00:01Ο Τζεφ Κούντς, ένας από τους σημαντικότερους καλλιτέχνες της εποχής μας, βρέθηκε στην Αθήνα με αφορμή την ευρηματική έκθεση που
00:07φιλοξενεί το Μουσείο Κυκλατικής Τέχνης με τίτλο
00:10Τζεφ Κούντς Αφροδίτη του Λεσπίγκ. Πρόκειται για μια συνομιλία ανάμεσα στην αρχαία και τη σύγχρονη τέχνη, ανάμεσα στο έργο του
00:17Αμερικανού καλλιτέχνη
00:18Μπαλούν Βένους Λεσπίγκ και 10 Παλαιολυθικές Αφροδίτες, πιστοποιημένα αντίγραφα των αμετακίνητων πρωτοτύπων που φυλάσσονται σε Μεγάλη Ευρωπαϊκά Μουσεία.
00:27Η έκθεση διερευνά τη γυναικεία μορφή από την Παλαιολυθική περίοδο έως σήμερα, προτείνοντας ένα ενδιαφέρον ταξίδι που εκτείνεται σε περισσότερα
00:34από 40.000 χρόνια ανθρώπινης δημιουργίας.
00:37Τότε, σε ολόκληρη την Ευρασιατική Ήπειρο, άνθρωποι της Παλαιολυθικής Εποχής δημιούργησαν μικρά γυναικεία ειδώλια από ελεφαντόδοντο, ασβεστόλυθο και πυλό.
00:45Τα αντικείμενα αυτά γνωστά σήμερα ως Παλαιολυθικές Αφροδίτες, συγκαταλέγοντας τα αρχαιότερα έργα γλυπτικής της ανθρωπότητας και βρέθηκαν σε σπήλαια.
00:53Η Αφροδίτη του Λεσπίκ, που αποκαλύφθηκε στο σπήλιο Ρίντο στην Νότια Γαλλία, είναι μόλις 15 εκατοστά και είναι σκαλισμένη σε
01:00χαβλιόδοντα μαμμούθ.
01:01Η μορφή της Αφροδίτης αποτελεί πηγή έπνευσης για τον Τζεφ Κούντς ήδη από τη δεκαετία του 70.
01:06Το έργο του μεταφράζει τη μικρή παλαιολυθική μορφή σε μια μνημιακή γλυπτική παρουσία από ανακλαστικό ανοξίδωτο χάλιβα που μοιάζει φτιαγμένη
01:13από μπαλόνια.
01:23When I decided to make some balloon Venuses, and I made four different versions, the La Spuke, for me, was
01:33the modernist one.
01:34The Paleolithic figurine that reminded me the most of like a Giacometti sculpture, something that if you view it from
01:44the side, it feels very modernist.
01:46And at the same time can have this ability to maintain really profound information within itself about human history.
01:59And this is the first time I've had an exhibition where the models of the Paleolithic figurines have been brought
02:08together,
02:09that they brought many here to not only be in dialogue with each other, but with the balloon Venus La
02:17Spuke orange.
02:18What are the defining features of your work and how do they relate to this Venus, to the Venus that
02:25we see in the other room?
02:27The other figurines are made with the technology that was at hand, and made out of the materials at hand.
02:36They range from like ivory and bone, even some terracotta, they were able to create terracotta.
02:45The balloon Venus that I created is made out of stainless steel, so I'm working with the technologies that I
02:53have to work with.
02:55But what's so amazing about these Paleolithic Venuses are the way that they were able to embed information.
03:07You know, some of these objects are approximately around 35,000, even close to 40,000 years old.
03:15And the way that the artisans were able to embed important information about humanity, about civilization, what was important to
03:28them, to be able to help them survive.
03:31And they were trying times.
03:34Not everything was as pleasant as our times.
03:38The balloon Venus that I have here is really dealing with kind of visual luxury.
03:45It's not material luxury. It's stainless steel.
03:50It's very proletarian of a material.
03:53But it's brought to a mere polish and it reflects everything.
03:59It accepts everything within the environment.
04:01Does the prehistoric art, this symbol of our cultural history, have anything to tell us today, for you, for everybody?
04:11This is a moment in time.
04:14And just as the Paleolithic artisans, the people that made these objects,
04:23they were maintaining information to be able to not only be able to execute themselves,
04:32to embed that meaning into something, but that it could be shared with others.
04:38This information wasn't just for themselves, but for the whole community.
04:44And civilization has been able to be created and to be able to form itself from then to now.
04:54But we're not at the end of the journey.
04:57And today we're still trying to embed information, share information with each other,
05:04so that we are able to maintain our civil quality, be a civilization,
05:11to be able to continue the information that helps us survive and to thrive.
05:17You have traveled a tremendous artistic journey.
05:20How your relationship with art has evolved over time?
05:26Where do you draw inspiration today for your creative work?
05:30I've always been a very intuitive artist, so I follow my interests.
05:37And I really don't know what any of us, no matter what we do,
05:42whether, you know, we're a doctor, an architect, an artist, whatever we do.
05:48What we have in life are our interests.
05:52And if we follow those interests and really focus on those interests, it connects us.
06:00It connects us to a universal vocabulary.
06:03And I believe that's where we're able to become as vast and as connected as we have the potential to
06:12do in life.
06:13How would you describe your personal iconography?
06:16Which are the themes that you enjoy and continue to explore in your work?
06:21When I was younger and I first started to understand the power of art,
06:27and I realized that I could control the way I felt through putting certain colors together
06:34or certain images together, maybe using reflection,
06:38would affect the type of chemical changes that I would feel within my body.
06:44And I realized that I could control that.
06:46And then at a certain point I realized that I could also affect other people,
06:52that some people would be responding to that also.
06:56And that's really the way iconographies work.
07:00That's the way we're able to also communicate information.
07:05And so I've tried to develop mine to embed it with the information that hopefully I'm able to serve.
07:14the things that I've found a benefit within my life to be able to help me continue to grow as
07:22an individual.
07:23I think one of the most important things is to care.
07:27And one of the reasons I take all the time and use the technology that I do to make an
07:33object like the balloon Venus,
07:36is to make something with a tremendous amount of caring.
07:41And that's a way to show respect to the viewer.
07:45That I find an absolute equivalent that this discussion is about both of us.
07:53We live in very dark times and this is a very luminous work.
07:58So what's the message?
07:59I think throughout history there have been dark times.
08:04I think if we look at the exhibition where we have the the Paleolithic figurines,
08:11it's quite dark.
08:13It's cave light there.
08:14And it also gives an idea of where these objects came from.
08:19They were found in caves.
08:21But it was a tough, tough place to live and to be able to survive and to be able to
08:28find meaning,
08:30to find a purpose for life, to endure all the hardships that they had.
08:34And we've made it to this point.
08:37I try to believe in humanity.
08:40I believe in trying to be the best that we can be.
08:44And to be able to not make any form of judgments.
08:49To find everything perfect in its own being and practice acceptance.
08:55In the long run, we're here speaking about an artwork and other artworks that exist from the past.
09:04But they're only objects.
09:07What we really care about are being able to accept ourselves as individuals
09:14and our ability to accept other people for the individuals that they are.
09:19That's what's really relevant to us as human beings.
09:23To be able to accept each other.
09:26Mr. Koons, thank you very much for this conversation.
09:29Thank you.
09:29Thank you.
09:31Thank you.
09:31Thank you.
09:32Thank you.
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