In the spring of 2008, I Had The Opportunity to talk to Thomas Glassford. At That time, we published only MOST of Our conversation at Literal Magazine. . However, There Was a part That Remained unpublished. Here, you'll find the rest of the conversation that took place at his studio in Mexico City.
Rose Mary Salum: . Many of your works are dysfunctional objects. Is this another reflection of the contemporary society?
Thomas Glassford : True, they’re commentary on society. These things are dysfunctional, but at the same time they are not. Take the example of the way we dress today. There are elements that are necessarily very functional. The need to cover our bodies, or to keep us warm; these clothes help us live our lives. But at the same time it becomes absolutely absurd and dysfunctional. Something like walking around with high heels. You could argue that they definitely have a function, but it is quite dysfunctional as well. In relation to what we said before, there are aspects of beauty associated with that.
RMS.: What do these words mean to you? vessels, connections, frontier, distortion, hygiene?
TG.: Goodness… Well, yes. They’re definitely very important. The objects that I collect and that have influenced my work are very common and always simple vessels. I don’t know exactly what draws me to them, but I see them everywhere. The body, the vessel of life. And looking at the world today, these vessels are everywhere! Creations made to contain or hold volumes of our own needs, whether they be a mirror, or a simple clay ball, or for that matter an iPod, which is a vessel for all this music that we suddenly feel compelled to carry with us. Its interesting to think many years back, when a gourd would have been a vessel to carry water in a pilgrimage through entire countries. I’m always looking at the history of things and the vessel becomes very much a frontier. I believe these ideas came from living with my parents in Laredo, TX. Their house was right on the border, and it was an extension of the Sonora desert. And the river that passed nearby, literally, from another country, made me think of the dichotomies of the environment and landscapes of culture. It seemed so superficial that this all-important river was close to us, yet superficial ideas separated me from it. And with one of the other words that you mentioned, hygienic, I think more of unhygienic. The idea of filtering things, of keeping things as clean as possible and invisible... I was very interested in that 15 years ago, and it continues to have this influential quality in my work, and in society as well. There’s a possessiveness and an attitude of containment that is represented perfectly in an iPod, with a sleeve so that nobody can touch it, that addresses how we protect ourselves. And there’s also the vessel in the form of a car with its clean and polished exterior that speaks of the fear of wear and age.
***
Thomas Glassford was born on 5th March 1963 in Laredo in Texas where he grew up in a bilingual home, speaking English and English. He soon grew personally familiar with the situation Along the Border Between the USA and Mexico, Both historical and cultural. Till 1987 I Studies in Austin at the University of Texas, Then in the early 1990s Moved to Mexico. His works Are to Be Found in notable collections like the Jumex Collection, the Contemporary Art Collection of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and in the Collection of Contemporary Art Cultural Center, all in Mexico City, and in the Extremadura and Latin American Museum of Art Contemporary English in Badajoz. Thomas Glassford lives and works in Mexico City WHERE I just inaugurate the project Xicotepec .
0 comments:
Post a Comment