DUPE meets artist Marta Margnetti on her balcony to chat about her practice, bedroom and “Sonnenstube” the independent art space she co-runs in Lugano, Switzerland.
Marta Margnetti’s balcony in Bern, Switzerland
Who are you and what do you do?
That’s maybe the most difficult question, isn’t it? Authorities would say that I’m 27, living in Switzerland. I grew up in the south Italian part of Switerland called Ticino. One of the worst and most beautiful place in this country. I just finished an MA in Contemporary Arts Practice in Bern, and for three years I’ve been managing an art space in Lugano with some friends.
If I really have to say what I do, I simply answer that I’m an artist. Normally this answer engages a lot of discussions. More precisely I manage different materials, I draw, I write and I take part in performances. When I’m bored of the art world (almost always), I just go to concerts or stay on my balcony all day long. I’m quite slow in everything I do. But people say I do a lot… so it’s fine I think.
I have no personal furniture. I’ve furnished my room with found objects that I collected from my flatmates. My room fits in a car and I’m planning to move from Switzerland soon for a while. But don’t ask me where. Ok, if you ask I would say Italy. But I don’t know yet where exactly. Everything is too nice and comfortable here. Somehow unreal. It’s like sleeping for years in a big bed with clean sheets. I will probably come back but at the moment I feel like I need a kick in the butt.
I’m an aquarius, I live in the air.
Ecken, painted wood, Centre Pasquart, Bienne 2016
Describe you practice in 5 words.
Handcrafted, ornamental, repetitive, flat, modular. l’ll offer you a bonus track: Uselessfull. I don’t really speak German but I think they are used to composing a word out of may words. That’s very useful.
Sleepknödel, Old bed sheets, old t-shirt, tape, acryl, concrete, Dienstgebäude, Zurich 2016
Who or what inspires you?
My musician friends. Punk. My bedroom. Couches. My body. Artisanship. The idea of people living alone in the woods. The Black Mountain College was a nice discovery for me. I dream of opening a place inspired by it here in Ticino.
Routine Again, Performing the Black Mountain College, Hamburger Bhanhof, Berlin 2015
What are your chosen tools?
Pencil and paper.
Zusammenkunft w/ Lucas Herzig, 24hrs Project, Tart Gallery, Zurich 2015
Can you talk us through your making process?
Yes I can try. I have two main and separate practices: writing and making visual things. I can’t do both at the same time. I write for weeks, or I manipulate material for weeks. I have a big archive with very different pictures that I collect daily. I have never published or presented my texts. I use them more as inspiring pictures which are part of my archive. I combine them and usually start from there. Then I draw the idea. Finally I choose the material and the technique. Or the contrary. The architecture of the space is also an element that I consider. And then I literally start with a production that is often exhaustive, repetitive and drives me crazy. I love the moment when, as a friend said, the material starts dictating what you do.
Fabrics, old bed sheets, guache, aluminium, Roadside Picnic w/ Lucas Herzig, Lokal-int, Bienne 2015
You’re originally from Ticino and are currently studying in Bern. Did changing region, city and language inform your practice in any way?
I started calculating everything! You know, Swiss people are very precise, especially in the German part. This is a cliché but it is partially true. Sometimes I get mad because of this rigid way of thinking. They have a funny onomatopoeic vocabulary to express the sensation of precision. I’m a very messy person, but my work started to be more precise and designed even if I try to keep a part of the work uncontrolled.
99 Failles, Ceramic, w/ Delphine Battiaz, Usine, Genève 2015
You co-run the independent art space Sonnenstube in Lugano, can you tell us about this project? http://diesonnenstube.ch
A few years ago, I was living in Ticino for a year, working in a gallery. I was very disappointed because I realised that there was very little possibilities for contemporary there (as opposed to commercial art). Right in front of the gallery where I was working, there was an empty open space. Quite nice and not so expensive. So I called people around me who were already somehow engaged in promoting art and music and asked them if they were interested in opening a new space. We opened within one month. Today, three years after, the space is still running. We host around six exhibitions and thirty concerts per year. We try to build a bridge between the locals, the north of Switzerland and Italy while promoting artists that are younger than 35.
Wasted, plaster, Museo Cantonale, Lugano 2016
What are you working on next?
Right now, I’m preparing a performance about shame with my friend Juergen Bogle. And in August I will move into a new studio, shared with 12 other artists.
I would like to find the right way to present my cheesy poems.
In January 2017 I will showcase the italian artist and musician Giacomo Laser aka Gioacchino Turù in Sonnenstube. As a goodbye I offer you one of his songs:
http://diesonnenstube.ch/
http://cargocollective.com/martamargnetti
