[INTERVIEW] Interview with JOHN ASLANIDIS


April 13, 2021

By Kuni Shim


Sonic Network no.18. Longchamp Boutique Omatesando Tokyo 2017 





Thank you for taking the time for the interview. Could you introduce yourself to Art Terms Magazine readers?

 

I am a visual artist predominantly working in the medium of painting who is currently based in Melbourne and have been exhibiting in Australia and overseas for approximately 30 years.

 

I have a Degree in Visual Arts from the City Art Institute in Sydney which I completed in1989 (which later became the NSW College of Fine Arts). In 1990 I completed my Post Graduate Diploma of Visual Arts at NSW university of College of Fine Arts.

 

From 1991 till 1998 I was based in Sydney and I predominately exhibited in Artist-run spaces. In 1998 I moved to Melbourne and got involved with being a co-director of an artist-run space called Stripp Gallery. Since then, I’ve had many exhibitions not only in Australia but also in New York. Also, in 2017 I completed a major site-specific commission for Longchamp’s Omotesando boutique in Tokyo’s Harajuku precinct.
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Your artworks bring out optical illusions. What does your work aim to say?

 

The optical illusions are there to mesmerize and create a contemplative headspace for the viewer. The optical illusions embody my quest for attaining the crossover between vision and sound.

 

My aim is to take the audience out of their usual way of looking at the world and to impart to the audience an optimistic vision, as well as transporting them to another dimension that doesn’t exist in the natural world. I feel that there is also a performative aspect to the work that is embodied by the process of laying down thin bands of masking tape which covers every centimetre of the canvas. This imparts a physicality to the work so that when people get up close to the painting they can feel the process that I go through by applying the masking tape.





Sonic Current no.1. oil and acrylic on canvas 107 x 127cm 2007 





Could you explain the process of your work?

 

I have formulated an algorithm that mathematically positions the centre point for each of the radiating circles that traverse my works. This geometrical device acts as a foundation ripe for endless improvisations and alterations, depending on where and how I position the points on the canvas. This in itself mirrors the way a musical score is structured, through a system of regulated intervals between notes which coalesce to form a whole.

 

At first, I draw up the work using a beam compass which has an attachment with a fine lead. This allows me to draw the concentric patterns which create an underlying guide for the masking tape which I lay done to define the section of the painting I am going to work on. I apply masking tape over the concentric circular drawn line, after this I apply acrylic underpainting in some sections, and then over paint, these acrylic sections with oil paint. I only apply paint to the small gaps which haven’t been masked. In the current phase of the sonic series, I usually paint two of these sections, using oil paint. The two other sections are painted with airbrushed acrylic paint. I apply the paint over each section with a blended atmospheric effect, this gives the paintings another kinetic element, as well as giving the paintings a strong emotive quality.





Sonic Network no.3 installation View Gallery 9 Sydney 2008 





What is your source of inspiration?

 

My inspiration comes from many types of music but as a whole, it comes more from, in particular, genres of electronic music such as trance music, hip hop, deep house, dubstep, Dub music Glitch hop, and space disco.

 

The moire patterns which are a prominent part of my paintings first appeared in the Reverberation series in 1996. The idea for the moire patterns came from listening to electronic trance music in1996 at an underground dance party, which was located near my art studio, at the time which was located in Redfern an inner-city suburb in Sydney.

 

Regarding the colours in my work, in 2003 I was strongly influenced by these high chroma complementaries that I saw in Japan in commercial signage such as on the outside of Pachinko Parlors, as well as graphics in magazines. These influences are particularly evident in the painting Sonic Network no.2 which was completed in 2006, which was exhibited in my first solo exhibition with Gallery 9 in Sydney in 2006.

 

The idea of using the combination of black and grey sections in my work, which was particularly prominent around 2014, came from looking at paintings by Edin Mieczkowski in an exhibition titled OP art out of Ohio Anonima group, which were exhibited at the D.Wigmore Gallery in New York in 2014.





Dislocation no.9. oil and acrylic on canvas 137 x 168cm 2002 




You majored in visual arts but you also studied at the Conservatorium of Music. When did you start to get interested in music? And how did you come up with the idea of combining music with art?

 

As a teenager in the late 1970s, I became interested in progressive rock music, I was interested in the complexity and improvisational nature of this music, I really liked bands such as Jethro Tull, Yes, Gentle Giant, PFM, Cream, and Mahavishnu Orchestra. In the early 1980s I was learning how to play classical guitar and what really appealed to me was the polyphonic nature of the instrument.

 

At the conservatorium occasionally I would hear the conservatorium big band rehearsing and I would listen to it feeling totally mesmerized. Not long after this I took up playing the saxophone, and have since played it on occasions at events, in galleries, clubs, and bars mainly in the context of visual artists making music, I adopted an approach to playing that focused on the sound of the instrument in an abstract way, not worrying about whether I was in key or not. I found this approach to playing very liberating.

 

Although I was a frustrated musician at the time I later adopted the systematic approach and logic which I learned in music theory and applied it to composing my paintings, as well as creating an underlying rationale to the sequence of colours that I utilized in my work.

 

From 1995 to 1998 I was involved with a collective of sound and visual artists called Clan Analogue. At several of their events, I had my images projected as the live music acts were performing, it was at one of these events, when I saw my images projected onto people dancing at the venue, that I realized that my paintings occupied a dimension outside the confines of painting.

 

The title for the Dislocation series (1998-2003) came from the CD release on the Zonar music label titled Dislocations. This Zonar release came out in 1998. The unique thing about this release was that the sound artists on the label created tracks by remixing each other’s music. At this point in time, I came to a realization with my painting, where I felt that I needed to remix the earlier phases of my work as I felt that I had progressed as far I could at the time. This was similar to the Zonar recording release which was called Dislocations. This was embodied the most by the large-scale major works, titled Dislocation networks no.1 and 2.

 

In 1998 I was given tickets to a classical music concert at the Opera House in Sydney. I was amazed by the spectacle of the performance, and it had an overwhelming impact on me. I visualized creating major works of art, which had the same variation in tonality and depth as classical music, as well as being large and expansive in scale, I envisaged moving to Melbourne and creating these paintings in a large studio space, which is what eventually happened in 1998. The large-scale Dislocation Network and the Sonic Network series are an embodiment of this vision.

 





Sonic no.61 projected on to the William Jolly Bridge in conjunction 
with the Brisbane international 2-6th Jan 2019 




When expressing the movement of music, are the colors also related to it?

 

The colours do not specifically relate to music, although I sometimes refer to certain colour combinations as melodic. The colours overall are part of a kinetic experience that resembles sound, when they are combined with other elements such as line, tone and overall shifts which happen compositionally. The colours become one component of a number of factors in my work, that interact to create the movement which evokes sound and music.





Collaboration with Audrey Fernandez Frazer and Singing into Sonic new wave, Ethan Cohan Fine Arts New York 2016 




It would feel great when hearing is reflected well into the visual medium as you planned. On the other hand, you may have had a hard time or felt frustrated when you couldn’t express it as you wanted. What was the most difficult thing while working on it?

 

I don’t have any problems imposing a sense of hearing or sound in my paintings that are created in my work as a consequence of implementing a systematic process. This enables me to employ consistency in the work, where there isn’t a premeditated effort for me to impose a sense of sound in my work.

 

If I didn’t do this my work would be too self-conscious and would look contrived. By implementing a systematic approach in laying down the masking tape over the rest of the painting, I am not able to see the section underneath the painting which is masked. When I am applying paint over this layer it consequently is as much of a surprise to me as it is to the viewer. For this reason, I am excited when I pull off the final layer of each section of the work.





 
Transit Zone Series no.12 122 x 152cm oil and acrylic on canvas 1992
Crosscurrent no.6 oil and acrylic on canvas 122 x 152 cm 1995 




When looking at your artworks from the early 1990s, we can see a different style than the current artworks. Do these past works also reflect the movement of music? Tell us what kind of changes you've made to reach the current style.

 

Some of these earlier works have elements of music, this is apparent in the later phase of the transit zone series, a good example of this is Transit zone no.14. The red illuminated highlights which run in thin bands across the paintings embedded in the black background, in this and later paintings in this series for me were reminiscent of pianos, that you would hear as background highlights on techno tracks in the early 1990s. As they developed, the paintings from the early 1990s progressively became more intense, I achieved this by making the alternating bands thinner to exemplify the effect of kinetic vibration. I had the intention of propelling forward the visual energy created by these alternating bands of colour, off the picture plane.

 

In 1994 a friend of mine who was the son of a famous Australian artist visited my studio and I showed him Crosscurrent fragment no.1. The remark that he made after seeing this painting was; “that painting is sonic.” It was from that moment onward that I realized that I had an achieved in my work a physicality that went beyond being a conventional two-dimensional abstract painting. Subsequently, as I immersed myself in the music culture of the 1990s, I started to associate this kinetic vibration with sound and music, culminating in the crosscurrent series in 1994 and later the reverberation series in1996.





Sonic network no. 3. oil and acrylic on canvas 244 x 305cm 2006 




What is the most important detail or point you consider the most (when creating artworks)

 

When creating my major paintings which are the sonic network series I have to consider the points from which the concentric circles emanate, as well as the central points which define the centre of each circle. These points are predetermined by a set of asymmetrical intervals which are derived from a symmetrical grid. I have these points mapped out on a piece of paper with corresponding measurements, resembling an algorithm/musical score. Utilizing these compositional points as a guide has allowed me to improvise. Consequently, there is no need to do any drawings or studies to work out the composition of these Sonic network paintings. As I know from using these compositional points, that the painting will always be resolved. This gives me the freedom to focus on other aspects of the work such as colour combinations, and variation in compositional configurations.





Sonic no.6 oil and acrlylic on canvas 120 x150 cm 2005 




Is there one particular artwork you’ve created that you’re most proud of or close to? Why’s that?

 

My favourite painting is Sonic no.6 from 2005. It's not the most complex or the grandest in terms of scale, however, it has an interesting composition. The aspect of it that I like the most is the colours and how well they harmonize. It also emanates a warm pinkish reddish glow. This painting was the central piece in the second solo exhibition titled Sonic fragments no.2 which I had in 2005 at Tobey Fine Arts which was located in Soho in New York. 





Sonic no.22 oil and acrylic om canvas 120 x150 cm 2011 




Who is your favorite artist and why?

 

I would have to say at the moment it would be Piet Mondrian, I saw one of his paintings at MOMA in New York several years ago and I was absolutely mesmerized by the simplicity and power of the composition of this particular work. I am astounded by how he could innovate and master the genre he was working in at the same time.





Sonic no.74 wall installation (acrylic paint) Ovolo Hotel Hong Kong 2019 




How do you think social media affects the art field?

 

I feel that it affects art in a number of ways. It's very exciting that there is the potential to connect with and stay in touch with an international audience through social media platforms such as Instagram. In this respect, it has revolutionized the art world. The downside of this however is that it doesn’t do justice to certain types of art that don’t translate well in digital reproduction. In this sense, the subtleties of a lot of art that is reproduced are lost as it is impossible to capture the physicality of the work, which you experience when you see work in person. From a personal perspective, another negative aspect of social media is that it increases the possibility of plagiarism and in many instances, these artists won’t acknowledge that they have been influenced by your work.





Installation view studio +sonic network no.7 




Have you had a decisive moment to become an artist?

 

For me there were several moments, one was when I was a teenager around the age of fifteen. I had a very progressive and open-minded art teacher at high school. He identified my talent and creative aptitude, by encouraging me to experiment, with abstraction rather than the predominant attitude at the time which was to focus on representational modes of expression.

 

I had the idea of pursuing a career as an artist, but most people I mentioned it to at the time which was in the mid to late 1970s, were not that encouraging, as it seemed like there was no possibility of making any income or future from working in that field. After I returned back to Sydney from a two-year overseas trip to Europe in mid-1986, I was faced with the dilemma of what direction to go in my life. I decided on two options, to do further study in Horticulture, and do a diploma in Landscape architecture or apply for art school. I chose the option of going to art school which was a difficult decision at the time. I clearly remember the first day at art school when the assistant head of the art school gave a speech as part of orientation. At that point, I had decided that I was going to pursue a career in art and make it my first priority to follow that path.





Sonic network no. 9 oil and acrylic on canvas 244x305cm 2009 



What kind of artist do you want to be remembered as?

 

I want to be remembered as an innovative artist, who hasn’t compromised their work by the following fashion and has generated their own vision. I also feel it is important to communicate and influence people outside of the art world, with my work.





John Aslanidis & Singing into Sonic new wave,Ethan Cohan Fine Arts New York 2016 




Is there a new genre or expression technique you want to try?

 

I would like to collaborate with a digital artist and animate my paintings as well as combining them with sound. I also have the idea of collaborating with an economist.

 



Is there an artistic goal that you would ultimately reach through your work?

 

Like most artists, I would like my work to reach a large audience internationally and have a profound effect on them where it changes the way that they perceive the world around them.

 

I also would like to influence people from other creative and academic disciplines to give them ideas and inspiration to initiate innovative projects as well as leaving a cultural legacy.                                                                         

 



Thank you so much for taking the time for the interview. Would you like to say something to the readers of Art Terms Magazine?

 

I hope the readers get something out of reading this interview, as for me it has been a really enjoyable and rewarding experience.









Singing into Sonic New Wave
A sound art performance for John Aslanidis: Sonic New Wave at Ethan Cohen Gallery New York 2016
Conducted by Kelly KaWai Lam Composed by Audrey Fernandez-Frazer 


 


 

 

 



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