INTERVIEW Bettina Pelz
PUBLISHED 1 AUG 26
“not yet” is the artist’s name of the European artist working across different media. He will join this SEE DJERBA edition with a project that requires collective action. His artwork is planned for the Maltese founduk. Please enjoy his dedicated answers.
// Please tell us about your practice: which media do you work with, and what themes or questions drive your work?
For the media: I think it’s very important that creative work should be as open as possible, so I try to embrace and use literally everything there is. The range is quite wide: from fabrics to sensors, from vegetables to 3D-printing, from oil colors to video warping, from woodwork to light, from space design to control electronics. It’s all materials/devices, and it’s all giving some sort of input, bringing specific style and so shaping the outcome.
I am also using modern technology and media a lot (not in this project, actually), but if I do, I always try two things: If using virtual technologies, something has to go back to real life. Not just in some abstract, intellectual sense, but in a real, tangible way. And second: the creative process is important here, too.
In Technology too, it is out of the question to use too many off-the-shelf components, no matter how impressive the result may be. This is especially true when it comes to Big Tech.
About questions and topics: Mostly society topics, especially roles/role models and the part of the individual, I think. And human nature in general.
// Which moment of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
The most? I don’t know. I enjoy so many. Just thinking, scribbling in my book, the moment a project develops in another direction than you planned, the peace in building or setting up complex things, sharing something with other people, the moment where you have to find a plan B, because it does not work out as you planned, the moment it starts shining… There are just so many.
// Please describe the work you will bring to SEE DJERBA. What is the core idea?
We are building hundreds of lamps: autonomously glowing spheres made from everyday objects, and we are hanging them in a tree. At the end of the festival, they can be picked by the visitors. The core idea is simple: people can take home a small part of all the light found at the festival. So it may again be a societal topic: the visitors “owning” a fraction of the festival in the end.
This idea about “community” is expanded to a workshop where everybody is invited to build the lamps together. And while the lamps will all be the same, we are building them in a way that they are still different – every piece having its own individual pattern of light. Feel free to find social theory-based interpretations of these points to your liking!
// What kind of support do you have for your artwork?
A lot! Right now, the SEE Djerba team is getting materials and preparing everything on site. And I am part of the LUNA Collective, an open group of “Media Art Friesland” in Leeuwarden (nl). Jointly, we are turning it into a collaborative project, helping to think and organize everything and, last but not least, paying the expenses. I also have a lot of people to ask for advice on crafts(wo)manship, like colleagues in workshops in a big technical museum.
// What do you need to create a good working environment?
Of course I always rely on other people, especially on festivals, especially when something does not go to plan. So committed, organized people are a wonderful source of backup. Still, I think one should be able to adapt and work in any kind of environment and condition. Just the project might change then accordingly.
I personally try to be as independent from other people as possible and try not to get used to perfect tools, ideal working conditions, and other kinds of luxury. It keeps the work more fun. I often do rather complex projects with a funny balance of thorough planning/preparation on the one hand and on-site work and improvisation on the other. So I really like to have some time on site. Getting to know the place, the people, the infrastructure. I quite like finding out how to solve problems myself.
// How do you engage with a place or a context? How does your work usually engage with place, history, or environment?
Of course, when I am somewhere else, I am no local – and don’t strive to be. But I at least try to get a bit into everyday life, which helps to understand the context as well as the history of a place. Actually, working is a very good way of getting in contact with people. And people are a very good way to learn something about a place.
About the reception of the work, it might be much more complicated. Most of the time, this is enriching, though. Sometimes a place forces you to adjust your view on a topic. Sometimes interactive aspects in projects can be interesting, too. People might be more than ready to engage with an installation in one place, but turn out to be really shy in another. I don’t always manage to predict this correctly.
// Can you give an example?
Working/practical: I will need to buy stuff, so I will try to find specific shops around. I’ll learn about my neighborhood then. If I might do some art in public space, I’ll have to get a feeling of what is appropriate. So I’ll talk to people and ask them. And so on.
About reception: My work is often about human nature or society, so it should work globally. But actually, my projects reflect my personal view on these topics. There could be friction with the views held at a specific place. I would have to be subtle when carrying out a project on gender and roles in Egypt, for example. Whereas in Europe at the moment, I might have to deal with dissent when my project e.g., explores the idea that violence is an integral part of human nature.
I once had an interactive installation where huge lamps reacted to people coming close. When I put it up in a public space in the countryside, most people did not want to come close but just watched everything from a distance – completely missing the interactive part, which was the main thing.
// What helps you when you’re working on-site?
Getting to know everything. Trying to get things done myself.
// What influences your artistic practice?
Everyday life. Getting to know different people, scenes, cultures …
// Who influences you?
There are some people I like. So I like to hear what they think about my work. Sometimes you also meet people who just say very wise things.
// Which art form has shaped you? How?
Theatre: Creation of space. Use of lights. Timing. Improvisation.
Music: Timing. Arc of suspense. Abstraction of topics.
Aikido: Striving for perfection in every detail. No matter if you reach it.
Crossover projects: Improvisation. Perfection is not the goal. Magic moments maybe are.
Cultural organizations: Stop thinking in genres!
Talking to other people, Woodwork and other crafts(wo)manship: Getting rid of arrogance/conceit. Art is not special in any aspect.
Computers / Informatics: It’s not all about the outcome.
…
// How do you engage with a material, medium, or technique?
I don’t know, if I understand the question. I usually try to find someone who knows about it (for modern technologies of a certain complexity, this is unfortunately often just virtually possible) to learn some insights. While at the same time just trying myself. Like asking a professional friend before buying a sewing machine, then just engaging in trying to get something done before asking again about the problems I have…
// Do you have experience creating work in public spaces or with communities outside traditional gallery settings? What did you learn from that?
Yes, I have. A lot, actually. This is a real big topic, but just briefly: I found very inspiring projects, an incredible openness, and most of all it taught me that you can just do something; you don’t have to wait for perfect conditions, sponsors, institutions…
It has its problems, too, of course. Some projects just feel a bit sloppy. And if you don’t want that, the effort can get quickly out of hand: you just can not rely on anything without putting energy in. Imagine having an exhibition on a vacant plot of land between two supermarkets. The place is great, but there are no lights, no electricity for the lights, no hooks in the walls to hang the pictures, no walls even, no way of closing everything down at night… No comparison to the effort of hanging pictures in a gallery. So having energy left to also focus on the artistic quality of a project can be a real challenge.
// What you are describing corresponds with our conditions in Djerba: We don’t have a museum, so we are exhibiting everywhere, and yes, mostly we have to take everything off every night because there are no gates. And probably you have heard about the power cuts … every year again it is a challenge, and definitely more fun when looking back than while being in the midst of it. We try to care for artists and artworks but also for the audience. What role do the viewers of your work play? What does a good public mean to you? What does it mean for your work?
The public should not have a job, actually. But it’s interesting to me sometimes what they make out of a project. I tend to see a project as something that just is there. It can be inspiring. It can be fun (hopefully it is). It maybe can be played with somehow. It might give a new thought. Probably (hopefully again) different thoughts to different people. But it’s all just “mays and mights”. Nothing has to happen.
// How do you imagine engaging with local audiences?
This is simple for my project: the workshop for the public. Encourage people to take a lamp at the end of the festival.
// SEE DJERBA is a public, nocturnal media art festival in Houmt Souk. What aspects of this format attract you, and what challenges do you anticipate?
I like open festivals a lot. The ones where the public just wanders around, finding beautiful things. This brings challenges, but the project fits in, so no problem.
// Is this your first time participating in the art festival in Tunisia?
Yes! I’m really looking forward to it.
// We are thankful to the LUNA Collective, who has been joining and supporting the SEE DJERBA project for many years. They have been coming year after year, always with some people we know, and some new ones. And not only that, but they also facilitated the artists, curators, and producers joining their LUNA festival in Leeuwarden. We are truly thankful. I have one more question: Do you think that your artwork contributes to the long-term project of decolonizing our mindsets?
I usually try not to force an outcome of a project nor set a meaning. I like it if everybody finds a meaning for themselves. So that the project can enrich their very lives, the way they need it. I might have an opinion on the question (spoiler: I hope it does). But (living up to the idea): do you think it does?
// This aspect has been accompanying us throughout all the years; how can we develop artistic and curatorial practices that nurture the decolonizing process? One of our ideas is that spending good time with people with different knowledge bases, from other cultures, in unknwon circumstances is a good particle accelerator in this trans-generational ambition. We are really excited to have you come!