Now Featuring Hernán Paganini

When we first ‘internet-met,’ you had invited me to participate in the first installment of your ‘Proyecto Piel,’ can you explain a little about how this project works? What are your goals for this dialogue among varied creatives?

The methodology and concept for Proyecto Piel is to seek the generating of visual discourse; each of these starts with an initiator that can be either a phrase, a song or an image. Each selected person experiences an individual sentiment or feeling as a reaction to the previous person’s. This will create a path that will give form to an emotional oration.

This outline of relationships between individuals will visualize by way of direct experience and bonds between human beings in a way that is not preconceived.

This project was first envisioned as a space for reflection and study, an experience to visualize possible constants and variables in the bonds between people. It is almost like a social semiotic experiment. It functions as a source of study and investigation and it materializes in a public format where it is exhibited and shared with others.

For now the contributions are mostly related to artistic activities, although the idea is to branch out to people of other disciplines — different ages and thought patterns to make it even less predictable.

The idea is to generate a dialogue in an open way without the inhibitions of prejudices. In these days where people tend to construct distinct mechanisms and ways to separate and differentiate themselves from others, I propose to unite them with Piel. If the harmony in this context is achieved, it can be the seed for others. Albeit small but existent.



I get the impression that you create new pieces at an incredibly fast rate. You always have something new and great posted on your site or flickr or facebook. You are definitely one of the most active artists on the internet right now. How do you keep up your rapid pace?

I am moved by the investigation and exploration of different subjects. I act in an expansive way and so these subjects may be used in something else and they don’t always end up being a consummated piece, however, it will generate some type of mobilization and reflection, functioning as a path or trigger. Some are ephemeral. Others are linked directly with the experience of sharing within a society with diverse situations, whether adverse or positive.

I am interested in the idea of recovering the utilization of the senses as a tool, working and developing the piece with the body itself, being present both physically and emotionally in the development of it.

I simply intend to show my perception, my view of the world around me, how I feel about the times that are changing and how they fall back on me. To alter the reality of the every day and to generate small shifts of the senses.

Photo by Irana Douer

Your mediums are constantly changing, how do you choose which path to take when you start a new piece?

I have no preference of a medium in particular.  The resources I utilize are connected directly with the context that I live in. The dialogues I propose are in contact with my state of mind, sensations and situations both external and internal that affect me and drive me in the moment of developing a piece. It usually functions as a natural movement that unchains and materializes depending on what is at reach. It does not matter if it is the streak of a pencil on a sheet of paper, a bag full of branches i gathered outdoors, a series of photographs of trees dancing with the wind or the capture of a moment on video. The slightest discovery can be the spark to walk down a new path.

To my understanding, all mediums are passable. I have learned from experience that one can obtain unknown results when exposing oneself to a situation in which it can be foreseen where it will lead. Uncomfortable positions are the most interesting and enriching to explore because they take you to a completely new place and force you to act in a distinct way. It is the use of improvisation as a resource.

We must be open to constant exploration and understand that the processes don’t always result in a kind way. We must be conscious of the changes and take them as part of the development of maturation.

Who are some of the artists of today you find most inspiring?

I am very bad at remembering names of artists and relating them to their actual work. I am interested and inspired by the images, in all their forms, as information. My inspiration mostly comes from daily life and the things that happen around me.



Because you are constantly incorporating nature into your work, are you living in a saturated natural environment, or are these places you often escape to?

I have lived in a big city for nine years and I live day to day in this environment. The city gives me things that I could not have in any other place and I am in direct contact with what is happening. On the other hand, it contaminates me with a lot of things that are unwanted and unpleasant.

One can not be unaware of the context of where one lives, although this should not limit our possibility of being.

I Intend to travel nearby and far away to breathe. As a result of these escapes there is always some action or effect. My contact with nature began when I was a child, during visits to my grandparent’s home in the countryside.

Photo by  Mariana Pacho Lopez

What is your dayjob?

I teach Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires. I am also attending a post graduate program for Art at the University Torcuato Di Tella. Occasionally I work as an illustrator and freelance graphic designer.



What are you most grateful for?

Existing.

Do you have any upcoming projects or shows in the near future?

At the end of October my girlfriend and I are traveling to Mexico where we each have shows. We will also be giving lectures at a few workshops at the Dear Deer Gallery in association with Cultura de Guadalajara.



Thank you so much Hernán for being part of the Little Paper Planes Exclusive Print Series!

Visit Hernán’s website to view all of his work and various side projects, including his professional design work.

To buy his print set, or individual prints, go here!

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Interview in Spanish (English-Spanish translation provided by Roberto Martinez)

Cuando te conocí por medio del internet, fue para participar en la primera instalación de tu “Proyecto Piel.” Me puedes explicar un poco sobre este proyecto? Cuales son tus metas para este dialogo entre varios creativos?

Este proyecto nace en una primer instancia como un espacio de reflexión y estudio, una experiencia para visualizar constantes y variables posibles de vinculaciones entre las personas; se gesta casi como un experimento semiótico social. Funciona como fuente de estudio e investigación y se materializa en un formato público, donde se exhibe y comparte con todos.

Por existir.

Tienes algunos proyectos o muestras de arte en el futuro cercano?

A finales de Octubre vamos a viajar con mi novia a México, en donde tenemos una muestra individual cada uno además de dictar unos Talleres invitados por la Galería Dear Deer en asociación con Cultura de Guadalajara.

Hernán, muchas gracias por ser parte de la series de impresos exclusivos de Little Paper Planes.