Interview for “22 is the New 12” Exhibition Review
Ina Xhunga
Electronically fostered December 22, 2011 – January 10, 2012
Ina: What are the pieces called? What were your intentions towards this presentation? [with all the pieces and individual]
Vanessa: The backs were called "De Amicitius" Fatidus (ink, retarder and acrylic paint on wood panel), which means "Of Friendship" Fading. De Amicitius was a treatise written by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 129BC, describing what it means to be friends, how communication is important, etc. I went along with the Latin title, inserting Fatidus which means fading to say how these tools are fading away and are no longer being used in technological communication.
The center piece is called "Face to Face" (oil and acrylic paint on canvas) and was my representation of people's desire for face-to-face communication, watching it slip away from us and hoping that I am not the only one who worries about this. The two boys are calling out to each other, screaming and yelling even though they are right in front of each other. This is how I feel with people today, because we are all so used to communicating with our heads down, looking at our phones, etc. The ironic thing is that a painting, unlike a photograph, is mute. So no matter how hard they yell, the painting will never seem like it could produce noise - this is representative of the lack of vocal communication as well.
The third series on paper were called Mechanical Conversation (ink, pencil and acrylic glaze on paper). These were hand positions that people made while typing on a computer that I then abstracted and tried to make more gestural. They are stiff and contrast the fluidity and freedom of hands when people speak and tell a story. I am Italian and use my hands a lot when I speak, and so I notice this when watching other people speak. It's something that I think is really important in truly understanding what someone is saying, or someone's passion or connectedness to their story. The lines are the outlines of the shadows on the hands, and with the glazes it keeps the hands looking both 3D and 2D at the same time - an aesthetic i used in the backs series as well. I like how they also represent the wires of technology, "lines of communication". My goal is to show people in the error in non-face-to-face communication. Together, these pieces reference communication slipping into a virtual realm in a negative light.
Ina: The first set of images was the paintings of yourself, sort of like a self portrait. Why did you leave the canvas as is [no primer]? What was your intention?
Vanessa: Actually, these three pieces are not self-portraits, although the one in the Bullring is of me. They are (from left to right), my friends Judy, Libby and Vikki. I left the wood panel in its raw state because the ground and the image are not meant to be one complete piece, but apart from each other. The wood grain lent itself nicely to the glazes I used, being itself close to skin colour, but also helping me form the bodies into 3D paintings while also keeping them 2D drawings. Because the wood grain comes through the glaze, the "fading" effect occurred, making it seem like the girls were actually disappearing into the panel. The fact that they were turned away was not enough for me to show my trouble with feeling disconnected from my friends with only being able to keep in touch with them by texting, calling or skyping - none of which are true face-to-face conversations. This is why the panel is raw - it helped to further accentuate the idea of fading friendship (hence the title).
Ina: Who or what inspired you in completing these pieces?
Vanessa: I mentioned earlier my love for watching people speak with their hands, which is one major factor. I also see that people are becoming more and more socially awkward, because they are not used to having to look someone in the eye when having a conversation via computer or phone. I reached a point where I was going to scream if one more person walked into me because they were looking down at their phone, or noticing how much others were missing of what was going on around them because they were invested in their phones, or trying to have a conversation with someone and they are only half listening to me because their phone keeps beeping. I am not trying to preach - I have a phone too, and I understand how helpful they can be in certain situations. But it makes me sad to see how we have begun to abuse and overuse the invention. It is becoming a lifestyle rather than a tool.
Ina: I really liked your hand pieces but which one is your favorite and why?
Vanessa: I would have to say the 4th piece, the one in black and white. I find this one the most dynamic, as it was a pubescent boy's hands, still growing at exceptional rates, his hands too big for his arms, and therefore oddly proportioned and interesting.
Ina: What was the process for each piece?
Vanessa: I always begin with my own photographs and then figure out how to make them more interesting once they are translated into a different medium. Sometimes I will project the images onto the paper/canvas to get an idea of how to construct the composition, answer questions about size and format, but then will refer to photo while drawing the image freehand onto the surface. I find this gives me a deeper connection to the work rather than to just project and trace my images.
Ina: Why did you pick these certain pieces to display in "22 is the New 12" exhibition?
Vanessa: The idea behind "22 is the New 12" was for myself, Graham Ragan and Jessie Toonen to showcase our latest experimentations in the Specialized Studio course. "De Amicitius" Fatidus and Mechanical Conversation are two series that I presented for my midterm critique a few weeks previous. I included Face to Face, a piece from 2 years earlier, to tie my communication theme together, as this was the first piece I ever made that dealt with this issue and it still resonated with me. Together, under the title "22 is the New 12", the pieces speak of this constant need to update, to reinvent, to buy, to own, to manipulate - all of the things i associate with the intense bonds that people make to technology and all the toys they buy. I had a pay as you go phone up until last year and was damn proud of it. On the other hand, the title can also speak of my own nostalgia. All three of us artists were 22 years old at the time of the exhibition, a show about how much we have grown and learned in our program, always getting better. Yet I couldn't help but feel sorry for the "12" we were leaving behind. None of my friends had a cellphone when I was 12 years old. CDs were the newest, hottest thing. Look how far things have come in 10 years at an incredibly fast pace. Is it positive or negative? The line for me is very thin. In another 10 years maybe my kids will laugh at the idea of owning any physical form of music or book or movie, and wonder at the preposterous idea of having cellphones that aren't surgically attached to your hands or ears.
Ina: Where you happy with outcome of "22 is the New 12" exhibition?
Vanessa: It was a great experience for me to see how my latest artistic endeavors were perceived by the public. Mostly it helped push me to see what areas could be expressed more clearly without my needing to explain them. My goal now is to find a way to make my concepts more clear to the viewer without feeling the need to be present for the audience.
