The Interviews ACCA PopUp Program - Venice - Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)

Interview with Anastasia Klose What are you hoping to achieve out of Venice? I am staging another ‘Film for my Nanna’ style performance, 5 years on from the original. I will be wearing a wedding dress, with a sign around my neck saying ‘Nanna, I am still searching…’ in English, and Italian. Venice is a wonderful location for this performance; the city is named after Venus, the goddess of love. It is also one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Casanova lived in Venice, so too did Byron and Thomas Mann. Due to these historical figures, and the city’s physical beauty and decay, Venice’s grand themes are love and mortality. I want to exploit these themes and bring them together in my performance – but in a beautiful way. What am I hoping to achieve from the performance ? The unexpected. You can’t really anticipate people’s responses to a performance, particularly in a strange city. Something always happens though, when a performance takes place in public – and this makes it both fun and scary. Honestly, the moments during performance that make me happiest are those in which I feel a sense of connection with the audience – as if an understanding has passed between us. This is not guaranteed to happen though, and that in it self is interesting, and certainly not a sign of failure. I view every performance as open ended: there are no failed performances, only a failure to learn from what you have done. Have you been to the Venice Biennale or Vernissage before? No. What is the subject of your practice? My practice is about finding an aesthetic to express different emotional states such as loneliness, misery, hope, joy and boredom. How do you think your work will translate to an international audience? I am hoping to harness the power of the wedding dress, and use it to overcome any language/cultural barriers. What preparations have you had to make for going to Venice? When I went wedding dress shopping, I spontaneously invented a mythical fiancé called Sandro (Botticelli) to help smooth the way when talking to the shop assistants. (FYI Sandro works at a university in Milan and teaches architecture.) I think the women in the wedding shops smelled a rat when I told them the wedding was only one month away. Apparently, the dedicated bride starts dress shopping years in advance. One shop assistant was also a bit flummoxed when I told her I didn’t know what a bridal party was. Of the artists exhibiting from other countries, who would you most like to meet and why? Thomas Hirschhorn. I like his work. Why this particular project for Venice? The context is quite specific. I will be performing in a very, very crowded city. I thought very hard about what sort of performance might work. I knew the performance had to be something simple, something that would stand out, and something that ‘makes sense’ to passers by. A sort of re-staging of the ‘Film for my Nanna’ performance seemed the best idea. My mother, Elizabeth Presa, is also accompanying me on this trip, and will be videoing me as I perform, as she did with ‘Film for my Nanna’. When I discuss this project with Mum, we both agree that the performance in Venice really symbolizes a marriage between myself and art. I am having my dream wedding, and really, no groom is needed. This project has a performative aspect, how does it link to your other work? Performance has been an important part of my practice since 2004. I have done a number of video-ed and live performances. I like performance because it’s so immediate, and you never know how it will go. I always hope to discover something new about myself or people in general from doing them. After art, what else will be your priority to do before leaving Venice? Finding a nice little bar where I can relax out of costume. And of course, seeing the work at the Venice Biennale. ARTIST BIO www.tolarnogalleries.com

Interview with Laresa Kosloff What are you hoping to achieve out of Venice? To create a work outside of a familiar context and to expose my practice to a much broader audience. I have no idea about what may happen, however it’s certainly a unique opportunity. I think the performance will be quite physically and socially challenging but fun too.  Have you been to the Venice Biennale or Vernissage before? I've been to the last two biennales but I haven't attended the Vernissage before. What is the subject of your practice? I’m very interested in ideas of mimesis and subjectivity. I’m fascinated by human physicality, human effort and fallibility in relation to idealized or aestheticised criteria. Examining value systems within art, aesthetic formalism, the public domain, architecture, sport, and the every (second) day. How do you think your work will translate to an international audience? I’m hoping that my work will function on multiple levels. On the one hand it addresses the biennale environment, my peripheral status as a visiting Australian artist, and art historical precedents. On the other hand I might come across as a geeky person collecting autographs - it depends on individual presumptions. I’m interested in these dual impressions. What preparations have you had to make for going to Venice? I've had a plaster cast made for my leg, researched the participating artists, called Emirates with some questions, attended Pilates classes twice a week, and looked on the internet for people in Venice with the surname 'Manzoni'. Of the artists exhibiting from other countries, who would you most like to meet and why? I'd like to meet Franz West, Martin Creed, Fischli and Weiss, Roman Ondak, Hany Armanious and Rebecca Warren. It looks like there are quite a lot of younger artists in this biennale and I'm also looking forward to seeing works by people I haven't heard of before. Why this particular project for Venice? I started off thinking about the Vernissage environment and the prospect of traveling to Venice as an Australian artist. I wanted to work with the intense social dynamics of this event and ideas of fandom and endorsement. I became interested in the idea of participating in a somewhat compromised way, but also setting up a situation that might create compensatory effects, for example, the idea of being physically assisted or (hopefully!) upgraded on a plane. I was also thinking about the body as a material in art and all the artworks that get freighted to Venice. This project has a performative aspect, how does it link to your other work? The star of this performance is my right leg, and legs have featured in several of my performative videos. Legs are a symbol of autonomy and agency in my practice. Much of my work addresses the relational aspects of art and art historical precedents. My performance in Venice will similarly explore the conditions surrounding a particular situation and art lineage. I am very interested in the expressive potential of the body and the way that the body is a constant reminder of our fallibility and subjectivity. This project plays upon that by setting up a situation where I am both subject and object within the artwork. After art, what else will be your priority to do before leaving Venice? To be immersed in an amazing city, look at loads of art, and spend time with interesting people. I'm going to soak it all up! ARTIST BIO www.laresakosloff.com

Interview with Stuart Ringholt What are you hoping to achieve out of Venice? Science Fiction has been an ongoing interest so I will be thinking about teleportation when walking around Venice. I want to test the hypothesis that artists are subjecting the gallery visitor to teleportation. Have you been to the Venice Biennale or Vernissage before? Yes – I have fond memories of Beuys’ olive stones at The Arsenale. What is the subject of your practice? In regard to the public works: education through feeling. I am equally interested in experiencing how an artwork feels and how it reads and this approach doesn't begin with a subject. I find the subject through the making of the work. Setting up public situations such as the Anger Workshops or opening the gallery to nudists concludes with a body of knowledge presenting itself. The knowledge comes out of an active meditation and commitment to the body. When the nudist group put their clothes back on, the penny dropped, and I learnt many things about the inherent nature and structure of the art exhibition. How do you think your work will translate to an international audience? My work will be secretly embedded in Venice, is of a subtle nature and largely without an arts audience in real-time. Images will be loaded onto the net with its various social networking sites establishing a preliminary arts audience yet, fundamentally, the audience for this work is anyone in Venice. This said, the arts audience may notice the work but only as a peripheral experience. In a round about way, it will belong to the fabric of the Biennale Vernissage. What preparations have you had to make for going to Venice? I have worked closely with a small group of people including the couple who will perform the work. Tailoring their clothing has been particularly important, as has been the discussions around how and where they will perform the work. Of the artists exhibiting from other countries, who would you most like to meet and why? I hope Hockney is showing. He is producing his best paintings now. Why this particular project for Venice? I have been making a new series of video works and the performance is in keeping with what I am doing right now. Venice is a tourist Mecca and I want to contribute to it with a fiction. This project has a performative aspect, how does it link to your other work? Colour has been important in my work and I am again using colour. I am aligning colour and rank, which is a first. I have often directed my works to the laymen and on their turf, whether it be exhibiting in shopping centres or performing at train stations. When I wore a prosthetic nose for a day and shared a table with someone at a cafe, I doubt the other person sitting there, thought I was performing. When kids laughed at me on the train, I also doubt they thought I was performing. Travelling for a day positions a large audience, much larger than any museum can muster. It is only with time and as I later share these stories that an arts audience experiences the work. After art, what else will be your priority to do before leaving Venice? My son has been asking to buy new underpants in Venice so lets see. ARTIST BIO www.ringholt.info www.annaschwartzgallery.com Back