Michael Johansson: Real Life Tetris, Public Art & Forgetting to Eat

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Michael Johansson is a Swedish installation artist based in Malmö, known for precisely assembled sculptures and installations made from ready-made objects that he describes as ‘real life Tetris’. His work has been shown across Europe, Asia and beyond, and ranges from ephemeral site-specific installations to large-scale permanent public commissions cast in bronze.

What we cover:

• The art school realisation: being technically skilled at drawing is not the same as knowing what kind of art you want to make

• Sourcing from flea markets and secondhand stores

• Institutional installations made entirely from objects borrowed from a museum's own back rooms and storage

• Residencies for installation artists and the newer model he thinks would work much better

• The Taiwan passport disaster: two days to install a large site-specific work and why it turned out almost too good to be true

• Time as the greatest challenge: procrastinating until the last possible moment and forgetting to eat

• Moving a whole city: why an entire Swedish town is being relocated and how his new project is linked

09:00 Growing Up and Early Making

10:42 Finding Artistic Direction

13:15 Into Installations and Public Art

15:37 First Breakthrough Opportunities

18:08 Ready-Made Process Rules

20:42 Sourcing and Colour Logic

36:32 Fabricators and Collaborations

40:00 Residencies Reality Check

43:59 Taipei Install Panic

46:52 Afterlife of Installations

53:37 Work Life Balance Reset

01:00:02 Hard Truths and Highlights

01:07:16 Advice and Dream Projects

Michael Johansson is based in Malmö, Sweden. You can find out more about his work on his website: https://www.michaeljohansson.com/ and follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeljohansson/

Michael works with several international galleries:

Aeroplastics in Belgium: https://www.aeroplastics.net/ | https://www.instagram.com/aeroplastics_gallery/

Helsinki Contemporary in Finland: https://helsinkicontemporary.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/helsinkicontemporary/

GSA Gallery in Sweden: https://gsa.se/ | https://www.instagram.com/gsagallerystockholm/ | @gsagallery1690

Galleri Arnstedt Östra Karup in Sweden: https://www.galleriarnstedt.se/ | https://www.instagram.com/galleriarnstedt/

Galerie Ramakers in the Netherlands: https://www.galerieramakers.nl/ | https://www.instagram.com/galerieramakers2

Galeria Enrique Guerrero in Mexico: https://www.galeriaenriqueguerrero.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/galeriaenriqueguerrero/

Massimo Carasi – The Flat: https://www.carasi.it/ | https://www.instagram.com/theflat_massimocarasi

Galerie Hartwich in Germany: https://www.galerie-hartwich.de/ | https://www.instagram.com/galeriehartwich

44309//Gallery in Germany: https://44309gallery.net/ | https://www.instagram.com/44309gallery/

Galleri Christoffer Egelund in Denmark: https://christofferegelund.dk/ | https://www.instagram.com/gallerichristofferegelund/

Also mentioned in this episode:

Club Mate: https://www.club-mate.de/en/ | https://www.instagram.com/clubmate_original/

Lego: https://www.lego.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/lego | @LEGO

Airfix: https://uk.airfix.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/officialairfix/ | @OfficialAirfix

Preview Berlin: https://www.previewberlin.de/

Skog Art Space: https://skogart.org/ | https://www.instagram.com/skogartspace/

Helsinki Contemporary: https://www.helsinkicontemporary.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/helsinkicontemporary/

The Installation Art Podcast is a show about people who love and work with the contemporary art medium of installation. The host Anastasia Parmson, an artist herself, interviews internationally renowned artists and arts workers about the intricacies and behind-the-scenes stories of creating and showing work that is site-specific, ephemeral, large-scale or immersive.

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