NARS Virtual Gallery

 

In our previous communication we brought to you the works of, Martin Désilets, Shoko Masunaga and Monica Mazzone, as part of Guiding Principles Today we invite you to learn more about their work, their experiences during quarantine, their influences and future projects. We encourage you to follow them, and share their work. #mutualsupportnetwork

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Martin Désilets (Canada) NARS Alumni, 2019, Season IV @martindesiletsart

Photo credit: Martin Désilets

Can you tell us a bit more about the process for creating the work presented in this exhibition? My background is painting, but I now work exclusively with process-based and experimental photography. Part of my work, to put it simply, involves a lot of playing and goofing around with light, building devices to help capture or generate visual phenomena, and misusing the camera or other components of the digital apparatus. Another part of my work is based on rules and protocols. Actions are then more rigid, more controlled; yet to me this is just another way of provoking the unexpected, pushing the act of photography to the limit, or striving to reach unknown places. Randomness is always part of the process. In 2017, I started work on Matière noire, a life-long project that consists of photographing “all” modern and current visual works, and superimposing the images into a single digital file until full black is achieved. I see this as an attempt to exhaust the act of photography. How are you doing these days? Is your artwork being influenced by or providing an outlet from the current events in the world? Back in early March, I started a residency at Atelier Mondial in Basel. I should have been traveling across Europe and the USA the entire year to work on Matière noire. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But there was a silver lining to the cloud: it gave me time for other projects. At home, the Musée d’art de Joliette (MAJ) offered me a residency with complete access to their spaces and collections—even to the storage rooms! As my work is a time-consuming process, I was struggling with my agenda. For the museum residency, I wanted to photograph every painting falling within the categories of portrait, landscape, still life, and abstraction. Well, I just finished a few days ago! Current events don’t have any real direct influence. My work is about various losses, disappearance, even death… It’s there already. If anything, these events gave me a greater sense of urgency. How do you see the role of art and artists in society today? I admit I feel helpless trying to answer this question. Do I—do we, as artists—have a role? I stopped thinking about it quite a long time ago. But there is no question that art is the single most important thing in my life. As hopelessly romantic as it may sound, to me art is an existential quest, something that still has to do with transcendence. I’d rather talk about beauty, like Agnes Martin, or about the utmost importance of the materiality of an artwork, like Vija Celmins: “If there is any meaning in art, it resides in the physical presence of a work.” Art is all about being present, here and now. And it gives a sense of otherness and, perhaps, of togetherness. Is there something specific that you hope to explore in the future? Matière noire and this new series, for which I’m using the MAJ’s collection as material, are presently taking all my time and energy. Most of my projects are ongoing, even life-long projects. They expand through time. I may reach a point where I have to focus exclusively on Matière noire and simply quit everything else. I literally have thousands and thousands of files waiting to be processed. But that is also the beauty of it: taking time. And until the skies reopen, I can be the “digital monk,” pilling up artwork and images on top of one another. But I can’t wait to be back on the road and in the museums, be in front of an artwork again. I also know that I am very lucky. So many people are struggling and dealing with great losses right now.

Monica Mazzone (Italy) NARS Alumni, 2018, Season II @monicamazzone_artist

Can you tell us a bit more about your process when creating artwork? Idea and execution in my research are on the same level, there is no priority, the aberrant invention of the rules and the logical application are on the same level, they are alternating phases of a single progress. I start from a concept, I study its numerical and visual resolution, I choose the media that can best express that idea, therefore whether it is painting or sculpture, for me it is always the visual explanation of a silent but sensorial act, with a controlled emotional charge. Everything is a channel of the loving need found between the variant and the rule, though limiting yourself to observing events while inventing your own tool and rules. Geometric forms and proportions go beyond construction and compositional technical objectives. They are an emotional architectural synthesis. How are you doing these days? Is your artwork being influenced by or providing an outlet from the current events in the world? During lock-down I mostly drawn since I was not able to head my studio and at home I only had paper and some pastels. Sometimes I didn’t feel my mind clear enough to think about new works so I decided to take my time. Now the situation has definitely improved so I am working on new paintings and sculptures for the next exhibitions and fairs. How do you see the role of art and artists in society today? I believe the artists are as important as all the others figures in our society, but probably since Art takes form as a job and in daily life we should be more sincere and honest. Very often artists ego-centrism is the engine that drives individual research and the need to create hypothetical universal languages, but to leave competition aside in this moment in history could have a key role to find certainties that people need. Is there something specific that you hope to explore in the future? I would like to built a monumental sculpture, since a while I am working on a art public project and I really hope to finalize it as soon as possible.

Shoko Masunaga (Japan) NARS Alumni, 2019, Season I, II & III @shoko_masunaga

Photo credit: Young Dong

Can you tell us a bit more about the process for creating the work presented in this exhibition? I am interested in how lines of sight flow through a space and how my pieces can guide an audience through an environment. I always start by making an algorithm although it oftens changes during my process. I select colors and define the types of lines I will use. For example, the freehand line is an organic line, a line drawn by using the scale is an inorganic line. I define a traced line as having an intermediate character. When creating, I pay attention to whether the materials that make up the piece, like the understructure, surfaces, colors, lines, gravity, and surrounding space, interact fairly with the surrounding environment. Instead of manipulating everything, I place a category "break" in the algorism, welcoming troubles. How are you doing these days? Is your artwork being influenced by or providing an outlet from the current events in the world? My creating stopped for a while but has recently started up slowly. Although I cannot think about the current menace positively, I think the time is coming when we must consider and re-examine the socio-economic system, and have a sense of ownership about environmental issues. Have people not been trying to follow the too fast speed of this society? Of course, artists are affected as citizens, but I don't know if my work is directly influenced yet. Since my work is influenced by the surrounding environment and thoughts, I might be able to recognize afterwards the outline of what is affecting me. How do you see the role of art and artists in society today? Society already has established rules. For example, the order of time, age, and numbers... We have been living and creating in this society. However, It is possible for artists to propose and share other possibilities. There are methods that are not invented yet even under the rules. It is significant in any situation. This gives peoples time to continue thinking without having to ask for an answer. It fosters the imagination of caring for far-flung events, including history and creatures other than oneself, and helps to build about a better future. Furthermore, the emotions of experiencing art can be a source of individual living. Is there something specific that you hope to explore in the future? My studio is with me at home. I am always developing various series at the same time, so I will continue to do it one by one. Now that the world has changed, I can be more sensitive to the changes around me while continuing to keep my creative style. I would like to study the history, ingredient, psychological reaction, function, and political nature of color.

Visit NARS Virtual Gallery