Interview: THEO JANSEN

I first discovered Theo Jansen's work just over a year ago and immediately started correspondence with him. Today, we sat down for what is a key interview in the roster bringing together the worlds of science and art in the most natural and unexpected ways.

Theo Jansen studied physics at the University of Delft, Holland before becoming a painter. After his seven year career in painting, he started work on the UFO project which entailed the creation of an actual flying saucer that flew over Delft in 1980 causing pandemonium in the town and attracting considerable attention to his work.


For more than 10 years now, he has been working on the genesis of new nature in his Strandbeest creations which he envisions becoming completely autonomous, intelligent, wind-powered life forms. As an introduction to this work, here is his presentation on this fascinating project for TED:

Theo Jansen: The art of creating creatures

What prompted you to quit your studies of Physics at the University of Delft and becomes a painter?
I was young of course. The hippy period was there. I was distracted from my study by all these new dreams of people and a lot of friends of mine were artists and so I decided to become one as well and started becoming a painter.


And have you continued painting?
No, it stopped as soon as I started the UFO project at the beginning of the eighties and then the UFO project had such a success also media wise and I had been famous for about three months in my country for that and so I chased it more or less on bigger projects. After that, I couldn't paint anymore, sit in my studio and just paint. It wasn't possible anymore.

Following on from your painting, you seem to have had a desire to “work outside the box” and pursue new forms of expression through the painting machine and light sculptures. How did these projects develop?
After the UFO project, I had to do something more technical things and my interest for physics which has never been away during painting, it was really a rebirth in the technical interest after the UFO so I wanted to make something technical.


The painting machine was something interesting because in those days there were no printers yet so it was quite unusual to paint with a painting machine like that especially as the perspective of the images that came out of the painting machine because it made real size photos in front of the wall so the distance didn't matter at all. If a chair was standing a meter or 100 meters it would be the same size. That was the special thing about the painting machine because you could also make the opposite perspective objects with it so I also made photographs of chairs and tables which were in opposite. Things which were closer were smaller and things which were bigger were further away from the wall so it's just the opposite of normal perspective.

What did you learn from them?
My mind was really going on thinking. It made me change my living just for a lot of dreaming about abstract 3D forms in my head and the possibilities of machines. It really did change my thinking and my attitude. I was asked to write a column for a university magazine that really was sort of, this is a Dutch expression, “a stick behind the door”. That means that someone is standing there beating you up when you don't do your homework.


And did this work have any influence on your Strandbeests?
It surely had as this column really forced me to think about anything in the world and because every time I tried to find new, strange perspectives on reality and in effect, the strandbeests they started off as a column in the newspaper and that is about 18 years ago now and in the first period after that nothing happened. I had written the column and then half a year later, I got the idea of going to the shop and buying some of these tubes. I started playing with it and I did that for an afternoon and in the period of the afternoon, I decided to spend one year on these tubes, on these conduits because I saw so many possibilities in there. It turned out to be more than I could ever think of all those years ago.

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Interview: STACY WAKEFIELD FORTE

This is the first part of dual interviews between the twin founders of Evil Twin Publications.

Stacy Wakefield Forte studied book design at the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated from the Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam in 1994. As well as working with her sister on Evil Twin Publications, Stacy was Design Director at Artforum and Index magazines in New York.

Now living the Catskills of upstate New York, Stacy continues to design books, is a member of Booklyn, and works as a volunteer at hydro-powered WJFF Radio.

What effect did travelling outside the US at a young age have on you? And what were the key things you learned during this period? Charmed by squatting? Was it difficult to return to the home country?
Travelling internationally at any age is fascinating. You discover things you take for granted that other cultures look at completely differently. I loved squatting for the same reason, it expanded my notions of how basic things like housing and group living could and should work. In the netherlands there is a community around squatting that functions extremely well. People in that scene are very community focussed, which is surprising to be around coming from the US where the culture is very individualistic. American underground art and music culture is exciting exactly because of our intense individualism. But the dutch are much better than us at anything community-centered, like squatting and collectively run businesses and projects. In my experience.


You’re currently collaborating with Fritz Haeg, researching earth sheltered homes for a new book. Where did you discover Fritz’s work and how did the collaboration begin? And what drew you to the subject of earth sheltered homes?
I met Fritz in LA through mutual friends and we spontaneously discovered a shared fascination with earth sheltered houses. We both had ideas percolating around them that made more sparks when combined. Earth sheltered houses are so romantic and wonderful. Covering a house with a sod roof so that it blends with the landscape and the home is protected from the elements makes so much sense.

For some reason this style hasn't captured the sustainable-building imagination as much as it should, so I think this project is really important for bringing rooted houses more into the public conciousness. There are issues around building them, it is a little more complicated and expensive to build them than above ground houses, and the right site is very important. but with more attention and discussion brought to them, these things can be addressed and improved on. So our goal is to investigate earth sheltered building, its past and present and potential, and see what we find.

What are the prominent memories and key things you learned while working as design director for Artforum and Index Magazine?
Artforum is an extremely well-run independent magazine with a phenomenal staff. I was really lucky to get to work there. The design of the magazine is necessarily straightforward and subservient to the text and art images, so as much as i loved the working environment and being involved in such a venerable institution as Artforum is, I don't think the designer has a very integral role there. At Index I had the chance to have much more impact. It could be very challenging to work there because it was a small and chaotic operation, but that added to everyone's sense of urgency and personal accountability. The role of design in the magazine was huge, I worked in very close creative collaboration with the publisher, Peter Halley, and we tried out all kinds of ideas that editors would have killed at other magazines.

Usually as a designer, you are working to please a panel of editors, who are by nature word people and not always visually adventurous. I have no problem with that, I think that kind of collaboration between a designer and editor can lead to the most accessible and relevant design. But index was a departure from that because the only person with final say over my work was Peter Halley who is a visual artist, as well as a writer. He was always pushing me to be wilder.

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Introducing AMANITA DESIGN

Established in 2003 by Jakub Dvorsky and expanded in 2005 with Vaclav Blin, Amanita Design are creators of gentle and organic interactive works. With a team of seven collaborators, their work is full of heart and stridently individual.

For a small studio, they have garnered considerable attention holding exhibitions of their work and receiving numerous awards. Their latest work for the BBC Questionaut, is a masterful piece that shows how far they've come in recent years. Later this year, Amanita will be releasing their first full-scale game, Machinarium.

Here are some samples of their work(click to play):

In March 2005, Jakub and Vaclav were gracious enough to take part in a brief interview.

Would you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
Amanita Design is me - Jakub Dvorský and Václav Blín, both from the Czech Republic (me from Brno, Václav from Prague). We are focused on creating on-line Flash games, animations and websites.

Where do you get your ideas from and how do you approach the creative process?
My inspiration comes mainly from nature, but also from music, literature etc. The creative process is simple: at first we are thinking about what to do for some time and then follow a lot of work:)

What software do you use?
Photoshop for creating backgrounds and other bitmaps and Flash for animations, interactivity etc.

Where did you learn the skills you use today?
We both studied Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague in the department of Graphics Design and Visual Communication (prof. Jiří Barta).

How would you describe the design scene in the Czech Republic at the moment?
I thing here is many talented designers, but only few of them are working for the web.


Can you tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on now?
We are working on a sequel to Samorost now, it should be longer and with original music from Floex (Tomáš Dvořák, www.floex.cz).

Why is there a link of your to "In Pursuit of Tea" (Chai)?
They promised to send me some tea which I like:)

Outside the digital world, do have skills in any other forms of art?
I Like painting, writing, video, etc. I'm drawing time to time.


How long did it take you to create the games and animations on your site?
As an example, The Quest For The Rest took me 2 months of hard work.

Who are your favourite Czech animators?
Břetislav Pojar, Jan Švankmajer, Karel Zeman and Vlasta Pospíšilová.

Who are your favourite artists in other fields?
Hieronimus Bosch, Francisco de Goya, Max Ernst, Douglas Adams, Stanislaw Lem, Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Björk, Terry Gilliam, Jurij Norštejn, Woody Allen and many others:)

What advice would you give to a freelance artist in your field?
Well I'm not sure, perhaps don't be afraid of experimenting.

Where would you like to see Amanita Design in 10 years?
It's pretty far:) I'd like to keep Amanita Design alive and also still small company (2-10 people) and I hope to produce high quality projects no matter what it'll be.

Thank you.


Links:
Amanita Design
Machinarium
Interview (Indie Games)
Interview (Adventure Gamers)

Interview: MARCI WASHINGTON

My favourite works from Marci Washington are obtuse glances that appear to be specimens from an Edwardian murder mystery showing the suspects, the crime scenes, and the objects involved. Though apt, that is still oversimplification and only scratches the surface of Marci's work which hints at much more in the dark spaces between.

Growing up in California, Marci Washington attended the California College of Arts & Craft where she received her BFA in 2002. She's currently pursuing her MFA and CCA while building her collection of work and exhibiting.

SIOUXFIRE: How would you say work has progressed since graduating from the California College for the Arts in 2002? And has anything surprised you in regard to your work in this time?
MARCI: I think that there are still some things from then in my work now, and I think I’m interested in making art for the same reasons that I was back then, but I hope that the paintings are technically better, as well as more developed in terms of the story I’m telling. When I was in school I wasn’t very interested in narrative, but now the story that connects all of the paintings is a really important part. The paintings are like hints toward the bigger story.

The really weird thing for me now is how I spent so much time trying to get away from these dark gothic kinds of tales just to end up totally immersed in them. I used to be worried that people would just think that I was some super melodramatic goth girl (which I totally was), but now I know that it would be kind of silly to discount something that has always had such a huge impact on me. So now I paint all the dark melodrama I want.


SIOUXFIRE: To me, your work has a hint of folk art and Erte with a hint of David Lynch thrown in; how would you describe your work as a whole?
MARCI: I think of my work as illustrations for a novel that doesn’t exist. I borrow tons from the romantic gothic novel and from old bookplate illustration. I’m also super influenced by film. My paintings are kind of between bookplates and film stills.

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Introducing MATTHEW BARNEY

Matthew Barney has described his motivation for his Drawing Restraint series as a means of exploring the concept that “resistance as a prerequisite for development and a vehicle for creativity.” As the series has progressed, it has become increasingly fascinating, unpredictable and at times frustrating.

On entering Yale University, his original intention was to study medicine but his interests turned toward art and in 1989, he received his B.A.. His work would quickly garner Barney considerable amounts of praise and controversy.

Working with film, video, installations, sculpture, photography, drawing and performance art, his approach is equally diverse and often times incorporates an element of resistance both in terms of physical impediments on himself and more subtle challenges to the viewer.

The following is an introduction to and interview with Matthew Barney filmed during the preparation of his exhibition for The Cremaster Cycle at Astrup Fearney Museum of Modern Art in Oslo.

Links:
The Cremaster Cycle
Drawing Restraint
Matthew Barney Wiki

Interview: THE DIRECTOR OF "LYNCH"

Lynch is a unique documentary on David Lynch which intimately follows his creative process. Filmed over two years, the film follows David's journey through ideas as he completes his latest film, Inland Empire.

The director immersed himself in David's world, living and working with him over the two years enabling him to capture a more personal side to the artist.

Being the first interview with the director of Lynch, I feel priveleged and grateful that unseen forces have chosen SiouxWIRE to begin their campaign.


There's been a lot of speculation surrounding your identity. What is the intention in removing yourself (at least in name) from the production and do you feel it augments the documentary in any way by doing so?
MY CHOICE TO USE AS PSEUDONYM WAS A PERSONAL ONE AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT I DO WHENEVER I ENTER INTO ANYTHING CREATIVE. I HAVE HAD MANY PSEUDONYMS BEFORE AND COULD QUITE POSSIBLE HAVE MANY MORE. I NEVER EXPECTED THIS TO BECOME SUCH AN ISSUE, BUT I UNDERSTAND THE CURIOSITY IT SEEMS TO BE CREATING. IT IS UNFORTUNATE IF IT TAKES AWAY FROM THE FILM IN ANY WAY AND I HOPE THAT IT DOESN'T.


How did the project develop? And what did/do you hope to achieve with the documentary and what initially attracted you to the it?
I HAD KNOWN DAVID FOR YEARS BEFORE THE IDEA TO MAKE A FILM ON HIM CAME TO US----- THE INITIAL IDEA ACTUALLY BELONGS TO JON NGUYEN----- HE CALLED ME ONE DAY IN NEW YORK AND ASKED IF I THOUGHT DAVID WOULD LET US MAKE A FILM ABOUT HIM. I TOLD HIM I DID NOT KNOW BUT IT COULDN'T HURT TO ASK---- SO I HOPPED ON A FLIGHT AND MET WITH DAVID AT HIS HOME IN LOS ANGELES WHAT I WANTED TO ACHIEVE WITH THE DOCUMENTARY WAS TO BE ABLE TO GIVE PEOPLE A PERSONAL VIEW OF DAVID'S CREATIVITY----- CREATIVITY WHICH IS CONSTANTLY COMING OUT OF HIM. FROM THE TIME HE WAKES UP TO THE TIME HE GOES TO BED HE IS CREATING.

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Interview: SARA POCOCK

Sara Pocock is a young animator who received considerable attention for her animated film Ballvaughan Story(see below). With the amount of Flash-based vector animation around, her hand crafted work is refreshing and reminiscent of Yuri Norstein's work. I hope to see the spark of her talent fully take flame in future.

How did Ballyvaughan Story come about? What was your interest in this period of history and how did you settle on using charcoal for its creation?
Well, the film came about as a result of direct contact with the real village of Ballyvaughan, Ireland. While I was studying animation as an undergraduate, I decided to take a semester off to study abroad and work on my own film. I don’t know what drew me to Ireland, but it seemed like the best possible place to go for inspiration. Ballyvaughan is located in a part of Western Ireland that’s dubbed “The Burren.” The landscape is incredible and almost otherworldly in nature.

I began studying at the Burren College of Art and met a local man named Jim Hyland, who was a bit like the town historian. He had this deep and vast pool of knowledge about the history of the village and I became interested in his stories immediately. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind sitting down for an interview and he agreed. He spoke for almost two hours, but one of the tales that really jumped out at me was a story about his mother and her involvement in the Troubles in 1921. It was then I knew I had my story for the animation. The original recording of Jim’s voice was used as narration for the piece to preserve the feeling of traditional oral storytelling.

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Interview: MOTHER VULPINE

It is with regret that this interview with the members of Mother Vulpine comes at a turbulent time time for the band and there is some question as to whether this interview is for premonition or posterity.

Based in Leeds(UK), the band have created a guitar-driven gothic fable which has been supported by their artistic talents, not least Matthew Bigland's direction of their video for "Keep Your Wits Sharp".

First off, would you each introduce yourselves and what part you play in Mother Vulpine?
Matthew Bigland - vocals, guitar, visionary frontman
Lindsay Wilson - guitar, backing vocals, renegade female
Tom Hudson - bass, backing vocals, uncontrollable driving force
Ben Waddleton aka Shakes - drums, disco-maestro

On your MySpace it says the band members are the “Vulpine Siblings”. Are you really siblings? And how did the band form and what was the first single you recorded?
Vulpine Siblings refers to the concepts the band is based on - a dark, mythical tale envisaged by Matt, where a woman is left on her wedding night by a man who is said to have the heart of a wolf. She gives birth to their four children, and the true form of these children is unknown - human, wolf or both. The concepts of the band are based around that myth.


The band formed over a period of about four years, where Lins and Matt played guitar together and began the sounds and concepts later to become MV. A while later, they originally enlisted Tom's help as a guitarist, but realised he fitted perfectly as a mean bassist. In April last year, they came across Shakes and decided to give him a try. The dance influenced beats were just what they were looking for to complete the vision.

Almost exactly one year later, we are to release our debut single called Keep Your Wits Sharp (her words are quick). It was released May 2007 on Leeds label, On the Bone Records. We were lucky enough to record it with Justin Lockey from Yourcodenameis:Milo - after we sent him a demo, he called us the next day and was adamant he would record some of our songs. We've gone on to form a good friendship with the rest of the band and we're expecting to play with them later in the year.

At what age did you get into music?
I think music is something that is instinctually built into you – everyone has as much passion for it and that passion has come about in a few different ways – from Shakes learning drums as soon as he could hit a pan, Tom going to see gigs with his dad aged 7, Matt learning guitar from a young age but asking to be taught how to improvise instead of playing someone else’s songs, and Lins, a bit later as a teenager being completely inspired by the sounds a guitar could make.

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Interview: AHNDRAYA PARLATO

In her series 'Inscape' and 'other orchards', Ahndraya Parlato has created a solid though intriguingly indefinable body of work. Into everyday settings, she inserts a grain of discomfort whose resultant tension wears over time and in turn makes repeated viewings of her work a new revelation.

Following her work, it is anything but linear, full of tension and contradiction, exposition and mystery. They are hard to grasp and without a definite trajectory, I am looking forward to seeing what she will will come up with next.

Born in Kailua, Hawaii in 1979, Ahndraya received a B.A. from Bard College and went on to graduate from the California College of Arts with an M.F.A. where she returned to lecture. She now teaches at Ithaca College in New York state.


Your images have a lot of variety in content and location, which seems to imply spontaneity even for images, which are obviously setup (or so it seems). Would you give us some insight into how your images come about and what typically sparks an idea into an image?
I very consciously work at creating a body of work that is thematically & conceptually cohesive rather than say, uses one subject matter as the premise for an entire series. I have never been drawn to work that is “all photographs of” couples, abandoned houses etc, they always seem too succinct and all-encompassing – a bit smug – rather like they’re telling us something instead of asking – for me, making photographs is also an act of exploring, so I may have ideas I want to work on, but I don’t know exactly what it is I’m looking for – if I did, I feel like to a certain extent, there would be no point in making the images. Subsequently, I tend to be interested in more expansive bodies of work – or ones that although conceptually or thematically unified, might allow for a certain diversity or range within subject matter; I am thinking of artists like Jeff Wall, Collier. Schorr and Wolfgang Tillmans.


Sometimes, before taking a photograph I have specific ideas I want to convey and I will write them down and think about the things that for me visually connote these ideas.

Things like:

• Trying to contain the uncontainable
• A private language
• The inside is unsafe
• The outside is an extension of the inside
• Where do people place their reality w/in a socially constructed/accepted reality and how much do they deny it to fit in?

(I love list making)

I am, however, a bit of a creature of habit, the image ideas I come up with usually are sparked by something I have seen a million times, a thicket I pass in the car everyday, a gesture someone often does, I am TERRIBLE at shooting on the fly or in a new, unfamiliar location, I travel a lot and I never even bring my camera – despite it being a 4 X 5, which can be a bit cumbersome, I hate the stress of creating an image at a place I can’t readily re-access or don’t already know.

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Interview: ESZTER BALINT

Born into a life of art, Eszter Balint has been a musician, an actor in both stage and film, and a witness to the vibrant art scene of New York since the late seventies. Known to many for her role in Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger than Paradise", her deadpan performance as John Lurie's cousin Eva encapsulates a beat mentality that together with Lurie and Richard Edson create the fascinating trio that's the backbone of the film.

At the age of 10, the Squat Theatre group for which her parents were members was exiled from their native home in Hungaria after angering the authorities. Wandering through Europe and performing in abandoned spaces (hence their name), they eventually moved to New York in 1977.

With encouragement from her grandmother and mum, she took up the violin at 6 and the passion for music would foment during her teen years when the Squat Theatre's New York home would transform into a nightclub for which she would DJ. During this time, she made her recording debut playing violin on an early rap track produced by Jean Michel Basquiat and featuring rapper Rammellzee, made a cameo in Basquiat's "Downtown 81", and featured in Jim Jarmusch's classic "Stranger Than Paradise".

In the years to follow, Eszter aspired to work in film though a move to Los Angeles soon took the sheen from this endeavor and she returned to her musical roots creating music for films, forming a short-lived band with Sixteen Horsepower's Pascal Humbert, and finally returning to New York to write and record her debut album Flicker in 1998.

In addition to her musical work, she also made appearances in other films over the years, most notably Steve Buscemi's "Trees Lounge" (1996) and Woody Allen's "Shadows & Fog" (1992).

This interview was conducted shortly after the release of her latest album, Mud, in 2005 and is part of the Ramble Rocket archive. It is also significant in terms of SiouxWIRE in that Eszter was the first person for whom I requested an interview and her enthusiasm has to a great extent remained with me to this day.


SIOUXFIRE: It's kind of strange. Before getting this set of questions together, I read a lot of reviews for your albums Mud and Flicker. It's this kind of thing that makes me think I'm not listening to the same thing or I'm in an alternate reality. A lot of reviews describe your voice as harsh and the music as "heavy". (Your music is uplifting to me - Mud is like sitting in a cabin in a bayou drinking cognac by candlelight where you can smell the wood and earth, and friends are all around) What do you think about reviews and some of these descriptions they
attribute to your music?
ESZTER: Well, I'm not entirely sure we're reading the same reviews. I love the way you describe Mud, that's just fine by me, lovely in fact. Thanks. But there were a number of reviews here that did seem to hint at something similar. On Flicker I think my voice probably is a bit
harsh, harsher than it has since become, so that may be somewhat deserved. (I've worked on becoming a more relaxed singer. And still have a ways to go, it's an exciting and probably never ending process.) I don't recall reading that so much about Mud, but if the words harsh and heavy popped up, it maybe because my lyrics, musical sensibilities, and well perhaps even my vocal delivery has a bit more edge than a lot of the material these reviewers listen to within the so-called "singer-songwriter" genre. Which, for better or worse, is the context in which they're going hear me; obviously what I do is not hip hop, or a punk-rock thing. For a generally earthy, warm, somewhat rootsy, and very much song-driven record, Mud has a few harsh and maybe even heavy touches. (Honestly I am not thrilled with the word heavy, but if it means the opposite of light, well, I can live with that)

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