Joana Vasconcelos (Paris, November 8, 1971) has dazzled for more than three decades with monumental sculptures and installations loaded with symbolism. Her transformed everyday objects incite reflection, but never leave aside the aesthetic aspect. And in her textile works, she is concerned with reviving typical craft techniques from Portugal, her country of origin and her current place of residence.
This revaluation of craftsmanship, in the face of the massive and industrial processes so frequent in contemporary art -especially in installations of monumental proportions such as those developed by the sculptor- has led her to collaborate with embroiderers, weavers and artisans from all over the world. world. Now, in addition to her, her inventiveness has reached upholstery yarn manufacturers who have had to create the colors that she has imagined for her new collaboration with Roche Bobois.
The French firm asked Vasconcelos two years ago to imagine a line of sofas and accessories, on the occasion of the brand's 60th anniversary. The artist created Bombom, a colorful and resolutely optimistic collection defined by curved lines and a palette of strong tones that can be combined in horizontal layers, like layers of a pastel.
Now Joana Vasconcelos has accepted a new challenge from the French firm and has reinterpreted this collection to adapt it outdoors. And the result is once again surprising, with sofas, tables and rugs in pastel and dusty tones hitherto unprecedented in this type of furniture.
The colors of this collection of outdoor furniture are surprising...
Those that we thought for the interior seemed very winter to us. For the summer I was looking for something lighter, lighter tones. But we realized that the color palette of outdoor furniture is very limited. There was no producer who made the yarns with these tones and with these colors. So they had to be made from scratch.
How do you feel designing furniture, what point of contact do you have with art, or are they two totally different worlds?
It's really fun because these months I've had the opportunity to work with fashion for Dior and now with design and then I return to the world of contemporary art. With Roche Bobois it has been stimulating to understand the limits that can be reached, while maintaining the consistent line with the work of art. I did not limit myself to drawing furniture, I designed it based on one of some sculptural paintings that I did something of and so the encounter between functionality and abstraction has been fun.
What lessons from fashion and design have you added to your work?
Fashion and design are thought to have functionality. That functionality is not needed by art. Artists don't follow any schedule, but in these projects I have had to, so I'm learning a lot because I have to think about many things that hadn't even occurred to me.
So you have had to go down from the world of imagination to the real world... Does that steal freedom?
Actually, I still go on my own, but it is true that a museum full of art is different than a store with designer pieces. For example, the concept of time is very different. Fashion requires a lot of effort for a couple of hours. In design you have to take into account texture, comfort, durability... So I've had to pay attention to things that the art world doesn't need to take into account.
The sofas transmit good vibes, joy of living.
Of course, it is important that you enjoy yourself, that it be a beautiful, calm moment... it is about transmitting the idea of summer, of relaxation, of the beach... of being at ease and that seems phenomenal to me. These pieces are, let's say, very cultural. You can move them, group them together... and we thought they would be even more vibrant outside, where you can have more space to compose a more sculptural environment.
And Joana Vasconcelos, what fills you with happiness?
Go through this world in the best way, learn and enjoy as much as possible. I also enjoy getting to know a lot of people who think differently and from artistic mediums that are not mine, such as music, dance...
What makes the Valkyrie in the Roche Bobois showroom at the Milan Furniture Fair different from those you have conceived so far?
The one at Dior and the one at the Guggenheim have a centrality that allows them to play with architecture. This is a piece that is closer to another that I did many years ago for Venice, which is a kind of "contamination", pieces that rise creating an encounter with the architectural space. It is aerial, lighter, but at the same time with roots that colonize the space, it is not centralized. In this case the arms create a kind of rare plant or animal that is out there.
She was the first woman to exhibit in Versailles, the first and the youngest to represent Portugal in a biennial... Has having been such a pioneer conditioned the way you think about new projects?
I believe that the attitude of being a pioneer is the way of knowing how to be in life. People propose things to you and you think, well we can try... It's a kind of adventure that you already have for a lifetime. I do not remain closed in the world where I live, which is art. In the future there will always be things that I never did and new situations and I love that, because the past is already done.
Doesn't it make you dizzy to open up to so many different fields?
As the Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh said: "Live in the present moment, the past is no more and the future has not yet arrived." I do things thinking about the present, of course I love the past because I enjoyed it a lot and I will surely love the future, but I have my feet in the present.
How do you manage to maintain originality from its roots, in a world that is so globalized and sometimes boring, because everywhere you see the same thing?
Originality is a way of being, it is always being curious that you can learn something new and do what you do being sincere with your heart. If you do not contribute something positive, it is that you are not doing it well. I work to provide a moment of curiosity and enjoyment.
What role does the viewer have in your work?
I want to share. Let the public interact with my work, and that can be done with art, design or fashion. That's why it's easy for me to work with all these media, because there's not just one way… Music can do it, gastronomy too… So we transmit moments of happiness to each other.
But at the same time, Joana Vasconcelos is also very demanding. How important is it to be subversive in art?
Beauty is not incompatible with claiming. I believe that at this moment the world is in a very paradoxical situation. We live in a very tragic moment, where the future of humanity is in our hands. And one of two, either we begin to share ideas, emotions and ideals so that the world is a place where the next generations can live or we abandon the idea of global awareness for a particular one where universal awareness so that everyone can live with quality is irrelevant .
What do you mean by “global awareness”?
The more time passes, the more important the principles of the French Revolution, equality, fraternity and liberty, seem to me so that the world can exist. I think that human equality -also between men and women- is something that we have to conquer and that still does not exist, neither does freedom, and fraternity is the means to reach both. And besides, we live in war, and war is not a moment of equality, or fraternity, or freedom. Everything we can do to make these values a reality we must do. And through art we can help people feel good and that it is worth living together.
What have you had to give up to be an artist?
To nothing. I have had the opportunity to have the freedom to choose what I wanted to do. I had the freedom to have my career as I wanted, although the truth is that in many moments I had to choose if I wanted to go one way or the other, but the path that does not have freedom and equality does not seem good to me, so that I have never traveled. I had to choose, of course, and put aside people and situations that discriminate against women, who were not paid like men. I chose people who respected me and treated me as an equal.
What role has karate played in your life?
As you can imagine, there weren't many girls who practiced karate, but in this sport I have always been treated as an equal by the boys. I understood that physically they have more strength, but this does not mean that we cannot practice karate and fight against men and do exactly the same. That has given me a lot of respect for the human body and led me to understand that women can do exactly the same as men.
Do you still practice it?
Yes of course. It occupies a very important place, because karate also has a philosophical and spiritual aspect, which is the hara (the center of physical and spiritual strength). Karate is you with your body doing what you can. I see it as an encounter with myself, with my limits, with my energy, with my body, with my strength and determination.
Have they tried to censor him again as they did in Versailles with his lamp made of tampons?
That was very strong. It was a very important moment in my career when I spoke about it at a press conference and explained that it had been censored. A gigantic mess arose, but the truth is that it had been censored and I had to talk about it.
Has it happened to you again?
They try. They hire you or do exhibitions because they consider you subversive, but then they find it too much. They tell me, please, Joana, those women's things that you do… Sometimes I haven't done exhibitions because of that.
The feminist claim is a constant in her work...
There is still a long way to go. A large part of the world does not have our freedoms, as the Iranians do... please, it is not about being born "on the good side", the planet is one. People think that there is a good planet and a bad one, but there is only one. Until we understand it, we are earning the planet to expel us.
What place does irony occupy in your life and in your work?
It's a fun way to generate a space for reflection to make people think in a positive and intelligent way, not confronting directly, going from behind, ha ha ha.
If you had to choose between everything you have at home, what would be your fetish or endearing piece?
It's hard because I really like the design. I like many pieces, but also change them. I love my collection of white porcelain vases. Also the designer chairs and I have already transformed some. If you ask me what I can't do without, I'd say my pieces, of course.
Which is your favorite color?
I like all colors and I think they have a kind of emotional relationship with each moment or situation, but if I had to choose one, I love red.
And if you had to turn down one, what would it be?
Beige because when I dress in it I feel dead. I don't consider it a color, but a tone... so formal, no!
Where do we find Joana Vasconcelos when she is lost to Portugal?
I really like the beach, of course, but also the markets that are all over the city. Lisbon is incredibly beautiful.
Do you like to collect second-hand or vintage things?
I don't like vintage clothes at all, but I do like furniture, vases... I love decorative objects from the seventies and the classics.
Any designer you particularly like?
I greatly admire the Campana brothers, unfortunately Fernando passed away.
In fact, his interventions on furniture are sometimes reminiscent of the Campana...
Sometimes they told me: we could have designed what you have done. And I thought the same about them. There was a point of artistic understanding.
But they came from recycling, from exploitation and their art is more of a craft within the contemporary...
Yes, I am more of an artisan than a recycler.
What new projects do you have on your hands?
We are finishing the tree of life that we are going to present in the Saint-Chapelle of the Château de Vincennes in April. Then we have the wedding cake in England, a giant project that I have been working on for four years. It is a giant ceramic cake with four floors, where you can go up and become one of the dolls that represent the couple.
What attracts you to excess, to the gigantic, a constant in your work?
With the change of scale, you can lead people to think in a different way. The scale is not my goal, but it helps the development of the concept. If I make you a wedding cake where you can climb, of course it can't be small. The same as the shoe made of saucepans. The material, which is part of the discourse, is sometimes what gives you the scale. With all of this put together, you arrive at the concept of what I'm working on.
