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ART
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FEB/MAR 2013
PIXELATING THE REAL WORLD Going Full Throttle with a Theme
100 Issue 12
LBP10000
INSPIRATIONAL IDEAS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
A BRIGHT IDEA Exploring the Human Need to Connect
WORDS RAMI SAIDI, PHOTOS © STEVE SHAHEEN
STEPHEN SHAHEEN IS A BROOKLYN-BASED ARTIST WHO TRAINED IN ITALY AND EARNED HIS MFA FROM THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF ART. HIS WORK EXPLORES THE POROUS BORDERS BETWEEN ART, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE. HIS WORK SPANS BOTH MANUAL AND DIGITAL PROCESSES, AND EMPLOYS DIVERSE MATERIALS. HIS LATEST WORKS "HEADLIGHT SERIES" IS A GROUP OF HUMANOID SCULPTURES CREATED USING MIXED MEDIA AND ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS.
Could you tell us more about the technical process of creating these Sculptures? I start by creating a modeling paste from retted paper scraps I collect, such as coffee filters, paper shopping bags, etc., or sometimes cotton and recycled blue jeans, mixed with a binder. I then create an armature with aluminum wire, measured to correspond to human proportions. Next, I set up the electrical components with a socket at the neck, and begin filling out the figure with recycled newspaper and aluminum foil. At some point during this stage, I pose the figure and establish the gesture. Finally, I apply the fiber pulp in stages, modeling features, and letting it dry between successive layers. Connection is a dominant theme here, not only with one another but with our surrounding, is it something you’ve explored before? Many prior works have a deliberate relationship to a locus, especially a public memorial in a New Jersey township that I developed over several years. What is new with the Headlights is the multiplicity and interrelation of the figures, which I was able to explore with greater playfulness after shifting from stone. Carving, rather, is such a deliberate and focused process, with deep investment in a single piece; it often tends toward solitary and introspective sculptures. You’ve mentioned that you get "caught in a cyclical affair with faces" in your work. Was there a reason for using only physicality and movement as a means of expression in How did the inspiration for this specific project come about? About a year ago I was in a period of transition in my practice, doing some soul-searching and a great deal of experimentation with new materials. One day this figure with a light bulb head crawling along, groping for an outlet, popped into my mind. It felt like a spontaneous symbol for the rather existentialist moment I found myself in. Only now does it strike me as ironic that the spark of inspiration arrived in the image of a dead bulb. How did the concept evolve? That initial figure led to a series of characters that began to populate my imagination and notebook. It was one of those uncommon—and welcome—occasions in the creative life where things come together with great fluidity. As in writing fiction, characters and situations beget new scenarios, and I soon had a bizarre world of little beings moving off the page into ours. You began sculpting with stone and marble. What prompted you to make the move
away from them to the mediums used in “Headlight Series”? I dove into stone for about ten years, wrestling with it, loving it, and finally making it my own. It was a significant turning point when I ceased thinking of stone, and began to search for media that would best accommodate the concepts I was looking to get across. The recycled fiber pulp came about through a concoction of research and serendipity. I was in a café in Brooklyn last winter when I noticed an antique doll among the decor that had a worn and fleshy look which I found to be particularly evocative. I looked into doll and puppet making techniques using paper fiber paste, and this led me on a journey of trying out various recipes until I developed a modeling material that was quite workable while wet, but can be carved like wood when dry. It was very important to me to be able to work directly, without any need for casting or additional layers of fabrication which I feel can distance a work from both its author and audience.
these humanoid figures? My work with faces was in part related to my interest in personae, or the veneer that symbolizes our interface with the world. For the Headlight series, I wanted to delve into subconscious archetypes, where the face not only becomes irrelevant, but possibly even antagonistic to a visual primality. For me, the potency of these figures is in their directness and lack of surface distractions. All these figures react differently to their condition but is there a collective message to be found in them? I realize they invite a multiplicity of readings, and I like viewers to make their own interpretations. However I do think the figures are united by a need for connection, interdependency on one another, and conversely, a compromised status when cut off from others and that which is nourishing in the world. Your grandparents are from Lebanon, would you ever consider visiting the country some time in the future? I absolutely will visit Lebanon. I’m just waiting for the right occasion! What projects do you have planned next? I’m currently developing a body of work using the recycled fiber pulp, but on a larger scale and treating different themes. I also have returned to stone after a year’s hiatus, for a very specific series that plugs a bit into osteology. These should both keep me busy for quite some time.