“Deprived of linear time, there is no certainty between light and dark at the moment. There is no certain inside and outside when we implode.”
Name
Alexander Scharf
Profession
Visual Artist / Graphic- and Motion Designer
Website
Where are you from?
Munich, Germany
Your style in 3 words?
Romantic, Fantasy, Narrative
Your weakness? Your strength?
romantic sci-fi movies / being a TV child of the 90s seeing pop culture truly explode
What makes you different?
We are all the same from the beginning, till people try to change us.
„Let’s try to be people for a while“ – to quote „Bones and All“ by Luca Guadagnino (2022)
When did you decide to become an artist?
It started very early (11-12 years old) when I was introduced to Stephen King’s stories. I also wanted to tell stories, which led me to become an artist, working with narratives, poetry, music, and moving images.
Do you choose your art form, or does the form choose you?
I think that’s very hard to say. I would rather put my practice at the service of what I want to communicate to people. So my form or art style depends on what I want to feel. So ultimately, I probably choose to be a feeling multimedia artist.
What do you find most fascinating about the creative process?
I love setting up the exhibition, seeing how the installation comes to life, or how the atmosphere of the space evolves throughout the process. I’m interested in how the finished pieces come together and how they write their own story.
A few words about your favorite creation?
alexanderscharf.com/Daylight.pdf
„Somewhere in a field of sunflowers, the evil fights the light” Deprived of linear time, there is no certainty between light and dark at the moment. There is no certain inside and outside when we implode. Abyssus abyssum invocat.
What surprised you most about your first art shows?
I was surprised at how hard I tried to bring this thing to life. I really wanted the story to work and spent many night shifts finishing so many different mediums, from textile work to video work, always jumping from one to the other. I was surprised by the way I worked and my work ethic.
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
The work of Mark Leckey will always have my heart. I also adore the video work of Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin but my all-time favorite will be the great Mike Kelly.
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
Rachel Maclean is very sensitive to her pop cultural identity and I love her colorful way of thinking. And I admire how she incorporates her protagonists into her narrative structures, always including her own self.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
‘HOT LOVE – we don’t want to die alone” is an upcoming project and still in the making. A short film influenced by fantasy and science fiction elements, it deals with the theme of love and finding new ways of falling in love with artificial identities. The whole concept is set in a fictional love reality streaming show.
Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
My sister and my friends.
2023: Where are we going?
„we be burnin’ not concernin’ …“ to quote „We Be Burnin’“ by Sean Paul (2005)
Do you think about time as an artist?
I think a lot about specific emotional moments, millisecond periods of time when strong emotions are triggered, and how I can scale these moments so intensely and for a longer period in my work, especially in my video works. Emotional impulses of unfiltered love, frustration, or anger represent one of the most honest dimensions of time for me. When an emotion lasts too long, it distorts our true feelings.
When the going gets tough…
I will watch GATTACA or listen to that same soundtrack or watch ALIEN by Ridley Scott. It’s kind of strange to admit that the delicate sounds that open the passage of oppressive emptiness for the Nostromo seem to link the same synapses as the feeling of security of having finally arrived home after a long journey.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
While we experience love as an exclusively human experience, in the future, given our routine handling of artificial intelligence and algorithms, we must realize that the concept of love could also be extended to non-human beings. Publicist and philosopher Timothy Bloxam Morton argue that “we love things that go beyond ourselves” and that “the ecology of love goes beyond the human”.
What would you do if you could change the World?
I would send little invisible messengers to sit on the shoulders of powerful white old men to whisper in their ears: less power, more empathy!
What does freedom mean when it comes to art?
Freedom of thought is very important, but showing respect for other cultures is the most important basic principle for truly living in freedom.
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
It is expands into the greater possibility that after our demise, our particles can travel farther while still being in a state of love and hate.
Tell us about your future plans…
I want to write and shoot a movie when it’s time …
Your city’s favorite spots?
Church stairs and my studio at Rosa Stern Space (gallery off-space and studio network)
A book that everyone should read…
„Leuchtspielhaus“ by Leif Randt. To quote a phrase „…it’s a song about love…“
Last but not least: what is your favorite Song?
HAPPY by the artist BEAN on his soundtrack for my show „DAYLIGHT“
One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
Wood and art!
Your #…?
#phantomtouch
