Having arrived in the art world by way of a tangent – beginning with a classical music education, followed by a BA in Journalism and an MA in Political Communication, and only later shifting to an MA in Photography and Video Art and last a Visual Arts practice-based PhD – my practice combines artistic and academic research methodologies with material and social experimentation. The aim, as I often realize in retrospect, is to respond to questions posed by others, whether asked directly by an identifiable agent or lingering in our collective consciousness. I guess what I’m trying to argue is that the notion of individual genius in the arts is outdated, and that cultural production today is more about continually constructing and deconstructing the boundary between the self and the collective. In this context, theoretical references, entertainment relics, casual conversations, and (anonymous) image archives contribute equally to the framework for understanding both the external and inner worlds.

In my work and research, I focus on complex social issues that can be analyzed from multiple vantage points – ranging from the history of textile factory workers (Femina Subtetrix) to the use of military and surveillance technologies in the Romanian public space (Aria Mineralia), the post-communist transition of local architectural heritage (Blueprint), patterns of patriarchal discursive structures in public space (come as history to history and From a time that is no longer ours, yet), and the transition to green energy in post-mining areas in Romania and Germany (to slip, to slide, to glitch), to name just a few. What unites these projects is a methodology focused on inventing new personas and a sustained interest in the character as a vehicle for storytelling. An indispensable tool for generating narrativity and forming communities around a narrative, the character can be understood both as a protagonist that drives the action forward, and as an object-trouve – a form of subjectivity that emerges at the intersection of projection, invention, and accident, staged by the work of art. More often than not, this translates into mimicking – on both material and discursive levels – processes specific to text, such as editing, translation, adaptation, notes, and bibliography, in order to create authentic milieus at the intersection of fiction and reality.

Contact: larisa.crunteanu@gmail.com
Further info: Curriculum Vitae

Website design: Emanuel Ștefan