Weekly Conversations... with David Meran

© David Meran

It´s time to meet the local artists of studio das weisse haus, who are using a studio space at our location Hegelgasse 14. Therefore, we are pleased to introduce David Meran.

Born in 1991 in Austria, David Meran currently lives and works in Vienna. Since 2011 he studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and in 2016 at Geidai – Tokyo University of the Arts. Besides his solo presentations, the artist participated in various group

www.davidmeran.com

In April 2017 you’ve moved into the studio #102 at Hegelgasse 14, Vienna. What are you currently working on?                                     

During my residency in Japan I started to work within the context of packaging and everyday spatiality. Therefore, I made for example a package with a standardized volume carved out of marble. This was the starting point to deal with the reversion of materiality and the new codification of valence of objects in combination with digitization processes. Everyday things that surround us may seem banal but actually they are fascinating in their form and artistic quality. The experience of contact is of great importance as well – objects and materials which evoke the desire to be touched and vice versa. The moment of immediate experience is decisive for my artistic practice. For me, an artwork should have two qualities, on the one hand the emotional level alongside the first blunt contact, and on the other hand, the context and theoretical background. And then there are questions like do we need both? How can you transmit it to the participants? Consequently, my work is very thought-out but also bares a moment of chance.

On May 18 you are showing “Grandfather / Me / 3rd Person” at Queer Aging Short Experimental Film in Berlin. Would you tell us more about this work?

The video is actually from 2013 and received nearly a little boom last year, for example it was shown in an exhibition in Rome. Now I will present a new version which includes the sound I composed in collaboration with Johannes Kerschbaummayr. Thematically it deals with assimilation and classification into family structures and the question: Where do I belong?

We will host an Open Studio Day on May 20 to get to introduce current works of our local artists. Could you give us a sneak preview about your plans?

Together with local artist Luka Jana Berchtold, we invite art educator Sophie Lingg, and talk about the topics: sharing/showing, digital death and force of gravity. We cordially invite you to participate in these carpet conversations.

Interviewer for studio das weisse haus: Nadine Hauptmann