“Our shared personal lives is more of a subtext that permeates all of the works that we do and think about at any given time.”—Aziz + Cucher
Anthony Aziz + Sammy Cucher: Faculty, Parsons / New York NY
azizcucher.net
“our shared personal lives is more of a subtext that permeates all of the works that we do and think about at any given time.”—aziz + cucher
How do day-to-day shared experiences impact your collaborative work?
Everything we do is determined by our day-to-day interactions and reactions to the outside world. Sometimes things are very specific, like all of the works from our exhibition Some People (2012) and the Aporia Series (2012), where we explored our own complicated, affective relationship to the Middle East and its geopolitical realities. In 2009, we were able to take an extensive research trip to Israel, Lebanon, and countries in the former Yugoslavia. The experiences of this trip, where we came in close contact with the scars of recent and ongoing wars, was very powerful for us and a catalyst in the production of all of the works in Some People.
Synaptic Bliss
courtesy of aziz + cucher
At the beginning of our collaboration, we were emotionally marked by the reality of AIDS in our community and in our personal lives. All of our work relating to the body, such as the Plasmorphica series (1996), and Interiors (2000–2002) can be understood within that mind-frame of disease, and control or sublimation of the corporeal, even though it doesn’t deal with AIDS in a direct way. Also, we were going to raves in the early 2000s. The lights and buzz of the night life inspired Synaptic Bliss (2003–2007). With that piece, we played with consciousness and overt digital-ness. There’s a collision of multiple perspectives and scales. We were influenced by blending the boundaries between body and environment, as experienced in raves.
Our shared personal lives is more of a subtext that permeates all of the works that we do and think about at any given time.
Green Screen Shoot for In Some Country Under a Sun and Some Clouds
courtesy of aziz + cucher
In Some Country Under a Sun and Some Clouds
courtesy of aziz + cucher