Interview

Why do you take and create images?

To test the limitations of memory and understanding.

How do you define your photographic/artistic body of work? What subjects do you often explore in your work?

They are residues of continuous reformation of memory and existing beliefs. My practice extends from archiving, field research, ephemeral exercises and independent publishing.

Recently, I’ve been interested in architecture, vernacular identity, and human behavior.

What motivates your work?

Continuous political (both external and internal) tensions. It’s not that I find it pleasurable but to be in the middle of opposing poles or to be part of one, reveals the truth within the self and the external. And by this, the formation of honest work becomes possible.

What relationship does your work have with reality?

The use of photocopying machine for my zines, the non-archival prints on plotting paper, tarpaulins and transparency films, my posts on Instagram Stories, my installation works—all of these presentations are conscious gestures of my belief that reality is ephemeral. By addressing the limitations of the medium, the material and the self, the work becomes human as it doesn’t pretend to be infinite or divine. The work becomes reality.

For you, what is the purpose of art?

To reactivate the senses of the artist and the viewer (and of society).

How do you want the public to respond to your work? Do you have a particular audience in mind?

I believe that every response is valid. Whether you believe in the work or not is acceptable and must be respected.

For your second question, I think everyone is a potential audience including myself. What I mean by this is that sometimes it amuses me to see my work in a gallery or in someone else’s hand without completely understanding why I made the work. It raises internal question/s, then it alienates me from my own work, and then I become a spectator. I become an audience.

What is your training? Were you trained as a photographer?

I didn’t take any formal studies on photography and the arts. I think my constant urge to learn helped me develop my practice.

How do you define your actual professional situation? What are your expectations?

70 percent daydreaming/research, 30 percent actual work.

It’s hard to live off art. Does this affect you and your work?

It does. But I have to work on these limitations, value it if possible, use it as a tool, an accomplice. You have to own your struggle and accept that it exists. Once you own it, it becomes part of your identity, and eventually part of your work. And then you become you.

Have you worked with gallerists, curators, institutions and other art professionals? Can you discuss more about this particular relationship?

Yes, a few times. You have to focus on the agenda and keep it professional.

In your opinion, what is the current state of contemporary photography in the Philippines?

Mutating.

How do you want contemporary photography to develop in the Philippines?

We can’t reach progress if we keep on refusing our history. We need to address our issues, our limitations, our defects, in order to magnify our next step.

---

CV

Name: Czar Kristoff

Camarines Sur, PH

Laguna, PH

Email: czarkristoff@gmail.com

Website: czarkristoff.tumblr.com

Connect:

instagram.com/czarkristoff

soundcloud.com/czarkristoff

instagram.com/lagunadaily

instagram.com/every2ndproject

instagram.com/courtsnearby