N.N., UNTITLED
Interview by: George Robescu
Alex Mirutziu / 32 / Sibiu / Artist
How do you wish to die?
In my sleep.
What’s the last show that you saw?
Archimedes. Art and Invention Science — Capitolini Museum, Rome.
Describe a typical day in your life as an artist.
Mostly in front of screens, either of laptop or other devices.
What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?
I guess books, and notebooks. My studio is in my head.
Where are you finding ideas for your work these days?
It’s a mess. From everywhere: a buss stop sticker to anti-philosophy.
Do you collect anything?
Mainly images, that speak to me.
What is your karaoke song?
I don’t do such thing, but I know many David Bowie songs by heart.
What’s the last artwork you purchased?
A limited edition “Venus in Furs” book.
What’s the last great book you read?
The State of things (Office for Contemporary Art – Norway)
What work of art do you wish you owned?
Vir Temporis Acti by Adolfo Wildt.
What (under-appreciated) artist do you think people should know about?
Charlotte Moorman — one of the key figures in the New York Avant-Garde. Her influence in the experimental art is unparalleled but somehow her legacy is overlooked.
What are your hobbies?
Traveling abroad.
What is your present state of mind?
Post-exhibition detachment.
Look at your watch. What time is it?
13:34 Rome time.
Drag every day or only on special occasions?
Not for me.
What turns you off?
Vegetative time.
How about pleasure?
Accuracy.
Explain what you do in +/- 100 words
A dancer who walks for a living.
What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?
Going at the cinema with my father.
What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
If I need a job I prefer something that has nothing to do with art.
What is your dream project?
I don’t have one. It’s something that I don’t think about.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Fuck your circumstances.
Know any good jokes?
I’m afraid not.
What was your first work of art?
Myself.
Did they say you had natural talent in art school?
Yes.
What advice would you give to a young person who wants to become an artist?
Polish your ideas kids, you’re gonna need them.
Do you think the art world is dead?
The discussion is maybe — if the art world is still interested in art and not life itself.
Who do you think is the best business artist in the world?
I guess Jeff Koons.
Do you think artists of the future will form companies or go public and sell stock?
Maybe why not.
Do you ever think about politics?
Art degrades into politics. It implies a political way of dealing with ‘art.’
Do you think your work will go up in value when you’re gone?
I don’t really care. To clear the air in some instances maybe, is of interest.
What time do you get up in the morning?
Usually around 10.
What do you do in the morning?
Common things nothing out of the ordinary.
Are rich people different from poor people?
Depends on where you stand. Money empower people, but after all we are on the same foot.
Do you ever feel like an imposter? Why? Why not?
I feel more like a boxer…punching clean an attitude era.
Did you ever feel like giving up on art?
Sometimes I cultivate an indeterminate drift and mock the idea of art.
How do you feel when (if) you discover another artist who does something very similar to your own work?
Look very attentive. Nothing really comes from the same source and develops similarly. Artists may produce similar artworks but their motivation defer.
Do you have the ambition to change things with your work (art, society, people)? Does it seem important to you?
It is important to massage a conceptual locus or to layer a specific field of practice.
How many times did you break up with art?
Honestly – never. It’s an affliction.
Do your works need explaining? Would you like everyone to understand them? Do you think it’s ok to have a target audience?
Explaining an artwork turns it into something else. A way of enriching my practice is to touch places that only writing with can do.
Is nail art art?
It’s crazy isn’t it. Who knows?
What would your super power be?
Do you really think I would lay it out? Occultation, for the sake of asking the question.
When were you happiest?
This question is damn personal, it will overshadow everything else in a split second, reason why I prefer to keep it to myself.
What’s your favorite post-gallery bar?
I don’t have one.
What would you do to get it?
The question is to get what? Success? Money? Fulfillment of any sort?
Who’s your favorite living artist?
I have one actually but at this time I rather keep it to myself.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Forgetting names in conversation, other than that I can’t squeeze anything out now.
What is your favorite word?
Porosity.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
People are nice to me you know! It’s mutual.
What do you owe your parents?
I prefer not to respond, reason being that it will take too much effort to put it in words.
What does love feel like?
Right now, like an iceberg in pink light.
How do you relax?
Traveling is one way.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Oh, my God! To be patient.
Do you believe in progress?
Absolutely.
Would you under any conditions accept to show your works under anonymity?
I did that this year.
Do you care about who buys your art? What kind of people, institutions? Would you refuse someone?
My work self-selects in a way its possible buyers. It is radical enough to appeal to whom considers it relevant.
Do you like artist collectives?
Yes, I am in one.
Does being an artist make you a better cook? A better lover? Does your work influence other aspects of your life?
Not really. On the contrary, it can be a wrecker.
Do think it’s important to be self centered in order to succeed as an artist?
In one way or another, one has to be self-centered.
Would you prefer your art to be timeless or timely?
The patina of time is so beautiful. It informs, it gives place, creates meaning. Therefore timely.
What is the contemporary meaning of the death of art?
Art transition into life itself.
Is Peaches more attractive than Mona Lisa?
They both rock. But Mona Lisa is a score hitter no matter what.
Do you know who said “art is whatever gets you laid”?
Who?
What’s your favorite art themed funny shirt?
Have none.
Would you turn down dinner with Marina Abramović because you find her distinctly annoying?
Have no idea if she is annoying. Is she? I wouldn’t turn her down.
Did you ever look at an Arcimboldo painting and got hungry?
Uuu, never.
Did you think that was a happening?
(?)
Do you buy postcards at museum stores?
Often.
What’s better: your art on a tote bag or on a notebook?
Tote bag.
Look or look at me?
Look.
What rhymes with art? The Louvre or The Commune?
Louvre.
Who in the art world deserves most to be punched in the face?
No one really.
What did you ever do to cure loneliness?
Go out.
You have 50 masterpieces of standing male marble nudes. What would you do with them?
They call for an alley to be placed in.
What do you fear more: no reviews or bad reviews?
No reviews.
How much is too much for a painting?
Nothing is to much for any work of art.
I say catastrophe, you say..?
Candy.
A can of kerosene is the answer. What was the question?
Something related to Jasper Johns? Hmmm…
Did you ever write a fan letter to Bryan Cranston? Why not?
Who is this guy?
What program do you use for pirating music?
Many.
How did your gang initiation go?
What gang?
What should burn first: Christie’s or the Parliament?
Christie’s.
Is there enough art for all the money?
Believe me there is.
For the love of god. Who would buy a diamond skull?
I would. I like that work.
What art themed tattoo would you get?
Do less more.
Would it be better than a diamond skull?
(?)
Did you think that was a happening?
(?)
Seriously now. What’s the maximum time to spend in a museum?
From morning till dawn.
“Would the fact that Governor Rockefeller has not denounced President Nixon’s Indochina Policy be a reason for your not voting for him in November?”
You must be joking.
When’s the last time you read the newspapers?
I read them quite often.
What did you learn?
(?)
When can you go into the supermarket and buy what you need with your good looks? America is this correct? I saved Latin. What did you do?
My good looks got me photographs on the street, hugs of a slut, and occasionally free drinks.
Do you have social disease?
They are not really diseases.
What’s the outside of a gallery?
Another gallery.
What mechanism do you reproduce?
None.
Can art be collective again?
It always been collective.
How do you feel as a capitalist entrepreneur?
Masterful.
*
What is a curator?
Carer of things.
What to do with the contemporary?
Leave it in the now.
What is the public?
What is the artist?
What is an exhibition?
A gathering of ideas in a specific place.
What about collecting?
Something to think about.
What is the future of art?
No art.
What is the process?
Being in the project.
What about responsibility?
Responsibility gives stature.
What’s the first artwork you ever sold?
Back in high-school. A couple of paintings.
What project are you working on now?
A sound installation called Scotopolitic objects.
What’s the last show that surprised you? Why?
David Bowie is.
Do you make a living off your art?
Often.
What’s the weirdest thing you ever saw happen in a museum or gallery?
Surveillance cameras are weird.
What’s your art-world bête noire?
Don’t have one.
