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after a year I started to engage more seriously in performance as a possible and viable form of expression. I attended a workshop on physical theatre and movement where I had a final presentation as a solo performance which I title Back to the roots. Since there were good feedbacks and mainly because it just felt right, I set out to create performances step by step inspired by life, mine and others’. And here I am now!
Could you identify a specific artwork that has influenced your artistic practice or has impacted the way you think about your identity as a participant of the visual culture?
I have been influenced by many artworks or artists, but when I say influenced I don’t mean that I can specify or single out only one or two. All the artistic periods in painting and sculpture are relevant to me, from Michelangelo, through Durer, through Picasso, Miro, Dali, way to pop art or Jackson Pollock. Rodin’s works also fill me with awe and emotional charge. In terms of visual art, the land art of Christo and Jean Claude is capturing and stimulating. Definitely Nagy Jozsef’s work, a world-famous Hungarian-born France based artist also serves as inspiration. Ohad Naharin’s GaGa technique is certainly the type of movement I promote and find stunningly real. Ladik katalin’s work on sound is not less stirring. As the pioneer of performing arts, Marina Abramovic similarly stands as a source, though I don’t always go along with her ways. Grotowski’s laboratory theatre is also serves as basis. From Marina’s performance The Artist is Present, I learnt simplicity and that the presence is the main element of creation in any form of art. Also, pushing my limits through and in art is inspired by Marina Abramovic, among others.
Many of your works carry an autobiographical message. Since you transform your experiences into your artwork, we are curious, what is the role of memory in your artistic productions? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
As I see it, autobiographical elements, thus memory form an inextricable part of art or any artistic production. Our life and experiences are the ones we know best, − at least this is what we like to think, − so it also stands as a source of inspiration for me. One thing is for certain, I do not try to achieve a faithful translation of any experience of my own, rather I attempt to use elements of previous experiences, life situations, events or questions forming in me as starting point, and then I invariably strive to cast light upon the bigger picture, their general relevance in others lives. As I said, beside being my own channel of expression, performance and anything created should have more general reference by addressing people. The idea, feeling, thought, problem, in one word the message should get through the audience via, in this case, performance. Currently I use this way of expression because I find it the most effective, flexible and extendable, which can involve a wide range of other elements and topics, practically of any other forms of art. There are no limits as far as its form is concerned, thus it is problematic but provides freedom. When it comes to memory, I both use personal and collective memory relying on my previous studies of literature, social studies and psychology, but because I think that our experiences are unable to be translated faithfully and to the fullest, it’s inevitable to rely on memory in that process. Personal experience and memory are intertwined, so I wouldn’t and couldn’t separate the two. Memory or personal experience is just one factor in the starting of the creative process, which can be the offset and frequently it definitely is, but not as a rule. It’s not a criterion or by no means is it a guarantee for success either. Rather, I tend to listen to the inner voice, intuitively I feel what I would like to express. It also happens that the topic is already given for the production, so my task is to reshape it and filter it through the prism of personal experience, colored with feelings. Though memory itself is not reliable and cannot reflect reality and personal experiences without fault, it does not so relevant in the creation, only if it has memory as its main topic. I find it almost impossible to create art isolated from my inner world, which personal experience and memory are integral part of. So art as being intertwined with all these aspects cannot go without them either.
What is the role of technique in your practice? In particular are there any constraints or rules that you follow when creating?
The only rule is to be present, which is easily achieved with me at the moment of creation. The point is to push my limits, constraints of the individual or the society. Of course, there are certain limitations of space, financial matters, or time but I try not to set any other constraints. This is the exact reason why I choose performance as my main artistic expression, beside free verse. There I can be completely free and additionally I am able to share it with others, which is a powerful thought indeed. The rule is not to create art only for art’s sake; by embracing the aesthetic aspects of creation any artwork I create should make sense, at least in my head (and heart).