What artists are doing now. Nives Widauer in Vienna
An inspiration and mutual solidarity project for the creative industries
In the current situation, clearly our top priority is to take care of our families, friends and fellow citizens. Nevertheless, while public life is paralyzed and museums, galleries and cultural institutions are closed, in many of us, neither the urge to work nor the creative spark have disappeared. In fact, quite the opposite is happening, in what is turning out to be a time that befits self-reflection and the generation of new ideas for the future. Although we are at home and self-isolating, we all – artists, creatives and Arterritory.com – continue to work, think and feel. As a sort of gesture of inspiration and ‘remote’ mutual solidarity, we have launched a project titled 'What Artists Are Doing Now', with the aim of showing and affirming that neither life nor creative energy are coming to a stop during this crisis. We have invited artists from all over the world to send us a short video or photo story illustrating what they are doing, what they are thinking, and how they are feeling during this time of crisis and self-isolation. All artist stories will be published on Arterritory.com and on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. We at Arterritory.com are convinced that creativity and positive emotions are good for the immune system and just might help us better navigate through these difficult times.
From her studio in Vienna, Swiss artist Nives Widauer answers a short questionnaire by Arterritory.com:
Are you working on any projects right now in your studio? If so, could you briefly describe them?
I am in the middle of producing a series, videos on tapestries, about seven important dreams I had: El sueño de Blanca 1-7. I am also working on a series about Sicilian interiors that I transform into my own ‘villas’.
Also, a work about the body and unknown chakras that I have been preparing for years; I just never found the time to finish it. Writing-wise, I am working on a libretto that I started years ago. I have so much to do and I hardly know how to cope with the little time I have. You can see ongoing projects on my website, www.widauer.net, and almost every day I post a story on my Instagram account from my studio, #niveswidauer.
What is your recipe for survival in a time of almost only bad news?
I try to stay in the moment. I find peace in music and good conversation, and I also meditate. And I cook good food and drink good wines. I also try to be present for people that need my help.
What is something that we all (each of us, personally) could do to make the world a better place when this disaster comes to an end? It is clear that the world will no longer be the same again, but at the same time...there is a kind of magic in every new beginning.
It’s a slow-motion disaster, so the most difficult part is that there will not be a general solution; we need to take millions and billions of small steps to overcome the crisis – me, you, everybody. I am personally not a patient person, so the first thing I have to master is to accept the fact of ‘not being able to do what I want’, and to find the peace within me and my four walls. I just came back from five fabulous weeks in NYC, where I did a project with the New York Philharmonic, so I had travelling, working, meeting people…Now it is quiet. That’s also beautiful. But it’s a big change in rhythm. And, of course, I hope that the world will have more solidarity and that humans become less greedy after this disaster. We should definitely find new ways of operating in the energy sector. I dream of the moment when we will finally know how the gravity net works.
But what is most important right now: We have to pay great attention to keeping our democracies alive!!!
The art world and the culture sector is one of the most affected. What is the main lesson the art world should learn from all this? How do you imagine the post-apocalyptic art scene?
I am an artist, and that’s a big advantage in this crisis. I have my inner world that connects with the outer world and vice versa. First of all, I am not used to having a stable income, so financial insecurities are part of my life in general. And second, my credo is: As long as I live, I will survive. We have to solve problems when they come, not before. I love my work; I will continue to do my work under any circumstances. It’s not a career, it’s a life. I wish us all good luck, that the cultural world can restart soon and be alive and present among the public again. I am sure this will be soon the case. We are strong. What would mankind be without art? And without kissing each other?
Nives Widauer. (Image: Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek)
Chatterbag NW, 2017. Kelly bag Hermes, Motors, Voice, Speakers
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Nives Widauer, born 1965 in Basel, Switzerland, lives in Vienna.
In 1990 she graduated from the Class for Audiovisual Arts at Schule für Gestaltung Basel. Parallel to the first exhibitions (video installations) she created live video sets for various theatre and opera houses and independent semi-documentary movies. Various Art Awards, scholarships and exhibitions followed.
Over the last twenty-five years Nives Widauer’s Cosmos grew in somehow concentric circles up to her resent work, where she plays with the interface between analogue and digital. In the last couple of years Widauer expanded her medias to painting and sculpture.
Her works have recently been shown amongst other places at Kunsthaus Zurich, Museum Belvedere Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, SPSI Shanghai.
