What are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I’m in Dusseldorf installing my work ›Sokol Terezín‹ (2023) at Konrad Fischer Gallery. It is a two-screen film and sound installation which explores a particular building with sound and deals with themes of absence and loss. In 2012 I made a work for Documenta 13 that deconstructed a composition by Pavel Haas that he was forced to perform in a propaganda film called ›Theresienstadt‹. For this new work I visited Terezín and found the location where the concert was originally performed. The building is very evocative, with many rooms, staircases, and dark cellars. I placed my sound installation throughout the entire building, utilizing its acoustics. The film crew enter the building and follow the sound as it emanates from these empty spaces until finally both cameras end in the cellar which is very atmospheric. I’m happy to get to show it in Germany for the first time.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
I just finished a book called ›The Italian Girl‹ by Iris Murdoch. I brought it along on holiday to Italy, but it turned out the novel is set in the north of England, haha! I bought it from an amazing independent bookshop called ›The Curious Fox‹ in Kreuzberg. It was one of a bunch of books from the private library of the artist Dorothy Iannone that they acquired after she passed away. Some of them have doodles and little handwritten notations scrawled on them by the artist. Amazing.
What does good art education/outreach require?
I think it’s good to lead by example. I also think it’s good to create opportunities to exhibit internationally. Last year my students and I participated in Manifesta 14 in Prishtina and collaborated with students from Prishtina. Next year we will collaborate with Glasgow School of Art and participate in Glasgow International Festival of Art. Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s film ›Orpheus‹ (1950) we will transmit a series of radio transmitted sound works from the Glasgow International Hub to a car park in the city center.
Do you have a favourite building?
I’ve never seen a building quite like the Louis Kahn’s National Assembly building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is incredibly beautiful. The difference between inside and outside is fascinating. He uses light and materials to transform what should be brutalist and monumental into a place that is warm and inviting.
Is there someone you would like to meet?
I would love to have met Charlie Chaplin! He was such an incredible person. And I’m sure he would be a brilliant dinner guest. There was no one quite like him. I would love to invite James Joyce, Hanns Eisler and Rosa Luxemburg to the same dinner. I’m sure they’d all get on like a house on fire.
Do you have a daily ritual?
I do 30 minutes pilates routine every morning before breakfast. I always think maybe I can skip it today but then my conscience kicks in and I do always feel better afterwards.
What accessory or object could you not be without?
Sad to say it but couldn’t be without my phone.
What does sustainability mean for you?
Living on our planet without harming it any further.
What do you think Berlin’s artistic and cultural landscape needs?
I always thought that an organization like Artangel or Creative Time would appear in Berlin. What Artangel does for London and what Creative Time or Public Art Fund do for New York would be great for Berlin. There are so many interesting spaces in the city and so many interesting artists that it would be amazing to put them together in a program of ambitious art works for public space.
What do you do when you’re done working?
I’m a bit of a cinephile and find that watching a good movie is the best way to relax after being in the studio. Recently I watched Carl Theodoe Dreyer’s Ordet (1955) which is amazing. I couldn’t believe I’d never seen it before. What an ending!