people a look at our world from a slightly different perspective.

A lot of your shots capture scenes without people…

I have always had some kind of curiosity for desolate places. I lived my life in the countryside in the east of the Netherlands, but there weren’t really any desolate places here, I was always wondering how it would feel to be in a place where it was just you and nature. I liked the nights because they were quiet and nobody was ever around to ruin the shot.

What was the inspiration behind Part of the Empire/Plague? Were there any main themes that you tried to incorporate within your images?

At first I just wanted to capture the feeling of serenity that I got from watching night skies and empty landscapes, but I also wanted to add a subtle storyline. I started writing ideas on paper for a short film. That's how I came up with the idea to contrast an empty landscape with a big city. I had lots of ideas but no budget, so I had to make choices… my priority was to show the biggest contrast possible.

You must have travelled quite a bit for this project…

I didn't have much of a budget, so I saved and made a shooting list with all the shots I needed. My first priority was to look for desolate places. The Northern lights was first on the list, which I knew would be difficult to capture. So after doing some research, it came down to Iceland in April.

“In April, Jeffry took a three-week trip with his car and 1.5-meter long slider to Seyðisfjörður in Iceland and spent fourteen consecutive days shooting time-lapses. The results were mind-blowing.”

Had you visited all of these places before? 

I had never been to Iceland. For the cities, I had been to Rotterdam and Paris before but not to the places I needed to take the shots from. So again I had to do some research before I went.

Why Iceland?

Iceland has a very unique and various landscape with volcanic activity, glaciers, moving icebergs… its sea with black beaches. In the summertime it doesn't get dark in Iceland… that means there are no Northern lights to see and in the wintertime it stays dark, so not ideal for landscapes. That's why I wanted to go in April, the last month that you can see the northern lights, and experience Iceland with a day and a night.
After Iceland I needed city footage. I went to stay with a friend in Rotterdam to practice and shoot footage for the film but was looking for a bigger city like Paris or Berlin to shoot from a higher perspective.

Is digital manipulation a strong element of your work?

The film consists of 12.406 21-megapixel images from the 23.807 pictures shot in total. Because it is made out of 14 bits RAW-images you get the possibility to pull great details and beautiful colors out of the image. I also used filters whilst shooting to level the contrast between the sky and the ground - this is how you get more details in the clouds.

In some shots I removed smaller elements such as dust and birds… these were distracting because they were moving too fast. I wanted the viewer to focus on the slow movements that become visible due to the acceleration of time, like the movement of the clouds and the water.

Digital manipulation is an important element, but it has to remain the reality. With every shot, I experienced the environment and tried my best to express the feelings I had at the particular place through the image. I did that separately with every shot of the film.

There’s been a lot of interest recently in nature and the man-made. Do you think that your work reflects this through the contrast of rural and urban landscapes?

I think so, yes. It was my meaning to show people the contrast between the rural and urban from an outsider’s perspective, in combination with my view of the places.

The whole experience of traveling has been very important for the end result. During the city trips I experienced something really different to that in Iceland. It takes up to a few hours to take one time-lapse shot so during that time I was able to observe my surroundings very well.

Whilst I was looking around in the big cities I felt proud to be a part of a successful society. At the same time I felt a part of a huge growing population in which nobody really cares about the individual. I experienced the same in Iceland… I’d expected to find a lot of pristine nature, which we found, but it turned out to be pretty touristy.

Can you tell me about some of your favourite photographs captured within this time-lapse?

Technically, the first shot from the Eiffel Tower in Paris is my favourite, because that was number one on the list for Paris and I was quite happy with the end result, despite the challenges. I chose the Eiffel Tower because it has a fence at the top instead of windows. Taking pictures through the window of a high building brings more complications like reflections and limitations in focus length. The movement of the top of the tower caused by the win, for example. I wanted to take all of my shots at night which meant that I needed to use as much wide angles as possible and keep the shutter speed as short as possible to avoid blurry images.
Emotionally, both the Northern lights and the church are my favourites. In the two weeks that we were in Iceland, there was only one clear night when we the Northern lights could be seen so I was quite lucky to have experienced that. I drove my car up to the highest mountain in the area and aimed both of my camera’s at the sky. I go my own lightshow, which was stunning. And because I had to use exposures of 8 and 10 seconds, I had to stay there for 2.5 hours for less than 40 seconds of video, so I watched it from beginning to end. For me this was a very special moment, all alone on a mountain with a personal lightshow brought to me by nature.

After that, the northern lights only showed up once, barely visible with the naked eye, which became the shot with the full moon.

“For me this was a very special moment, all alone on a mountain with a personal lightshow brought to me by nature.”

How do you capture your chosen landscapes? What is the process?

I was well prepared before the traveling. I had already made a shooting list and decided the composition. It's always different when you get there but most of the time I stuck to the plan… that worked out pretty well, especially in the cities. For Iceland we planned the route. I had all of the spots marked on the map but I could never tell when I would see that thing on the list. The best shots were the spontaneous ones, and that's most of them!

Were there any challenges you faced along the way? Any freak weather conditions?!

Technically there were a few struggles like dust, but mainly the cold… harsh winds all of the time, blizzard, roads blocked with huge piles of snow… The shot with the wavy clouds under the orange sky, for example. I had wanted to shoot it from the top of the highest mountain on the map but that didn’t work out because of the weather conditions. I saw these clouds when we were in a village and they were pretty far away but I just had to make that shot, so I used a telephoto lens… slightly different than expected but in the end everything went well,  we were pretty lucky I guess… 

Timing is obviously a huge factor within your works... How long does a time lapse usually take to photograph at one specific location? The Northern Lights, for example, you capture them so beautifully! 

In the daylight the interval between the pictures can be very short, but I used intervals of 4-6 seconds most of the time depending on how fast the clouds were moving. In the cities I chose to shoot everything at night. I think cities show their true beauty at night, when you see only the things that matter and all the movements become visible in lights.

With the Northern lights it was really dark so I had to take exposures of 8-10 seconds with a high ISO. For 10 seconds of video in 30 frames per second you need 300 pictures and the actual time to take the shot varies between 20 and 75 minutes.

And I understand you composed the music by yourself? (which is stunning!) What was the process? The film’s sense of discovery and wonderment is just incredible.

In my opinion music is a piece of art on its self, that's why I didn't want to use the music of another artist. Music is very important for guiding the viewer through the images. To me the choice of music is responsible for half of the emotion you are trying to express through the film. Because the whole film is a very personal work to me, I couldn't think of another way than to make my own music for it.

I play guitar and I also took it with me to Iceland. There were a lot of moments when I could play the guitar and so I began to come up with the basics of a song for the film. The guitar at the beginning of the song was recorded at home and I went on from there digitally, using the same chords for the other instruments.

I then categorised the shots and adjusted the music to that. Basically I worked the other way around… the images were most important and the music had to bend and support the images. That’s a really satisfying thing to do because you’re not able to do so with the already existing music.

Is music making something you intend to pursue? 

Yes, at the moment I am quite busy recording my own guitar playing and singing to improve the quality of my music for my next work.

All images © Jeffry Spekenbrink

Jeffry Spekenbrink

ArtEZ

Michael Porten: The Spinning Beach Ball of Death

Made up of 50 self-portraits of near pop-art impact, The Spinning Beach Ball of Death collection typifies the artistic intensity and creative endurance of one of America’s finest surrealist painters. 

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Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Michael Porten earned a B.F.A. in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004. Despite waylaying plans to work as a computer animator after rooming with a particular gifted fellow student, Porten’s work at Georgia’s prestigious SCAD institution bares more than a ghost of his early intentions. 

Traditional portrait work is often laid-over with bold, clean edged lines, repetitive pictorial refrains or, as in the case of the Spinning Beach Ball of Death series, a primary colour filter. A quick glance at Beach Ball would have it as little more than the result of a Photoshop drop down box, or perhaps homage to the head rupturing Tizer man. A further glance shatters the initial reading.

50 24inch by 24 inch portraits stand side-by-side, each painted in oil. The first shows the back of Porten’s head and shoulders in bright red. The second, third and fourth fade to yellow then green and blue as his exceptionally bearded bust turns face on. 

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Porten says that the title of the collection borrows a metaphor from Mac’s rotating wait cursor, a spinning beach ball as seen from above that indicates processor-intensive activity. “For example,” tech website Thexlab aptly explains, “applying a Gaussian blur to an image in Adobe Photoshop.” 

Such convenient clarification alludes to the artistic intentions of the digital designer turned painter. 

The ease of computer based image replication and manipulation is parodied by Porten on the canvas. Each click of a button becomes a painstaking act of perfectionism and minute, barely detectable yet integral changes of perspective and pallet. What takes seconds on Photoshop is drawn out into a relative age. The motivation, Porten says, is to create a set of paintings undercut with an allusion to surrealist literature.

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Surrealism first infiltrated a scene otherwise occupied with modernism through André Breton and Philippe Soupault’s 1920 work Les Champs Magnétiques. The principal piece of automatic writing, Les Champs Magnétiques is the fruit of shambolic sessions of free flowing thought underlined with a desire to be rid of classic literary influences.

The connection between Spinning Beachball and works born of such conceptual anarchy is clear. Porten’s portraits are at once striking works of pin-point accuracy with a photorealistic quality, and absurd, comic manifestations of self-examination; the product of an artist intentionally shackling themselves in terms of style and medium. 

The end result of weeks of work, the product of far-gone literary movement and born from an ability to stare unwaveringly at his own image, The Spinning Beach Ball of Death is both a remarkable artistic achievement and a stunning collection.

Michael Porten

Images via © Michael Porten’s website

Hayden Kays on The Top Ten

Hayden is a visual artist who splices together witty wordplay with carefully chosen found photographs, often subverting the meaning of both. Not one to be tied to just one medium, Hayden also works with sculpture, drawing, and printmaking.

His new show ‘The Top Ten’ at Cob Galley Camden, is a collection of the ten most popular artworks from his successful typewriter series, and will tour around the world this summer.

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BM – Why did you decide to re-curate the typewriter series into this new show?

HK – I was getting loads of enquiries about the same works again and again in ‘The Hot One Hundred’ and not wanting to keep producing the A4 versions it seemed logical to produce larger print editions of the most popular and some of my personal favorites.

BM – Your work masks a poignant message under a veil of comedy. Why do you think this contrast is necessary to deliver your message?

HK – I don’t think it’s crucial. I just fucking love laughing. I have an extreme sense of humour; it’s virtually a disability. I find EVERYTHING funny. I wish I had control over it, I’m envious of people who can control laughter but I think they are few and far between, this is another reason I love to use humour in my work – laughter is convulsive, you don’t decide what to laugh at. You laugh, then you worry about whether or not you should have later.

BM – You identify yourself as a ‘Pop Artist’, when most pop art is vacuous. You seem to have a deeper ideology than just making money. Why do you identify with Pop Art so much?

HK – I think I’m becoming more and more of a ‘Pop Artist’ in the sense that my work is becoming more and more popular. Popularity is important to me. I want my work to be liked. Find me an artist that doesn’t and I’ll show you a liar.

BM – Do you believe in a high art/ low art distinction, and where would you place yourself?

HK – I believe it’s either Art or it isn’t Art, and unfortunately I see ‘it isn’t Art’ by far too many people that call themselves artists.

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BM – Why do you think that you often get grouped amongst the ‘street artists’, despite doing very little work outside?

HK – Because people don’t know where to put me. We are all obsessed with compartmentalising everything, everyone, it helps us attempt to understand these terrifying surroundings.

BM – As a lot of your work is humorous, does that mean that it is fun to make, or can it be stressful at times?

HK – There is a common misconception that artists are just having a great time splashing paint around a lofty studio, smoking roll-ups and shagging loads of girls. I just smoke the roll-ups.

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BM – How much of what you do is hyperbole?

HK – You can take my work however you like, just as long as you take it.

BM – Sometimes it’s hard to tell who it is you’re making fun of in your work, the subject of the piece or the viewer, or even society as a whole, is this intentional?

HK – I don’t want to make work that's instantly or easily resolved. Questions that you answer, you tend to move on and away from. I want you to keep coming back to me.

BM – A lot of your work is text and found imagery based, how do you collate your ideas. Do you sketch or is your sketchbook full of lists?

HK – I have piles and piles of sketchbooks full of ideas. I hope when I’m dead they’ll slowly all come to life as I’ll never find the time to make them all exist in my lifetime.

BM – Do you believe an artist should have to explain their work, or is it the public’s role to decipher it?

HK- I don’t think art should have to be explained. It should be simple. Ask yourself do I like this? If you do, you do, if you don’t you don’t. You shouldn’t make it much harder.

The Top Ten opens on the 2nd of April 2015 at Cob Gallery Camden | Hayden Kays​

David Bray’s Right Wrong Turn

David Bray is an illustrator and designer whose works are a glimpse into another world, a surreal landscape of cartoon characters and pin-up girls. His surreal new show Wrong Turn is open now at Stolenspace Gallery. 

BM -Text is almost always present in your drawings, but often it seems to have little connection with the drawing itself, what is the relation between the two elements? 

DB - In my mind there is a connection, two separate elements from the same story. I try and invoke the drawings with a narrative. Maybe this gets lost as the drawings develop but the text remains - like a chapter title or a header. There is a hint of misdirection with the text.

BM – You often draw onto unorthodox papers, e.g. lined paper, hotel paper, postcards etc. This gives the work a spontaneous and haphazard quality, which contrasts nicely with the exquisitely drawn forms. Is this an intentional thing or do you just draw on whatever you have to hand? 

DB - I'd like to say it was intentional and could claim a more intelligent reasoning! I draw on whatever is to hand, there’s no reason to not draw just because you don't have the posh paper. I'm glad that you see the spontaneous nature - it very much is to get the drawing down as soon as the idea comes, so it is using what is to hand. No point in waiting to get to the art shop to get material. No point in procrastination. Not all the drawings come out right, and not all the ideas are particularly smart - but the itch needs to be scratched.

BM – I have noticed that you seem to sketch a drawing first before you draw it, and then exhibit the sketches as well as the more polished drawing. How important is this process of sketching and then exhibiting both? 

DB - The quick sketch is to get the idea on paper before distractions fritter it away. Old brain needs cue cards. I never use to show these naive little sketches, but they have their own charm and thought, and they add another to dimension to the whole.

BM – What relevance have the cartoon characters which you often parody, to the artworks that you juxtapose them into? 

DB – I was obsessed with cartoons as a child and would copy them repeatedly. Maybe something about this repetition was comforting against the chaos of the outside world. I'm dragging back the comfort of childhood and soothing my fevered brow as the bills stack up and real life comes calling.

BM – In the press release I noticed that some of your influences are very sexual, (Eric Stanton, Nobuyoshi Araki) and oddly perverse (Eric Gill). Why do you think that sexuality is such a great source of inspiration for a lot of artists? 

DB – We are all perverts. I see a similar influences in your work Mr. Murphy.

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BM – Did you really meet the Yossarian character or is that a reference to Catch-22, and if so can you please tell me a little more about the encounter? 

DB – I went with Georg Lubitzer to the States because he wanted to make field recordings of soil for a project he is working on. I don't ask why, but always glad to be on board. Unfortunately we are very poor at orientation and took a few wrong turns. One in particular that led us up a mountain to a small encampment/community. At first there was a bit of suspicion with a hint of hostility but I think when they realised we were not C.I.A. and just a couple of European idiots it became an interesting week. 

They introduced me to the Illuminatus Trilogy amongst other things and when we left they handed us a list that we needed to use in our next respective projects. I've stayed true to the promise I rashly made.

The main man up the mountain was calling himself Yossarian, and he was the most 'alive' person I have ever met. He seemed genuinely interested in the things we were up to in our everyday lives. I'm not sure he thought too much about a lot of what I'd been up to, and said he would create a list of elements that I had to use to 'open the gate that I found myself barred by'. He was very insistent. I was drawn in and fell right in line, which is why the show looks like it does. Each piece has what looks like randomly placed elements, but these are actually placed specifically to map star constellations. These constellations contain a message from the Earth to the Universe (so I’m told, and who am I to argue? I’m not going to argue with the Universe, I’m from Bromley) there are many other codas that I barely understand / understood but visually they work and make a cohesive show, so I think I followed the right path.

Everything is painted on found boards and framed in reclaimed timber. The paint used was found while clearing my Father's garage - the same with the brushes. On the list that Yos wrote, the first 3 lines were 'find wood', 'find paint', and 'find brushes'. Within a week of returning home all this stuff had appeared, previously hidden but now ready and available. It made me feel quite weird to be honest.

For every influence I told him I was currently into he wrote a 'counterpoint', with versus against it. So if I said 'Eric Stanton' he wrote 'versus Eric Gill' and so on. The drawings became a blend of these elements and subjects.

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BM – The title Wrong Turn suggests that you are taking a different route with your artwork, or that you regret what has gone before. Is this the case, and if not what does the title mean to you? 

DB – the show is called Wrong Turn...without the error in direction none of this would have happened. But this also reflects that the new body of work is a swerve to a different route, a different way of presenting my ramblings. 

I don't regret anything that has gone before, I’m just looking for new ways to test myself and keep myself interested. If you stick on the same path, the familiar route then you create a rut - there is safety in the security of repeating yourself but sometimes you have to climb out of the ditch and try run up the hill. You might not make it to the top but at least you gave it a go. For me to talk about running up hills is actually quite wrong. A better analogy would be shuffling to the pub but ordering a gin and tonic rather than the usual.

David’s show is on at Stolenspace gallery until the 12th of April.

David Bray

Stolenspace

Benjamin Murphy

Pictoplasma Festival 2015 | Berlin

A celebration of international design and art with loads of character

Last year, Berlin’s Pictoplasma Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary with a series of remarkable exhibitions, live talks, workshops, presentations, screenings and performances that shaped the five-day festival of contemporary illustration and character design. This year it’s back, bigger than ever and with an exciting line-up of interdisciplinary artists ready to whet your appetite and get those juices flowing. 

Since its launch in 2004, the Berlin festival has been identified as the the world’s leading international conference and festival for uniting visual like-minded creators and producers and has since developed a second annual conference in New York. It is also a very accessible festival that gives you the chance to hear some of todays most innovative and inspiring artists working with a range of mediums using art and the digital. 

Confirmed speakers for this year include Joan Cornellà, Sticky Monster Lab, Andy Ristaino, Animalitol and, Birdo, Lucas Zanatto, Yomsnil, Hikari Shimoda, Mr Kat, Brosmind, Loup Blaster, Stefano Colferai, TAFO and the super talented, award winning mixed media storyteller Yves Geleyn. 

Also on show will be an exciting display of art works by young, emerging and established artists. Recent graduates from the newly established, annual master classes at Pictoplasma’s Academy are also set to show case their works at Friedrichshain’s popular Urban Spree Galerie.  

Babylon will also be bringing some new characters to the foreground in a series of four feature film length animation programs for you to feast your eyes on. Expect motion graphics, experimental animations and a bit of everything in between. Not to be missed are Encyclopedia Pictura (former creators of music videos for Bjork and Grizzly Bear). 

And if that wasn’t enough, the Festival will culminate with a final blowout, not to be missed Pictoplasma party that will be held on Saturday 2 May. Details of the line-up to be revealed on their website soon. 

April 29 – May 3 2015 | Pictoplasma Festival

Babylon | Platoon Kunsthalle  | Urban Spree  

The Parasol unit presents: Los Carpinteros, the multidisciplinary duo

The Cuban art collective, Los Carpinteros, will be holding their first major show in the popular Parasol unit Foundation for contemporary art, in London. The duo will exhibit their large-scale sculptures and installations. 

Cabilla cabilla tríptico, 2014

Watercolour on paper
200 x 340.5 cm
Private Collection
Courtesy of Ivorypress, Madrid © Los Carpinteros 

Candela, 2013

Painted MDF, LED lights
Dimensions variable.
Photo by Paco Gómez.
Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, and Matadero de Madrid © Los Carpinteros 

Croissant I, 2013

Watercolour on paper
80 x 113.5 cm
Courtesy of Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich © Los Carpinteros 

Cuarteto Rebelde, 2012.

Wood and chrome metal Dimensions variable
Private collection
Courtesy of Ivorypress, Madrid © Los Carpinteros. 

Techo de Barro multiple, 2014

Watercolour on paper
100 x 199 cm
Private collection
© Los Carpinteros. 

Tomates, 2013

Real tomatoes and watercolor splash, porcelain
Installation view
Dimensions variable
Photo: Jason Wyche
Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York and Ivorypress, Madrid © Los Carpinteros 

Tomates, 2013

Real tomatoes and watercolor splash, porcelain
Installation view
Dimensions variable
Photo: Jason Wyche
Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York and Ivorypress, Madrid © Los Carpinteros 

Made up of artist collective Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodriquez, Los Carpinteros have been working together since the early 1990s. They live and work between Madrid, Spain, Havana and Cuba, and have showcased their work all over the world. Focusing on the intersection between art and society, the group unites architecture, design and sculpture in comical, surprising and inventive ways. 

Drawing on personal experiences, their work is often described as ‘interrogative art’. They chose to examine the relationships between art and society, form and function, practicality and frivolousness. 

The Parasol unit will include the duo’s installations, sculptures, watercolour drawings and film screenings. The ground floor will be devoted to their larger works, such as the installation Tomates 2013, in which 200 real tomatoes will be splattered against the gallery walls. The piece aims to evoke feelings of compassion and sensitivity surrounding the topic of a political revolution. 

Robotica, 2013

Wood, metal, LEGO® bricks
Height: 289.6 cm / Diameter:

149.9 cm Height: 114 in / Diameter: 59 in
Photo: Jason Wyche
Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York © Los Carpinteros 

The exhibition, curated by Ziba Ardalan, founder and director of the Parasol unit, will also include a series of watercolour drawings and small-scale prototype models. The watercolours bid to display the prosperity of possibilities. These paintings are a crucial aspect of how Los Carpinteros work, and act as a pivotal discussion between the two artists.

The gallery’s intention is to offer a fertile space for artists, so audiences can explore and question contemporary art and the way in which the chosen artists work creatively. The Parasol unit encourages interactivity, asking their audiences to push the boundaries of art, and support artists throughout the exhibitions. 

Los Carpinteros will be exhibiting at the Parasol unit from March 25th, until May 24th 2015.

Ben Oakley Gallery to exhibit at the London Affordable Art Fair

The Ben Oakley Gallery is showing off its artists at the London Affordable Art Fair. The gallery, which specialises in unique, one off contemporary art works, limited edition prints and fine art, will be showcasing its carefully selected pieces at the fair in Battersea this March. 

The team will be taking some of their Ben Oakley charm to the show space by installing a replica of the gallery to the project space in front of the venue.  They promise 1940s wallpaper, a large collection of curiosities and a selection of paintings by artists such as, John McCarthy, David Bray, Matteo Giuntini Bobby Tonge, Jo Peel, Ray Richardson and, of course, Ben Oakley. 

Originally opened in 1999 by Will Ramasay, The London Affordable Art Fair aims to make art as fun, accessible and affordable as possible. With 112 galleries showcasing an array of unique artworks from over 1,100 artists this year, there will be something for everyone. 

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With work from the much-anticipated Project Space Collective, Ben Oakley Gallery and the Come Fly With Me exhibition, the fair is set to be both interactive and inventive. A creative hub for creative minds, they invite visitors to fall in love with art and most importantly, become an art collector. 

What started as one venue and 10,000 visitors has now evolved into an international phenomenon, the Affordable Art Fair now runs in cities such as Amsterdam, New York and Milan, to name a few. With over 1.6 million people walking through the fair’s doors, it has undoubtedly made its stamp on the art world. 

The Ben Oakley team will be at the fair from the 11th till the 15th of March