Christopher Atamian

born in New York, works in New York

Silvina der Meguerditchian: Can you tell us some words about the work you are exhibing in Venice?

Christopher Atamian: The piece is called “The Exile of Language, the Language of Exile.” It is a very basic projection of an excerpt from a novella that I translated from Western Armenian by Nigoghos Sarafian called “The Vincennes Woods,” (Original Armenian Title: “Vinceni Andaruh.”)SdM: Can you describe the theory, please?

CA: It is not a theoretical piece per se. But one of the issues which I find fascinating is the how language structures thought. Sarafian was an exile: he was re-educated as a child in French schools, and so as an adult when he tried to write in his mother tongue—Western Armenian—he felt as if he was already translating in his head into Armenian—hence the title of my piece. This observation of Sarafian’s is also fascinating for a translator because one of the most basic ideas behind translation is that one is translating from a state or language that is natural to oneself—i.e. I am writing as I think and I am showing you that world, that thought process, as best I can. But if what a writer puts to paper is already alien, unnatural, if his natural or native tongue is an a sense itself in exile, then what world is the writer actually translating for the reader? And then in a metaphorical sense, as Armenians—or in my case as a half-Armenian (my other half is Swiss-Italian and my mother in fact raised me) from the diaspora, how has exile affected our language and how does our loss of our own language-because it has been lost to most of us statistically—affect our sense of self, of being in exile (or not), and how we see and experience the world. As a video piece, as an aesthetic object I hope that this very modest contribution to the Biennale makes viewers ask very basic questions about identity and that it also shows them a glimpse of a world—Sarafian’s –which was both very beautiful and very terrifying. If you look at the text, which is projected in two languages—Western Armenian and English—it tells a very simple “tale” about identity, exile and doubt—that most terrible emotion that Sarafian feared. And I would like to add that it is very humbling to introduce this writer, who was like many of our grandparents a young orphan and a refugee—to the public. 

SdM: How can we see your piece in the context of the other works exhibited in the Krossing Pavilion?

CA: Well, the piece is about identity, the role of the writer in the world and how language helps to structure existence. These seem to be completely consonant with the Pavillion’s themes that revolve around globalism, multi ethnic/cultural/linguistic states. And if you consider Nicolas Bourriaud’s theory of Relational Aesthetics, my piece samples, cuts, edits, fades in and out...it implies both a natural and constructed identity.

SdM: How did you enter in Underconstruction?

CA: A very gifted curator and artist brought me into the group earlier this year (smile) based on a series of
articles that I published in The Armenian Reporter called Studio Visits and an essay that was included in an exhibit at the National Gallery in Talinn early this year called ThisPLACEd. 

SdM: Which are your places of birth and residence? 

CA: I was born in New York City where I also currently live. 

SdM: Please comment on how you see the Diaspora-Armenia relationship-you are free to discuss any aspect or in general terms-and the relationship or interplay between artists in the Armenian diaspora and the ROA? Is the art scene healthy in either location? 

CA: I cannot comment on the art scene in the ROA although from what I understand it is a mixed bag where things are slowly but surely changing. In the diaspora, every generation seems more promising: I am currently writing a column about mainly Armenian-American artists and at last count I will be covering some thirty individuals-video artists, painters, book artists, sculptors etc—all first-rate, intelligent challenging thinkers and artists. That is good news for such a small community. It means that we are evolving and contributing to the dialogue and production of contemporary art. 

SdM: In your opinion, do you really think Gorky has determinate the way of the armenian artists? Do we need another one?

CA: That’s a fascinating and very complicated and there’s a lot of denial about this—people who tell you we have had other great artists since, or that it’s the wrong question to ask perhaps, but I disagree. All questions are valid, and this one is very relevant. Even if arguably we’ve had others, it is clear that Armenian—Soviet or diasporans—are more or less completely absent from the contemporary or modern art historical record. Here area few reasons: Armenians have until recently been too conservative and inward-looking. Very few went into the arts and very few attended top graduate and undergraduate programs—so that often they were not even aware of what standrards they should be reaching for. Armenians still don’t collect art enough or understand the importance of literature, academia and the arts in and of themselves or for that matter what cultural capital can bring a nation-something which many other people and groups understand quite well. Neery Melkonian has spoken about this elsewhere more eloquently than I can in this short response. I for one am still waiting for the first world class Armenian museum to open up in New York or even Paris or London. We have a story to tell—and this would be, to my mind, the best way to tell it—or one of the best, in any case.

SdM: You showed recently a work in "ThisPLACEd" exhibition in Tallinn. Can you talk a little about it?

CA: It is the same as in Venice in terms of content but I have shortened it, sampled and edited it and transferred it to a different medium—video. I would have liked to have had more time to perhaps work with animation or making it into a proper video—perhaps for the next Biennale, who knows?

SdM: Anything you would like to add? 

CA: No, apart from the fact that I’d like to emphasize the importance of translation in the contemporary world in helping to understand each others’ cultures and the theme of translating ideas—from literature to art, from art to literature and in all the other myriad ways available to us.