|
|
Fia Backstrom is an artist based in both New York and Stockholm and is featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Sonia Hendler is a writer and editorial assistant at NY Arts.
Courtesy of the artist.
Sonia Hendler: Your work encompasses a mix of political and social commentary with careful visual imagery, such as the Pictures of Flowers series. What is your creative process?
Fia Backstrom: Political commentary belongs on the newspaper pages. I’m interested in operative work, which rather asks what is political and what is an image. Take for example the Pictures of Flowers series, which you mention. I’m not sure they are images. They can just as well be read as lousy critical essays. One shouldn’t always believe what one reads. My creative process, this question is a bit intimate. It’s like asking about one’s positions when having sex. It’s more romantic, and if I knew it, I wouldn’t be doing it.SH: Your art spans across many different types of media—sound, installation, text, photography—how do all of your various media endeavors interact?
FB: The medium is the message, right? Why do they have to interact? Media purity is a safe way towards recognizable signature style, which can be useful for market value. The more important discussion is about format or interface. By shifting production structures, other fluidities and connections surface. This mobility does not exclude a media-specific discussion. I like to think of myself as a photographer, though I don’t press the shutter. Today, who can claim to know what photography is.SH: Who are your artistic influences?
FB: Perhaps Picasso. He made nice flower drawings, plus he made fakes look real. Like Muhamed Ali, he knew how to dance, but I’m not sure he knew when to refrain.
SH: You are featured in the highly anticipated 2008 Whitney Biennial. How does your work fit into the biennial this year?FB: You have to ask the curators. I am not really sure if it does fit in. Anyhow, why make work that fits in?
SH: Are there any other artists featured at this year’s Whitney Biennial who spark your interest?
FB: Of course. I respect many of the artists who are involved. I’m not a list maker. This involves too much evaluation, exclusion, or inclusion than I can fathom today.
