Alumnus Profile

Markuz Wernli Saito is a cultural practitioner and conceptual artist from Switzerland based in Kyoto and San Francisco. Fascinated by the social mechanics among humans and communities, he attempts to discard preconceptions, revisit the ways of perception, and turn the mundane into communal experiences. Each moment of the everyday, every action of living, poses the question how it might be lived differently, more truthfully and respectfully. Through the conscious experiment and artful intervention Markuz' addresses the inter-personal challenges in public spaces. Markuz holds a Masters in Fine Arts from Transart Institute in Linz, Austria, and engages in creative group collaborations and individual project work worldwide. His websites are: www.markuz.com and http://www.momentarium.org

Applicant questions for Markuz:

What goals did you reach in the program?

I learned to trust my creative intuitions more fully and gain confidence in building on a self-initiated art practice that remains responsive and relevant to its immediate context. I was able to expand my creative strategies (that easily alternates between more purposeful or self-indulgent work). Project work which gains relevance with predefined criteria and connecting research.

Visual art making is not something static and reactive anymore like it used to be. After realizing works with and in public space for the past three years my practice today emphasizes process over object and embraces the shifting dynamics of impromptu social situations. Utilizing public space and the encounters I can create within, to both gain a better understanding of untried potentials and how that space can be completely altered, if only temporarily. Going to a place of certain discomfort with someone else – knowingly and with full consent – that is exciting and redefines our experience.

What has happened in your career since you finished the program this past summer? 

Right after graduation I spent one week with the very experienced artist, cultural practitioner and "social engineer" Ayumi Matsuzaka in Berlin. Ayumi who graduated from the Public Art and New Artistic Strategies program at Bauhaus University, Weimar, and has already an established art career inspired me how to deepen my conceptual thinking and professionalize attitude, strategy and day-to-day practice. 

Between October 11 and 13 I attended the conference Open Engagement, Art After Aesthetic Distance where about 40 proponents of relational and social art practice from North America and Europe came together (e.g. Harrel Fletcher, Future Farmers, Darren O'Donnell) in the small university town of Regina, SK (Canada). Apart from the highly inspirational and motivating workshops and panel discussions very influential for me was meeting with Danish artist and social practitoner Berit Norgaard who finds entrepreneur opportunities with small-scale social interventions and rearrangements (more individual version of WochenKlausur's methodology).

Through the graduate research I did on alternative art initiatives in Asia during my last semester at Transart I got in touch with a curator based in Saigon.  She invited me, along with 8 other artists to participate in a six week long community-based residency in the highlands of Southern Vietnam this past October and November. Despite the challenging organizational conditions I found there I was able to realize very successfully a relational public art project named Shadow Followers. Thanks to a well-prepared concept and project plan I was able to engage 15 local coffee and tea farmers in a participation-led photo project (a kind of "coffee farmers with cameras") and returned not only with the stories and insightful images of the participants, but also with valuable video material that documents the process and context. In March 2008 I plan to present some images and the edited short film of my experience in Vietnam at a group show on social art practice at Ampersand Gallery in San Francisco. 

On December 1st 2007 I was invited to make a contribute to the first Public Intervention/Public Art Day of Southern Exposure and The Intersection of The Arts. With "Have a Tea, Leave a Trace" I hosted over six hours a highly participatory and mobile version of the Japanese tea ceremony on the sidewalk right in front of the gallery. More than 40 participants were whisking their powdered green tea.

Between May 15 to 17, 2008 I am going to a contributing artist at the conference Intervene! Interrupt! Rethinking Art as Social Practice hosted by University of California in Santa Cruz where I am planning a series of participatory performances on campus. This was an event I was introduced to by alumni Jamie McMurry.

How has the international aspects of the program worked for you?

The international profile of Transart made it possible in the first place to enroll independent from my residence and heritage. In the direct interaction with such an eclectic and international group of students foster and necessitate on a daily basis (particularly during residencies) what makes for cultural practitioners: the use of language, situtional response, evolution of tradition and culture, etc.

What has been the best part of the program for you?

I highly respect Transart's lived understanding of the term New Media. There is less emphasis on its technical sense but it is this cross-fertility of expanding working methods across disciplines that can transcend the physical triangle of body, place and object. Transart's self-motivated structure made it possible for me to tailor the program and learning goals to my specific needs and interests while relying on a support system of peer critique and professional advice from faculty and mentors.

Some of Markuz's experiences in the program and his work can be found here: www.momentarium.org/experiments/liferoll/