Interdisciplinary artists Manon Awst & Benjamin Walther talk to Louise Geijer about their work at the 14th edition of Art Forum Berlin.
Text by Art Editor Louise Geijer
The artist couple Manon Awst and Benjamin Walther creates art that explores today’s modern age, with an emphasis on human and social themes through performances, installations, sculptures and drawings.
WHAT DO YOU CREATE?
– Physical responses to the world we are living in triggered by
our concerns, fears, threats and obsessions.
DESCRIBE YOUR WORK WITH ONE SENTENCE.
– It is always made by the two of us and is simultaneously
luscious and hard-hitting.
WHAT QUALIFIES A GOOD ARTIST?
– A good artist is one who is investigative and playful but thinks tough. He or she never loses curiosity, is sincere and uncompromising.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ICONS?
– Figures who broaden our horizon through their unique approach
towards the world. If we brought it down to visual artists then Bruce Nauman,
Francis Bacon, Joseph Beuys and Martin Kippenberger would be up there on top.
DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT STATE.
– We’re preparing an installation to mark the 20th Anniversary of
the fall of the Berlin Wall. It takes place at the German Embassy in London on
the 9th November.
WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?
– Being generous.
WHERE IS THE PLACE TO BE?
– In the studio.
Picture above: Husband and wife team Manon Awst & Benjamin Walther, by photographer Mazime
Ballesteros.
Artwork:
Temptation 2008, by placing an apple next to a grenade the artist duo wants us
to re-evalute our preconceptions. Which object do you consider positive
or negative, good or bad in this new context?
Online: awst-walther.com
