Emma Talbot and Gaugin’s take on nature’s false refuge
She talks about her work at Venice and Gaugin’s influence
By Fabio Pariante
Fabio Pariante (FP) talks to British artist Emma Talbot (ET) about how the art world is tackling climate change, her work at the Venice Biennale, and art therapy.
FB
Hi Emma, could you tell us about Where Do We Come From, What Are We, Where Are We Going? at Venice?
ET
I had a conversation with Cecilia Alemani, the curator of The Milk of Dreams, when she invited me to make work for the 2022 Venice Biennale, about the subject of the exhibition, about what it meant to be human, about our relationships to ecology and technology, and immediately afterwards the three existential questions that form the title of Paul Gauguin’s painting were in my mind. I thought it was interesting that Gauguin had hoped to escape to a natural idyll in Tahiti – but when he got there, he found that the place was already corrupted by Western colonisation. I thought that it paralleled our contemporary ideas of nature as a place of escape (or to escape to) – when we have already corrupted and exhausted the natural world. It led me to think about our complex relationships with nature, in the context of how humans are driven to control and dominate, to see themselves at the centre – and how strange and parasitic human behaviour is. These ideas are cast against a backdrop of ecological disaster, marking some of the most urgent issues of our time. I think Alemani’s biennale seeks to mark our time and tell our urgent stories.
FP
Regarding the climate crisis, the world is changing very quickly. The environment, nature, and societies are changing. What do you think about this?
ET
I think we’re living in volatile, disturbing times and we need to urgently address the climate crisis. I see a lot of accelerationist right wing politics driving governmental decisions across the globe and have wanted to use my work to advocate for the idea that power could be put to different uses. What I mean is, the world could be a fairer and more caring place. Not only caring for humans and better social structures, but for the planet. We could seek to find systems that were less based on accumulation and greed. This is not a utopian fantasy. During the pandemic, lots of writers and thinkers (like Arundhati Roy) were articulating similar ideas – because without change, we’re in danger of sleepwalking into disaster.
FP
How is the art world dealing with climate change?
ET
In the first lockdown, when galleries and museums were shut, I really did ask myself what art was for and what it did. I was really encouraged by the writing of Isabelle Stengers, Latour, Haraway, Le Guin, and others who reinforced the importance of story-telling as a way of sharing, explaining, and recounting the multiple experiences of our time. It was useful because it inspired me to extend the narratives in my work by teaching myself to make animation – a medium that meant I could share work on virtual platforms when real spaces were closed. It also made me really try to articulate ideas that shaped our time. I think art has a great capacity to open up thinking and to offer insights, using means that are unexpected. I’ve addressed the climate emergency in recent work (through L’Età/The Age the Max Mara Prize exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery and Maramotti Collection, and my Frieze London special project 21st Century Herbal) by exploring the principles of permaculture and researching the various properties of plants. I also incorporated the use of sustainable materials where possible and reduced the carbon footprint of the transportation of my work. Several large exhibitions are addressing the subject of ecology and climate emergency. Bringing sustained attention to a subject is what brings about change.
FP
Meditation has become an important aspect of your life since the death of your husband. You have said it helps you to deal with the pain of losing a loved one. Can you tell us more about this?
ET
After I became a widow, I just wanted to account for the feelings I encountered every day – to account mostly for grief and personal survival. I wanted to get out all the thoughts and emotions that made up my experience of being alive. Over time, the work has begun to also address issues outside of myself, the kinds of contemporary politics (technology, ecology, feminism, ageing, power structures, urbanism) that shape our lives – the kinds of things that preoccupy us and form the zeitgeist. Whether the ideas in my work are realised in drawing, 3D making, painting or animation really depends on finding the right materiality to suit my ambitions for each work.
FP
Any exciting projects in the pipeline?
ET
In 2023, I have exhibitions in China, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, and Germany. I have solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Giessen and Kesselhaus, Berlin for which I’m making all new work. I’m just at the beginning of researching, but I’m excited to develop my work in terms of content and materiality, building on what I’ve recently been doing.
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