“I really appreciate people, who worship their own experience…”
Name
Philine Kuhn
Profession
Visual Artist and Art Therapist
Website
philinekuhn.com
Where are you from?
I live in Leipzig.
Your style in 3 words?
Pain meets humor
Your weakness? Your strength?
I feel a lot.
What makes you different?
… this reminds me of a job interview. Puh hahahaha…
When did you decide to become an artist?
There were several moments and I guess there could be some more to come.
Do you choose your art form, or does the form choose you?
Both. I work a lot with materials I find by chance in the streets, like in free boxes, AV-Shops, or lost and thrown away stuff. I love ordinary and curious objects as a starting point to combine, reshape and evolve a new form. It gives me the possibility to integrate and shift social meanings and prescriptions, but also to be in touch with my surrounding. I am searching for a form that allows you to experience diverse or even contrary feelings simultaneously, beginning with something familiar.
What do you find most fascinating about the creative process?
Sometimes it is like a crush. Exciting and always on your mind. And then biiiiig doubts … After all: Happy End or The End:,-D
A few words about your favorite creation?
Usually, I work a lot with references, I love trashy material and twisting aspects in my work. But I did this two channel-video: on the right side, you see a calmly breathing belly in full screen. On the left just the blue sky. Very subtile you see that the image of the sky moves in the rhythm of the breathing belly. The video is called Face-to-Face. Just the middle of the body and the endless sky. It is pure and easy at the same time – I can feel a lot while watching and I appreciate the simple form a lot. I really love it. Also, I always think it is actually very difficult to create something truly beautiful, without irony, without much context.
What surprised you most about your first art shows?
That I always finished the last arrangements only about half an hour before the opening… just in time. But I got better, which is good because I used to be crazily exhausted and disturbed during the Vernissage…
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
There are so many… I really appreciate people, who worship their own experience, biographical and emotional aspects as much as the social and political in their work. And playfulness. For example Tracey Emin, Miriam Cahn, Felix Gonzalez Torres, Johanna Hedva, Trisha Baga, Coven Berlin, Mike Kelley…
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
I´d love to work more with experienced art therapists – also to find out things that make me grow as an artist.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
I am curious to find out how the saying „kill your darlings“ would change my creative process… but then I think, why would I?! hahaha… Sometimes I wonder what a more „grown-up “ form could look like.
Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
To take care of myself and be in connected, vivid relations with my loved ones.
2022: Where are we going?
On the edge. I hope we don’t hit rock bottom as societies.
Do you think about time as an artist?
Yeah sure. The creative process requires time. Dive in, get lost, get frustrated, and find answers and a sparkling, exciting moment of certainty. But many artists have to work in other fields to make a living. So time is also a privilege. Another aspect is, someday I found out, time is also an ally. When you get stuck it is helpful to stop and get back to the work later – minutes to months. The work will turn to unexpected directions and for me, that was often very beautiful.
When the going gets tough…
Take a step back, feel what your body needs right now, and try not to be harsh to yourself.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
Immediately frightening and negative pictures come to my mind. But I guess instead we could ask ourselves where we want to move on to. And how can we strengthen our beliefs and our practice to get there?
What would you do if you could change the World?
Practice a culture of care. Worship experiences people make
An economy based on a principle of solidarity (which definitely excludes capitalist logic)
What does freedom mean when it comes to art?
Personally: to allow yourself to express and to trust. Politically: a space in between, a space to think, feel and rehearse – which is special, should be worshiped and defended if necessary.
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
Something I don’t understand. And I appreciate this.
Tell us about your future plans…
Go to more foreign places, far or near.
Your city’s favorite spots?
I am very happy, that my best friends live only a few minutes away from my home. I also like the Jahresbaumwiese with the labyrinth of grass.
Last but not least: what is your favorite Song?
Right now I love Cindy Lee with Lucifer Stand.
One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
Stone. Art. And a tiny little something of gold.
Your #…?
#philinekuhn
