Журнал Andy Warhol's Interview Россия Interview № 3 | Page 198

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my father said, “But it doesn’t rain in Bari!” (Anna’s
hometown.—Interview). I said that it was part of the
style. So I went to the start of school like an English
woman, with a brand-name umbrella. I had the to-
tal look. It’s really a disease.
CARLO: Does that mean you cost your parents
a fortune?
ANNA: Yes, of course; my needs were definitely
not the usual childish whims. I was a she-devil.
I made my mom buy three of one dress, and natu-
rally, Armani or Versace. This is how my infection
manifested itself.
CARLO: Didn’t your psychiatrist father ever
worry about your obsession with clothes?
ANNA: No, the opposite, he always supported
me, even when I was wearing really bizarre things:
“Let me see what you look like...wow!”
CARLO: A couple of seasons ago we met that
terrible 15-year-old American blogger in the front
row of a show. What was her name? I think only
you could understand this monster-girl’s zeal for
fashion.
ANNA: It’s immediately obvious whether a per-
son is sick for fashion. It is a kind of compensation,
libido. But honestly, it’s almost pathological.
CARLO: Aren’t you afraid that in time yours
will turn into mental illness?
ANNA: No. All psychiatric illnesses are indeed
aggravated by age, but by turning them into your
work, you can somehow pull yourself out of it, keep
under control. Otherwise there would be the chance
I would become one of those crazy old ladies who
roam the streets with raspberry-colored hair.
CARLO: You probably have problems with food
too.
ANNA: I also succeeded in getting this under
control. I am exceptionally organized; I was an ex-
cellent student—always the first, always the best.
CARLO: And what helped you?
ANNA: Years of psychoanalysis and yoga. As
a result I turned my dependence into a source of
energy.
CARLO: When exactly did it become so im-
portant to be perfectly dressed in the best items of
the season?
ANNA: It began in 2005, when bloggers began
to photograph fashion editors. We had always
been invisible, and here suddenly we discovered
that the lenses of these new paparazzi were focused
on us. There was nothing to be done except to main-
tain an exceptionally professional fa ç ade and a se-
cret private life. Street style may be closer to the real
you, and this differs from what you would wear to
official events, where you know for certain that you
will be photographed. We were pulled out of our
usual environment somewhat. This created a new
form of media. And then I, as a clothes fanatic,
thought: “How great this happened! Finally these
dresses will be seen and recognized by all!”
CARLO: Somewhere I heard that your chief
desire is to be a clothes hanger. Genius!
ANNA: You bet. I am one of the functions of
clothing. If I need to put a photo on a blog, what
difference does it make what expression is on my
face? The main thing is the look. It’s a way of saying
that I adore clothes, and not myself.
CARLO: What exactly is this “look”? Can you
define what it is and why we need it?
ANNA: It is the language of the body, your alter
ego, your projection. It releases you. I write in my
blog about what I like, and there’s nothing preten-
tious about it, I just want to share my obsessive love
of fashion.
CARLO: Do you usually buy things or receive
them free, as gifts?
ANNA: I spend all my money on clothes, I have
a huge collection.
CARLO: Have you ever calculated exactly how
much you have spent?
ANNA: No, thank God, otherwise I would have
to make appointments with a psychoanalyst again.
I have a separate apartment for my clothes near my
house.
CARLO: You’re kidding me! Listen, tell me
frankly, are you one of those fashion victims that
thinks dresses live their own lives? Are they living
organisms for you?
ANNA: Naturally; they are like planets. If you
see my closets, you would be frightened by how they
are organized. All the dresses require their own
space, they should feel alright. My house is known
for being kept at a temperature of 15 °С, because
otherwise the dresses would spoil.
CARLO: Do you think dresses talk to each
other?
ANNA: I think so, yes.
CARLO: If a dress tears, do you call for emer-
gency assistance?
ANNA: I go into hysterics. Taking clothes to the
cleaners is like taking them to the hospital—you nev-
er know if they will come back OK or not. I have
a real, physical love for fabric, colors...
CARLO: Does this mania interfere with your
personal life?
ANNA: No, thank God! But I have a history of
difficult romantic relationships. My ex-husband
somehow said the magic phrase: “You have too
many coats.” And here it all becomes clear: “Yes,
I am leaving, because you have too many coats and
you only think about them.”
CARLO: Did that break your heart or did you
immediately think about a new coat?
ANNA: No-no. But right then I began to lay out
everything.
CARLO: Did you ever—how to put it nicely—re-
ceive physical pleasure from a new dress?
ANNA (laughs): Of course not, but that would
be wonderful.
CARLO: I thought so. But not one dress ever
gave you an orgasm?
ANNA: No.
CARLO: Too bad. Not even something resem-
bling ecstasy?
ANNA: No, clothes are still simply functional,
a tool. Although I like it when a man says before sex:
“Don’t take off your shoes.”
CARLO: And so we’ve come full circle, back to
your mother’s shoes.
ANNA: A closed circle is the solution. But I hope
to stay inside.
KAWS
p. 182
by TAKASHI MURAKAMI
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami meets with
KAWS, a painter by education, nostalgic graf-
fiti artist and sculptor by calling. They have
much in common: a love of Asia, pop art and
the mass market. Murakami’s psychedelic flow-
ers, like KAWS’ cross-eyed cartoonish heroes,
are as recognizable as the abbreviations of
fashionable brands.
New York boy Brian Donnelly became KAWS
when as a student in a painting class he wanted to
become a street hooligan. Armed with a sprayer,
he started altering billboards and quickly became
a hero to graffiti artists around the world. After be-
coming bored with graffiti, he began creating giant
vinyl dolls, which were quickly snapped up by muse-
ums and galleries. He is now loved equally by street
artists, professional museum workers and demand-
ing collectors. For Interview KAWS spoke with the
most celebrated Japanese artist and admirer of his
work, Takashi Murakami.
MURAKAMI: Do you think you have had an
influence on the next generation of artists?
KAWS: My creativity has strongly changed from
graffiti magazines to my works in Tokyo, including
the shop, and now these museum shows. I used to
feel like galleries were these white boxes that I didn’t
feel comfortable in. I hope now that kids who are fa-
miliar with my material are not afraid of museums
and galleries, even if they do not know anything else
that is hanging there besides my work. If they be-
come familiar with other things there thanks to me,
I will be very glad.
MURAKAMI: You’ve done big collaborations,
and you cooperate with Hennessy, Standard Hotel
and many other companies. Among these brands is
Original Fake, which makes toys and t-shirts. Do
you think that many of your admirers take these
things as works of art?
KAWS: I like that way of communicating with
people. A museum exhibition is great, but the audi-
ence needs to make an effort to get there. And so
you are making breakfast in the kitchen and there is
a toy on a chair nearby. And there are thousands of
these. I will never stop making these, because they
create a tangible relationship between me and un-
known people.
MURAKAMI: The world knows you as KAWS,
and then you’re Brian to your family and friends.
Do you ever have an identity crisis?
KAWS: I am a person with two names. Ge-
nerally it doesn’t matter to me, although if my fam-
ily suddenly started calling KAWS, it would be
strange.
MURAKAMI: What did you find most surpris-
ing in the transition from graffiti to the contempo-
rary art world?
KAWS: By and large they are the same. The me-
dia harp on the fact that I am a graffiti artist. This
baffles me, I admit. How can someone stand in front
of my painting and judge me by what I did 15 years
ago? I think that art critics sometimes should take
a look at what they are writing. When I was doing
street art, I was really just thinking about painting.
My current work with graffiti has nothing to do with
that. In college, I did four years of painting. Why
doesn’t anyone reference this when they’re standing
in front of my work?
MURAKAMI: I dream of fomenting a revolu-
tion in the world of Western art. Is there anything
you would like to change?
KAWS: There is so much hypocrisy, at least in
how people perceive graffiti on the streets and work
in galleries. It’s well past time to abandon taboos
and stop imposing one’s out-dated interpretations
on others. Nobody becomes an artist to hear in-
structions.