ANGELO says:: June 2010

A show curated by Agustín Pérez Rubio, María Inés Rodríguez, Octavio Zaya

Design by Andreas Angelidakis

Artists: Carlos Amorales , Alexander Apóstol, Julieta Aranda, AVAF,

Fernando Bryce, Erick Beltrán, Iñaki Bonillas, Tania Bruguera,

François Bucher, Luís Camnitzer, Raimond Chaves, José Damasceno,

Dr. Lakra, Matías Duville, Sandra Gamarra, Carlos

Garaicoa, Mario García Torres, Diango Hernández, Juan Fernando

Herrán, Federico Herrero, María Teresa Hincapié, Leonilson, Jorge

Macchi, Gilda Mantilla, Gilda Mantilla y Raimond Chaves, Teresa

Margolles, Hernán Marina, Ana Mendieta, Mujeres Creando, Óscar

Muñoz, Rivane Neuenschwander, Damián Ortega, Álvaro Oyarzun,

Nicolás París, Jorge Pineda, Caio Reisewitz, Rosângela Renno, Pedro

Reyes, Miguel Ángel Rojas, Martín Sastre, Melanie Smith y Rafael

Ortega, Valeska Soares, Javier Téllez, Meyer Vaisman , Carla

Zaccagnini.

Interview by Tolo Canellas

-Tell me what´s going on at The Angelo Foundation

The Angelo Foundation is a self-proclaimed organization focusing and supporting projects dealing with our everyday social utopia and it was founded in 2007. The foundation is using the internet as an inspiration and platform for bringing people together for projects that range from the erection of monuments and poetry readings to ongoing charities, competitions, workshops etc.

-Which are your most inmediate projects?

I just donated the first Monument to Internet Hookups to the city of P. Faliro-a southern suburb of Athens. The existence of this monument encourages online meetings which they take place in a designated real location in this semi abandonded park which is actually very close to my apartment. This piece was shown at the Athens Biennale last year which was also a collaboration with the Athens Pride. I created this float which was consisted of a truck, a pyramid shape sculpture and the foundation’s 6 Board Members and it was one of the main attractions in the parade. While we paraded the streets of Athens people were coming on the float as it was communicated before as the major inaugurative internet hookup. After the parade we all went with the track and mounted the sculpture at the Biennial site where a small ceremony took place. When the Biennial was finished in October the mayor asked me if the city could have it because he thought it could help the locals to get over loneliness and enjoy meeting other people. On this link here you can see it

http://angelosaysdotcom.blogspot.com/2010/04/journey-of-monument-to-internet-hookups.html

The Foundation is also lately organizing the Screenium award - a webcam competition and of course an ongoing money give away with the Angelo currency. You exchange our money with the most valuable exchange rate: Love. Send us your address and we will send you 100 Angelos.

How do you decide to use Net Art as your main discipline? What other disciplines do you use?

I believe the internet is the most important invention after the discovery of fire. The internet is a world without a final reality. It is the biggest project in progress. It is democratic, open, direct and primitive. I like this spirit. In the late 60's the idea was that technology and imagination should replace politics. This is already happening now. Democracy is being restructured and redefined everyday, culture is being born online and mass collaboration is a principle.

When I create my online pieces I combine different disciplines such as animation, sound, drawing and programming usually made of maths and physics. Sometimes I combine different meanings for the titles of these pieces which are inspired by philosophy or literature and they always have to end at .com extension. The title has to be direct and reminds you the piece but it has to be deep and emotional. I distribute openly the source code of my pieces so people can download and recreate in their own way.

In addition I always love the social interplay of the internet so this is why I create projects with a twisted social agenda such as the The Angelo Foundation.

- How do you think internet has influenced in the way of hooking?

Internet hookups are definitely an alternative solution of adult communication nowdays. People are traveling all the time so there is a great need to explore, learn and enjoy. I am very lucky because I met my longtime partner in a chat room 11 years ago. It is so essential to have somebody to talk to and depends on the person there is a desire for contact and connectivity. The internet broke the “ice” when once many social cliches existed. I met also other great friends from around the world. Another small example: my assistant which I still never met offline lives in Slovakia. He answered an ad posting I published 4 years ago. He replied to this and from the skype conferences we had he seemed really nice and honest from an immediate instict I had which proves that our offline life is just another browser window now..

-Do you think Net Art has a good health?

Yes there are some good stuff. But Net Art tends to be connected and related with the technological aspect of it and I think I don’t really fit in this. So this is why Net art works in majority look the same, gimmicky and monotonous. There are few stuff that I find interesting though, I love stuff who give trips to imagination in contrast to the reality driven internet routine. Technology is boring and there is a short attention span on the internet. People need to see something that will capture their interest immediattely so it has to be twisted, different and “sexy”.

-Can you explain me more or less what Neen Art is about?

Neen Art is difificult to explain, it is not entirely defined yet. So far artist Miltos Manetas who initiated Neen found people who ‘emotionalize” the internet and technology. People who use them in an abusive- abstract way and which result in poetic and unpredictable situations. Sometimes it is also defines a certain way of a living and behaving. So few of us got together more than a decade ago -mostly we met online, and we defined Neen in this way. There might a Neen comeback with another crazy idea. You never know.

-How do you see the cultural and arty scene in Greece?

From a personal point of view Athens as a periferic city is a great place for artists because in practical terms it gives the opportunity to live in great weather conditions, relatively cheap and very easy to travel around. The contemporary art scene is self-sufficient due to state absence, so that imposes it’s own self-regulation which is quite original and actually turns out to be sometimes productive and effectively competitive. Greece in general is another project in progress, our history is so turbulent and fluid that it creates a very original energy, sometimes intriguing and exciting and some other times disappointing but it’s definitely not boring.

-Who are your masters?

My masters are many but I mention two which I truly respect: Paul Klee and Andy Warhol. Although they had different approaches these people created very original and personal styles with very deep statements that still have a lot of impact in our contemporary culture. Individuation and difference is difficult to find lately. Artists are stressed to produce and at the end they easily forget the essence of creating art. There are few exceptions of course. I am sure new stuff will come from weird places and multi-disciplinary situations, the art production is already decentralized. The need to see great new things and ideas will never cease to exist.

- Make a Top 5 Net Art pieces (from your own or others)

Here is some from I admire:

1. Neen World by Andreas Angelidakis

http://www.angelidakis.com/_PAGES/NeenWorld.htm

2. fataltotheflesh.com by Rafael Rozendaal

3. Pirates of the Internet a perfomance by Mai Ueda and Tobias Bernstrup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrUOO-K-1q8&feature=player_embedded#!

4. JacksonPollock.org by Miltos Manetas

5. http://personality-stereotypes.org/ by Nikola Tosic

-Do you know Santander?

I just googled the first thing it comes up is a bank and then a city in your country.

-Which is the profile of a collector who can collect this kind of art?

There is not a specific profile. I have a lot of feedback from both women and men, young or older people. So I guess it is all a matter of taste and thinking in a certain way and not much of a personality stereotype.

-Do you think the kind of work you do is well accepted in the art world?

Yes more and more… even that the art world is very market driven and my stuff seems anti-market at first glance -which is not. The majority of my shows happen in non-profit spaces but I am working with with commercial galleries so few of these pieces are sold in collections. Showing my work in museums and galleries is a big reward- which I never expected when I first started doing this kind of work. Apart from the financial benefits and the promotion this creates a social context which is very important. But frankly my work starts being exhibited the moment I “place” it online. It is surprising how easily something can go crazily visible online. One of my websites called ZigZagPhilosophy.com had more than 1,000.000 visitors last year.. which is amazing because even in the most frecquented museum it is very difficult to reach this number.

Check Supereuropa here