Julien is an artist and film-maker who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001. He is curating a series of talks at Siobhan Davies Studios in London, on performance, visual arts and the moving image. It begins on 13 June. http://www.siobhandavies.com/parallelvoices
- 1 Does art make a difference? Yes. But we seldom debate its effects, especially among artists – critics and curators to one another. These days, arts are about Christie’s auctions and celebrity trainspotting. It’s time for the art of conversation about the arts to be revived, especially between different disciplines.
- 2 Should politics and art mix?
- Politics and art always mix. Whether it produces interesting art is another question. As we know, the arts have been used to make politics sexy, but it’s time to reignite an artistic sensibility that goes beyond political expediencies.
- 3 Is your work for the many or for the few?
- The last film I made, Derek (about the life and work of Derek Jarman), was part of an exhibition I curated at the Serpentine this spring. It had almost 64,000 visitors during its eight-week run.
- 4 If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
- To ban war, obviously. And to relax border controls. In a world that celebrates telecommunication revolutions, where digital technologies are celebrated for their speed and efficiency, the legalistic framework to inhibit certain bodies from certain places does not compare with the general flow of capital.
- 5 Who would be your top advisers?
- Paul Gilroy (professor extraordinaire), Julia Peyton-Jones (director of the Serpentine Gallery) and Tony Benn.
- 6What, if anything, would you censor?
- I don’t think I’d want to censor anything – apart from reality television.
- 7 If you had to banish one public figure, who would it be?
- Boris Johnson. I find it unimaginable that a cosmopolitan city like London voted for him to be mayor. We do live in desperate times.
- 8 What are the rules that you live by?
- Loyalty, compassion, hard work.
- 9 Do you love your country?
- Sometimes.
- 10 Are we all doomed? Of course.
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