Who are you?
Who I am? I’m a human being, of course. And a father, that’s important. I’m also some sort of idealist; I wouldn’t be involved in art if I wasn’t.
How and why did you become an artist?
Completely by accident. I drifted into it. I had been interested in physics and music at school. I accidentally ended up at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki and I also studied philosophy at the university. I realised that, through art, it is possible to attain several goals at once. Then I ended up at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.
What does being an artist mean to you?
The most important thing is the intellectual challenge. And finding a meaningful story you like. Being an artist also means a lot of work and giving up lots of other things.
Where do you get the ideas for your works?
All of a sudden, I have a vision that is so strong that I have to put it into practice. I just know that "That’s something I want to experience for myself". The vision comes to me on the move, never when I’m sitting at my desk.
Does art describe reality?
All art describes reality in some way. However, my intention is more to awaken the viewers of my art to see their own reality through interaction.
How do you work?
I walk. I don’t get any ideas sitting down. Maaretta Jaukkuri once said very aptly that an artist must have good shoes. Finding the question is harder than finding the answer. It’s only when I have had the idea that I sit down at my desk. That’s when the sheer hard graft begins. The boring practical implementation takes the most time.
What is the significance of the technique you use?
The technique serves the idea, nothing more.
When is a work finished?
That’s hard to know. At the stage when you’re doing the practical work, you tend to lose track of how someone would react if they were seeing the work for the first time. So I use a test audience, who tell me when the experience is finished. I can tell myself when something works in the visual and technical sense.
How do you name your works?
I don’t name them at all. A name would only add useless information to my work or be misleading. I want the meaning to derive purely from the experience.
In what way would you like your art to have an influence?
I hope that someone who has viewed one of my works sees the world in a slightly different way.
Who is allowed to interpret your works?
The interpretation always happens within the viewer. The artist can only guide it.
What is your dream audience?
I’d prefer not to define a dream audience. I create all my works for myself, because I want to experience them for myself. But I admit that it’s a nice idea that someone else would derive something from them as well.
How did you prepare for the Ars Fennica exhibition in Kiasma?
I haven’t been able to prepare for Ars Fennica any differently than any other exhibition. And I don’t believe that I should view this as a chance to prove myself.
What does being nominated for Ars Fennica 2007 mean to you?
If I consider Ars Fennica as a competition, the situation is completely absurd. Four completely different artists can’t compete with each other. If I consider the nomination as such, that is a welcome recognition of my work. My foremost thought is that we should make a good exhibition. The four of us make a good team and we work together well.
What people or things have influenced your art?
My family and friends, who made me the person I am. My teachers at different stages of my education have given me support. My time as a student of Radoslav Gryta, at the Academy was a particularly good time.
What is you relationship with art history?
Lots of people are surprised when I say that I am clearly a sculptor. I feel that I am part of that tradition in the same way that all sculptors before me have been. Sculpture has been very concrete throughout time and I feel it as much with my body as I do with my eyes. However, we live in the same illusion today as we have always done. People have always said that "everything’s been done already” – people said that during the Renaissance and they are saying it now. Despite that, new artists always find something new. And there is always new endeavour. Without that endeavour, art would die.
Does your art have a goal of some sort?
Every work of mine has a goal, but I don't want to lock down my entire production into serving just one goal. That would be too simple. When we reach the point where I begin to copy myself, I’ll say what my goal is.
Is art a personal concern of the artist?
It is, in the sense that I want to experience it for myself. The fact that you set out to create art in the first place is already a kind of statement about the world. It’s a personal choice, not a personal concern.
Do your works have a grounding in theory?
If they do, that would be connected with historical aspects. I only reflect my works against history, even if I'm not against theory in principle. It is always a question of what you can show in art. This issue is more visual than verbal. I feel the need to distinguish between visual and verbal language, because in my opinion they are so different that you cannot even describe the same things using them.
What is the artist’s role in society?
The artistic brotherhood likes to see itself as an alternative source of good. Artisthood can also be a statement in favour of a good life.
Markus Kåhre