240-255 DAVID MAISEL / THE FOREST

[...DEREK THOMSON / YOU SAID OF THE FOREST SERIES THAT THEY’RE PICTURES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER AMONGST HUMANS. IS THAT PART OF WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO SHOW?

DAVID MAISEL / YEAH, CERTAINLY. MAYBE THEY’RE ACTUALLY SELF-PORTRAITS. I MEAN, THEY ARE SELF-PORTRAITS, THEY HAVE TO BE AT THIS POINT. THEY HAVE GOT TO BE STAND-INS ON SOME LEVEL FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES & FOR A KIND OF HORROR. IN LOOKING AT THE UNDOING OF THINGS, THE ABSENT & THE VOID, & THE SUBLIME & THIS KIND OF VISCERAL HORROR, MAYBE WHAT I’M ACTUALLY DOING IS FINDING SITES THAT REFLECT SOME INTERNAL PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE. THERE MIGHT BE VERY COMPELLING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AT HAND BUT I THINK THAT’S ONLY ONE ASPECT OF THE WORK.

DT / WHAT EMOTION DO YOU HOPE YOUR IMAGES ELICIT IN THE VIEWER? IS IT ANGER, SELF-REFLECTION, A SENSE OF LOSS, OF LONGING, OR DOES IT VARY FROM PICTURE TO PICTURE?

DM / I THINK A PROFOUND SENSE OF UNEASE. I THINK THE WORK IS VERY DISORIENTING— SPATIALLY & AESTHETICALLY, & IN TERMS OF ITS SUBJECT MATTER AS WELL. SO I WOULD SAY UNEASE...]

[...]

[...DT / YOU TALK ABOUT MACROCOSM & MICROCOSM. IF SOMEBODY TOOK A QUICK LOOK AT YOUR WORK, THEY MIGHT SEE A DEPARTURE— FIRST AERIAL SHOTS OF THE EARTH THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN STILL LIVES SHOT IN A STUDIO. I THINK IT’S CLEAR THAT THERE IS A CONTINUITY IN TERMS OF AESTHETICS, IN TERMS OF TEXTURE & COLOUR, BUT ALSO THERE IS A SORT OF CONTINUITY IN TERMS OF EMOTION. I CAN’T DESCRIBE WHY EXACTLY, BUT THERE’S A SENSE THROUGHOUT YOUR WORK OF LOSS, A SORT OF POIGNANCY.

DM / YES, I THINK IT IS ABOUT LOSS & I THINK IT’S POTENTIALLY ABOUT RESURRECTION. I DON’T MEAN THAT IN THE RELIGIOUS SENSE OF THE WORD, BUT SOMEHOW THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD. MUCH OF MY WORK IS ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING SHIFTS FROM ONE FORM TO ANOTHER, FROM THE HUMAN BODY TO ASH, OR FROM STRUCTURE TO NON-STRUCTURE. ASH IS PRESENT AT MOUNT ST HELENS, IT’S PRESENT IN THE LAKE PROJECT, IT’S PRESENT IN TERMINAL MIRAGE, IT’S PRESENT IN LIBRARY OF DUST. SO YES, I THINK THERE IS A SENSE OF LOSS & TRYING TO SEE WHAT MIGHT STILL REMAIN WHEN SOMETHING SEEMS TO ACTUALLY BE GONE...]

/ EXCERPT FROM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN DAVID MAISEL & DEREK THOMSON. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER005 / SHE HAS NO STRINGS APOLLO