kiosk façade design - in collaboration with Olga Micińska

courtyard of Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien)

May 2011

in collaboration with Olga Micińska

2007-2009

Article by Sally Mumby- Croft in Amelia’s Magazine:

http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/art/nestled-at-deptford-x-arts-festival/2009/12/08/

Catalogue Interview by Kathleen Brey:

KB: You create unique, temporary sculptures of the human form, using the spaces you encounter.  The photographs are the only concrete aspect of your project.  How does this practice reflect your respective backgrounds in different artistic mediums?

Olga: On everyday basis we do work on different art disciplines and we usually make individual projects but as it results- we can easily discuss our personal points of view and perfectly work together. It does have a great meaning the fact that we are twin sisters. We live in different countries and make investigations on distinct issues but in my opinion we still keep common attitude towards many subjects. I am still a bit astonished with this situation.

Anna: During this collaboration, I don’t think we spend much time discussing these respective contributions. Most of the time we were working together intuitively on this. Although each of us has probably had a different idea of where the series would go, as time passed, I think we were establishing a common imagination about what it may become. We let the events and places we came across together lead us in a way.

KB: How well do you feel photography allows you to communicate your personal exploration of your surroundings?  Did photography in any way limit the documentation of these explorations?

Anna: One point of contrast between documentaton and the action comes up in the case is the physical tension in the body, that appeared while trying to  ‘fit in’. At some point Olga proposed to make a stop-frame animation to accompany the photographs that would put this aspect in the foreground. I guess body in most of these pictures appears comfortable, and that is part of it. But the physical strain is another part of how we try to handle this subject.

Olga: There is always a certain tension that appears while the photograph is being taken. It is the tension between the photographer and the photographed. The one who stands behind the camera wants to tell the situation in the best possible way- in his own understanding, of course. One is aware of what does the person in front of the camera expects the picture to be (if one treats the person not only as a model). But each of them can’t change his own position, so the situation is equally shared but still remains subjective for both. What I find special about the pictures from the “Nestled” series is that every of these situations was common for each of us. Although it was always me the one who released the shutter release, I wouldn’t say these pictures are the reflection of my subjectivity- I tried to be totally aware of Anna’s expectations. I find each of these situations a result of equal shares.

KB: Your projects reflect your notion of “the desire to embrace a space.”  Do you feel other people experience this urge?

Olga: What is worth being mentioned is that in these pictures the relation between a person and the surrounding is expressed both in the abstract way (thanks to the absurdity of the places selected) and in physical way (as they present the struggle of the body at the end). Because of this duality we may talk about the internal (mental or emotional) capture of the space but also about the purely physical eagerness to stay in a certain place.

Anna: I am really not sure whether such urge is or should be common. However, I believe it does come up every now and then in an everyday life. People like to inhabit their closest surroundings, e.g. bedrooms, offices, etc. with their personal objects. For some the loss of those objects would feel harmful. But of course there also is this excitement in being detached from a single place… I’ve thought these photographs should carry the feeling of such “desire to embrace” being fleeting, not to say futile. To cope with a dynamic and stable presence at the same time.

KB: The photographs in your series are very playful, displaying a childlike approach to the world.  Did you play similar games as children? In making these images, did you feel as if you were recalling experiences from childhood?

Olga: As children we were playing many imaginary games or run some competitions “for two” each time we were bored. I can tell there was something similar to those games in the process of making each pose, taking each picture for “Nestled”. But what I find more important about the childlike character of the series is the simplicity- making the form and the message not overwhelming with a complex structure.

Anna: I imagine both of us enjoy keeping up a child-like spirit in our own projects. The nature of this project was also delivering a specific kind of imagination, way of thinking, to us. Like that game when you close your own eyes and pretend to be invisible. It comes easy to play these games to between us. A lot of people played these simple and enjoyable games when they were little, therefore these pictures are all the more accessible, as well as stretching ‘adult’ habits of behaviour and approach to the everyday.

KB: Would you like your photographs to encourage viewers to think differently about how they interact with their environment?

Anna: Perhaps invite them into the game we play, yes. A lot of people tend to find some abstract patterns around them. It is a refreshing method of interaction with one’s surrounding and it is enough to enjoy it. But obviously we would also like there to be more than this that viewers will find in these images.

Olga: It would be great if our pictures inspired someone to become more aware of the surrounding, to make a discerning look around.

KB: As your faces and bodies are concealed when you momentarily inhabit these places, do you feel as though you lose your individual identity in any way?

Olga: It was our purpose to avoid the view “en face” as well as we didn’t want the one who is photographed to look into the lens as these elements are very strong and have great impact on the viewer’s reception. We can say that we intended to put greater impact on some other, less personalized captures than a portrait but the intimate character of the pictures preserves them from the loss of the individual character.

Anna: I wouldn’t say the identity is ‘taken away’. Perhaps in this case it is rather shared with the space around the person. Having said that, being twins to an extent we have one, mutual identity. This adds to our experience of what belongs to us, what we belong to…

KB: As you travelled, did you find yourselves seeking particular situations to interact with, or did they seem to present themselves?

Olga: I think it was always a question of whether we wanted to come into dialogue with certain place or not. We either liked the remarked site or it seemed to be worth attention to us. We avoided trivial situations as well as the repetitive ones.

Anna: Let’s say we were alert to the places and events that we wanted to approach. A lot of the times they showed up on the way, and we would ‘acquire’ them into our collection, bearing in mind what we already had seen and done. We also discussed what kind of space we would be looking for next and then searched for it. At other times a spot would offer itself to us unexpectedly

KB: How important is humour to your work?

Humour should be present in art, but not just to make us laugh. Even if it is on a level of an in-joke, it provides a thread of understanding. Humour is a very effective tool of communication.

Film

2009

video

March ‘10

illustrations for a concert

Stills from nonexistant films

2009

collage