Introduction

Vahan Bego is a mysterious man. He doesn’t generally give interviews and he doesn’t make public appearances, except in a mask at Sweet Noise Concerts. It is largely thanks to the projects he has worked on with this band that Polish audiences have become more familiar with him. When he works on a new project he holes up in places that nobody knows, where he can be completely alone. Before his work appears in public he makes a long and careful observation of the place where it is to be exhibited. Few people know him well, for few people have the opportunity to meet him or speak to him face to face. He describes himself as a restless soul open to the world he finds himself in. However, you can only really get a glimpse of what he is really like not when you look at his work, but rather when you talk with him, about life, the world and his future.

After months of waiting, countless emails to Vahan and pestering people who could in any way help me make contact with him, I finally managed to conduct a short but intensive interview with him. I assure you that Vahan Bego is not just a talented artist, but also an unusually engaging and interesting person, who can be an inspiration to all who spend a little bit of time with him.

Interview

Q – How are you getting on in Poland?
A – Just splendid.

Q - Despite the never-ending political scandals?
A – I was thinking more generally when I used the word ‘splendid’. I don’t apply that word to scandals and the dreary pettiness of everyday life.

Q – In what way are Poles and Armenians different?
A – Certainly their temperament. They’re completely different in that respect.

Q – Does the contemporary world absorb you, or do you live outside it?
A – I adore antiquity. And I live and function with a great deal of respect for today’s world, since I am a real product of that world.

Q – When you appear on state with Sweet Noise or in their videos you always have a mask. What is the significance of this mask for you?
A – For me the Mask has an absolutely pure meaning. I created the Mask 10 years ago with the idea of taking my work outside the studio, so that the process of live improvisation took place before the audience’s eyes. In provocative street happenings and quasi-theatrical performances I brought the figure in the Mask more and more to life, till one day the figure appeared on stage at a rock concert, so I could proudly introduce the music of Sweet Noise.

Q – What inspires you?
A – My inspiration comes from perceiving how two entirely separate spheres – time and space – communicate with each other.

Q – When are you are alone by yourself, what then...?
A – Then I refuse to compromise with myself. An inner dialogue is a certain kind of violence directed against myself, thanks to which I impose ever higher standards. When I am alone I demand great concentration on what's going on in my head, so that a bit later on I will be able to note down these thoughts and process them into the next work.

Q – What do you like most about yourself?
A – I rather like my ability to shock myself.

Q – What kind of child were you?
A – Rather serious. In truth, I don’t really recall that I was ever a child. It seems I was a bit too serious and grown-up from birth.

Q – So that means that little Vahan never played?
A – From my earliest memories, those childish games never really held any attraction for me. I was always more pleased with interesting objects than toys. I was fascinated with material that you can model or build with, or heat up and shape with fire. Those were my greatest games and fascinations. Chess was the only game I learned when I was a child. Apart from that I never learned how to play anything else.

Q – Is art your life, or is you life a work of art?
A – Exactly... If I create a work of art, it thereby creates me. I fight against being trapped by my art with each new idea I have... but it’s an inextricable part of the process... You immortalise a piece of your life in each work. That question would be better addressed to art critics – they always know best on this topic.

Q – What are the women in Vahan Bego’s life like?
A – Well if there are any, they have strong souls and love. All the others get harmed by me and my work. Like a vampire, I drink their own particular weaknesses from them and toss them away like an empty sack.

Q – Why would an artist, a person with an unusually sensitive disposition, go into the army?
A – From hindsight I can see that the army made me a more sensitive individual. Sensitivity does not only come from a peaceful and carefree life. After all, we are surrounded by violence and injustice. If we do not realize this we will only be sensitive on a pseudo-intellectual level, which is of never of any real value in life. And, secondly, in those times and in that reality I had no choice.

Q – So it was compulsory, not free choice?
A – Yes, compulsory. But when someone tells us what we have to do, we still have to do it with total awareness.

Q – Was your flight from Armenia a liberation, or just a change of reality, with the same old problems?
A – I never ran away from my country. I left with the same awareness with which I entered the army. I did it to find new inspiration that would help me create something new, in a new place and with new demands on myself. I have my own principles. I try not to become too attached to one place. I look upon everything more generally. I wasn’t thinking about problems here or there.

Q – Do you intend to ever return to your homeland permanently?
A – No, I don’t intend to. I’m probably not capable of staying in one place forever, because I’m everywhere. I fly and travel with my soul. (Laughs)

Q – What is your love like?
A – For me, the giver – sculpterly, expressive. For those who are on the receiving end, my love can be destructive and tragic. The person loved by me must be full of self-belief, because when I destroy I create a more perfect form, and this doesn’t suit many people today and not everyone can stand it.

Q – Your symbol is the element of Fire. Why Fire, exactly?
A – An exquisite question! I consider Fire to be the basic element of our nature. A sculptor must be fully aware of the nature of all the elements. I mastered the art of Fire during the long process of heating my sculptures. For me, Fire is a better element than Earth, Water or Air for creating works that will last throughout the ages. In a way I had to embody this element, together with my sculptures. Fire expresses not just myself, but also my art. And the Chinese say that I was born in the year of the Fiery Horse, which comes once every 60n years. Maybe this has some significance... (Laughs)

Q – Are you calm, self-contained or shy?
A - None of these descriptions fit me. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a terribly restless soul. I’m open to the world and I try to live fairly courageously in accordance with my conceptions, trying to realize a certain idea as my own life cult. SPIRIT, IDEA, CULT, written in big letters, are the three pillars of my creativity.

Q - Many symbols or motifs pop up in your oeuvre. Which are you closest to?
A – I don’t choose or select motif for my works. I treat myself as s Filter for our life. When I hit upon a topic that touches me I take myself off to my workshop and I put it all through my Vahan-strainer until it takes on a scale of universal provocation. If I succeed, I sign my name on the symbol and let it loose in the world. It is then just as close to me as any previous.

Q – However, the influence of Don Quixote can be seen in many of your works. Maybe this is the closet to you?
A – Don Quixote is just as important as any inspirations before him and after him... That character made a great impression on me and I experienced it very deeply. I painted Quixote only for a year. 46 heavily symbolic works came out of this, and then I finished with this theme. And everyone perceives my work through this prism.

Q – And what form of expression do you most like to make use of?
A – I love to express myself in monumental form. It’s the most fascinating form of expression for me. In my art I always try to reach a level of monumental symbolism. That’s my passion.

Q – Are these times good for you?
A – It’s the best time for me. Although many of my friends say that if I has been born 500 years ago I would have been better understood and appreciated by society. In his time, Michelangelo also had to battle with the same stone wall that still surrounds us. And I suppose if it had been any different, nobody would remember him today.

Q – Do you think that everyone is an artist?
A – Yes! Yes! Everyone is an artist, God and a fallen angel all at once. I think that humans are nothing, just ordinary biological bacteria making a mess of the world, and only consciousness of who one is can justify our existence on this planet. Let everyone define themselves by their creativity.

Q – Why did you get involved with the alternative music scene in Poland?
A – Because I don’t like sweetening up people’s lives at supper time. I would prefer it if one person heard and understood me than if I had to exhibit my art before a random crowd that didn’t understand it.

Q – Or maybe your soul plays music which we will hear one day?
A – For me sculpture and painting have always been connected with composing music. It’s the same process of composition. I see in music the heavy forms of sculpture, so it’s probable that you can hear music in my work.

Q – What’s your dream?
A – I’m not a dreamer. I endeavour to call my wishes by their proper names and bring them into my reality in my own way.

Q – Do you control your life or does your life control you?
A – Above all I treat my life with a great deal of humility. Instinct enables me to inscribe something in the meanderings of this winding path that I’m on. But I decide on the direction and the speed.

Q – Are you happy?
A – No. The idea of happiness is foreign to me these days. I feel fulfilled in my artistic life, but I think that happiness is for those who will rub shoulders with my work later on.

Q – What’s you next project?
A – I have a lot of projects, yes, musical projects too, but not at this moment. At the moment I’m trying to put together a huge project that I’ve been longing to do for ages. I want to put up two huge, monumental pieces... like those that I put on stage with Sweet Noise, but this time from marble and in the Middle East. In saying the Middle East I have Israel, Jordan or Saudi Arabia in mind. There where there is the greatest unrest or so-called ‘peace and well-being’. I want to sculpt that monumental ‘Dialogue’ and sooner or later I’m going to put it there. I’m working hard on it. I’ll put a lot more effort into it and a bit of time will pass before my work will have any effect and my idea will come off.

Marcin – Thank you for your time and I wish you all the best with your future projects.
Vahan – I thank you too.

_{Dialogue, 160x 200cm, oil on canvas, by Vahan Bego 2006}