050-079 NICOLAS MOULIN / A FUTURE PAST [WITH INTERVIEW BY DEREK THOMSON]

DEREK THOMSON / LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR VISUAL WORLD, THE IMAGES THAT INFORM THE WORK THAT YOU CREATE. YOU’RE A COLLECTOR OF IMAGES… YOUR OWN IMAGES BUT ALSO THOSE OF OTHERS. WHAT KIND OF IMAGES DO YOU COLLECT?

NICOLAS MOULIN / I STARTED MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS WHEN I WAS IN ART SCHOOL. THEN I HAD THE IDEA TO COLLECT IMAGES WHILE TRAVELLING— SIMPLE & DIRECT MINIMALIST IMPRESSIONS FROM THE LANDSCAPES I PASSED THROUGH. I LIKED THE IDEA OF UNEXOTIC LANDSCAPES, THE KIND OF LANDSCAPE YOU CAN FIND ANYWHERE, RIGHT NEAR YOUR HOME OR THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES AWAY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. THE WORK WAS CONNECTED TO A PERIOD OF HISTORY— THE END OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE & THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL. THE IDEA WAS TO GO BEYOND THE KNOWN BORDERS & TO SHOW THAT EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS THE SAME EVERYWHERE.

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DT / WHERE DO YOU COLLECT YOUR IMAGES? WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO SHOOT?

NM / I USED TO TRAVEL A LOT, NOT THAT MUCH NOW. BUT THE IDEA OF TRAVEL IS STILL IMPORTANT TO MY WORK. NOT IN THE EXOTIC, TOURIST SENSE— THAT DOESN’T INTEREST ME. I ONLY TRAVEL IF I HAVE A SPECIFIC REASON FOR GOING SOMEWHERE. BUT IN THE EARLY 1990’S I WAS PART OF THE INTERRAIL GENERATION, & SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN EASTERN EUROPE. NOW IF I TRAVEL FOR MY WORK, OF COURSE I’LL TAKE PICTURES WHEN I’M THERE.
WHEN I VISIT A CITY, WHETHER I KNOW IT OR NOT ISN’T REALLY IMPORTANT. I CAN TAKE THE SAME KIND OF PICTURES HERE IN PARIS THAT I’D TAKE IN JAPAN OR PALESTINE.
NOWADAYS WHEN YOU TRAVEL YOU CAN GO TO THE OTHER END OF THE WORLD & CONTINUE TO LIVE IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, THE SAME CONTEXT & HABITAT & DÉCOR, AS YOU DO AT HOME. WHAT INTERESTS ME IS GETTING OUT OF THAT LIFE— REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU ARE PHYSICALLY IN THE WORLD— & GO TO DIFFERENT PLACES, PLACES YOU WOULDN’T NORMALLY GO. THE FRINGES OF CITIES, THE EDGES WHERE THINGS GET MIXED UP, THE PERIURBAN INTERZONES.

DT / WHERE DID YOU GO IN EASTERN EUROPE?

NM / THE BALTIC COUNTRIES, POLAND, HUNGARY, BULGARIA, EAST GERMANY & THE USSR. I’VE BEEN TO NORTH KOREA TOO, IF YOU CAN CALL THAT THE EAST.

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DT / I’M A TELEVISION JOURNALIST & NORTH KOREA IS THE ONE COUNTRY I KNOW WHERE ANY IMAGE IS INTERESTING. IT’S SUCH A CLOSED STATE THAT ANYTHING YOU SHOOT OR ANYONE YOU TALK TO IS INTERESTING. YOU CAN STICK A CAMERA OUT THE WINDOW OF A TAXI & COME BACK WITH A 22-MINUTE DOCUMENTARY. WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE TO SHOOT THERE?

NM / NORTH KOREA IS REALLY ‘ELSEWHERE’. SO IT’S TRUE THAT ANYTHING YOU SHOOT IS INTERESTING. THAT’S WHAT I DO IN MY WORK— LOOK AT THE UNFAMILIAR, THE IMAGINED ‘ELSEWHERE’. THAT’S THE BASIS OF MY PHOTOMONTAGES— AN ‘ELSEWHERE’ THAT DOESN’T EXIST. BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET THERE, IT’S THE SAME, THE SAME PLACE YOU ALREADY KNOW, THINGS ARE MUCH LESS EXOTIC THAN YOU THOUGHT BEFORE YOU WENT. PEOPLE ARE STILL PEOPLE. A BUS IS A BUS. A HOTEL’S A HOTEL. THE IDEA OF ’ELSEWHERE’ IS GREAT WHEN YOU’RE NOT THERE. BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET THERE, YOU’RE NO LONGER ELSEWHERE, YOU’RE THERE.
BUT IT’S TRUE THAT PYONGYANG IS DIFFERENT FROM WESTERN CITIES. IT WAS DESTROYED DURING THE KOREAN WAR & COMPLETELY REBUILT BETWEEN THE 1950’S & 1980’S. IT’S THE INCARNATION OF A MODERN SOCIALIST UTOPIA, KOREAN-STYLE. EVEN IF THERE WERE A LOT OF BUILDINGS BUILT IN PYONGYANG BY EAST GERMAN ARCHITECTS, THE CITY EMBODIES A FROZEN TIME THAT NO LONGER EXISTS IN THE WEST, AN ARMOURED CITY THAT’S ENVISIONED AS AN ARCHITECTURAL UTOPIA— COLLECTIVE HOUSING, FUTURISTIC FORMS, EVERYTHING IN CONCRETE. ARCHITECTURAL RATIONALISM WITH A FUTURISTIC, AERODYNAMIC DESIGN. OTHER CITIES ARE A MIXTURE OF OLD & NEW, SOME BUILDINGS PRESERVED, OTHERS REBUILT. BUT PYONGYANG IS FROZEN IN TIME. WHEN YOU GO THERE YOU SEE THAT IT’S BEGINNING TO DECAY. IT’S LIKE A VESTIGE OF A UTOPIA THAT’S FINISHED, A TIME WHEN NORTH KOREA WAS DOING OK. DURING THE 1960’S NORTH KOREA WAS RELATIVELY PROSPEROUS, NOT LIKE TODAY. IT WASN’T COMPLETELY ISOLATED, BUT PART OF THE COMMUNIST BLOC. THERE WAS SOME ROOM TO BREATHE. THAT’S NOT THE CASE TODAY.

/ EXCERPT FROM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN DEREK THOMSON & NICOLAS MOULIN. ENTIRE 30 PAGE ARTICLE ONLY IN PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER004 / THE WINGS OF A LOCUST