Conversation with Bianca Barandun
1. This is your second time participating in an artist residency on the island, with your first residency in 2022. How has your work evolved since then?
Right after my first stay in Mallorca, I began to create works that delved more into the sculptural realm, exploring the interface between drawing and sculpture. One of my goals was to create sculptures in space for the first time, which I successfully achieved. Two of these sculptures were recently shown at CAN Art Fair in Ibiza with La Bibi Gallery, which was very exciting.
Moreover, my approach to creation and composition has significantly changed. I began to consider negative space more and focused not only on a single work but also on how it interacts with other works on the wall. Fundamentally, I started to see the wall as a canvas from which I compose the entire arrangement of several works. I am always amazed at how much a residency influences my work on many levels and how this intense time of making and thinking affects the work that follows.
2. During our lunch the other day, we discussed the concept of the artist as a researcher, which seems to align closely with your approach. Normally you carry out a lot of research before finishing a new body of work. Can you describe your research process and how it informs your work?
I spend a substantial part of my studio time researching, writing, reading, sketching, and testing new materials. For example, for my latest project called "Silos," I focused on the verbalization of our recollection. I was interested in the in-betweens, where thought is converted into sound, where memory transitions from image to object and vice versa. Hence, I conducted interviews in Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where interviewees were asked to describe only the visual aspects of their memories. These served as a basis for my creation of shapes, building a visual representation of a language area by illustrating memories.
After the first stage of reading, interviewing, and sketching, I need to get an overview and see all my ideas, tests, and sketches side by side. This involves taping all the sketches to the wall or laying them out on the floor, alongside the material tests. Then I start selecting and marking the sketches that will be realized.
The appearance of my studio shifts rapidly according to the stages of my working processes. When I move into production mode, I lay out all the materials and tools in a certain way, allowing me to switch quickly from one work to another. This is particularly important since the material I usually work with has a rapid curing time of only several minutes. Shifting materials, discovering, experimenting, and constantly learning about different materials and processes are central to my practice. I am fascinated by certain materials—their textures, weight, haptics, or particular surfaces. The more unknown a material or process is to me, the more drawn I am to it. I am captivated by what happens when I combine or force two things together, when the material takes over and creates its own language.
3. You split your time between Germany and Switzerland. How does changing your location, such as coming to Mallorca, impact your artistic practice?
Splitting my time between Germany and Switzerland and traveling to places like Mallorca has a significant impact on my artistic practice. These changes in location provide me with a wealth of inputs and a fresh perspective, allowing me to reflect more deeply on my work. Architecture, in particular, plays a vital role, influencing my sense of space and structure. Additionally, the varying rhythms of each place and culture, with the different energies between city and countryside, profoundly affect my creative process and output.
These relocations also present challenges, such as adapting materials to different locations and weather conditions. Each environment requires careful consideration of how materials will respond and endure, ensuring the integrity of the artwork is maintained. These challenges keep me on my toes, pushing me to continuously innovate and adapt.
4. Language is a central element in your work, where you isolate symbols and meanings to integrate them into your drawings and sculptures. What sparked this interest in language?
Language is inescapable; it's all around us. It is such a fundamental part of our daily lives and the most important means of communication, creating identity and cultural belonging. However, language often fails us, and I find this particularly interesting. For instance, we often struggle to describe past experiences accurately.
Additionally, language constantly evolves. It is a complex system of sounds and symbolic signs aimed at communication, where meaning is assigned to each sign or signal arbitrarily. In the process of understanding and transmitting thoughts, language acts as a mediator between speaker and listener. Consequently, understanding is key. However, the attribution of meaning to the received language causes ambiguity in communication. Language is like a code that needs to be deciphered by the recipient, requiring mutual agreement between conversation partners.
5. Looking ahead, you have a busy year planned. Can you share some details about your upcoming projects and what you’re currently working on?
At the moment, I am working on several wall-based sculptures. These will be displayed in a group show at La Bibi Gallery later this year. This summer, I will participate in two other group shows in Düsseldorf, namely Die Grosse 2024 and one at the Aura Project space.
Simultaneously, I am preparing for my upcoming first institutional solo show called "Ghost Note" at Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur in Switzerland, where multiple sculptures will form an experiential installation. They are based on my investigation of whether the phenomenon of memory entirely escapes language and whether we can discuss memories without using forms and colors. Based on my interviews, I create a visual code through various materials. In the dialogue between sculptures and visitors, I explore the unspoken, the implied, the pauses, and the hesitations—the verbalization of memory.
The work on "Ghost Note" aims to examine these interviews in greater detail. In music theory, ghost notes are quiet or intermediary beats that add more groove and dynamics to a rhythm. My project investigates this concept both content-wise and methodically. It focuses on the unspoken, the implied, the pauses, the stumbling, and hesitations, which are essential components of memory and significantly influence how we think, act, and understand the world. This includes highlighting "empty strings," or ghost notes, such as those used in guitar playing just before the next note to rhythmically prepare for it. I want to create an experiential installation that uses deliberately placed spaces, dissonance, and repetition to create a dynamic tension between the individual works and between the works and the viewers. In doing so, I utilize the sensory properties of various materials.