INTERVIEW WITH MULTIMEDIA ARTIST ANNE-SOPHIE WASS
Who is Anne-Sophie Wass?
“Anne-Sophie Wass is my birth name. My mom used to be a fan of Anne-Sophie Mutter who was a violin star in the nineties. I am probably better known as Anny Wass. But I also run with other nicknames like Banana, Bee, N, Bomba and since my art project ‘me myself and I’ in China in October 2019 some of my friends even started to call me Wasstradamus :)
I am a nineties child. I grew up with plenty of plastic, benetton colors and fancy trash. The first cell phones were big as suitcases and I had the pleasure to watch the computer technology develop into personal usage in baby steps.
The big nuclear accident in Tschernobyl happened and the different ethnies of Yugoslavia were at war. When we started to have informatic at school, Google did not exist yet!!!
I am a photographer, I do object design and I work with time and space.
Together with my partner Gert Resinger I organize an artist run space here in Vienna, where artists of different media and backgrounds produce and present art.”
What are your goals? What inspires/motivates you?
“Actually I get my inspiration from everywhere, everything and everyone.
Once you are open to it, there are interesting things, coincidences and opportunities happening all the time.
My motivation is to stay inspired by very simple things. To honor little wonders of life and time. Kids are the masters of this discipline and my daughter is a very special source of inspiration. ”
In your work “me, myself and I” which was inspired by the confrontation with internalized stereotypes about Chinese culture, you chose to “multiply” yourself. Are those separate identities, how do they interact with your own, Anne-Sophie’s, identities?
“I multiply myself because I am one of the easiest objects to stage. It is fun to play with people’s perception by using slightly different expressions for single shots. I think it is interesting that most stereotypes are just a way for us to find simpler explanations for more complex topics. I try to be aware of that and work with it. In general I like to work multimedia and try to push the boundaries of common art and design definitions. ”
How is the current situation influencing you? How do you deal with it?
“Oh. I had big hopes. Since I was a kid I imagined that only a big force from outside could bring mankind to realize that we are all passengers on a small spaceship called earth. For a short moment I had the feeling that this small virus could carry that potential. Especially in the beginning of the quarantine. People would slow down and reflect more on what is really important. Be more aware about their closer environment and how to deal with people who they share e.g. a city with. I loved that people wandering around was a more present image than cars on the streets. I could listen to chirping birds in the middle of the day in the middle of the city. I wish politicians would have worked more with this actually very interesting momentum. I wish they would have communicated more the possibilities of change and redefining. There is a chance to rethink health and schooling systems, work and general income and how small adaptations of the individual could cause a bigger effect on the future of our environment.”
Anne-Sophie Wass - Website, The Dessous