“The world has come together to find solutions for the big political issues and climate crisis we are facing now.”

Name

Miriam Hamann

Profession

Visual artist

Website

miriamhamann.com

Where are you from?

I am an Austrian artist, living and working in Vienna

Your style in 3 words?

Conceptual, abstract, minimalist

Your weakness? Your strength?

Weakness: impatient Strength: When I have something in mind, I move heaven and earth to make it happen

What makes you different?

Aren’t we all different?

When did you decide to become an artist?

I grew up in an artist family, so I’ve always been surrounded by art. For as long as I can remember, it was clear to me that I wanted to do something with art.

Do you choose your art form, or does the form choose you?

Both. In my often very conceptual works, I deal with natural phenomena and the question of how they structure our reality. My explorations of certain topics almost automatically lead to certain formal realizations. This means that the choice of the materiality of a work and its formal aspect result from the content itself. On the other hand, for the past years I have been working more and more with light, especially neon, and what I always like to call the “immaterial material” of light naturally often leads to certain formal decisions.

What do you find most fascinating about the creative process?

The continuous learning.
As for the materials, the exploration of spaces, interactions with people, and also content-wise.
As mentioned earlier, I often engage with natural phenomena and explore how scientific observations and insights can be reinterpreted as artistic processes and made visible. This takes me into realms of physics, astronomy, and philosophy, which are often uncharted territory for me. In doing so, I naturally learn incredibly new things—about elements that shape our daily lives but are barely conscious to us. For example, I have delved deeply into the theme of time and the question of its measurability. Currently, I am extensively engaged in astronomical phenomena, investigating the influence of factors such as Earth’s rotation or the movement of the magnetic North Pole on our timekeeping and navigation systems. I find it incredibly intriguing to question the systems we have imposed upon ourselves and how we rely on nature’s constants that, in reality, are not constant at all. Translating this into artistic works and reinterpreting it in a minimalist and abstract way in my light installations and sculptures truly fascinates me.

A few words about your favorite creation?

I have just completed a new neon piece that refers to the earliest recorded geometric drawings. For the first time, I moved the neon away from the wall by installing it as a three-dimensional drawing in space. Another work that I like to remember is ‘Dark Room,’ a large-scale light installation that I realized on the roof of a museum in Austria.

What surprised you most about your first art shows?

How much time you actually need for the setup and how many conversations with different people one can have in one evening.

“Take a deep breath, grit the teeth and keep on going.“

Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…

There are various people and artists who inspire me for different reasons in different moments. Sophie Calle, Iman Issa, Miranda July, Olafur Eliasson, Stephen Hawking, …

Who would you like to work with someday and why?

NASA

A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?

At the moment, I plan to continue working on the ancient geometric studies mentioned above. Furthermore, I am working on a bigger project that I started during a residency in Paris which deals with the standard meter and the measuring of the Earth.

Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“

My family.

2024: Where are we going?

Politically speaking, a very intriguing and somewhat frightening question. I really hope that the global community focuses more on what unites us rather than what divides us.

Do you think about time as an artist?

Yes, a lot! I have been working intensively on the subject of time for several years, in particular its measurability, its apparent linearity and dimension. A dimension that remains incomprehensible the moment we start thinking about time.

When the going gets tough…

Take a deep breath, grit the teeth and keep on going.

Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?

This is a quite difficult question. First of all, I hope that the world still stands. And that finally, the world has come together to find solutions for the big political issues and climate crisis we are facing now.

What would you do if you could change the World?

I would transform it into a violence-free world.

What does freedom mean when it comes to art?

Given the current debates, this is also a question that cannot be easily answered. Personally, I believe that art can be a form of self-assertion. It provides the freedom to experiment, expand one’s horizons, to communicate, engage with different materials and content and pose critical questions.

If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?

I really like this question because it ties into my interest in natural science and intangible dimensions. The intriguing part is the question about the infinite and our limited understanding of what we label as infinite. What does the infinite mean? Are there other universes (which actually is a current question in cosmology)? What comes after the infinite? The unexpected?

Tell us about your future plans…

Right now I am working on three upcoming shows, a project in Paris as well as a publication about one of my recent exhibitions.

Your city’s favorite spots?

I lived in Berlin for a long time before moving back to Vienna a few years ago. The art scene here has changed significantly and has become very dynamic and vibrant. There are many interesting galleries and off- spaces. Regarding coffee places, I can recommend the typical Viennese Kaffeehäuser like Café Jelinek or Café Savoy. Nice places in summer: Hotel am Brillantengrund, the Danube.

A book that everyone should read…

There are so many great books that I cannot narrow it down to just one

Last but not least: what is your favorite Song?

First song that came to my mind: The Emancipation Procrastination by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“

Stone and gold

Your #…?

#miriamhamann