Artists statement: Victor Stan

“…that something will emerge that is unknown to me, which I could not plan, which is better, cleverer, than I am, something which is also more universal… in the expectation that a picture would emerge there… one that represents our situation more accurately, more truthfully; that has something anticipatory; something also that can be understood as a proposal, yet more than that; not didactic, not logical, but very free and effortless in its appearance, despite all the complexity.”

-- Gerhard Richter

I am interested in exploring notions of interaction and interference. I see interference and interaction everywhere, in the process of making objects of art, the way the materials interact with each other. In social contexts, one has to engage and interact with others. I am interested in the notion of interference as the act itself, the power it holds in changing the course of history. I believe works of art need to accept a certain responsibility, the responsibility to engage in social critique, to interact with people, objects and concepts. Sometimes I let interference flow freely, allowing it to compose according to its material nature. Sometimes I engage with the material I use in my art on a level that requires me to impose greater limits, to interfere. It’s a give and take relationship, but ultimately something unprecedented is created. In the context of a highly developed society, I have freedoms unparalleled but boundaries just as mysterious. To make socially relevant art, is to make art that can be seen and considered critically by the citizen. It must transcend the decorative decadence of the living room tableau or gallery installation to which it has been relegated by those interested in decorations and decadence. The citizen, busy in the process of production and consumption that typifies the normal life in a capitalist society must be addressed in utilitarian terms. To make socially relevant art is to learn to listen as well as speak, explore and interfere.