Castello Hansen interviewed by Klimt02

Tell us about your background and how you first became an artist.
I´m an old man so you will get the short edition. Having previously studied classical music as an instrumentalist I changed my career, becoming a trained goldsmith. After that, I did an MA at the Royal College of Art in London Studying primarily with Onno Boekhoudt and David Watkins. Working with music is about mastering a media and trying to achieve a level where it becomes an art experience for the potential.listener. My ambition is to do the same with jewellery, sometimes it may even happen.


How did you get involved with the AIR Project in Idar-Oberstein?
Pure luck. I exhibited together with a group of artists in Austria and amongst them were prof. Ute Eitzenhöfer. We met at the opening and she kindly asked me to apply for an AIR project, and I took the glove.


Castello Hansen, Brooch: Untitled, 2017, Acrylic, reconstructed material, silver.


Most works of traditional art capture a moment of time and hold it frozen for as long as the piece survives. I know that your opinion in this is very special. Please explain us your perception of time.
It´s an enormous subject, at least 8 beers long, shortened down and off cause paying the subject much unjust it could sound like this We are with our bodies limited to a stretch of time  Art speaks outside or transcends that reality. As I see it, experiencing Art, or conducting it, is a super (in the meaning larger than, or higher than) personal experience. Ex. When listening to Bach it´s not about me, but about being human outside time. listening to the human potentials with all its possibilities, far away from politics and the reign of Chronos.


What role plays time in your working process and how was your experience to work with stone, a really „slow“ material.
Working with stone is like going on holiday with your mother in law, You have to find a way around it. The material in it self and the processes involved in stone cutting has a very strong content of aesthetics with it. On have to break the rules to liberate the stones role in the jewelry, otherwise, they decide completely what´s possible to express and in the end, wear.


Castello Hansen, Brooch: Untitled, 2017, Reconstructed coral.


Can you give us some insight into your creative process?
The creative processes in art is a "craft" that has been passed down and refined through generations. Unlike "Design" Art starts with something you want to experience and then you hunt it, all the way from the "other side" to this world.


You’ve talked about your art as poetry or a piece of classical music. Can you explain to us what you mean? How do you see that play out in your daily life as an artist?
At its best, working with jewelry art gives meaning, just like reading a profound piece of poetry. It´s a quality in life that I like to obtain.


Castello Hansen, Brooch: Untitled, 2017, Reconstructed material, oxidized silver.


You take a critical view of social media and online communication of Artworks. Can social media be a channel to communicate jewelry? Where do you see boundaries in this field?
Within the limitations of the extent of this interview- Yes it´s possible to communicate certain aspects of jewelry in social media, namely the imagery of jewelry. When it comes to communicating the substance of the art form I´m more critical. If I send you a picture of 5 glasses of different wines with a nice describing text, most people would agree that it´s a very limited experience confronted with that of actually drinking and tasting the wine in reality. Jewellery Art is such a complex media and to get it you have to confront the piece in life. Fashion jewelry or Bijou is on the contrary entirely surface with nothing under the skin, and therefore in other words, perfect for social media. I think that there was a boundary there!.


Social media has become a vital tool for artists - but are they good for art?
It´s a very relevant question however the nature of the question reaches out over the space given to answer it - sorry.


What do you think the role of social media is in either preserving or encouraging art? Or anything in between?
This question relates to the above one and it´s the same here.


Do you think the internet is a safe space for artists to share their work and create?
There are areas in big cities where you should not go after dark. Perhaps it´s the same for the internet!.


Many People know your works because of various Internet platforms. How exactly do you feel like you fit into this space?
Like a fish on dry land!. I don't know how people experience my pieces in that forum. As I´m not nourished by publicity and void of vanity in that context I don't care much really. I like to show my best, naturally, but that's something else. An Australian guy saw a piece at a museum in Schweits and contacted me and commissioned a piece. It never happened in the virtual media for me.


Castello Hansen, Brooch: Untitled, 2017, Oxidized silver, reconstructed coral.


Have you ever questioned your career entirely?
Not every day!. Sometimes when I have to pay my bills I question the media and it´s infrastructure or lack of same. Other times I wonder when I see lesser talents making a better life with other medias, but at the end of the day I´m loyal to Jewellery and sometimes it´s even visa versa.


Do any of your pieces tell a story you would like to share?
Yes of course. Go the pieces where you find them, confront them, arm yourself with a good portion of time and then listen carefully - there´s the story.