Alejandra Urresti

Artist Interview

May 29, 2016
Alejandra Urresti was born in 1975 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied Architecture at Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) until 4th year. In 2014, she published a poetry book called “¿Alguna vez viste un pino balanceándose así?” [Have you ever seen a pine swing this way?]

What does a language mean to you, and how does it affect your art?

I see language as a chance of not-always-happy communication... a few times effective in terms of “I tell you something… You understand the same thing”. It is the faithful necessity of communicating something – talking about language. Language is dumb as regards fidelity. Language is not immediate. There is a time for telling, listening and understanding. There is time for speaking, not even listening not even understanding. Talking again. Repeating. Making work is narrating.  A picture can replace a word… a video, another. And that's the way a sentence, a paragraph is made, and an idea is developed. Taking photos, making videos, writing and drawing.

Language is a mixture of all these disciplines.

Thus, a writing alludes to an image.

Thus, language does not only refer to words.

What inspires you?

Idleness.  Staring something during a long time.  Tidying up.  Emptying my house, the studio.  Making lists.  Working.  Without work, inspiration does not produce, nothing at all. An idea held in the brain is invisible. Not even a tale.

Can you tell us about your relationship with your work?

From the moment I understood how we work, everything turned into joy. I could see my method and times. If I do think, I do not create, and if I create, I do not stop. But if I don´t start, there is nothing. I respect times. We do not rush. There is no outside, there is no other, not even the market. I like my work, I like doing it. Everything is fine.

Name a couple of things that makes you happy?

Idleness.

Staring something during a long time.

Tidying up.

Emptying my house, the workshop.

Making lists.

Working.

Repetition

Dark chocolate

Eugenio D’Ors.

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Are you working on any new projects these days?

Nothing new. I'm trying to finish two projects. One of them is a series of drawings. I draw stones. One stone at a page. With a hard pencil. During a long time. A few stones and I finish. The other proyect is a book. A novel, not very long, called "El ascensor cruzando el patio". [The lift across the patio]. We have to wait and, in the meantime, work to finish them.

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What do you read usually?

Nowadays, I´m reading poetry. It´s been a long time since I don´t read long books. I don`t read them, but I do have them. People give me books as gifts and I keep them. I accept them, and I even buy them. But I don´t read them. I pile them up at my night table, I put them at a bookshelf with their backs facing the all, the 60-centimeter shelf is now a never-ending white leaf book. I´ll make them wait – I think… It´s not a good time now.

Do you have any bad habits? And do they affect your work?

Yes, sure. I have bad habits. To mention a few, I am repetitive, obsessive, lazy but stubborn. Habits affect the way I make my work, my times, my emotions. Habits delay me. And that's the way I gain time to think, to take distance.