I’ve received a material in email, I say to myself, that’s good, but let’s see what else. It turned out that it wasn’t the only good stuff and so I asked Carlos Vergara to have a little chat about his work. Let’s start!
About Carlos Vergara
“My name is Carlos Vergara. I’m a Colombian artist based in Vienna, Austria. Within my work I position myself in the periphery of diverse scenarios, where I seek to develop a language that deals with the self and the other, the here and there, the past and the future. Questioning how we adapt to an ever changing world in an attempt to materialise emptiness, absence and other concepts alluding to melancholy. Dealing with the concept of identity, from which my queer work departs from, in the form of visual and editorial projects I explore different topics within my own queer identity. Fetishes, traumas and censorship are some of the areas I navigate within my queer artistic practice.”
Invensibleporn
Censorship is always a tricky issue. A question of what, where and when it belongs. There is too much censorship and too little censorship sometimes. But in this fast age, dictated by the internet, can any community site be expected to put together a system that works, even approximately?
That’s really a tricky one. Most censorship occurs because of systems based on morals rather than ethics. Trying to define that “what, where and when” can be very subjective and take on many forms. I think we should all try to approach other’s realities with empathy instead of judgements.
Everything is extremely fast. The food, the sex, the 3 day holidays. We want everything fast and instant. If you could, what would you slow down around you and why?
Time itself. Since I was a kid I’ve liked super heroes and always played with the idea of having the super power to freeze and control time. In my head the concept of time has never made much sense, such an abstract thing. Funnily enough my work, one way or another, has a lot to do with patience.
Everything isn’t
As a South American, how much do you feel at home in the not so Latin Vienna?
Very much, actually. After seven years here I dare to call Vienna my second home. Throughout the years I’ve met amazing people from which I’ve learned a lot and who I can call my friends. I think having some kind of support network is essential to survive the day to day so far from home. We are speaking of two completely different contexts, Austria and the Caribbean, but that’s also exactly what brought me here in the first place.
How honest can a photograph be if it is always the photographer who determines where the walls of reality should be, what is shown and what is not. Is there such a thing as honest photography?
I really don’t think so. As far as it concerns me, the camera lies. Even when we think of photography as a document, at the end, it is just a fraction of reality that is being framed through the view of whoever is behind the lens. To speak about honesty and truth we would have to talk of objectivity and I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a true objective image.
A waste of time – Time drawings
What was the thing you missed most in your life during the lockdown in 2020/21?
The spontaneity. The impossibility to move around and all the uncertainty were very hard to cope with, but finding new routines and allowing myself to be bored were key into handling the sudden situation.
Do you see the past period as a waste of time, or in some other way?
At the beginning of the first lockdown I definitely did. I had just come back from carnival in Barranquilla and felt more recharged of energy than ever. All that impulse and many projects had to be put into a halt and it was hard to deal with my own energy a the time. But after a while it definitely turned out to be a great and rare opportunity to be very much with myself, slow down and re-think many things.
Collage works
I have the feeling that collage hasn’t been very fashionable for a long time. Let’s be honest, it’s not the hardest art in the world but I really like your “I’m not here” series for example. What is it about collage that got you?
The power of an image. After growing up with computers and video games, I wanted to do something with my hands, something analog. I discovered that with a simple gesture, or with a simple cut, I could take something out of its context and give it a complete new reading. It allowed me to make visible certain fragility. As a tool to materialise absence, for example. I just think there’s an inherent power, even a political one, into the act of manipulating an image.
What do you think, how important is to take every opportunity to get your work into as many places as possible?
Visibility is important, specially in today’s hyper-visual world dictated by social media. For me, the role the spectator plays in interpreting the work is an essential part of the process. Exposure is also important to let an artwork take a life of its own. There’s a lot of people out there doing amazing things that nobody gets to see due to lack of spaces or platforms and that’s just a shame. Opportunities are unpredictable and tend to happen when things and people collide, and exposure definitely facilitates those collisions.
Is there a series that you would consider to be a self-portrait, or do you try to tell a different part of yourself with each series?
Looking back, when I began photographing and then collaging my own images I was somehow trying to see myself and the world through others. But in recent years my work has been very much influenced by my own experiences. I guess there’s an autobiographical reading into several of my projects, specially as the concept of identity and being have always triggered my curiosity.
Throughout history phallic structures have predominated as symbols of power, erecting and disguising themselves as many forms. From ceremonial objects and gothic steeples, to metropolitan skyscrapers. What is then the real power of a symbol composed of elements supposed to enhance its position that in return suggest but the inefficiency of its own purpose? The evidence of a struggle becomes ironically evident, where a closer look reveals not only its state of tension, but also its relentless fragility.
Artworks and photographs by Carlos Vergara carlosvergara.co / @mushroomk
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