“I am interested in the cycle of damage and repair” | Artist Phyllida Barlow | Louisiana Channel

Meet the extraordinary British artist Phyllida Barlow in this personal, thoughtful and moving portrait.
“There is something about that edge where those two things co-exist: damage and repair. And nature gives evidence to that in extraordinary ways where you see the rotting tree, but you also see the new green shoots springing out of it.”
Barlow, known for her multi-dimensional sculptural work, reflects on her practice, the nature of sculpture and the question of whether the artist forms an object or the object has demands of its own.
“At what point does the sculptural process take over? For me, this is almost the high spot of making: When it’s beginning to say, this is the way I want to go, this is what I want to be. But it doesn’t always happen.”
“Doubt and failure - both are incredibly important. They aren’t necessarily destructive, not a big heavy black mood or anything like that, but more like a desire to find the unfindable. The process of remembering and forgetting becomes very significant in what the object might end up being.”
Over the years, Barlow has become increasingly aware of greater social issues as well as the role and responsibility of the art world within society:
“The more the issues of sustainability and the environment become significant for all of us, what happens in the studio is now reaching a critical point in terms of how things are built, wasted and retained. And I have to begin to examine that. It may be cheap wood, but it still comes from a tree - and that needs respect.”
“Coming back to damage and repair: We also see this in the urban environment. Things we have been very familiar with are almost overnight wiped away by demolition, and then the new glass building goes up. And I think psychologically, we are constantly adjusting to how we relate to global disasters, how we relate to our own more intimate disasters within our families. We have to constantly shift our lines of focus to see where the two meet: the reparation in relation to the damage. So for me, including this in my process of making is a kind of subject. It’s a crucial part of being alive.”
Born in 1944 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Phyllida Barlow has spent a life in art - both as a teacher and an artist in her own right. Today, she belongs among the most interesting, acknowledged and honoured figures in the British and international art scene, representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2017. For over 50 years, Barlow has taken inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be menacing and playful at once. She creates anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim and cement. These constructions are often painted in industrial or vibrant colours, the seams of their building left visible at times, revealing their means of making. In October 2022, Barlow was awarded the prestigious Kurt-Schwitters-Prize for her important contribution to contemporary art.
Phyllida Barlow was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at her home and studio in London in April 2022.
Camera: Kyle Stevenson
Edited by: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2022
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling and Fritz Hansen.
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[@thelouisianachannel]

*Watch and listen to Phyllida Barlow's advice to aspiring artists right here on our channel:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHPPiWOGotWNp5I

[@lastdays9163]

This interview has unlocked some answers I had no words for in my own process.

[@constancewalsh3646]

The introspective voice. This takes courage, to question the integrity of one's work in its origins and purpose. I hear this voice in Agnes Martin, and others, but it is rare. It is quiet, honest, holds the courage of not-knowing, in a foundation of ineffable love.

[@gnarbeljo8980]

Very well phrased. This is an artist I could follow around and listen to for a very long time and know I'd constantly be learning something consciously or subconsciously. This video is a golden nugget.

[@andresan-vg7gc]

I agree. She has a thoughtful way of speaking that draws you into her inner creative life, born I'm sure out of great self awareness and years of reflection on her process.

[@davidmayhew8083]

Wonderful artist.

[@za4109]

Phyllida Barlow is an amazing artist, I absolutely love all her work - and the way she talks about her process and the way she thinks about her work is always really interesting and inspiring. Thanks for sharing this video!

[@rhessex]

She's great Phyllida Barlow - and always worth listening to. Very interesting her concerns about sustainability in her art-making.

[@bengjie]

I'm very captivated by her explanation but I'm going to have to rewatch this a few times to let her thoughts sink in.

[@vidiot509]

So good on so many levels. The cycle of damage and repair Phyllida describes here is a vital source of enlightenment and nourishment for me right now. Thanks, Louisiana Channel .

[@bmosher6939]

Ayyyy! This is exactly what I’ve needed to hear right now

[@abrahamlearning]

It’s the multiple drawing studios for me … I’m in love.

[@devonwest2834]

This documentary was incredible, so much to think about. What a great mind Phyllida has

[@tom_ko8070]

Thank you Louisiana Channel for having introduced PB to your audience 5 mo ago. It was a starting point to me diving into her work. Now that she has sadly passed away I am even more grateful to you that you chose her and her work for one of your always interesting films during her life time.

[@StephenS-2024]

Put simply and succinctly, Ms. Barlow is a Bad- ass. Her installations are thought- provoking and beautiful and have a strange vibratory quality that is reminiscent of some Surrealist works, without as much angst. And I love her distance from Sir Henry Moore.

[@jazw4649]

Phyllida is so inspiring to listen to! Her process is so fascinating to see how it goes from drawing to sculpture. I love the philosophy behind damage and repair or replace objects and relationships. What gorgeous scenery, those river boat homes are fantastic. Thank you for sharing!

[@LisaKellner]

Thank you for this beautiful interview/talk. It reminds me to stay true to my own internal vision for the work!

[@ratgirl13]

She’s so chill and articulate, I enjoyed watching the video-thank you.

[@Speaking4lines]

WOW. This is seriously soooooooo beautifully well done. I LOVE her and her work. So refreshing and inspiring :)

[@bilal_ahmed1011]

The world misses you oh genius Phyllida

[@lizhodderstudio699]

i loved this in every way, she is an incredible artist.

[@ginapetrea]

incredible - she was a role model

[@cpi23]

that stairway sculpture slaps so damn hard

[@quetzali_ho]

De cualquier forma nosotras también somos un ciclo de daños y reparación. Hermosa

[@johnmorgan5495]

There is not a skip big enough to put this woman's work in.

[@carlkligerman1981]

Perhaps the yawning, empty chasm that is what passes for your imagination will do there pal!

[@GarnetLynne]

Sad she transitioned this year, March 2023. At least her words will go on as well as her art, thank you.

[@user-gi8zg1zr2o]

자연스럽게 돌아가야 한다. 자연으로부터 온 것이든 인간의 손에 의한 것이든.

[@lu_re7198]

I can see why many successful wealthy artists like Barlow (who own massive studios filled w/ tons of materials) are thinking about the impact they have on the environment. And I wonder if future artists will only make digital art...and museums, galleries, etc., will only exist online. 😏

[@susand484]

We would no longer see the hand of the artist, the textures, the forms and the feeling of the work in space or even the true colors in various light. You could never expect artists to give up-the feel of their tools in their hands. An image on a screen is backlit, Digital is another medium entirely.

[@knowone3529]

Lincoln logs and candlewax

[@wendyshoowaiching4161]

It's call maintenance

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

rip

[@EYDIMUSIC]

Not your everyday B&Q stop n chat

[@yungteach]

Drawing with a paintbrush and completing a paint-based artwork... is Painting.

[@tadnauseum]

LC producers... more art in the b roll, less holding the static interview shot. Voice over... please.

[@zattoart]

All this story telling! The paintings and sculpture have no relationship except for the story! You shouldn’t have to tell a story for the viewer to understand the artwork. Ugly and failure should never be the end product of artwork period! The truth and beauty always rise to the top in real art!

[@b3n3d1ct10n]

I think that’s the whole point - there doesn’t have to exist any similarity. The production of the drawings creates contemplative time away from the urgency on production.

[@zattoart]

@@b3n3d1ct10n Then art becomes pointless, and so does contemplation! An exercise in intellectual agility should give rise to a cognition. And that in itself gives rise to a starting point and a solution! Otherwise it ends in constant repetition with no attainable outcome! Neither Art creation ,nor contemplation should lead to nowhere, No Goal no gain. No gain no purpose!

[@artfulescape]

You're imposing personal aesthetics and assumptions onto all art, when the actuality of something existing as art is open ended. Art must be beautiful? Art must have no context to the artist? Art must be understood? Art must have a purpose? This is a closed system with no room for imagination. It's entirely possible for something to be good art and for you to not enjoy it or understand it. Perhaps other people do. Your interpretation has meaning to you, and that's valid, but consider that the definition of beauty or ugliness varies for each individual and the organic nature of being human allows for infinite experiences. Curiosity leads to exploration of the unknown.

[@carlkligerman1981]

You are imposing your own notions of what is both truthful and beautiful to make vacuous, superficial judgements about the work. I would wager for every person that thinks it looks like piles of industrial waste there’s many more, myself included, that find these pieces breathtakingly beautiful, wistful, mysterious, composed, and ironically monumental. And that is the entire point of Art, in any form, it is a litmus test, a mirror held up to your own sensibilities and expectations. For all your, ahem, ‘cognitions’ (I mean what’s wrong with the simpler, clearer ‘thoughts’?) I don’t think you have any idea of what you are really talking about. You might of said I don’t like the work and think it’s junk and done better, but instead you pretend to be some authority about the most subjective and surface qualities in all of Art, not to mention experience, and thus end up wayyy over your skis, talking like a pompous wanker about work you barely comprehend, calling that inadequacy virtuous, and projecting all your own baggage onto the work! Kind of hilarious

[@lc9902]

I like her paintings quite a bit. They look complete, but not in her mind. I guess that is why she calls them drawings. The sculptures reminiscent in grandeur of Henry Moore's to me are quite ugly.

[@johnmorgan5495]

" find the unfindable " So Im going to fill the world with massive pieces of "sculpture " ? Worried about using materials and recycling ? Jusy stop doing it I suggest. BIG does not mean better.

[@ginogino3551]

CHOCOLATE!!!

[@younissaleh]

@yunis.saleh87