“Really the moment I decided I wanted to do art seriously, I left art school. I wanted to be with people who were interested in the same things I was: popular culture.” PeopleArtMomentsWantedSchoolCultureLeftDecidedPopular CultureArt School Author:Aleksandra Mir
“I was a lousy academic. I spent most of my time in the cafeteria. But I met fantastic people from all kinds of fields; law, medicine, history, and they eventually dispersed all over the world to do their fieldwork. I liked the way these people committed to the long term in a sincere, visionary way. Their projects weren't about "next season." They were ten-year commitments. They were lifestyle choices that had traditions of fieldwork built into them - moving around, living on location, discipline, a real rigor for research.” PeopleWorldWayYearsKindLongRealMovingLawChoicesNextTermFieldsDisciplineMetsTenProjectsResearchCommitmentBuiltTraditionSeasonsMedicineCommittedLifestyleAll KindsFantasticLong TermMy TimeSincereAcademicLocationVisionariesLiving OnRigorCafeteriaLifestyle ChoicesFieldwork Author:Aleksandra Mir
“"Naming Tokyo" kicked off at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in June, and it's going to travel to various art institutions for years to come. Every time it is shown, I'm developing the research and involving more and more people in it. The final conclusion of the work would eventually be to put up street signs in Tokyo with my names on them.” PeopleYearsArtNamesStreetsResearchInstitutionsFinalsVariousConclusionDevelopingParisJuneInvolvingTokyo Author:Aleksandra Mir
“Stonehenge had an aura but it was also just stone. Then in the sixties, it became a great hedonistic, hippie, druid, rock-n-roll party site. There are amazing pictures of people up on the stones going wild and that's the image I recreated for my model of the project: full access to everyone. I even invented a Stonehenge soccer team that uses spaces between the stones as goals.” PeopleUseGoalSpacePartyTeamRocksProjectsModelsStonesAccessSoccerRock N RollSixtySiteHippieAurasSpace BetweenDruidsHedonisticSoccer TeamStonehenge Author:Aleksandra Mir
“People get upset when Baghdad, the "Cradle of Civilization" is burning, or when the Buddhas in Afghanistan are falling. These are real concerns.” PeopleRealFallCivilizationConcernBurningUpsetAfghanistanCradleBaghdad Author:Aleksandra Mir
“I'm depending on other people to take the work and run. And if they run in so many directions, they sort of cancel each other out. So the meaning is always open.” PeopleIfsRunningDepending On Others Author:Aleksandra Mir
“You pick people, and they pick you sometimes. It's especially great to connect with people you think you have nothing in common with.” PeopleThinkingSometimesCommonPicks Author:Aleksandra Mir
“The space program caused so much future-thinking in culture. People who couldn't go to the Moon were building space-fantasy chairs and corsets and hairdos and anything that they could put their hands on.” PeopleThinkingHandsCultureSpaceFantasyBuildingMoonProgramChairsSpace ProgramCorsetsHairdosFuture Thinking Author:Aleksandra Mir
“I'm very jealous of an era where people were inventing something so beautiful as the Concorde and thinking that's the next step. I'm jealous of an era when people thought, "Let's finally go to the Moon."” PeopleThinkingBeautifulNextStepsMoonErasJealousInventingNext StepsConcorde Author:Aleksandra Mir