Mindsurfing with MARK MANGION

MARK MANGION is a visual artist and independent curator. He has exhibited in several exhibitions in Europe and North America and has curated over 14 exhibitions. In 2008 he founded Malta Contemporary Art Foundation, which to date has hosted 17 exhibitions. In 2012 he founded Parallel Borders, a roving laboratory for interdisciplinary research created as an artist / curatorial collaborative project. To discover Mark’s visual arts work please visit: www.markmangion.com

 

 

WHAT WAS YOUR VERY FIRST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION?

I come from a family of architects so I guess my Dad drawing at home on weekends was definitely something I was fascinated by. Equally, I would find great calm and interest as a young kid gardening with my mother and day dreaming. Growing up in the Mediterranean also meant that the sharp rock, the sea and the dry landscape were deeply rooted in my memory.

WHICH OF YOUR 5 SENSES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?

One of my earliest memories is the smell of inflatable arm bands when I was one and a half. Whenever I encounter a similar plastic smell, I get an instant visual at a rocky beach in the summer of 77. I also love food so smelling and tasting are both extremely important.

Then again I am an artist, so predictably it would have to be sight. The idea of sight is still something that perplexes me from time to time. The idea of not having it would be scary. It is an amazing barrier between the object world and the imaginary world.

HOW DO YOU ACCESS YOUR CREATIVITY?

Walking. Mostly by over-thinking and reaching a totally frustrating and saturated point where more spontaneous but informed things can happen. When I was a kid I would pace around the kitchen island for hours listening to my walkman and thinking. Of course my parents thought I was completely mad, which I might have been.

Now as a less mad adult man I still get a lot of ideas while walking and cycling. And actually trains are my new studio. I make it a point to travel by train as much as possible.

WHAT IS THE FIRST WORD THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS IMAGE?

2 sides of the same thing

 

Published: March 27th, 2012

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JOHN LURIE: Superhero



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