Christian Lund

Role: producer

interviews

07:40

Weaving The Light | Artist Kimsooja 김수자

Follow South Korean artist Kimsooja into an underground water reservoir where she “weaves with light” while tapping into East Asian philosophy “reflecting our selves, our fortune, and our universe.” The world of textiles rooted in the handicraft of Korean tradition is at the centre of Kimsooja’s work. When given the possibility of making an installation in a huge underground water cistern full of darkness, she “immediately thought of doing a light project”, she explains, calling it a “light laboratory”. “As I have been doing many projects in relation to sewing and weaving or wrapping, all related to textiles in a way, those questions have been reached to the point that I call my project with the light ‘Weaving the Light’.” For Kimsooja, weaving has a profound meaning related to human existence: “Weaving is in a way breathing, it is living in a way because we don’t stop when we weave as if we breathe. Weaving is constant action, constant evolvement, and constant answer and interaction”. The rays of light dividing into colours have a special meaning in Korean: “For Westerners, you say rainbow colours but equally, we have a word in Korean called ‘obangsek’. “‘O’ means five, ‘bang’ means directionality and ‘sek’ means colour in Korean. So Obangsek means five directional colours “, and the colours represent South, North, East, West, and white as the centre. When using these five colours, Kimsooja reflects water, fire, earth, and air, but also different tastes like sour, bitter, sweet, and the seasons. All in Korean related to Confucianism and Taoism and some part from Buddhism: “East Asian philosophy, that consists of our selves, our fortune, and our universe. That is why I have always been using this colour pattern, not because I particularly like the colours itself, but because of the idea and the concept of it,” she says. Kimsooja’s woven light patterns embrace the idea of the other: “It always indicates the other, because, without the other, we cannot weave. I think it is the nature of life.” Kimsooja (born 1957 in Daegu, South Korea) is a South Korean, multi-disciplinary conceptual artist based in New York, Paris, and Seoul. Her practice combines performance, film, photo, and site-specific installation using textile, light, and sound. Kimsooja's work investigates questions concerning the conditions of humanity, while engaging issues of aesthetics, culture, politics, and the environment. Kimsooja’s work has been shown at major institutions over the world, including MoMA PS1 in 2001, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 2015. She represented Korea for the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. She participated in documenta 14, in Kassel, the ANTIDORON – The EMST Collection in 2017, and has taken part in international biennials and triennials in Busan, Venice Gwangju, Moscow, Istanbul, and Manifesta 1, 1996, among others.

interviews

43:55

"First priority is to make an entertaining picture." | Photographer Martin Parr

Legendary British documentary photographer Martin Parr is known for his innovative, often satirical imagery portraying modern life in the wealthy western world. Here he looks back at 50 years of work. "If you look at the world, what can you do, it is funny, and if you don't laugh, you cry", he says. Martin Parr began his career shooting in black and white documenting society as a "celebration of life," he says, and when he moved to color in the mid-8oies, his work became a "critique of society," he says. He calls his photography his "personal interpretation of what I see in front of me." "My pictures are fictional because I often use flash, not something you would see with a human eye." Martin Parr was born in Surrey, United Kingdom, in 1952. He studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1973. As a documentary photographer, Martin Parr has worked on numerous photographic projects. He has developed an international reputation for his innovative imagery, his oblique approach to social documentary, and his contribution to photographic culture within the UK and abroad. In 1994 he became a full member of Magnum Photographic Cooperative. Christian Lund interviewed Martin Parr at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol in December 2021.

interviews

14:16

“Empathy is a superpower in architecture” | 10 architects share their advice

Ten world renowned architects give their advice on the role of the architect in the 21st century. Renzo Piano, Tatiana Bilbao, Alejandro Aravena, Bjarke Ingels, Anupama Kundoo, Anna Heringer, Anne Lacaton, Norman Foster, and Frank Gehry was interviewed and produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner. Kengo Kuma was interviewed by Mette Holm and produced by Christian Lund.

interviews

52:16

Lars von Trier: The Burden From Donald Duck

Get into the creative mind of film director Lars von Trier and learn how reading in his world is connected with writing. Trier calls literature his “basic medium” and reveals his inspiration from writers as Thomas Mann, Leo Tolstoy, and Marcel Proust. He refers to dramaturgy as his “toothache” connected to his reading of Donald Duck, but writing is “the greatest kick you can get,” he says. Lars von Trier (b.1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter, whose prolific career spans almost four decades. His pivotal work is known for its technical innovation and examination of existential, social, and political issues. Lars von Trier was interviewed by Christian Lund at his home outside Copenhagen in November 2020.

interviews

12:29

Lawrence Weiner: The Means to Answer Questions

An interview with the legendary conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner about the connection between cruelty, hierarchy and rationality. The artist must ask questions past ordinary logic, he says. In this interview Weiner philosophizes on how the artist can present things people might not have noticed. Art is not meant to answer questions, but rather to ask them. Art is about things you don't know. The artist must go beyond logic and risk madness, he explains: "You have to re-adapt your own logic just to be able to communicate with somebody else." American artist Lawrence Weiner (b.1942) is regarded as a founding figure of Postminimalism's Conceptual arm in the 1960s. His work often takes the form of typographic texts. He lives and works in New York. Lawrence Weiner was interviewed by Jesper Bundgaard.

interviews

04:57

Laurie Anderson: Advice to the Young

“Be loose!” The legendary multimedia artist, musician and film director Laurie Anderson puts it as simply and clearly as that when she here advises artists to avoid being pressured into limiting themselves artistically. Calling yourself something as “vague” as a multimedia artist – as Anderson does – gives you the freedom to do whatever you want, without having to worry about whether it fits a certain definition: “It’s so easy to get pigeonholed in the art world.” Anderson is aware that sales are a strong underlying factor – “I am a 21st century citizen in a highly corporate world” – but she nonetheless maintains that you should always follow your own interest and obsession: “Whatever makes you feel free and really good – that’s what to do. It’s really simple.” Laurie Anderson (b. 1947) is an internationally renowned experimental performance artist, composer, musician and film director, based in New York. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson became widely known outside the art world with her single ‘O Superman’, which reached number two in the UK pop charts in 1981. She is considered a pioneer of electronic music and is praised for her unique spoken word albums and multimedia art pieces. Laurie Anderson was interviewed by Christian Lund at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in May 2016.

interviews

23:42

Miriam Bäckström: Life is the Real Theatre

When Miriam Bäckström was a child, her parents used her as a therapist for their relationship. Today, the renowned Swedish conceptual photographer and artist finds that “homes are frightening,” she says in this video in which we visited her workplace and “imitation of a home” in an old mansion, to talk about her work inspired by theatre. Bäckström explains how she started out documenting various set designs: “I documented it in a way that would also somehow show that it was a fiction, an environment built for the camera.” These settings were so close to reality that they seemed real at first. But at a closer look, something else was uncovered: “It made me understand that everything is a set design… What we call theatre or film sets is more like a model for our options in the real theatre, which is life.” Theatre, she adds, teaches us which roles we can take on, and mirrors the “double view” that she requires in her works: “I won’t be satisfied until there is more than one reality.” “I don’t think my parents understood that I was a child,” Bäckström says of her childhood in the 1970s. Her parents let her take care of herself and used her as a sort of relationship counsellor. She was not allowed to play the role of a child, and rather than developing a clear idea of herself, she came to have an understanding of all characters: “Sometimes I think that it might have been equally interesting for me to become an actor. Not knowing who you are and at the same time holding all characters inside of you.” In continuation of this, Bäckström says that she has never really understood the concept of a home, and so, she lives in a house that is both home, workroom, film studio, and set design. Miriam Bäckström (b. 1967) is a Swedish conceptual photographer and artist. Since the mid-1990s, she has worked with indirect modes of portraiture. Bäckström has photographed different rooms and interiors – including film sets, museum displays, and furnished flats – that tell their story in the absence of their inhabitants and often reveal themselves to be staged. She has also worked with tapestry in large formats, where the photographic motif has been woven in one piece. Bäckström has participated in numerous international exhibitions and biennials, and together with German artist Carsten Höller, she represented Sweden at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Miriam Bäckström was interviewed by Christian Lund at her house in Stockholm, Sweden, in February 2015.

interviews

04:53

Nick Cave Interview: The World is My Skin

Have you ever wished that you could put on a suit which would open up the imagination and take you to the world of your dreams? In this video artist Nick Cave presents his wearable sculptures, the 'Soundsuits', made from discarded everyday materials. Nick Cave (b. 1959) is an American fabric sculptor and performance artist, who trained as a dancer with Alvin Ailey. In this video he presents his mystical Soundsuits, which are odd fabric sculptures of many colors and shapes, and are made of materials such as twigs, dyed human hair, sisal, plastic buttons, beads, sequins and feathers. The finished pieces bear some resemblance to African ceremonial costumes and masks. "It is like building a second skin, that hides gender, race, class, and forces you to look without judgement" Cave explains. The sculptures almost look like live beings and work as a kind of second skin, transforming the wearer, disguising identity, and creating sounds as the wearer moves. "I want people to leave with a different sort of consciousness, to look at their surroundings differently, and I want to get the audience back to their dream state." Nick Cave was interviewed by Jonas Hjorth at the opening of Nick Cave's exhibition 'The World is my Skin' at Trapholt, Kolding in Denmark.

interviews

08:46

Marina Abramovic

Follow your intuition. Have courage. Do what you imagine. And always be completely present in the moment. Marina Abramović on what it really means to be an artist: "A great artist has to be ready to fail."

interviews

05:24

David Shrigley

“You’re on the right track if you’re excited about what you’re doing.” British visual artist David Shrigley, known for his humorous spin on common situations, here advises his young colleagues to be open to learning from mistakes and stresses that being an artist “isn’t for everybody.” Interviewed by Christian Lund at Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen in January 2016 in connection to his exhibition ‘Coloured Works on Paper’.