Written by
Where's the frame
December 2, 2020 10:08 AM
GMT
Get to know one of London’s rising artists who are part of Lick The Future: Mandy Franca. This 2020 grad from the RCA, works around the notion that with the sweeping rise of technology, travelling, and migration, everything seems to become increasingly fluid. Here are 5 questions.
Do you have any life soundtrack? Like when a sad song comes in and you pretend that you’re in a music video, kind of song.
I don’t have a ‘sad song’ or a life soundtrack. When I’m sad I usually like it to be quiet and watch something simple on Netflix to relax. I do have different favorite playlists I made myself and I listen to when I’m in a certain mood. When anxious I listen to Alice Coltrane’s Om Supreme before I go to sleep or during the day I listen to my own jazz playlist with musicians like Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders and many more. Or music to put me in a good mood and I can dance to like my playlist with Solange’s - Almeda, Sango’s music inspired by Brazilian Baile Funk, SiR and the list goes on!
Can you describe your work in less than 15 words?
An investigation on the influence of the digital realm and migration on artefacts and society.
What is the most interesting stuff you’ve seen online this week?
This is a difficult one! I watch so many things online during the week on a daily basis so I’m going to give you my top 3 as the last two were recorder and maybe viewable online:
● Charlotte Prodger’s Turner Prize winning film Bridget on LUX. The film is shot with an iPhone, something I personally find very inspiring as I also use my iPhone as an important part in my practice.
● ‘Frequencies of Blackness: A listening session’ with Jenn Nkiru, Tina Campt, Zara Julius and Alexander Weheliye. This was a Zoom talk exploring black frequency through the sharing of inspiring texts, videos and other forms of references.
● A Zoom conversation hosted by Launch Pad Art with my friend and animation artist George Stamenov where he talks about the process of his new sculpture made during a residency in France.
What historical figure would you like to have a chat with?
Hito Steyerl. After reading her essay’s ‘In Free Fall’ and ‘In Defense of the Poor Image’ everything just seemed to click. Her essay’s really helped me to better understand my own artistic practice/research and were important references in my graduation thesis.
What is your favorite Netflix show? Or to binge?
Star Trek Discovery!
Follow Mandy on her instagram and website.
Artwork photographs courtesy of the artist. Portraits courtesy of the artist.
where’s the frame? - ‘Lick the Future’ is a collection of London vanguards 2020 comprising of 6 artists that are currently making waves. The collection will be made available from December 2020 until the end of January 2021. Go to Mandy's collection page to check it out.
