_{Image courtesy of Francesca Busca}

Interview: Francesca Busca

 

Luca Curci talks with Francesca Busca during Future Landscapes event of BORDERS festival in Venice.

Francesca Busca – In my early life I challenged myself by focusing on things that did not come naturally to me (e.g. studying Classics and going into Law). Yet, I tried for years to placate my internal restlessness by living in different countries and cultures (Pordenone, Padua, Denver, London, Paris, New York…); When I reached 40, with the responsibility of a mother, I settled between London and Trieste and found my outlet in what I liked and did best, namely using my hands to create.

Luca Curci – What is the message linked to the artwork you have shown in this exhibition? How is it connected to the theme of the entire festival?

Francesca Busca – Oh, I SO Wanted to Be In There” is itself a vision of a Future Landscape, where humankind managed to self-destruct, seen through the broken screen of an old TV: we were so busy running our lives carelessly and small mindedly, that we should have looked outside the TV, rather than on its screen… we forgot to look at the big picture and to listen to the warnings of Nature.
Although the message itself is gloomily daunting, the piece is meant to convey a positive message, as it is made almost entirely with re-used/up-cycled/re-cycled material: if we stop our wasteful behaviour now and realise that it is time for our individual necessities to come after those of the Planet, I believe that we CAN manage to avoid such an early Apocalypse – or at least a lot of suffering.

 

_{Image courtesy of Francesca Busca}

 

Luca Curci – What do you think about the concept of this festival? In which way did this experience inspire you?

Francesca Busca – Great concept, truly inspiring. The future of our planet deeply concerns me, and the necessity to look after our Planet much better than we currently do is an underlying message in all my pieces. I strongly believe that nowadays we can no longer live in the surreal belief that the world belongs to our species only, and that our resources are infinite. For a start, it is imperative that we show a deeper respect for Nature (including for one another) and to up-cycle, re-cycle and re-use as much as possible.

Luca Curci – What’s your background? What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?

Francesca Busca – My background is in Classics and Law, which I actually chose to make up for what I believed I naturally lacked in my character: attention to form and detail rather than to content and emotion. But the one thing I always found great pleasure in doing and from which I gained more knowledge than I realised in time, was to see, read and enjoy ART. Even as a student, one luxury I always allowed myself was the membership to TATE and Louvre…
I have always loved and practiced crafts and fine art as a hobby, and had a natural propension for it: it came so natural in fact that for some tortuous misconception I always thought it was too easy to be a profession. And please, do not take this as arrogance: rather, as an admission of one of my biggest mistakes! But it is probably also thanks to it that I have lived in various countries, in constant search of new stimula to placate my restlessness, and surely that I am now so eager to make up for all the time lost!

 

_{Image courtesy of Francesca Busca}

 

Luca Curci – What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

Francesca Busca – I believe that, by definition, artists are restless souls who feel the overwhelming need to externalise their feelings, whether to follow or appease their emotional or intellectual turmoil. It could be a sophisticated theory or pure raw basic emotion, but it will be a message as strong as the artist can manage to convey. Whichever way, I believe that the purpose of art is for this message to come out in order to provoke something in you – to make you feel and think. And I believe that this is also the artist’s responsibility to society. However, we all know that making a living out of this profession is tremendously hard: unfortunately I came to relise that the more the piece matches the colours of sofas, curtains and chairs, and the more pleasing its content, the easier to sell it. By all means, I do not wish to blame anyone for buying art based on these criteria: but from the artists’ prospective, giving in to market demands can also lead to devoiding art of its very meaning, its inner value and purpose…so, I would say that the best advice I ever received was to understand what your main aim is: to stay true to your call and dream, whilst finding alternative means of support, or to follow market demands and make a living out of it? Whichever way, my advice is: ALWAYS be open to new suggestions (or you will stagnate or go insane) AND keep some time to create for yourself (or you will dry out)!

 

_{Image courtesy of Francesca Busca}

 

Luca Curci – What do you think about It’s LIQUID Platform?

Francesca Busca – I think it is a vibrant, international quality platform which allows all kinds of artists to get out there and prove themselves in style. The themes are exciting, the curatorial side is excellent, the venues are the right size and the locations are superb. The only downside that I can find is that updates are posted on Facebook, and not on its website – perhaps adding a simple facebook widget would suffice…?

Luca Curci – Are you interested in future collaborations with our organization?

Francesca Busca – Most definitely… I am very impressed by It’s Liquid, and proud to exhibit within it!

Luca Curci – Do you think that the combination It’s LIQUID-Ca’ Zanardi/Venice Art House works well?

Francesca Busca – Ca’ Zanardi is a stunning venue, and Venice is an interesting location to tackle the theme of Future Landscapes. On the other hand, Venice itself is possibly the most beautiful, ‘living’ work of art and architecture on Earth…how could it ever go wrong?!?