From art curating, to discovering and promoting new artists, through fashion design and music. Caio Twombly and Henrik Vibskov in conversation for Lampoon RuVido issue
The prophetic books of William Blake
The prophetic books of William Blake contain a mythopoesis in which the English poet and artist worked to codify his spiritual and political ideas into a prophecy for a new epoch. Wrote Blake in the nineteenth century, «all things that happen on Earth are mirrored in it, and every epoch derives its own forces from it». The following is an Italian-Danish conversation on how antiquity and its mysteries, the classical world, the roots of socio-cultural traditions to which we belong can be present and celebrated in different creative approaches to art: from art curating, to discovering and promoting new artists, through fashion design and music.
What is the archet̆ypum?
Federico Jonathan Cusin
Fashion, art, design, architecture and creative research increasingly dialogue and contaminate each other, what for you remains at the basis of all these cultural vocations? Aristotle wrote about technè, a skill that is both practical and theoretical. What is the archet̆ypum, the original element that unites these forms of humanistic expression?
Caio Twombly
In my experience of confronting with the artists I work with, I notice that they have an extreme phobia of banality. In terms of criticism, whenever an artist wants to present his or her work, it seems that he or she tries very hard to avoid a confrontation that revolves around the banal, the already done or already seen. I think this fear is a modern predicament and it is interesting to understand how we have evolved to this stage. In a world of atavistic and ancestral rights, it seems that banality played less of a predominant role. In hindsight, everything seemed to be created with more sincerity. This sincerity for me is the quintessence of art and is able to unite all of its various declinations. Originality is what defines new artistic experimentation, but I don’t think it can exist without sincerity.
Henrik Vibskov
Regarding banality, I believe that many creative minds in recent decades are terrified of making mistakes. It seems that creatives and the business they find themselves working with are afraid of overdoing it and moving too far beyond the boundaries of an imaginary square. It seems dangerous to have fun, it seems that critical turbulence will follow afterwards. This obsession leads to boredom, to not taking any risks. Here is where the corruption of sincerity finds lifeblood in fear. So that what has already been approved by most, starting with what they teach in schools, is repeated. Creativity today is like a pendulum that swings within certain limits. To make mistakes is to evolve – the greatest inventions come from errors or unplanned results.
The fashion world, the art system and the creative otium
Federico Jonathan Cusin
The fashion world and the art system share a very high rhythm of evolution. How do you approach this speed and the need to cultivate at the same time a return to slowness, to the creative otium so appreciated in the ancient world?
Henrik Vibskov
I don’t think it is necessary for the whole creative industry to keep such a fast pace. the importance of the opportunity to reflect is lost. however, I have to say that I am rather restless, so I wonder if it is society or it is me who needs to keep these rhythms.
Caio Twombly
It’s a sacrifice I am willing to make and most of the time I do it with joy. I find stimulation in taking on several projects at the same time, in keeping my mind in motion.
PRACTICAL INTELLIGENT GENIUS FOUNDATION (P:I:G) and AMANITA
Federico Jonathan Cusin
In every era, there has always been a need to protect and support creative talent. PRACTICAL INTELLIGENT GENIUS FOUNDATION (P:I:G) and AMANITA are two contemporary places where an “ancient” mission is pursue
Henrik Vibskov
The idea to create the PRACTICAL INTELLIGENT GENIUS FOUNDATION – established in 2014 – comes from my work as a professor in various design schools. I often have to deal with youth cultures and the education they receive. Hence, I wanted to create a place where we can help new creative minds, regardless of the area in which they choose to work and the mediums they use to express their artistic language. Every year anyone can apply for P:I:G, which is self-funded and receives applications from all over the world. We create a time for meeting and discussion, rewarding the most deserving project with a financial prize.
Caio Twombly
Similar to Henrik, I am opening an artist residency at Palazzo Altemps – purchased by Cy Twombly in 1975 in Bassano in Teverina, an hour from Rome. The name of the foundation is Iris Trust and will be inaugurated in July. We will host interdisciplinary artists who can create there and present their work in a subsequent exhibition held in one of our galleries in New York or Florence. AMANITA is a young gallery, working mainly with emerging talents; one of our ambitions is to encourage, particularly in Italy, avant-garde experimentation that transcends academic rules and what is deemed appropriate in the art system.
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross and the transcending the fear of death
Federico Jonathan Cusin
Speaking of inspiration that comes from the study and recovery of ancient traditions, the gallery’s name refers to an ancient universe of access to new dimensions that pisco-physically transcend the fear of death.
Caio Twombly
My father is a mycologist of sorts, he is passionate about the study of mushrooms, and so am I. The gallery’s name is inspired by the amanita muscaria commonly called the ‘spy,’ which is red with white mottling. I read John’s The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, which speaks of a mystical place in Greece where in ancient times many Roman senators, and even Marcus Aurelius, participated in psychedelic shamanic rituals in which the amanita muscaria was employed to triumph over the fear of death. The gallery is named after this historical mushroom because for me it is synonymous with courage.
The BIBLIOTECA OF MICRO SELVES
Federico Jonathan Cusin
Continuing on the theme of inspiration, how did the BIBLIOTECA OF MICRO SELVES collection come about? It seems to be characterized by timeless themes such as the human relationship with nature and the desire for discovery. The Italian word “biblioteca” (library) brings to mind a place where traces of past knowledge are preserved, where the past can be experienced again in the present.
Henrik Vibskov
Talking about inspirational sources, it is at night that I am most in touch with myself. It happens that I wake up around 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning, immerse myself in an imaginary world and ideas come to me. At first they are very conceptual, then I work out how to develop them in relation to their concrete application, whether it be for fashion or to create a sculpture. The starting point is always an interest in how people live. For instance, the bathroom has become a place I’ve been thinking a lot lately: how and what it is made of, the material the towels are made of, what people do when they are in there. Maybe it’s in the bathroom where we have the most opportunity to become intimate with ourselves in front of a mirror. BIBLIOTECA OF MICRO SELVES starts by asking my co-workers what they would want to take with them if they were to leave this planet. Some chose concrete, everyday objects, others abstract ones such as grammar. From here, we asked ourselves how we could catalog all these elements in a library of the future and tried to translate the knowledge and narrative that these components represent in terms of human history through the creation of clothes.
Caio Twombly
Thinking of archiving and what you would bring to another planet makes me think about the Voyager Golden Records of NASA. A time capsule launched into space aboard the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. NASA engineers made a selection of natural sounds, images and music that they ideally sent to extraterrestrial life forms. It includes photographs of humans eating, short greetings in fifty-five languages of the world – from Sumerian to Japanese dialects – to pieces by Beethoven and music by Louis Armstrong. There are also lesser-known songs, such as Blind Willie Johnson’s Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, written in the Twenties. The Voyager spacecraft has gone beyond our solar system, I wonder if this legacy of culture resonating in the universe has been intercepted by anyone.
Wagner’s Parsifal, Opera and music
Federico Jonathan Cusin
Actually, you are both connected to or fascinated by music in some way: how do you perceive the research around sound, lyrics and the ancestral rhythms with which it develops? Henrik, you are also a costume designer for opera, one of the theatrical genres where mankind’s primordial emotions are best expressed between acting and singing.
Henrik Vibskov
My older brothers and sisters gave me a drum kit when I was young, which, in the sense of percussion, I believe was mankind’s first instrument. That was my entry into the creative universe. I played a lot as a drummer and also participated in a few raves in Italy. A strong fascination remains in me for how one can experiment with sound; percussion and dance are extremely deep–rooted factors of humanity. I also practiced hip-pop and breakdance. With opera I have challenged myself with some complex and very long lasting ones such as Wagner’s Parsifal. At the moment, I prefer to work in theater for ballet or contemporary dance performances.
Caio Twombly
Going back to the topic of originality and sincerity, my favourite music is folk music. it is a vehicle for me to get closer to different cultures and personalities. A few days ago I was listening to Argentina chacarera, traditionally performed by violins; it does not seem strange to me that those who listen to this music are very good at football. When we opened the New York branch of the gallery, we hosted some Japanese drummers and they let me try to play. it was an atavistic feeling, as if I had been playing all my life. A kind of ritual I knew how to perform. Unlike Henrik, I have always had a distant relationship with dance, especially in a contemporary and amateur dimension.
Amanita and TIME GHOST
Federico Jonathan Cusin
Fabrics, just like colors and canvases, are often the medium and repository of an artistic act. Among the artists represented by Amanita, one in particular has chosen to elevate velvet to his favorite medium. How do you both explain this fascination for a fabric rich in history and fascination? I also think about Henrik’s artwork TIME GHOST or his fashion shows – how much importance has the choice of fabric and its processing? Seems to be also mythologically connected to the myth of the three Parcae who wove the destiny of humans to the point of cutting the thread and decreeing their death.
Caio Twombly
Leonardo Meoni uses a type of Venetian velvet that allows him to draw on it as if it were a canvas, moving the fibers of the fabric; he has also chosen to imprint spray colors on the opulence of the velvet. In this case, the work of art lies in the chosen medium: one works neither by subtraction nor by addition but rather by using the peculiarities of this historical fabric.
Henrik Vibskov
I have studied how textiles are handcrafted, their structure, coloring and how the fibers are woven together. They form the basis of my creative research and I try to use them in various ways, to create spaces, installations, garments, works of art, as in the case of TIME GHOST. I like to create a kind of architecture around bodies through fibers. Since antiquity textiles have enabled us to survive, to shelter ourselves. They play a predominant role in the evolution of mankind.
Caio Twombly
Caio Twombly, co-founder and curator of Spazio Amanita in Florence, Italy – passionate about the study of fungi. The amanita muscaria is the one we refer to, commonly called the ‘spy,’ red in color with white mottling. Vittorio Maria del Maso’s work takes its cue from this
Henrik Vibskov
Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, Henrik Vibskov is a fashion designer. Vibskov’s name is commonly associated with more than just a fashion label, but also a variety of twisted, tantalizing universes associated with each collection.
