NEW ARTWORKS: Vassilis Salpistis

This column, is hosting new artworks, of younger and older artists who either are on exhibition this days or had recently been exhibited, in order to grope together with the artists all aspects of their work, exactly as in the case of Vassilis Salpistis, who lives and works in Paris. Through the video “Un par Un” and the sculptural installation “19 montage”, that worked and exhibits together with Marie Voignier at the le 19 CRAC, through a collage of images and self-examinations, investigates themes such as: myth, wind, history, psychoanalysis, death…

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Vassilis Salpistis Archive

Mr. Salpistis in the exhibition “Mutations-Mise en forme”, you are presending along Marie Voignier the video “un par un”. How emerged?
“Un par un” or “One by one” as is the original title, is a video that we shot in Athens and Paris with Marie Voignier. During the research for the film, we conducted a series of interviews n the perception of the political context in terms of metaphysics in the rapidly developing landscape due to conditions of the various shades of spiritual search in Greece. Apart from the increasing number, we were interested in the politicization of public discourse, of these usually insular groups, at a time where the entire public discourse tends to be politicized. A part of this material, synthesize with other sources, the narrative of “One by one”, which in its final form is an experimental film-collage. Is composed by testimonials and texts on major historical facts, death, ghosts, the crisis and how we configure alternative political narratives. Although is largely composed by filmed photographs, even the moving images of the film are referring to the fixed static plan. Through their comparison, in the form of an atlas of representations, heterogeneous and literal images shift the narrative to the space of the optical essay.
At the same time, there is a range of installations associated with the video, as a single project?
The sculptural installation “19 montages”, also in collaboration with Marie Voignier, is an independent project. In the context of the presentation together with the film, they are developing a dialogue through the proportion, in the use of montage, but also in the marginal approach of the representation in both cases. “19 montage” consists of a series of cases from different joints of rocks and geometrical ceramic forms. The rocks are fragments, which we collect them from an abandoned Quarry Stone, they were mined for the paving of Paris in the 19th century.
What is the starting point of this project?
A gravure by Goethe entitled “Chaos rocheux de Luisenburg” (1785), he restored through the drawing, rocky formations that had collapsed, he met these formations during his walks. “19 montages”, uses the imaginary potential of this romantic gesture of drawing, developing the formalist and narrative possibilities.
Why did you decide to show B / W photos and scenes from various films, along with speech? It looks like you you create a new short film.
The archival photographic material that we use in the “One by one” comes from a wide range of publications, mainly from the second half of the 20th century, the themes of which ranges from photojournalism news in the concept of “Paris Match”, “Time” and “Life”, from zoology books or from tourist publications for the villages of the Swiss Alps. This material forms two large linear collages of 10 meters each, which we filmed then. The visual material that is aesthetically close to Magic Latern, the ancestor of Cinema, works like film within the film, creating a visual and conceptual counterweight to the images we shot in Athens.
The topics you are negotiating are: myth, air, history, psychoanalysis and death, externally they seem unrelated. What need prompted you to connect them artistically, philosophically, theoretically and conceptually?
All the components that constitute the themes negotiated by the five sections of the film, converge to an exploration of the modern applications how the myth operates and how they shape our personal and collective narratives.
These artworks will be on exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art “le 19 CRAC” (Centre régional d’art contemporain de Montbéliar), which is outside Paris. What role is played by the space in creation is there dialogue and interaction?
This is not the first time I present my work in exhibitions organized by 19 CRAC, is somehow the continuation of a discussion that I had some time ago with the Director Philippe Cyroulnik. As often happens with the relations between theorists and artists, the debate takes place in the area where the respective research fields intersect. In our case, I would say that it is the blurred boundaries between abstraction and vividness.
What is today the role of these Centers in contemporary art, in publicity and the promotion of art in relation to the Galleries? We know that in the past the institution of FRAC- flourished in France, what happens today?
FRAC and the Centres for Contemporary Art, actually experienced a strong boom, from the 80s onwards. In recent years, however, this process has slowed. We are in a period where the Centers for Contemporary Art, are closing one after another and the financing of institutions and museums that survive is drastically reduced, depriving artists from these necessary tools and the public from the minimum access opportunities often in art.

Info: le 19 CRAC, Centre régional d’art contemporain de Montbéliard, 19 Avenue des Alliés, Montbéliard, Duration: 17/1-16/3/15, Days & Hours: Mon: 15:00-18:00, Tue-Sat: 14:00-18:00, http://le19crac.com

First Publication: 13/1/2015 www.dreamideamachine.com
© Interview-Efi Michalarou

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