empathy

Stefania’s Bright Idea

For just over a month now artist Stefania Migliorati’s work has been proudly on display at the Berlin gallery VBM 20.10. The show, Infiltrations, focuses on the Situationist idea that our perceptions are altered and formed by our surroundings, and with the work of Robert Montgomery still standing tall in Tempelhof, Stefania seems to be on trend. As she explores the significance of the Spree and tackles the relationship between a person and a place, a very Berlin theme begins to immerge. Indulge your interest and join the other late comers at the exhibitions Finnisage tomorrow! But, in the meantime we caught up with Stefania to get an insider scoop on the exhibition’s concept and to find out more about her competition….

BAPS: Can you tell us about the concept behind your current exhibition?
SM: I followed the Berlin river in order to discover the points where the city is more connected to the rest of the world. I started walking and following the Spree. A walk to determine the points where the city most has any kind of infiltrations points; socio-cultural, historical and political. The walking as symbolical architecture is not a new idea; Dadaist’s first and then the Situationists and many other contemporary realists work is about this. I just wanted to place the focus on Berlin with a specific aesthetic and on a specific concept: the idea of the permeable/changing city.

Berlin is amazing …it changes faster than you do.

 

BAPS: Which of the works in the exhibition do you identify with the most?
SM: Hard to say… I wouldn’t propose a work if I didn’t strongly believe in it. And sometimes it’s not really about myself (I mean of course my point of view goes through the work) but I don’t think the work strictly corresponds to the artist. You know, sometimes there are wonderful pieces of art and the artists are terrible bitches … Can I say that?? It’s better to say… the artists are just not the equivalent in human terms.

 

BAPS: Your work associates identity with the idea of nationality; do you think this is something that will be lost as globalization continues to flourish?
SM: I think so. But I don’t think this is bad. I mean I quite believe that in any kind of circumstance, it could be a micro culture or macro one, there still will be the need to auto-determine oneself, no matter what the national limits are or are supposed to be.

 

BAPS: Do you think that art is well equipped to document the social climate?
SM: Yes of course. I think art in itself has a lot of resources to document any kind of social aspect. I just don’t know if there is a real interest to do that. I mean art doesn’t exist just on its own… it’s really connected to many cultural-social-economical-political aspects and interests. It really depends if everything matches.

 

BAPS: Do you think that psychogeography affects us all? 
SM: I think the place/space you are moving through is really connected to your conception of time and identity. You know …you say what you see…you elaborate what you perceive and from this whatever can start. You perceptions come from the place… so yes. I think that the geography has a strong impact on individual behaviour. So the point is to realize if someone is taking advantage from this thanks to a critical point of view.

The project of following the Spree is linked to an idea of surprise. I follow something that is deeply and quite naturally inside the city and I record the points where this reality meets other realities. Where something can happen.

 

BAPs: In light of your work on the Spree we have some water based questions for you. Which do you like better?
Still or Sparkling?
SM: Still

 

BAPS: Showers of baths?
SM: Baths

 

BAPS: The sea or the swimming pool?
SM: Sea

 

VBM2010 Stefania Migliorati, Infiltrations, Finissage July 26th 2012, 6pm – 9pm

Be the first to write a comment.

Your feedback