David Altmejd Interview: The Heart is a Werewolf

“When I make a sculpture, I don’t want to control it intellectually. I want it to create its own intelligence.” Meet the artist behind a huge enigmatic and almost sci-fi like sculpture where a crystalizing werewolf functions like ‘a heart’.
”I like the idea that one would feel like they can see everything from one point. Then actually, as they start getting closer they realise that they can only see a small portion of it.” Altmejd - whose large, transparent structure consists of an accumulation of details - uses different strategies to create a sense of infinity, such as an overwhelming amount of details and mirrors that face each other. There is always the suggestion that things are hiding and constantly transforming, which means that the viewer can constantly go back to the piece and discover something new: “As a sculptor I want to be able to make the whole structure grow and evolve. I want to not know how the piece is going to transform.” As a consequence, everything that Altmejd has included is a potential source, which circulates energy inside the piece.
“I want it to be like a person, like an individual, I want it to be able to generate meaning - not have a meaning.” The body holds a great interest to Altmejd, who sees it as a goal to make a sculpture exist in space the same way as a body does. In particular the brain fascinates him: “I am really interested in the architecture of the mind. You can make a model of the mind with a series of different spaces - some of them are locked and inaccessible, some of them are deeper, and some of them are more superficial.”
David Altmejd (b. 1974) is a Canadian sculptor from Montreal. He creates large attention-grabbing sculptures with diverse ornament - such as crystals, taxidermy birds, glitter, minerals and mirrors - that blur distinctions between interior and exterior, surface and structure. Altmejd has exhibited widely at venues such as Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto, MoMA PS1 in New York and Saatchi Gallery in London. He lives and works in New York. For more about him see: www.davidaltmejd.com/
David Altmejd was interviewed by Christian Lund at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in November 2015 in connection to the exhibition of his 328 x 640 x 714 centimetres sculpture ‘The Flux and the Puddle’ (2014). Among the many materials used for the sculpture are wax, mirrors, plaster, latex, feathers, ink, wood, steel wire and quartz mounted in a multitude of Plexiglas cases.
Camera: Simon Weyhe
Edited by: Klaus Elmer
Produced by: Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2015

[@incoglido]

So special to see an artist give so much time to discussing one of their pieces. beautiful. thanks

[@antoinegoulet4958]

Loved the exhibition at montreal's MAC he's one of my favorite contemporary artistist. Really intellectual trying diferent scénario looking at his art. That way You get into a strange World That has a poetic way To reflect our Own society and conception.

[@Danman4u2]

Absolutely spectacular, pushing the envelope he is for sure

[@basilechatelain965]

god I love him

[@ginogino3551]

Very post-modern art; fantastic journey of human disintegration, intellectual speculation of praxis and directions of time and space. Pure anarchism is great!!!

[@summerlinr1]

Wonderful video! Thank you!!!

[@dahlia8534]

The artwork truly feels like an organism, like this industrial and artificial entity that's also simultaneously eldritch and organic!

[@BabyTooth05]

I wish i had the money to properly express myself the way he does that’s amazing

[@jentzenmooney9426]

money is only a limit when you are attached to how that expression is realized. Expressing ones self fully does not need to be tethered to a resource you don't have. I am sure that is something that you do or have access to that can encapsulate you.

[@fyodorkdostoyevsky]

i make less than a hundred dollars a month (im from a third-world country). you dont need money to express yourself properly. you need time and a keen eye. there are things all over for you to make art with. money will come your way, dont wait for it. save up if you want need something desperately, even if it takes a year, but dont convince yourself that your art will only be meaningful when you have the money for more traditional resources. pushing yourself out of your comfort zone will only improve your art. maybe you cant afford a mountain of plexiglass right now, or epoxy clay, but holding yourself back because of that will stunt your growth as an artist. my first large piece was made entirely out of found things. while ive been saving up for epoxy clay and foam, ive been working on the bones of other sculptures, sketching ideas, and using found things to make art. yeah it sure aint ideal, but going through this is helping me hone my style and find my voice as an artist. i cant wait to incorporate some of the things ive learnt & done with found things into clay sculptures. good luck with all your artistic endeavours, im sure it will be easier soon.

[@zibpak]

@@fyodorkdostoyevsky 🦋

[@roar5853]

all these people try to lecture you is funny. your emotion and thought is valid.

[@newt8wn948]

77%🔋 wed,30 December 2020 from Aotearoa🇳🇿🇳🇿🔥🔥

[@ClarkyWarky]

This piece is what an angel would look like.

[@oliviergoethals4137]

Tripping

[@fayearmit8945]

Dear David, can you explain the Plexi glass box?

[@debrahuddleston2551]

I would never imagine that head used to be a melon. . .

[@sicfith6006]

How is something like this transported

[@codylamaar]

Where does something like this end up?

[@serbanindigo689]

Usually private collections/museums/(permanent fixtures in)galleries, or are being destroyed depending on : - if the artist thought of the process of segmenting the work in smaller detachable blocks so it could be transported; - if the artitst's goal for the piece is either to be preserved or to be observed as an ephemeral creation which sometimes may or may not play directly into the narrative imbued into the artwork itself; - if there's any sort of interest from private collectors/museums/galleries to own the piece(s).

[@rezhampleh3597]

💰

[@metinkocan3621]

Şeffaf sömürü

[@luc7937]

Lo ev

[@ZetaReticulian]

Well you where successful in one thing….. it definitely has “ no meaning”

[@98alejoso]

lol i see u hate on every video i watch.. why u hate urself looking at things u dont like?