I would like to create a response in people, a feeling or a thought. I am always thinking of my audience as an intelligent one that can think and feel something.
Grace Schwindt
1979
London
Who are you?
I hope I am one of the good ones, a human, rather than someone who turned into a robot.
When did you feel you had to be an artist?
I never felt I had to be an artist, I just always did art.
How would you describe your art?
I would describe it as a constellation, or as a choreography, or a score, in which many elements come together, such as words, colours, movements, bodies, materials, shapes and sounds, each with its specific location within this constellation. It always deconstructs a system in one way or another, looks at it from as many angles as I can think of and talks about how histories of different representation forms have been involved in creating that system. The focus is on the experience of different bodies who have to function within a given system and what it can mean is that bodies are fragile.
What do you hope to achieve with it?
I would like to create a response in people, a feeling or a thought. I am always thinking of my audience as an intelligent one that can think and feel something.
Which artist has made an indelible impression on you?
There are many and I am not only influenced by artists, but also by writers, craftspeople, filmmakers, curators, directors, musicians, composers, dancers and various other people. A few relevant ones for me at the moment are Carson McCullers, Berthold Brecht, Allan Sekula, Francis Alÿs, Chantal Akerman, Rose English, Mike Kelley, Agota Kristof, Truman Capote, The Cramps, Pixies, Nick Cave, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Marcuse, Edward Said, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hannah Höch, George Grosz, Kazimir Malevich as well as various fairy tales and legends and the Catholic Church.
Who do you admire the most?
Anyone who is fearless.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
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About which subject would you like to know more?
Literature, astronomy, law, mathematics, medicine, geology, music composition, dance and philosophy.
What is the one thing you can’t live without, beside art?
The people I love.
What do you dream of?
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Family House (2014) (burned wood and ceramic) © Grace Schwindt / courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
An Order of Things (2014) (live performance) © Grace Schwindt / courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
Cones (2012) (acrylic on paper) © Grace Schwindt / courtesy Zeno X Galery, Antwerp
Tenant (2012) (single channel video) © Grace Schwindt / courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp