10/06/08
Text: Nik Mercer
We couldn't be more excited for the fourth annual Illustrative 2008 Festival in Zürich, Switzerland from October 18 - 26. The event, which has previously been hosted in Berlin and Paris by Pascal Johanssen (of Galerie Johanssen), has only gained traction and acclaim over the course of its relatively short life.
We reported on the week-long shindig a while back, so get the objective information there. Now, though, we present to you a conversation with Johanssen himself.
For starters, could you tell me a little bit about Illustrative, how it was formed, what the impetus was to create it, and what it's evolved into in the three years of its existence?
The idea behind ILLUSTRATIVE is to show free experimental works of illustrators and thus art from "craftspeople" and artists working on commission whose artistic outputs normally are not found in an exhibition context. The quality of this "forgotten art" being presented at ILLUSTRATIVE, has totally surprised many of our visitors in the first years.
Meanwhile one can observe a current has developed in recent years―we call it “illustrative art”―having emancipated itself from classical illustration. The result is a fresh independent art genre affected by handcraft and graphic, which is not only expressing itself in pictures but also manifesting in many facets – beyond the limits of handcraft disciplines, and fine arts. ILLUSTRATIVE annually presents a platform for this kind of art. The event itself is actually a two-week-festival part form, part forum, part exhibition alternately taking place in Berlin as well as in other international metro poles.
Where do you come from, exactly? I understand that your a gallery curator, but more broadly, what're your art world interest and skills?
I have no real art background, I am rather a discoverer. I was always interested in graphics and comic art, but I am not a typical art dealer or something like that.
Before starting the gallery I worked as a research assistant at the University of Arts in Berlin in the field of innovation research. What makes a new idea successful? How are the processes behind new economical or even cultural movements structured? The evolution of ideas : Why are some ideas successful, some not? These were the questions I tried to answer within the last years. Funny to see the reality now...
You seem very drawn to the notion of connecting art and commerce (and the tension that exists between the two). How does the art vs. commerce "battle" manifest itself today and what steps is Illustrative taking to approach and mend the problem?
Art and commerce were always connected. Pop Art freed itself only partially from being charged of economic dependency, which is said to restrict the liberty vital to art. At the same time the free artist as well needs to live on his work and therefore is bound by the market’s demand. At best this fact itself becomes subject of an artwork. Damien Hirst’s Diamond Skull itself seems to be much less interesting than its―in both meanings―performance in the market.
In contrast, designers have the opportunity to find forms and expressions in his or her medium without boundaries of the market. Because they live on forming products, the forms they find independent from a product just as a personal expression have no need to be sold. This kind of work by designers, what is free of appliance, is therefore to be regarded as art – even though their creator may be working applied as well.
Over the recent century the history of art offers numerous examples for the lively interchange between fine and applied arts and design and how similar their topics are. Fine and applied arts cannot be separated in the way which is implied by the separation of their institutions. Historians and theorists of art therefore began to discuss both as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. An exhaustive examination of art it is necessary to make the hitherto neglected works visible and bring them into the light of exhibitions.
The ILLUSTRATIVE presents a facet of contemporary art―and a facet of art which comes from a commercial background. More than that, our actual intention is to reveal a current, which already existed beyond contemporary art and its market, and will exist further on: the world of the new demanding handcraft deserves the same appreciation as art. ILLUSTRATIVE presents works which unite artistic and handcraft tendencies. It is the new forms of design emerging from this mix that we want to show. Illustration being rooted in handcraft, but artistically developing freely, is a prototype for this current.
What drew you to Zürich for this year's festival?
We have an deeply international approach. That’s why we are traveling: First Berlin, then Paris, now Zürich. Switzerland has a long tradition in graphic design. This will be our last show in central Europe in the next two years before coming to Dubai then in March 2009.
