Field of Dissonance - Interview with Chilean Artist Alex Vargas

Chilean-born Alex Vargas, a multidisciplinary and multifaceted artist resing in London. A the age of nine, Alex joined a troupe of clowns performing on television in his native Santiago of Chile, and then went on to study Fine Arts in Chile and Barcelona, Spain where he lived for a decade painting murals and as an art director for TV advertising/. His work has been awarded and exhibited in several galleries and Art Institutions around Europe. Now in London, Latinolife interviews the Chilean artist about his latest brainchild project "Field of Dissonance".
by Sonia Ciruelo
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LatinoLife: How was your childhood growing up in Chile and please tell us how did you become involved in creating art?

Alex Vargas: Chile is an amazing country, the landscape is so dramatic and the fact that it is in a constant seism makes you feel that reality is under construction, we don't live in a solid world. I grew up there until I was a teenager under dictatorship regime so it wasn't an easy childhood. On the other hand, my creative process started there and it made me what I am today. Art was everywhere, I used to watch groups of people with their faces covered, coming to paint murals in our local school walls, with messages against the dictatorship. I was fascinated by their murals; faces painted with vivid colours. This was my first approached to visual art.

LL: In How many cities have you established yourself in and are you dreaming to go back to your native country?

AV: I have lived in Santiago of Chile, in Barcelona for a decade and now I am based in London since 1999. I love the idea to go one day to Chile as I haven't been back for almost 30 years. I would love to show the country to my family, my son, daughter and wife and rediscover a country that is far in the distance and in my memory for me. Right now I don't have a sense of nationality, I don't know if I belong to a country any more or if I belong to all of them, there is always my interest to find out more about my roots, which part of it still in me also the enormous curiosity from my kids to see the country.

LL: Is your artistic process been influenced by any artist, tell us who and in which way?

AV: I have long standing fascination with the surreal realms pioneered by earlier artist, the work of Roberto Matta introduced me to mutant, ever transforming worlds where reality itself is simply a process unfolding and I adopted this perspective universally. The otherworldly films and philosophy of Alejandro Jodorowsky are a perfect  compliment to Matta.

  LL: How many different disciplines have you use to create your work, please name them. Which one do you think it hits more directly to the spectator.

AV: I have been working in performing arts as a clown and using actors on my experimental pieces. Drawing, painting, collage, manipulate photography using my own costumes hand made by me and video art. I think all of them go direct to the spectator or at least for the viewers that are looking for this kind of art form. It is difficult to choose one but if I have to, I think that film is one of the more complex disciplines, you have to work with a team and you use many elements like photography, music, acting so the attention of the spectator is been taken in a very particular way I think that makes it more direct.

LL: In what ways does the human body inspire you?

AV: The human body is a universe itself, It's fascinating and also is a process; fighting for life and evolution. It is also consciousness we can see the universe through our bodies otherwise there is not universe at least no awareness of it. We are all inspired by the human body in one way or another it can't be a soul without a body so this body and its unfolding process is the subject of my work.

LL: Field of Dissonance sounds as a very powerful title, please tell us about the project , how started and what would you like to archive with it?

AV: Field of Dissonance is the first of a series of short films developing a single exploratory theme and opens a cycle of films that explore dimensions of life, evolution and individual experience as processes which develop over vast time-frames and across astronomical spaces. I have an almost religious passion for the transportive power of certain types of filmmaking, the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky being a prime example. I feel the world needs more cinematic arts of this kind.Film is the ideal art form in which to explore unfolding processes because they occur over time. Time is the only absolute. Field of Dissonance will deliver this perspective to its viewers and I hope will open doors for them and me to make more discoveries in perception.

I you would like to help Alex to get the founding he needs to make his project alive, see the link bellow for details, he also wellcomes sponsorships ( be in the credits ). https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/film-field-of-dissonance-music-art#/ Film: Field of Dissonance

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