“We see ourselves as vampires when it comes to the work of other artists.”

In the interview AES+F talks with The Art Newspaper about their work ‘Last Riot’, which has been presented at the Venice Biennale 2007, and their success over the last year. The introduction says:

One of the most talked about works at the last Venice Biennale was a slick digitalised three-screen video in the basement of the Russian Pavilion in which a host of beautiful youths worthy of any Gap ad engaged in stylised slow motion battles in a fantasy landscape to the strains of Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung”. The piece was Last Riot by the Moscow-based collective AES+F—the name comes from the initials of members Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovitch and Evgeny Svyatsky, who joined forces in 1987, with photographer Vladimir Fridkes arriving in 1995. Although the group were no strangers to the art world, this epic, bleakly futuristic extravaganza has catapulted it onto the international stage. They have just had a major exhibition at Macro in Rome and this month they open their first UK solo show at RS&A which then tours to Les Abattoirs in Toulouse, the Salzburg Museum and the Ormeau Baths in Belfast.

The whole article, which was originally published in Issue 192 of The Art Newspaper in June 2008, is available at:

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/“We-see-ourselves-as-vampires-when-it-comes-to-the-work-of-other-artists-On-the-eve-of-their-latest-show-we-talk-to-the-Russian-collective-AES-F-about-multiculturalism-the-market-and-their-new-work/8586