Juan Duque lives and works in Ghent, Belgium, and participants of the workshop-funded by Nucleo, whose partner is PLATFORM3 in 2012. His solo exhibition "MEDIATION" runs from 26 January to 18 February at PLATFORM3. An interview.
Juan Duque lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. His residency in Munich is the result of a cooperation between the Belgian artist-studio-programmed nucleotide and PLATFORM3. His solo project "MEDIATION" is featured at PLATFORM3 from January 26, 2012 to February 18, 2012.
4:45 pm, Tuesday. It is the day before the opening of Juan Duque's first solo exhibition in Germany. Juan, dressed in his usual black ensemble, quietly enters the office. After agreeing that we should conduct the interview in PLATFORM3's spacious main office, he settles onto the bench of our project table. His posture relaxes as he confides that he needed a break.
What did you do to prepare for your two-month residency in Munich?
When I saw the call for artists-it was all about art at the periphery of European cities. My background as an architect and urban designer, gave me some ideas and I know how to approach these kinds of situations. So then I used Google Maps, checked PLATFORM3's website, saw some pictures from previous exhibitions and I got a rough idea of the exhibition space.
With Google maps you can figure out where you have the center of the city. PLATFORM3 is a bit outside of the center, in terms of location. But honestly, I was expecting it to be really outside of the city. And, since I arrived in winter, I had this idea that it would be tough to take pictures and videos because what you expect from a periphery is more like infrastructures, you know, like a railway or workshops, and you're in the middle of nowhere. But, no Actually, it's a structure for the periphery of Munich, but not for my idea of a periphery.
Do you have a routine you follow before you Particular begin a residency in another country? Any traditions you may have?
There is an archive that I normally travel with. A selection of postcards, photographs and drawings or sketches some that I normally have with me. I set them up immediately when I arrive. And I collect them. It's a small bag memory. I would say that a link to my work is sort of a collection of images.
Would you say your impression of Munich has changed over the two months you've been here?
I used to have these two big cities, two places in Europe, where I would like to live. London or Barcelona. Now I would include Munich, I would say. It would be nice to spend time here because I like to walk and to discover walking through cities. And that's possible here.
Your project required you to spend a lot of time exploring the urban environment around PLATFORM3 in Sendling. How did you approach this exploration?
Walking. Just got out of the building and started walking around. Of course there is a map that you always try and follow. But I also like to just start walking. If I see an image I take a photograph. After the first week, I immediately saw an interesting point. I already know how to like this area works. Big city blocks. But I found that there is some residual nature, in-between areas. I am always interested in between to the urbanistic point of view, in the. Because the other parts are already built up And then I start taking some photographs of nature, in natural situations, like the wind, for instance, blowing and moving some industrial materials.
Before you started exploring the area, did you know what you were looking for? Or were you waiting to be inspired by the things you found?
In my work, my art deals with moving from one point to another, with mobility. But with so in a way, migration. So there is always the question of the human aspect in every space. I saw that there is a community living here within, for example, visiting some kabob shops. I started getting more interested in the life going on. As a foreigner, I get more reflective with people that are living in places like this because they are here but not here. They are coming from another place, they are staying for a while. So I've got this kind of personal impression from the way they live. I would say I know how the people from here work, the way they are living.
Do you try to maintain an outsider perspective during a residency, or do you attempt to become an insider?
It depends on the place and how connected I feel. For instance, my previous residency was in Limburg in Belgium, Which is an area that is kind of far away. I mean, it was in the same country, but I had to travel three hours by train. Amazing landscape, it's very interesting, but there was no connection at all with the people in the area. I made some contacts, I interviewed some people, but I would say I felt more like an outsider. The previous one was in Barcelona. And then the culture and language is therefore a part of getting more inside the culture. But I would say, since I left my country 11 years ago, I am an outsider. Everywhere. I would always like to have this vision as an outsider.
Do you believe there is an advantage to having an outsider perspective?
Yes, because you have a more critical point of view. In the sort of art that I try to produce, it's an art that's not really established. You always need fresh points of view.
Would you consider yourself an outsider in Colombia, your home country?
In Colombia, at the moment, yes. Which is a very weird situation, and that's a project that I'm working on in Colombia, Which is about the return to my culture. After being abroad there are a few aspects that belong to the culture itself. Like when I speak I try to get back to my own dialect and it sounds weird now. The people look at me and ask me where I am from. For Columbian guys, for instance, it's not common to have a beard. They say you are Spanish. And I say, no Because that is the most common thing they can identify with. But for me it is interesting. For me, immediately, it triggers some ideas.
So it is a really important part of your artwork, your art process, to be moving from place to place?
Yes, certainly.
There is a strong nomadic theme present in your artwork. Even in the way you describe your memory bag that you take with you wherever you go brings to mind an image of a nomad. Would you like to discuss the importance of this theme in your work?
Immediacy is a very important word for me. To react to the very specific moments in situations. And that's, I would say, a challenge to me everytime. Because there are other circumstances. You are in a new place, but then you have not even closed, if you want to get rid of them, aspects of memory, of many things, comforts. There is an immediacy for me, a very important question. And it's how you occupy temporary gallery space. What I do is very ephemeral. If you see the way I arrange the photographs, it is not really in a very conventional way. They are in between the space, there is no frame. Actually, you can pack them up and roll them and go. So there is really no feeling of staying there. Immediacy Involves work with the things I find in the location. Sun almost everything is from here, the furniture. I am always trying to confront this, the objects and things I find in the place itself but, so the immediacy and how to react to that.
You say that as an artist you play the role of an observer. You come to these new spaces and observe the things in the environment. What role does the audience play when they visit your exhibition?
I think, visitor. I would like to get them involved. When you are a spectator you are expecting something. That position belongs to a very traditional way of art that I am not doing. A cinematic point of view and a very passive attitude. So I like the term "visitor" better, because I am a visitor, too. When I come into a new place, I get a fresh approach. I also expect the people who are coming to have their own impressions and not really be pushed into a situation-specific. They are not spectators.
No comments:
Post a Comment