The Paradox
Peter Puklus is an artist currently based in Hungary, Budapest. His work is a complex representation of social concepts, which he displays through a deconstruction of the familiar. Building a new reality based on questions that preoccupy his thoughts, Peter discloses the perception of the objects by a human mind. In his recent work, The Hero Mother – How to build a house, Peter introduces his interpretation of gender dynamics in a family.
He shares that the project came after the birth of his second child, back in 2016, “more like a therapy to reconcile with the new situation and with its imaginary and/or realistic consequences to my personal and professional life.” Through mutual effort, the creator and the viewer observe and speculate on the traditional family roles in modern society.
Peter Puklus is a multidisciplinary artist whose work expanded from photography to involve sculpture, paintings, installations, and additional fields. Peter studied Photography at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest and New Media Design at the École National Supérieur de Création Industriel in Paris. His work offers a storytelling experience laid before the gaze of the audiences in the form of exhibitions and photo books. In this interview, we speak with Peter about his recent and ongoing project, The Hero Mother – How to build a house, which received Grand Prix Images Vevey 2017–2018, was presented in the Images Festival and is soon to be released in a book format by Witty Books. We discuss Peter’s main drive of creating a narrative, Handbook to the Stars - a book and installation, and the recurring motif of Paradox present both in Peter’s life and work.
‘I was recently able to state that I cannot construct my house with one tool only - which is obviously a metaphor. Sometimes I like to exaggerate or even overact with the usage of a medium.’
The Medium
One of the most fascinating things in your work is your knowledge and skill in a variety of mediums ranging from the beginning of your career as a Graphic Designer, a Photographer to expansion to the spheres of painting (the exhibition 'You told I had beautiful hands'), sculpture and installation. Could you tell how your interest developed throughout the years?
I graduated in photography from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) in Budapest, Hungary, in 2005. Then, I spent one year in Paris, France, at the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle, where I studied new media design. This is the place where the idea of the square format of a still image started to break down, both formally and conceptually. While photography remained important in my practice, I, first shyly then more freely, discovered other territories. I was recently able to state that I cannot construct my house with one tool only - which is obviously a metaphor. Sometimes I like to exaggerate or even overact with the usage of a medium - normally far from photography - such as sculpture, painting, or installation.
What is your main drive today?
I think my main drive is always to try to tell a story, and while doing this, I need to find the tool which helps me the most in the first place. Sometimes I find photography on the documentary side of storytelling, even if the view is staged and constructed. I have many ideas which need more freedom and abstraction, and this is where discovering different mediums becomes more exciting.
‘I usually see my surroundings as less shiny, fancy, or trendy compared to the West, but it definitely has a charm. Graceless but charming.’
Hungary
You’ve been born in Kolozsvár, Romania, and currently, you're based in Budapest. I have visited Budapest, Hungary once and its history and beauty are undeniable. What does it mean to be a Romanian/Hungarian artist in your opinion?
Here in Eastern Europe, we have to deal with a complex and self-contradictory history and present. In many cases, these situations generate paradoxical feelings and solutions. I usually see my surroundings as less shiny, fancy, or trendy compared to the West, but it definitely has a charm. Graceless but charming. And I sometimes consciously use this as an advantage in my approach to the message, concept, and delivery of my works and ideas. On the practical side, since everyday life, materials, and professional services are also cheaper, this is also a plus.
‘Handbook to the Stars is not only a book; 32 copies of it create a wall installation that represents an imaginary map of the night sky.’
Handbook to The Stars
Congratulations on issuing the second edition of Handbook to the Stars, first published in 2012. In this book, one can recognize a chasm and fascination with different mediums of art through the objects you choose to present and how they appear. What has changed in the way you read the book or your emotions towards this work from the first edition to reissuing it - looking at it both from a Photographer’s and a Designer’s perspectives?
Handbook to the Stars is not only a book; 32 copies of it create a wall installation that represents an imaginary map of the night sky where smaller and larger photographs on the pages represent the smaller and bigger stars and their constellations. Since the only installation made from the first edition has been included in the permanent collection of Ludwig Museum Budapest and the remaining copies were quickly sold, I needed a second edition to be able to accept recent invitations from different venues and other institutions. This is more the technical or practical side. However, on the level of my emotions, there is a major change. While with the first one, I was more experimenting, pushing the borders, and risking, with the second one, I felt more reassured and enjoyed the harvest.
Were there any imperfections you approached differently?
There were some imperfections in the edit, sequence, or printing, but they were easily fixed with the same team.
DLA
What was your main research project and thesis studying towards a Doctor of Liberal Arts in Photography at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest? Why did this subject draw your attention?
The title of my project and thesis is Inheritance and Tracing, in which, among other things, I study everyday heroism and its effects or visibility in my works and the works of other artists. With the research, I basically create the theoretical background of my recent work The Hero Mother. While working on the support, I also understand my own work better – which is an advantage, needless to say.
‘This is my most authentic, honest, and intimate project so far, a heavily suffering psychological journey full of confrontation and coping with my past, present, and future, while the original motif is full of unquestionable joy, happiness, and love.’
The Hero Mother – How to build a house
Your recent work/installation The Hero Mother – How to build a house, 2016-2020, addresses the definition of a family rooted in history. The work is presented as a question of the female and male roles in society, and more precisely, in a family through an ironic, sophisticated approach to stereotypes. Post-Soviet elements are present throughout the work, slightly directing our attention towards Avant-Garde and Constructivism movements of the beginning of the 20th century. What are the main questions you worked with while preparing this project?
I started to work on this project when my second child was born in 2016. First, it only came in the form of tiny drawings on the back of utility bills. Then I started to take photographs too – without any artistic intention, more like a therapy to reconcile with the new situation and with its imaginary and/or realistic consequences to my personal and professional life. After a while, the pile of ideas, drawings, and photographs transformed into a project with which I won the Images Vevey Grand Prix in 2017/18, so it became really vital. Even though the title suggests differently, this all is about myself, to find and define the person I want to be. This is my most authentic, honest, and intimate project so far, a heavily suffering psychological journey full of confrontation and coping with my past, present, and future, while the original motif is full of unquestionable joy, happiness, and love. Paradox again, isn't it?
Next Steps
What project are you working on or planning as the next one?
Probably, the most important thing is that The Hero Mother is in preparation to be published soon by Witty Books in cooperation with Images Vevey. I am very excited about it - a new child is about to be born.
