Interview: FOS

FOS: All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something art Art Statements, Art | 38 | Basel. Dorit Chrysler performing on Theremin.

Could you elaborate on your show?

The show is called All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something, which is a title that refers to something accumulated; that you have a lot of material, and its density create a new something out of itself. We could describe it with the media as an example; the informations creates new informations etc., or to make a really simple example: if you took all your furniture and put it all in one space, it would create an environment by itself. So what I’m referring to is, that we have all these different systems, and they intertwine into something else. It’s like when different frequencies meet, and they make a vibrance... And what does these different frequencies mean in how we act as individuals in all these systems? We can’t as citizens figure out, which system we are entering, and which systems we are leaving. So there is a lot of interference, when the different parts of society are negotiating through their systems. So that’s basically what I’ve been trying to investigate in this piece.

FOS: All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something at Art Statements, Art | 38 | Basel. Dorit Chrysler performing on Theremin. Courtesy Max Wigram Gallery, London and the artist.

What about the setting of the piece?

I’ve used the whole setting previously, where I take different social ideas and try to convert them into different aesthetic objects. So like Arne Jacobsen, who tried to make modern homes affordable and convenient, I will try somehow to take some social ideas and put them into my objects – to aestheticize some sort of social values in my choosing of media and materials.

Like the bar for instance?

Yeah, it’s like the number one symbol of socialization! We have this social idea, which creates the space, and within that I have an agenda. The agenda is then ’All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing for Something’, which I just tried to explain. And in this I have a stage, where four different lectures are being performed. There’s a philosopher, an artist, a professor from Harvard and different musicians, and these people are all describing a different form of organization.

We had Oskar Borgman Hansen, a Danish philosopher who has been occupied about the idea of the freedom of man, referring to the Rudolph Steiner philosophy, talking about how we can be free within society. Rudolph Steiner created his own philosophy as a counter act to all the materialism that suddenly occurred. When materialism dominates, then of course our spirit is somehow lost. And I thought, that his ideas are very interesting especially today, where the situation in society is extremely liberal.

And today Peter Galleson talked about how the Americans bombed the Germans, and how they in order to destroy the German war machine, created this system to decide which facility it would be best to bomb, and they invented the atom bomb... so suddenly they had created a very dangerous system, where their own country also was vulnerable – what would happen if somebody bombed their own country? So in the ’50s they created this system, where you could get tax reduction and all kinds of stuff to disperse your industry. The idea was that you decentralized things, so when somebody destroyed one part of a system, only small parts of it would break down. So that’s the project!

FOS: All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something at Art Statements, Art | 38 | Basel. The space seen from the bar where Marisa Matarese is serving. Courtesy Max Wigram Gallery, London and the artist.

You have invited different people to participate in your show, now you have mentioned the speakers, but what about the musicians, and why do you combine these elements?

The over all project is the concept about the Social Design. In this concept I use aesthetics as a way of communicating, and art as a platform to communicate something. I perceive physical art objects as having something to do with a social sphere, and music has something to do with an emotional sphere. So in a way, we have a lot of platforms in society, which is orchestrating information or telling you information. And if you have a lecture space, then it’s one person who talks to somebody else, but if you have a combination of different elements, which in a way emotionally and narratively tells the same thing, it's different ways of communicating some information. Basically it’s about finding a combination between the emotional side of the story, and then the story in itself. I go for the story first, and then I try to find an emotional explanation of this particular subject. That’s why today we combined a sort of space music with the bombs and the threads, and the technological advancements with the nuclear bomb.

FOS: All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something at Art Statements, Art | 38 | Basel. Gamers in Exile performing electronical/classical sounds. Courtesy Max Wigram Gallery, London and the artist.

Has their been an interest for your show here at Art Basel?

Yeah, I think so. It’s interesting how this settings is so important and filled with power. But it’s really important also, to get your story out. It’s interesting about these art fairs, that are suddenly getting really powerful, because things are centralized. And yes, I think that generally people have been interested in my show – but then again, it’s really hard for me to know...we should ask my gallerist about that. •

FOS: All this Noise for Nothing, Nothing to Something at Art Statements, Art | 38 | Basel. "Oscar Borgman Hansen" talking about Philosophy of Freedom by Rudolf Steiner. Courtesy Max Wigram Gallery, London and the artist.