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After a remarked action at the Tate Modern Museum – London last week, the 4 partners in crime reveal to Swide their motivation and inspiration.

 Shocking, disturbing, pleasing? Being noticed and convey a message are the 2 things that matter for these young naughty boys that have made somehow a living out of their beliefs.
1/ How did the IOCOSE adventure start?   
IOCOSE: It all started in 2006. We met in Bologna, in Italy, where we were studying. We met at a very special Christmas party, on August 25th, organized by some common friends. It was love at first sight.

2/ What is the purpose of your group?    
IOCOSE: To subvert and entertain. Or to make a shitload of money by stealing from Chinese artists. As you like.

3/ In your latest action that took place at the Tate Modern what did you try to demonstrate on the day?   
IOCOSE: We were interested in the statement by Ai Weiwei: “what you see is not what you see, what you see is not what it means”. We had the impression he was suggesting something similar to the concepts we have been working on the last few years. We interpreted it as a ‘call to action’. From this idea we made an irreversible - and at the same time invisible - alteration: the artwork became something else while remaining the same. Ai Weiwei appreciated the work. We are not sure he understood that his name is no more at Tate, tough...

4/ Did Tate Modern visitors react as you had expected?  
IOCOSE: Reactions are just unpredictable, and you never know what you can get. Despite this, we still love to plan everything in every single detail. Tate’s visitors were incredulous but amused at the same time. Many of them took pictures and videos with their phones. We are really interested in provoking a reaction, either positive or negative. Actually we love our haters.

5/ Do you believe in the uniqueness and preciousness of a work of art?  
IOCOSE: Yes, we consider works of art as devotional objects, something unique and priceless. Something you cannot touch nor manipulate. Yes, for us Art is pure contemplation.

6/ What does a sunflower seed represent to you?  
IOCOSE: An infinitesimal part of our latest work.

7/ In general how do you choose your next target?
IOCOSE: This is a secret procedure.

8/ Do you think deeds speak louder than words to criticize the world we live in?
IOCOSE: We better succeed in working with images and actions, but we are not really sure if there is any difference between ‘doing’ and ‘thinking’. Both can change the world we live in, if people take responsibilities. In our practice, we let others speak about our works. They often do it much better than us. But their critics can be as groundbreaking as the original work, or even more. No hierarchy, then.

9/ Do you have any limits? Do you think that the result justify the means?
IOCOSE: Limits need to be faced one at the time. So far we managed to overcome most of the limits over-imposed by our mothers, such as ‘don’t put your fingers in electric plugs’, ‘don’t take candies offered by strangers’, ‘don’t play with razor-sharp objects’, ‘don’t use drugs’. Thanks to The Goalkeeper from the Doughboys, a group of super heroes we recently had the opportunity to meet, we even started playing football in the streets. But that’s a different story.

10/ What is politically incorrect?
IOCOSE: Racism, homophobia, sexism, and generally speaking making fun of minorities.

11/ What makes you angry?
IOCOSE: Nothing really, we are easy going.

12/ What do you think of today’s celebrities?
IOCOSE: We do like parties, Limousines and models. Even if we cannot escape from our fame we would prefer to keep reading stars’ lives on the gossip magazines. We find it quite boring to sign autographs and take pictures with kids. Guess this is what you get when you are a celebrity.

13/ Does anyone have a claim for fame?
IOCOSE: Not us, we are already famous!

14/ Does ridicule ultimately kill?
IOCOSE: It might not kill, but it can definitely be painful.

IOCOSE’ s exhibition at the Tate Modern – London, from 29th January 2011 until 2nd May 2011.
Sunflower seeds on“Sunflower Seeds” (2011)
IOCOSE exhibits a new artwork at the Tate Modern, made from a previous artwork at the Tate Modern.
The artist group has thrown several real sunflower seeds on Ai Weiwei's porcelain 'Sunflower Seeds'. The porcelain seeds, previously exhibited at the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, are now part of a new artwork by IOCOSE.
The new artwork looks exactly the same as the previous one, as the natural seeds and those made of porcelain are indistinguishable from each other. IOCOSE reclaims the authorship of the new installation and reminds viewers of Ai Weiwei’s previous statement: 'what you see is not what you see, and what you see is not what it means'.

Interview by Delphine Hervieu.
Sources: www.iocose.org

TAGS: IOCOSE art group. art Tate Modern Art London Iocose's project at the Tate Modern Ai Weiwei seeds seed work of art exhibition art exhibition art action art group Sunflower Seeds on Sunflower Seeds interview artist interview