Kirsten Kay Thoen

Artist Kirsten Kay Thoen talks to us about spiritual art, mediation and the inspiration behind her light sculpture. 

View fullsize

Arboreal Prism
2013
Duratrans, plexiglass, brass, LED, electronic components
24 x 24 x 32"

THE UNLIMITED - What is your process and what helps you get into your zone?

Kirsten Kay Thoen - Meditation is a part of my process, daily grounding in this urban complex of New York City is major. It is a way to also try to tap back into these experiences I have had in nature, so that's huge. It is really just sitting with the imagery for a length of time. I have these entire archives so certain images will speak to me and they will start calling forth geometry that I begin seeing. It is an abstract process these forms are not in any way literal but they are more energetic speaking. I begin drawing in my 3D modeling prototypes.

TU - What is your biggest ambitions? How big would you go with your work?

KKT - I have a proposal that I am writing that is definitely very ambitious to get funding for. It is incorporating physical computing to make it interactive. I am seeing this piece that will incorporate solar panels to energize the actual movement of the work. There is new technology that has created translucent solar paneling. I want to try to use it with motors and microcontrollers  to almost unravel over time a cocoon like shape that is very large scale, maybe 10 or 12ft. Then inside as it unravels over a period of time there is a gem like light-structure that has also been energized by the solar panels that is revealed.

TU - Whats are challenges, on a day-to-day basis?

View fullsize

Ice Fractal, #1
2014
C-print on Duraflex & plexiglass
21 x 21 x 2.5"

KKT -My ideas are very expansive and they often involve a high level of production and collaboration with fabricators. I have been building that network, but a lot of it is also funding the concepts.  A huge challenge along the way has been that I come from a photography background, not a sculpture background, so I am very self-trained at this point. I have self taught myself 3D modeling and CAD (Computer-aided design).

TU - What is light for you besides just an energy and element in your work?

KKT - I think it is bonds the work with its  energy and the subtle life-like illusion that it creates. I do think it has this functionality to it,  in the way it asserts a little bit more within the space. It has this aura of light around it, this little sort of glow helps to assist in that world that I am creating. I also really like how light plays on perception on all levels like perception of photography, and perception of viewing the work.

TU - How do you feel about digital and instagram? Do you find it draining or inspiring?

KKT - That is actually a part of my work, the ubiquity of imagery in the digital era. I am asserting a physicality in that virtual space,  a physical experience of this media.

In a way I am creating the potential of someone to linger longer with the work. The movement across the wall of 2D imagery in a gallery, the speed of that absorption, is also something I am trying to divert.

Instagram @kirs_thoen    /       http://kirstenkaythoen.com

Kirsten works will be a part of "Topography" Group Show at Gallery Nine5, Soho, NYC (Opening reception: Saturday, January 17th, 6-8pm)

Mike and Claire : Un-Seriously Serious

Obsessed with fairy tales, moving images and availableism, creative duo Mike and Claire open up about their latest story Grimms and their role in redefining the modern day classics. 

Image from the story Characters - courtesy of Mike and Claire 

Inspiration - Grimms 

Claire: Over Thanksgiving break Mike found this beautiful calendar for the 2014 year of Grimm's illustrations. We really liked them and kind of wanted to make a project that was our interpretations of these illustrations. It started out us wanting to stay in the realm of those illustrations that we found but by the time we got around to actually shooting them we realized that we were kind of essentially just really inspired by the illustrations in making up our own stories. Instead of like Cinderella or Little Mermaid or anything like that it became more like we wanted to address like gender and politics through this idea of a fairytale and it sort of feels like the project isn't finished yet, feels like just the beginning and we were really inspired by primary colors and keeping it sort of in this realm.

Mike: A lot of our work is always talking about issues that are really important to us but doing it in a playful way because we feel like if you’re too aggressive about something or if you approach it in a way that is really serious people don't want to be involved in it, or they like get too wrapped up in it to so that they don't really cause a change.

C: Its just like seriously, un-serious or maybe un-seriously serious

Don't Touch Me by Mike and Claire

Don't Touch Me by Mike and Claire

Don't Touch Me by Mike and Claire

Reinventing the Classics 

M: I feel like these fairy tales or these morals need to be reinvented for a new generation because everything seems like its a little too far behind, you know? The idea of needing a prince charming is something that is becoming obsolete to people now, which feels really good. Then there is just the perspective of us making work as two queer people and wanting to have stuff like that available to other people. Basically were just trying to make work that starts new conversations.

C: I think with the idea of the fairy tale its been so watered down and saturated by things like Disney for example, like the Little Mermaid. The Disney movie has a happy ending, and I mean the real tale is fucked up and she gets her tongue cut off and she dies and like that is fucked up and there are numerous tales like that. Its basically like you are sugar coating a really scary thought to put in a child's mind to teach them a lesson and that has been really interesting to us because I feel like through our own work were still like growing as people too and in some ways its like lessons to ourselves that we learn that we try and put back into the work, maybe.

"The fairy tale its been so watered down and saturated by things like Disney..."

Don't Touch Me - Image courtesy of Mike and Claire 

Modern Day Fairy Tale 

M: We heard this story today about this person who's lover forgot their suitcase and they were like, “can you bring my suitcase on the plane” and they were like, “sure” so they flew over and then the police went into their suitcase and found a bunch of heroin.

C: He had never met the girl before, so he brought over this suitcase that had a bunch of heroin in it and they spent the rest of their life in jail together. It sounds like a modern day Grimm's fairytale. Its just that brutal and its kind of exciting. Its kind of a Pandora's box situation, not really, but its like you don't open the suitcase what the hell?

M: Its the same thing its just modern fairy tale.

C: Yeah, its just like we are making things to fit what we want to see. It is funny because I feel like one of my all time favorite movies is Edward Scissor Hands and i love that movie so much because its taking Beauty and the Beast and redoing it in a really like beautiful modern way. I don’t know, for some reason that movie just like always sticks with me and I really, really love how he did that film. It is just that idea of taking such a basic idea and placing it in the modern world. It always feels like new or something.

M: The idea of like a cellphone being something magic is kind of disregarded as something trivial or kind of stupid or like things that take place in modern day world aren't magical anymore and thats kind of a strange thing to me because basically all fairy tales take place in like ancient times but its cool reinventing stories or just reinventing things that have elements of today in it.

Creating As a Duo

 M: We’re definitely not exactly the same but we are the same in the way that we recognize each other's differences when we are working and my style of work really compliments Claire's style of work and Claire's style of work really compliments my style of work.

C: It is funny because we had a guest critique in our class a while ago and he kind of told us like you guys are from the same pole, but Mike was like were from the opposite poles and we meet in the middle. I feel like Mike is like really slick and I’m like kind of a country bumpkin and I don’t know how to explain that more but thats for me kind of where it like meets in the middle. I guess if you look at what we used to do separately Mike is really slick and I used to do a lot of like digital mash up shit and I think we have sort of found a way to mash that together which is cool, but idea wise I feel like were very much on the same page do you feel like that?

M: yeah definitely

"Mike is like really slick and I’m like kind of a country bumpkin."

Availableism 

M: We have always been really interested in the idea of availableism, which is making work with what you have available and it even applies to making food or it can be anything just using what you have available around you. So, if you have you know 500 slinkies that we found on the street then were going to make a project that uses slinkies.

M: Everything DIY

Interview by - Karin Bar 

@Kat_in_NYC

Kat Irlin is a Russian born photographer now based in NYC. She gained prominence in the photography world through her popular instagram, which now has over 460,000 followers.

Were you a photographer before instagram?

No.

What were you before?

Before instagram, I graduated school with a degree in finance. Then I did human resources for 10 years. 

What was the big change?

When I joined instagram, I started getting really positive feedback on my work. I have always loved photography but I was never a photographer. I started posting pictures of New York for the most part in the beginning. The feedback had been great and people were saying, ‘oh, you should be doing this full time.’ Kind of thing. So at that point I was over human resources and kind of sitting in one place, and I needed something where I could be running around and getting creative. A year ago, I decided to take the plunge and do photography full time.

"I think the way I see things is kind of interesting because I grew up in St. Petersburg, which is a very beautiful, very European city. As kids we were always in some museum, or watching a play, so I think that made a huge impact on how I see things."

"There are images of New York that sell, the Empire State Building, a skyscraper, a sunset, a vanishing point. These are the images that people are most engaged with and get the most likes."

What’s the major difference for you between shooting with your iphone and a professional camera?

I think it is the thought that you put into it. You can create great images with the iphone. It is more about what you are trying to communicate, or if you are trying to create or portray, or say something with your images. On instagram it is more about posting something pretty, like your coffee. 

So when was the shift moving from iphone to regular cameras?

I think it was more actually learning to use a camera. I had never really used a camera, so I think it was more about learning. Right now I shoot with a Fuji XE1, and it shows because you see all these other guys with huge cameras. I mean I have a Nikon D800, but I mostly shoot with this, so you see guys with all big cameras and me with my little camera like snapping in everybody’s way. So yeah, learning to use the camera, and then when I realized I was going to start treating instagram as my portfolio more, versus just a social media platform. So now, mostly what I post is from the camera.

Do you think the instagram following has changed since you became more professional?

I think my following in general appreciates a good image. For the most part I don’t post like HDR or super colorful, mostly black and white, so I think my following is more artsy. 

You are some what an ambassador to the city?

I mean, yeah I love New York. New York is my favorite city. It is sort of my muse I guess you could say. It is amazing. The energy, the people. The atmosphere is ever changing depending on the season, or the year, or the day. There is no city like it in the world. It continuously inspires me. 

Do you see yourself going towards more dynamic photography or sticking with stills?

Instagram can try and create all these different tools, and videos, but its not going to work on instagram. People do not care about video on instagram. You go through your feed and literally spend a second on each photo. It is much less engagement with video. I think it is always going to be a place for stills. 

"I try not to follow other photographers, so I can always come up with my own ideas and creations. There is a very fine line between plagiarizing and being inspired. I see so many posts inspired by @kat_in_nyc but I mean you are just copying my freaking idea. I guess its not an issue, I should be flattered or whatever."

How do you see fashion and social media coming together?

My job as a ‘journalist’ so to say, is to be able to portray the most interesting way, but still applying my aesthetic. I try to make my imagery different from everybody else’s as possible. I try to capture a different light or a different edit, or angle. So I treat those images as I treat everything else, I try to have sort of my stamp on it. So when someone sees an image they know it is mine. Trying to also portray the mood that was there, or what the designers were going for. 

Do you see yourself doing other things in the creative world?

Everybody has an iphone and is a photographer. I have a friend who has done journalism in war epicenters, but now with all the smart phones there is so much less need for that. I think the content it moving away from being generated by agencies, to being generated by people. It is moving in a different direction that way. I think for myself I would like to get into creative direction. I have a good visual sense, so do a campaign for a brand or something.

Advice for someone else?

Have your own style. Something people can recognize you for.

Credits:

interview by: Karin Bar, photography by: Kat Irlin (taken from instagram @kat_in_nyc)

Tony Lorenzi: Raised by Jay

On October 17th Tony Lorenzi is opening a pop-up exhibition titled "Raised by Jay". This one day only Williamsburg exhibit features images from the artist's childhood that have been edited to create a feeling of Jay-Z's presence. The Unlimited asked Lorenzi some questions to find out why he had an "Empire State of Mind" growing up on a different continent.

In Sweden is there a large hip-hop scene, and how influenced is it by the American hip-hop scene?

Absolutely. I’d say that it started off with influence from the states, to claim anything else would be a lie. I believe the same goes for the entire world. And of course it still is inspired by America…I mean its easy to see how Swedish MCs style wise mimic Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar or whoever is hot right now…even though they would never admit it of course. But a big difference comparing now and then is that the English-language was frequently used in the beginning of Swedish hip-hop while most rappers now use Swedish in their songs.

And even though there was a rap scene early on it didn’t evolve to become great until the mid 90’s (according to me). And today it its really bigger and better than ever before…a lot more commercially accepted…and, depending on taste of course, I’d say that Sweden has one of the best graffiti-scenes in the world. But that might be another difference between America and Sweden, how we define hip-hop. I think of it the traditional KRS-way, with the four elements (including graffiti) while in America hip-hop as a definition seems to have become more
limited to the music-genre. Nevertheless, writers often talk about the time when national television in Sweden aired Style Wars as the starting point for the graffiti scene in Sweden. We have always been looking to USA on how to do it.

How did you first come into contact with American hip-hop, and Jay-Z specifically?

Well, it started with skateboarding and even if it is not officially a part of hip-hop I’ve always seen it as closely related to it. My kid sister and me had a favorite movie called Thrashin’ which starred Josh Brolin amongst others which we watched over and over after our parents recorded it from TV. But maybe that is off topic since you are probably referring to music and not the culture…

A group called Looptroop Rockers is from my hometown Västerås (which recently released a single produced by Lord Finesse btw) and they did a lot of gigs, which I think made me interested in the musical part of hip-hop since I was already into graff. I then started listening a lot to NWA, Ice T, Cypress Hill, 2 Live Crew, Wu Tang and Outkast amongst others. So when I found hip-hop I also found friends and one of my friends introduced me to Jay Z’s music. I think it was when he featured Big L’s Lifestyles ov da Poor & Dangerous when I heard him for the first time…but it wasn’t until Reasonable Doubt I really got hooked.

Where do you find the common ground between you and Jay-Z? You have such different backgrounds and yet you feel connected enough to say he "raised" you, what makes you feel this way?

I’ve thought a lot about this…and you are absolutely right that we have nothing in common really. The clash between hip-hop culture and Sweden don’t rhyme at all (no pun intended) and that’s why I think I focus so much on this in my art where I kind of question how I fell in love with
hip-hop from the beginning. If I look at it from a distance I would say that hip-hop is a part of America, I mean it belongs to American culture while Swedish culture has nothing at all that compares to hip-hop. And maybe it is just that, the feeling of being raised in a country which
creative culture doesn’t interest you which makes you search for something else. My grandparents are from Italy and Denmark, and my grandmothers husband was from the Czech Republic so their influence also gave me a feeling of belonging to the world rather then to just Sweden. Also I remember how I loved to draw but I seemed like a dorky thing to draw horses or whatever while graffiti seemed more exciting to the younger me. In the same way writing rhymes seemed cooler than having a diary or writing poetry.

But back to the question, when you feel this way, in love with a culture that doesn’t really belong to you, you look for someone to guide you in it so that you can (from the other side of the Atlantic) understand it fully. This is where Jay Z plays a big part since he seemed to embody
the personal traits which I didn’t have…he seemed so confident as a person and at the same time he wrote texts that to me was and still is brilliant in so many levels that the common person cant even grasp it. I mean, the general non-believer in hip-hop thinks it is only about the
material things mentioned in there, or the violence or whatever else negative aspects that you might find in it. Even when it comes to understanding his lyrics, I’m confident I understand them to a deeper level then ANY Jay Z-fan out there. To me, it has always been about listening to a man talking about his life, his surroundings, his thoughts and feelings. I mean, when Drake became the Drake we know today people labeled it as some sort of emo-rap but to me Jay was just that way earlier, you just have to listen more carefully.

I could go on forever but to keep it short, his music raised me in the way that he gave me confidence, different hands-on or more metaphorical ways of how to act in different situations, the hustling game over there seemed to resemble the relation I as a graffiti-writer had to cops over here, an idea about how you have to commit to stuff in order to succeed, a greater interest in literature which no teacher could ever give me and all these quotes or lines I know by heart from different songs pop up in my head in situations as some sort of advice when I need it the most. He gave comfort when feeling down, attitude before a basketball game, inspiration when I needed it. In short, he has been like an extra parent.

What is your favorite Jay-Z song?

Song cry. Easiest question so far. I have a lot of memories connected to that song. Thats a great example of him being emotional but still keeping I cocky as if he has to because of the expectations on you. But no matter what you can still understand that he is a great person beneath that cocky surface and harsh words, so even if he can’t see tears coming from his eyes, just the thought of sheading tears is admitting your vulnerable self.

Did this bond with American hip-hop music ever alienate you from people in Sweden?

Yes. And it still does. People (and I can only speak about Sweden) and mostly older generations don’t get rap, graffiti, breakdance or Dj-ing. At the most, it is stuff you do when you are young, as if it is a joke. To me it is life and a way of thinking. The same goes for people you grew up with which was into hip-hop but has left it because they think it is impossible to work in a bank and listen to rap or write graffiti. So to some extent it is like it is okay if you are a certain age to be involved with hip-hop, but if you don’t “fit in” when getting older you are being looked upon as someone strange. Of course it is easier in for example Stockholm than in smaller cities in Sweden. But at the same time hip-hop gave me my best friends. So I never had a problem with feeling alienated, it has built my character and the person I am today.

photgraphed by Daniel Lindqvist

Who are some other rappers you connect with?

I love Lil Wayne, Common, Pusha…and Kanye…other than that I mostly listen to 90’s hip-hop and Swedish hip-hop. When I find a good record it is on repeat for years, I’ve been that way with all Drake-records for an example. That dude is a genius.

Do you think the fact that you living in Sweden came into contact with Jay-Z a Brooklyn based rapper and were able to feel such a bond with him is an example of American globalization?

Definitely. I’m raised with Disney, Coca-Cola, Hip-Hop, Skateboarding and other typical American traits. So of course the American globalization plays a big part in me getting so into Jay Z. I still think it is strange though, how I can feel so much for a country and a culture which I have never experienced for real more than on vacations. Even more than the culture I’m supposed to love as much. But I love that I have the possibility to feel that way of something that isn’t sprung from the country I was born in.

Maybe that is why I also have a hard time understanding the nationalistic thoughts growing in Europe right now. We should all hold hands and love each other instead of hating each other for various stupid reasons because this is mine or that is yours or whatever. The world is ours to take care of. 

Rebelution Ink, 560 Grand street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The Infinity Pool

The Infinity Pool is a digital exhibition space that features a different artist each month. The digital platform was created by artists David Alexander Flinn and Adam Patrick Ianniello. The Unlimited sat down with the two to talk about how this digital curated space functions, and Adam's currently running series.

What is The Infinity Pool?

David: The infinity pool is an entity. It is like an alien brain hovering in space. That is how I think of it.

A word to describe it?

David: Vacation.

Adam:
It is like an alien thing, but it is also a bit like a labyrinth in the way that we want it to be complex and we want you to feel like you are lost in it.

David:
The evolution of it and its natural design, the growth is not linear, so it is constantly going to be zig-zagging and bouncing between universes and dimensions because it is dealing with totally different subject matter from totally different people. Some alive, some dead.

It is already everything, so it will never need to expand. I think that is the benefit of having it be something digital and kind of ephemeral. It is unbound by weight, by rent, it has no limitations, which to me makes it everything. If the infinity pool became a gallery format, physical manifestation, it would just be a gallery. You loose the freedom to be entirely open to any type of project.

I think watching the artists grow, and watching the capability of the infinity pool grow, that growth in enough.

We have a really big sense of humor, and something we are really into is challenging institutions and challenging standard notions of right or wrong, so I think that is the beauty of having it as an abstract entity.

Adam:
We take people that are not comfortable being in a gallery, or showing art in a gallery. Then pushing then to do something that would be the equivalent of exhibiting work. We are getting them outside their box and we are learning more about ourselves and what we sort of like to see from them. It is a push and a pull when we finally get to meet, and finally get to talk about something. They do not know themselves going into it what they want to do. It is always cool to guide them along their path and figure out who they are for the website.

"The main thing is we are interested in the work, thats all. There is no money, no sponsors, there is just us wanting to see people make good work, and trying to give them the opportunity with what we have, which is this."

That is what the website is, we want it to be a sort of rite of passage. In the sense that people feel comfortable doing it but they have to step up and do something more than they have normally been doing.

Adam:
We do not want mid-career people, we don’t want people everyone knows. We either want people that are emerging in a way, or people that we idolize and respect greatly. We wanted to have new people where we can have a fresh look at things.

If the infinity pool had to exist in a world without internet what would it be?

David:
I think the infinity pool would have been more like a monthly book.

Adam:
An AA meeting.

David:
Either like an AA meeting or a monthly...its already kind of like an AA meeting. I think probably a monthly or quarterly book. I am thinking if we met in the 1700s what we would have done and it probably would have been like a manifesto. Yeah a manifesto.

Flags-  Adam Ianniello exhibit on The Infinity Pool 

What inspired you to produce for this month? as a founder and participant

Smoke-  Adam Ianniello exhibit on The Infinity Pool 

Adam:
In the past year I have been going upstate to work, to photograph. Every time I go up there it will clear my mind and I figure out new projects to do, especially in the form that I do them, which is dark room photography. The first time I went up there I went to a place which is a Tibetan monastery. Its all deep up in the hills of Woodstock, and there is an area up there that is basically a path where monks walk everyday and its covered with these Tibetan prayer flags. So that really inspired me and I really got into wanting to do something with Tibetan prayer flags and I sort of dove deep into Buddhism and meditation. When this month came around I decided to go back up in August and I brought a video camera with me, and I started filming things. I spent the whole week filming nature basically. Just whatever I felt like doing, I wanted to film. When I came back I realized I could use that footage and sort of transcode them into the flags themselves. All the flags have a good luck meaning, and they are broken down into five elements: sky, wind, earth, fire, and water. When that hit me I realized I am going to do five videos and each of them is going to contain just that element, and try to portray it in the most pure way possible.

I think when we talk about the infinity pool we always talk about taking whatever practice we do and trying to transform it into a digital format. Approaching it as this is what I am, this is what I do, this is what I like to do, but I have to make it in a way that people on the internet will understand. Which is different than the way that “the gallery” would fit into the picture.

I basically took what I did photographically, and turned that into a video format. So people could visualize what it is like to stand in front of one of my pieces.

http://www.theinfinitypool.com