Boat in Portovenere Painting

Q & A with Alessandro Neckels (excerpt) Alice Shay (curator) in conversation with Alessandro Neckels AS: Where do you find your ideas for your pieces? AN: In my mind "¨AS: How much of an influence do you think society has on your work? AN: Society influences my work because I live in this society, and I want to represent and criticize all the wrong aspects of our "civilization", in this sense my work is a political work. It's a struggle against a  predatory and self-destructing society. I try to show what is being done against nature; and with "nature" I mean not only our natural environment but also our bodies and souls, which are also going to be polluted. "¨AS: How do you think society has influenced your identity? AN: Society has tried to influence my identity but has not completely succeeded. Again, society in our world is an exploiting system (not defined by ideology, but by its squalid objects), which tends to uniform and flat out all differences between human beings, which are so important in order to be free and intellectually active. "¨AS: Do you illustrate any dichotomies of identity in your work? If so, how? AN: My work is a continuous paradox. It's difficult to differentiate between the two sides. "¨AS: Do you illustrate the influences of society in your work? If so, how? AN: See above. "¨AS: Do you believe inspiration occurs consciously, subconsciously, or both?  By "¨this I mean, do you think artists are always aware of what influences them? AN: Inspiration is always in the subconscious. "¨AS: What is the purpose of art? AN: Art has no direct purpose, but may help build a better world. "¨AS: Do art need to communicate to be worthwhile/good? AN: Art is art, and communications are intrinsic. "¨AS: What is your opinion of the aesthetic vs. ethical values of art? AN: Well, as I first heard of this, it was I think in an interview to some "very important" art critic during the last Venice Exposition, I almost threw up. What the hell are you talking about, I thought, art has no boundaries, art is a weapon. If used correctly, art can change the world, but you cannot limit art in such a way, using concepts like ethics and aesthetics. "More ethics, less aesthetics" was the slogan of the moment: I think in the art world there is a lot of very sick people.