INTERVIEW: ARNAUD LAPIERRE

– In cooperation with Olympus –

"RING" by Arnaud Lapierre, courtesy and copyright the artist

Anna-Lena Werner: Arnaud, how and when did you decide to work as an artist and designer?

Arnaud Lapierre: I don't really know – I have always been attracted to art and to objects. First I studied the History of Art & Archeology, but then I changed to design studies, because I wanted to tell stories through objects and space. However, I don't consider myself an artist.

Anna-Lena: Your work crosses the boundaries between art, design and scenography. Do you consider each direction equally important for your practice? How do they influence each other?

Arnaud: I don't see boundaries in these activities, because all are a support or a medium for being creative and telling or showing something unexpected. I have always considered my profession a way of expressing a delicate answer to a pertinent question. Looking at other graphic and contemporary art, or even contemporary dance and cinema is interesting in order to understand our societies. Although I always tried to banish existing designs from my inspiration, since I don't want to repeat myself or the work of someone else.

ART BERLIN CONTEMPORARY 2014

Wojciech Bakowski, booth STEREO, Warsaw Analia Saban (Detail), booth Sprüth Magers, Berlin, London Luc Fuller, booth Rod Barton, London 

all images: courtesy the artist and the gallery / photos © artfridge / Lars Petersen

Art Berlin Contemporary (in short "ABC) opened its 7th edition last Thursday. The fair – that suggests itself as an art exhibition – has been directed by Maike Cruse for the second time and presents 111 galleries, of which most are based in Germany. Known for offering a big selection of large scale works, ABC continues to show extensive installations and sculptures. Even painters spread out through the exhibition space, such as the up-and-coming American artist Luc Fuller (Rod Barton), who we interviewed this year in June (read the interview here).

OLAFUR ELIASSON: RIVERBED

all images: Olafur Eliasson "Riverbed" at Louisiana Museum, Denmark (20.8.2014 - 4.1.2015) / Courtesy the artist and Louisiana Museum, © Olafur Eliasson / photos © artfridge.de

It feels like there is hardly a nature phenomenon left that the well-known Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has not approached or visualised yet. For his current outside-in installation "Riverbed" he turned the south-wing of Louisiana Museum in Humlebæk (Demark) into a wet and rocky landscape that embeds a small stream of water floating through three large rooms. The official purpose: a merging of art, architecture and an imitation of nature. But that agenda seems familiar and – let's be honest – has really been done before. The question is: Does the past devalue the work?

INTERVIEW: IAN HOMERSTON

all works by Ian Homerston / Copyright and courtesy the artist & courtesy Cole London // all photos by Plastiques

The British 1984-born painter Ian Homerston looks at his works as explorations in combinations: Colour, material and form are repeatedly confronted and subsequently withdrawn or reintegrated. Often consisting of photographic emulsion and paint, the works' surfaces at his current show 'Whereas' at COLE in London discuss the issue of temporality during the artistic production. Ian, who studied at the Royal College of Art and the Wimbledon College of Art in London, engages in the exhibition space by using his paintings as to consider their self-reflexivity and site-specificity. In a short interview we asked him about his ideas, his interventions and about how he questions formats, timings and display methods.