artć + societate / arts + society #38, 2011 20 lei / 11 €, 14 USD - idea

de dezvoltare. Mæ refer la proiecte cum sînt Kurimanzutto din Mexico City, A Gentil
Carioca de la Rio de Janeiro, Plan B la Cluj, lucrærile lui hunt kastner la Praga, Foksal
Gallery Foundation sau Raster la Varøovia øi Vitamin Creative Space la Guangzhou.
Toate aceste spaflii s-au fæcut remarcate peste hotare deoarece colaboreazæ aproape
în mod exclusiv cu artiøti din flara de provenienflæ. În Italia, primul lucru pe care
îl faci cînd deschizi o galerie e sæ aduci niøte stræini pentru a da credibilitate, lucru
ce îl væd ca fiind foarte asemænætor cu faptul cæ în Italia sînt foarte multe animatoare
ce vin din stræinætate. Pentru mine, asta denotæ un mod de precaritate culturalæ øi
am vrut sæ propun altceva.
¬ Analogia cu televiziunea e destul de deprimantæ. Ce altceva ai mai gæsit ca fiind
dificil acolo?
√ În primul rînd, faptul cæ participanflii activi vor sæ fie profesioniøti, dar nu øtiu cum.
De vreme ce sistemul e atît de provincial, le este teamæ cæ vor eøua, aøa cæ nu evolueazæ.
Întotdeauna mi-a plæcut sæ afirm cæ în momentul în care un artist începe sæ
colaboreze cu o galerie în Italia, el se cæsætoreøte: tofli ceilalfli nu te mai privesc øi
pasiunea se sfîrøeøte de îndatæ. Acesta e motivul pentru care le spun mereu
artiøtilor din anturajul meu cæ a lucra cu mine e ca øi cum ai avea un iubit, ori o amantæ,
dacæ eøti „cæsætorit“ cu o altæ galerie. Alæturi de mine, e doar distracflie øi experimentare.
¬ Asta a fost starea de spirit în care a luat naøtere programul cu artiøti care lucrau
deja cu alte galerii?
√ Da. Pe de-o parte, am vrut sæ expun tineri artiøti în devenire, din aceeaøi generaflie
ca øi angajaflii mei, pe la douæzeci øi ceva, treizeci de ani, øi, pe de altæ parte, am
vrut sæ elaborez proiecte noi øi neobiønuite cu artiøti care erau deja activi de-o vreme.
Dupæ un timp, mi-am dat seama cæ „nou“ pentru mine însemna ceva foarte dificil
de realizat într-o galerie comercialæ. Aøa cæ, alæturi de pictorul Valerio Carrubba,
am fæcut un proiect filmic despre Guy Debord, în cadrul cæruia el a conceput posterele.
Producætoarea video Marcella Vanzo a realizat prima ei lucrare, pe care am
expus-o mai apoi la New York, ca parte din Performa09. Pictorul Alessandro a fabricat
prima lui instalaflie øi a început sæ lucreze cu elemente tridimensionale, pe care
a mærturisit cæ nu le-ar fi gîndit vreodatæ posibile.
¬ Continui cu aceste proiecte, cu aceastæ ambianflæ? Cum s-a derulat proiectul, øi
dacæ existæ vreo polenizare încruciøatæ între spafliu øi lucrærile tale?
√ Nu. Dupæ cîfliva ani am închis primul spafliu, care avea vitrinæ la stradæ în zona
unde toate galeriile ca Massimo De Carlo øi Zero îøi au sediul, precum øi prima Øcoalæ
Islamicæ din Milano. Prævælia la stradæ gæzduia instalaflii foarte specifice øi era extrem
de accesibilæ, fiind literalmente „pe trotuar“. Am vrut ceva diferit. Am cælætorit în Statele
Unite, între New York øi Los Angeles – unde træiesc angajaflii mei –, øi mi-am dat
seama cæ spafliile care mi s-au pærut a fi cele mai interesante erau cele de la New
York, din Upper East Side, ce se adreseazæ pieflelor secundare, ca Luxembourg &
Dayan, L&M, Galeria Skarstedt sau chiar The Front Desk Apparatus, care e biroul
consultantului artistic Rob Teeters, øi care din cînd în cînd gæzduieøte expoziflii. Sînt
toate spaflii în mod aparte domestice, iar lucrærile de acolo erau la scaræ umanæ, nimic
precum Chelsea, ce pentru mine se aseamænæ mai mult unui mall. Totodatæ,
în cursul cælætoriei mele mi-am dat seama cæ ceea ce îmi lipsea cel mai mult erau
casele muzeale din Milano. Milano are patru asemenea case: Museo Bagatti Valsecchi,
Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano, Museo Poldi Pezzoli øi Villa Necchi Campiglio,
iar cea din urmæ a fost de curînd gazda unei frumoase expoziflii de artæ
contemporanæ, intitulatæ Low Déco. Prin urmare, aceste douæ influenfle m-au fæcut
sæ îmi dau seama ce fel de spafliu îmi doream odatæ reîntoarsæ la Milano. În iunie
2010, am inaugurat noua materializare a proiectului meu într-o øcoalæ de muzicæ
intitulatæ Arpa Magica øi amplasatæ în centrul oraøului – pofli vedea catedrala,
scena
√ No. After a few years I closed the first space, which was a storefront
in the area where all the galleries like Massimo De Carlo
and Zero are located as well as the first Islamic School in Milan.
The storefront hosted very specific installations and was very easy to
reach, being literally “on the street“. I wanted something different.
I traveled in the United States between New York and Los Angeles
– where my employees live – and realize that the space I thought
were the most interesting were those in the New York Upper East
Side dealing with secondary market like Luxembourg & Dayan, L&M,
Skarstedt Gallery or even The Front Desk Apparatus, which is the art
advisor, Rob Teeters’ office, and from time to time hosts exhibitions.
They are all very domestic spaces and the works there were human
size, nothing like Chelsea, which is more like a shopping mall to me.
At the same time, during my trip I realized that what I missed the
most were Milan’s museum houses. Milan has four of them Museo
Bagatti Valsecchi, Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano, Museo Poldi Pezzoli
and Villa Necchi Campiglio, and the latter recently hosted a beautiful
contemporary art show called Low Déco. So these two forces
made me realize the kind of space I wanted once I was back in Milan.
In June 2010, I started the new incarnation of my project in a music
school called Arpa Magica and located in the of the city – you can
see the Duomo cathedral from the window – where from time to
time I present the work of the artists I like with my employees who,
of course, live in Milan. Regarding the cross pollination, for me everything
is connected and you can see this from my website, which
I consider a conceptual work of art in itself, trying to redefine certain
rules about the presentation of visual art.
¬ You were mentioning the Front Desk Apparatus. You also had a
solo show there. Tell me about it.
√ Rob Teeters invited me to do a show in his office where he established
a project called The Front Desk Apparatus. Rob is very spontaneous
– he does shows when he thinks it makes sense so there is no
real program. At the same time, the intentions behind this project
are very profound. You can find a text he wrote on the website in
which he explains the mission, quoting Marcel Broodthaers’ Décors.
In fact, Broodthaers is the ghostly comrade of The Front Desk Apparatus,
so much that Rob wanted to have palms in the space as if we
were entering one of the artist’s signature pieces. When he asked
me to do a show, I came to New York and at The Front Desk Apparatus
there was another show called Jasmine, a group show curated by
Amy Granat and featuring works by Jacob Kassay, Amir Mogharabi
and Sam Parker. After my visit, Rob and I started to email back and
forth using a new gmail account so I was continuously “signing in“
and “signing out“ from one account to the other. That became the
title of the show. As for the works on view, I decided to use the same
structure as Jasmine and just substituted all the works in the show
with my works. For instance, where Kassay’s paintings were hung,
I placed my pink cut paintings of the same dimension in the same
position. I kept the monitor screening Parker’s video and I put my
video, a montage of Shape of My Heart by Sugarbabes and Rise and
Fall by Craig David featuring Sting, which are respectively a sample
and a cover of Sting’s hit, Rise and Fall. I also decided to substitute
the real palms with fake palms and I made the vases with one of my
employees and we titled them Nonchalant. We did an opening during
the Armory Show. My employee flew from Los Angeles and
joined the other employee in New York and they made bruschetta
for everyone.
¬ Seems fun but also pretty serious do the people realize the connection
between the shows?
√ I’m not sure. For sure some people from Jasmine realized it and
were not so happy...
¬ I see. What about this book you are working on?
√ It’s called The Talismans and the point of the departure is Paul
Sérusier’s Le Talisman. Apparently Sérusier painted The Talisman in
1888, influenced by Paul Gauguin whom he met in Pont-Aven when
he was working there. According to some stories, he then showed
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