Interview with WOL
Stockholm, 25th of September 2015
Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
WOL consists of Wenche Tankred and Lovisa Johansson.
We met each other at the association "Fylkingen" in Stockholm in 2007. We had both individually approached performance art as a possible form of expression, but it was only when we started to work together that it took off for real. We found that we both shared a common desire to work with someone else and to find a possible process where we both could exist fully.
We are both similar and very different, sometimes it creates friction, but mostly it is our differences and the creative misunderstandings that occur which bring the work forward. We see performance art as a free space without so much strain and preconceptions. The presence of the audience gives extra energy to the creative moment.
Q: What role does performance art have in your life / artistic praxis? Do you also work within other fields, like installation, sculpture, drawing, other expressions? How do they influence / inform each other?
We are both visual artists working with different expressions - painting, installation, video, sound – the expressions give energy and ideas to each other. Often it is easier to let the process take its course when we work together with performance than when we work separately with other materials. The freer attitude we find working together gives new nourishment to other things also.
But our background in visual art is both a blessing and a curse! The aesthetic ... there is always this dimension and we have to just to accept it... When we work there is this tension between wanting a form seeking aesthetic and a desire for absolute childishness.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
The starting point for a new WOL performance may be an idea, a picture, a seed, a curiosity about something. Often it is a sound, sometimes a material, a movement or a phenomenon. Something we become intuitively curious about and want to explore. We work in a very concrete form without theoretical superstructures. The idea that starts the process is fairly simple, then the performance forms itself through practical explorations of this small simple starting point. In the process, we take the camcorder to help. We have an idea, test it around a bit in front of the camera and see if there's something interesting to build on. Something that looks funny, strange, sad or exciting. Something that resonates within us on some level. We do not work conceptually, we work concretely. If someone asks what does it mean? Then we answer no idea, what do you think?
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
Our latest project is called WOL in search of WOL. An excursion into reality ... We have discovered that a bunch of graffiti artists tag WOL in the Stockholm area. They write it in big letters the same way we do. We hunt for their WOL graffiti and make WOL performances in front of it, shooting, filming and posting it online. A message in a bottle, an attempt to make contact ...
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Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
WOL consists of Wenche Tankred and Lovisa Johansson.
We met each other at the association "Fylkingen" in Stockholm in 2007. We had both individually approached performance art as a possible form of expression, but it was only when we started to work together that it took off for real. We found that we both shared a common desire to work with someone else and to find a possible process where we both could exist fully.
We are both similar and very different, sometimes it creates friction, but mostly it is our differences and the creative misunderstandings that occur which bring the work forward. We see performance art as a free space without so much strain and preconceptions. The presence of the audience gives extra energy to the creative moment.
Q: What role does performance art have in your life / artistic praxis? Do you also work within other fields, like installation, sculpture, drawing, other expressions? How do they influence / inform each other?
We are both visual artists working with different expressions - painting, installation, video, sound – the expressions give energy and ideas to each other. Often it is easier to let the process take its course when we work together with performance than when we work separately with other materials. The freer attitude we find working together gives new nourishment to other things also.
But our background in visual art is both a blessing and a curse! The aesthetic ... there is always this dimension and we have to just to accept it... When we work there is this tension between wanting a form seeking aesthetic and a desire for absolute childishness.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
The starting point for a new WOL performance may be an idea, a picture, a seed, a curiosity about something. Often it is a sound, sometimes a material, a movement or a phenomenon. Something we become intuitively curious about and want to explore. We work in a very concrete form without theoretical superstructures. The idea that starts the process is fairly simple, then the performance forms itself through practical explorations of this small simple starting point. In the process, we take the camcorder to help. We have an idea, test it around a bit in front of the camera and see if there's something interesting to build on. Something that looks funny, strange, sad or exciting. Something that resonates within us on some level. We do not work conceptually, we work concretely. If someone asks what does it mean? Then we answer no idea, what do you think?
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
Our latest project is called WOL in search of WOL. An excursion into reality ... We have discovered that a bunch of graffiti artists tag WOL in the Stockholm area. They write it in big letters the same way we do. We hunt for their WOL graffiti and make WOL performances in front of it, shooting, filming and posting it online. A message in a bottle, an attempt to make contact ...
<< Back