Intervıew wıth Mariann Bán

Marıann Báns work is based on functionality and small art craft products.  From whistles to urnes. She gets easily bored by mass production and is not used to crowds or big audience.  Marann Bán is a Hungarian artist leading The Sound of Clay Workshop in Budapest.  You can fınd her durıng next two weeks in Eskisehir!

What led you to Start with art?

When you are young, you want to run away very much from family background. Art was one way to do that. My father just asked me: can you make a living out of it, and I said, I think so! But there is no artistic background in my family. Only my husband comes from a very artistic family but I only met him afterwards.

Did you start straight away with ceramics?

I actually started in puppet theatre, long time ago.  And then I started with ceramics. Imagine I stick with it. I am so boring!

Not at all, you are professional now! How does your art distinguish from other artists?

I always try to stick to functional things. My art has to do something! Like containers, whistles, musical instruments, rattles,  birdfeeders.  I make small scaled works, I have never tried big sculptures. The touch and a personnal contact with the art piece is very important for me.

What are you going to create during the Symposium?
I am going to create these mesopotamian tablets. I will put quotations of George Orwell from the 1984 book, which ıs very ımportant to me. I dont want to go deep into it, but in Hungary the recent situation is just like it. And it is the second time in my life that Orwell becomes true. Orwell is like a prophecy. It was the number one reason why İ learnt english - the book was forbidden in Hungary (*during communism). It is not the solution for the country if people run away.

How do you like symposium so far?

It is very very nice. I had a few students from Turkey, from Ankara. I was even invated there last year. It is always very pleasant memories.

Pdf magazine version

Visit Mariann on her blog here or get her book!