Stief Desmet
Heavy Beat.
by Els Fiers
Summary of an e-mail conversation Stief Desmet and Els Fiers (critic) had over a period of two weeks in February 2006.
Els Fiers "Could you give a description of the desk or the table you're working on?"
Stief Desmet "On the wall: a small painting of an ex-girlfriend, a poster of a Paul McCarthy exhibition in Berlin, a drawing of an installation designed for Galerie Fortlaan 17, a small 19th century painting by Jan Frans, a photograph of Kurt Cobain who stumbles dead drunk into Dave Grohl's drums, a drawing of 'S,' nude on a shopping list note. On the desk: parakeets, phone/fax, computer, a Japanese robot toy, a plastic dino, bills, a plastic Chinese dragon on batteries, cd's, dvd's, magazines, a Fortune Miracle Fish, E.T., a wooden statue from Lombok, a plastic gorilla, cigars, sketchbooks, a pile of unidentified and tedious documents I constantly try to ignore".
Els Fiers "So who is 'S' and why did you draw her on a shopping list note?" Stief Desmet "'S' is the impossible love and therefore very inspiring. I've painted her several times before, that's me being romantic and fond of having a muse".
Els Fiers "Would you ever consider making a work on the impossible love?"
Stief Desmet "I might find that too therapeutic, but you never know. To me, everything depends on the moment, I rarely know what a painting will look like once it's finished. I've never made preparatory studies for my wallpaintings. I arrive somewhere, consider the space and how I feel and hit the walls with paint. There's no real calculation in my work, I work on impulse but I do try to control that and give it some structure".
Els Fiers "How about emotion and expression in your work?"
Stief Desmet "To me art is about escape and sublimation, not so much about deep analysis. Though I find that sublimation can happen after I've made a deep dig. I'm not the kind of person who takes time to contemplate a lot. I like to perform and by consequence I realise that the wall is hard after I've hit it. But I guess that's therapeutic too... I like to plunge into a technique or an atmosphere for as long as I find it interesting. That's why I use al kinds of media and several subjects. I like to think that my personal view will hold everything together. But painting will be here to stay, because of the simple gesture, the numerous possibilities and the provoking limitations of the two-dimensional".
Els Fiers "Your work seems rather different, compared to the work of other young, Flemish artists. There's a lot of reference material that's also quite easy to recognise. Is sampling your way of dealing with art?"
Stief Desmet "I haven't got a painters training, I guess that's why I've found my way trough art history without a teachter who tried to impose his taste on me. But I do wonder about my contemporaries and how they got stuck in the Flemish mud, without looking to the world around them. I strongly believe in a mixture of subjects without boundaries. Like Easy Rider: I don't have to be an American to do something with it, the fact that I'm a European makes my view on the subject different and maybe less predictable. I'm also a bit stunned by the massive amount of images we see nowadays. As an artist I have to deal with that, sort things out. Some images I've chosen consciously, others happened to slip in. The first ones may function as cultural icons. The second ones may find a place and a connection later on".
Els Fiers "Is there stuff that annoys you, as an artist (who is young, a painter in a certain context, confronted with the art market, hypes and so on)?"
Stief Desmet "I believe there's some space for the kind of us, but I'm not so sure about the artist's image. These so called high brow artists and critics who dissociate themselves from others, but love to play along with the market, fuck'em! No high brow distance for me, art is for everyone. My work comes from society and I like to give it back to society. But that doesn't mean I have to make it easy for the viewer. It's a matter of balance: to unveil and to conceal at the same time. But I don't feel so Flemish, I try to keep a rather global perspective on things. I've seen al lot of suggestive, misty art lately. I took part in a group show and turned out to be the only one who used bright, 'unbrownish' colours. Clear, straightforward, in-your-face images are scarcely used around here. Flemish artists are very humble I guess, but of course you can find exceptions too. Yet I sometimes enjoy these silent, humble works. As a viewer that is, (and if possible with a heavy beat in my headphones)".