This is a discussion between artist duo The Cool Couple and myself. Initiated as part of a project for my PhD, this conversation has no pre-requisites it will be allowed to manifest organically.
Our lives were nothing special, until John invited us to join Yarn. From that moment, we are struggling to find something interesting to say. For an artist doesn't necessarily have something to say. But we've been asked to talk about us, so we had to acknowledge our laziness. In the past years, we swept a bunch of questions under the carpet (you can even think we closed them in the wardrobe, if it sounds creepier). As it often happens, we tried to think about those topics, but our cultural roots prevented us to find an answer: you should know that there's an Italian adage, saying more or less: never change a winning team. So, given the fact that our artist duo always worked properly and a lot of things we should describe or discuss now have always come to us naturally, we never paid too much attention to them. Instead, we concentrated on the contents of our artistic projects, at least to have something to do. Otherwise, our lives would result in being quite boring, even if we could always rely on Facebook to waste time without even realizing it. So, John, here we are. We have landed on this planet, called YARN.
It was almost a year ago when I arrived in the eternal city. I didn’t realise it at the time, as I had just commenced my PhD, but I would stumble upon an interesting and politically charged installation. This installation moved me to the extent that I had to reach out.
The installation was the creation of the enigmatic duo, The Cool Couple. The artwork entitled, Turbulent times. Nothing happens in nice weather Chapter 2: Cool people pay happily, was satirically proficient in that often dangerous place between comedy and contemporary art. However, the work successfully tapped into the problematics of contemporary society. These issues are so complex that I cannot do justice within this single story, as we go they will be revealed.
On my return to the UK I decided to contact The Cool Couple through social media and email (like any self respecting 21st Century researcher). Low and behold they responded to the digital semaphore.
This world of Yarn community allows for a dialogue or a story to emerge from the ether. Like a talk show unfolding in hyperspace without a visible audience but still words and sentences are exchanged. So it is in this mode that we should continue. This is not simply a question and answer modus operandi, but a conversation which creates a space for further ideas with which to act upon. So here goes! I'm talking directly to you both now. Hopefully we can find out how you ended up here on Yarn community. Let’s cut to the chase…
There seems to me to be a political resistance within your work or a search for alternative modes of production through a collective mentality? Would you identify with that term collective? This action, call it your practice, walks the razors edge between being co-opted into the hegemonic dominances of capitalist west and occupying a space of resistance both working within and striving for change? Am I wrong in this perspective?
