Jan Bernet’s Time Will Tell, an exploration of impermanence
Pleasure to have you with us Jan! Can you tell us more about the name of your latest project, Time will Tell?
The name in itself is interesting because the project basically emerged by itself. As an artist, when you work, your finger paints and then sometimes things crystallize by themselves. You didn’t plan to start a new project, or you didn’t know that what you’re working on can actually lead to something greater than you imagined. It’s a really organic approach, as the approach is created within yourself rather than you trying to make sense of things.
What is the story behind Time Will Tell?
Around eight years ago, I moved to London from Switzerland. I wasn’t really happy there. I was working on various things, thinking that I had to follow a career in banking, like most people do over there. Everyone puts a lot of pressure on you to be successful. When I arrived in London, I started doing photography, and then I suddenly realized that I finally found a way to express how I truly feel. When I reflect on my time in Switzerland, I remember this feeling of being caged or suppressed. Photography enabled me to explore my inner self, my own thoughts, my own ideas.
I was 22 years old when I came to London and I didn’t know much about myself and the world, to be honest. During the following seven years, I used photography as a tool to make sense of all things I was experiencing. I was taking photos everywhere: when I was on the streets, or taking the bus, or walking home. I was also taking photographs whenever I was going through emotional distress, whether it was because of a relationship or in regards to my career.
I realised that I was often experiencing the feeling of impermanence, which is the idea that things don’t last. All the photographs I took during these years and the emotions associated with them brought Time Will Tell to fruition.
Why do you feel impermanence is such an interesting topic to explore?
Because it has to do with life itself. Everybody experiences it. Everybody is affected by it and by a feeling of losing and finding at the same time. Even if we can get really attached to things, we realize in the end that nothing on this planet is permanent. Whatever it is, whether a person dies, whether we lose something, or when something is being taken away from us, we realize that nothing lasts forever.
I have all these photos that were taken during those times that reflected these emotions, and they helped me understand the meaning of impermanence.
But I wanted to translate this beyond the photographs, I took all these images, my thoughts and my research from the books I was reading, the conversations I was having with people about impermanence, and expressed them into a project that became Time Will Tell.
“As often when I lost, I also found”, these words are very strong and come from a very personal place, and it makes me wonder if you see the act of creating as a form of therapy?
I’ve always known that photography is very therapeutic for me. Looking at the photos and then seeing their relationship to my life, or simply the act of taking photos itself, have helped me make sense of my emotions. My approach to taking photos is very free. I’m not going out there to take a specific photo or look for specific subjects. No, no, no. I’m walking outside with my phone in my hand taking pictures whenever I feel like it. I’m taking a photo when I’m allowed to take a photo, when the opportunity kicks. I don’t take a photo. The photo makes me take it.
I have a really good phone camera that I can use everywhere. It’s such a small thing that it’s not as intrusive as a big camera, for example. Taking pictures whenever I wanted was critical in the way that it helped me deal with everyday life. It gave me this peace and helped me get through the days.
The entire process was really helpful, as it helped me comprehend. When you want to learn something, you write it down because it gives you another element of understanding, another perspective. Similarly, when you have emotions to understand, you have to write about them, talk about them, express them in order for you to work through those emotions.
Do you feel Time Will Tell had to become a magazine?
I wanted it to look and feel like a newspaper, because they are traded every day but as soon as the day ends, they lose all value. They’re virtually worthless, because the next day we have new information that replaces yesterday’s information. Newspapers are the literal representation impermanence.
I also make videos, and I could have thought of other options to translate this impermanence. But, I took that collection of photos and decided to created a magazine with it, because I wanted to translate all these thoughts, ideas, and emotions into something tangible. When I put these pieces together, that’s when I really understood what this entire project was telling me: everything is temporary. But by finishing this project, for me, it was also like coming to terms with the reality of impermanence. The project is done; now, I understand it; I own it.
You collaborated with Raquel Vieira Da Silva, a graphic designer. Can you tell us more about her?
Raquel is a big thinker, she’s fucking smart. I worked with her, not just because she has the skills. No, I worked with her because she felt right to work with.
It’s like when you meet your life partner for the first time. Suddenly they’re there, and it’s evident. Raquel and I shared the same visions and working together just felt very natural. I wrote a brief of the elements I wanted in the magazine, with which photos, but also which texts. But then, all the rest was open for her own interpretation.
For example, there is a poem that I wrote, which talks about the state of life and how I see the world, and it is really personal. It’s like singing. You don’t just sing in front of everybody. You show that only to certain people. It’s the same with my poetry. I wrote a lot of poetry in the past 10 years but I would rarely show it to people. I decided to show it to her because of our connection. She found the poems so strong and wanted to include them in the project. Because I was not sure it worked with the theme and if I was ready to show them to the world, I told her I wasn’t sure. But, she convinced me to add them to the magazine and now I can’t imagine the it without them. Because I trusted her both personally and professionally and because I trusted her feelings and experience, I was able to let her take such a big decision.
So Raquel didn’t only help with designing the magazine, she also had an important input on the content itself. Do you think collaborating always impact positively the creation process?
Collaborations are not just there to fill a gap when you are missing a certain skills or practice for your project. Collaboration are about making the other person even stronger. I think that’s the core value of true collaboration. But, you cannot just collaborate with anybody. You have to have some sort of similar understanding, similar backgrounds, similar vibes. Otherwise a collaboration won’t lead to the true, beautiful benefits and connection that it can actually bring. Yes, you can work with a random person and create what you want to create, but that doesn’t make you any better, nor does it make the other person better. You can create something, but that doesn’t mean that the creation has meaning.
Your project also includes a temporary print project. Can you tell us why you decided to add this perspective?
I had some issues with a malfunctioning ink jet cartridge printer, which, in the end, created amazing results. The slowly running out ink as well as the malfunctioning device resulted in unique abstracted versions of my photographs. I was able to print around 100 images before the ink ran out and the temporary print project came to an end. Then, the printing process was over, because there was no more black ink, no more lines, no more impression, no more. I decided to keep them and create two parts to the project: the magazine and a temporary print project, born as a result of my malfunctioning printer.
You concluded your project with an exhibition where you invited other artists. Why did you choose to bring more voices to Time Will Tell?
I wanted to conclude the project with an exhibition that would include other people’s voices, because that was the only way I could guarantee a well-rounded perspective.
I always wanted to make sure other people’s opinion were also seen and heard in this project. That’s why I included some of the work of Nietzsche. Through considering his different opinion on impermanence to mine, I was able to add another perspective to the project. Things that are true to him can be true to others, and so, I incorporated his writings in the magazine to complement my own views.
For the exhibition, I invited artists who represent or reflect on impermanence through their work and disciplines. you can interpret it in so many various ways, whether it’s the environment that is impermanent, or whether it’s something personal. At the end, the exhibition had the chance to bring the voices of six artists to the topic: Clara and Elena Brea (Live AV), Mai Nguyen Tri (Butoh dance performance), Overbeck (Live A), Max Burstyn (interactive AV installation), Denise Padrón Benitez (V Installation), and Jay (Sculpture). I felt they were crucial in creating the whole experience, and making sure it wasn’t just my view on the subject.
Time Will Tell is now a finished project, how do you feel about it? Do you think it gave you answers or did it bring more questions?
Yes, it definitely helped me so much. During all these years, the photographs themselves had already helped me. Now that the project came to life, all these things that I collected, all these emotions and experiences are now translated in a physical object. It was the final step to total understanding. You’re only a master in something if you’re able to explain it to somebody, right? So if you teach something to people, then you master that thing better. Once I was able to turn all of this into something greater, I felt I mastered my relationship to attachment, and now I feel secure about it. It was the finishing touch to understand it, and to just be able to let go of it. Now I feel free to go to the next level. I learned all these things during all these years, and now I can let go of all this pain, all this pain from losing and fighting, and being neglected and being mistreated and being disrespected. It was time to let go of all this.
Thank you for your time, Jan. The magazine is available Jan’s website, but feel free to also directly contact him on Instagram or via email.
You can see more of Raquel’s work on her website.
Originally published at https://www.ssshake.com.
