Chloé Milos Azzopardi on Her Mixed Media Installation at PhMuseum Days

Discovered through last year's Festival Open Call, Azzopardi's exhibition merged sight and touch to shape an ecological narrative mixing myth, science fiction, and performance.

As the PhMuseum Days 2024 Open Call's deadline has been extended until Thursday 16 May, we touched base with the selected artists of last year's edition to delve into their process and experience in Bologna. Here, Chloé Milos Azzopardi guides us through the key concepts of her project, while recalling moments from the festival's opening weekend.

Ciao Chloé. Why did you first feel the need to engage in Non Technological Devices, and how did the idea of building objects come about?

It's a series I'd had in mind for a long time, particularly the VR headset and the hand exoskeleton. I wanted to build something; I missed the sensation of touch in my practice. I wanted to create a series that would thwart the cynicism of apocalyptic narratives and, in the face of ecological urgency, propose a fiction that would attempt to go beyond the naive optimism of a return to the earth and technological solutionism.

Your work is at the crossroads of photography, performance, and the making of sculptural, ephemeral objects. How relevant is the interaction between these elements when it comes to exhibitions?

How to inhabit space with this work was one of my favorite areas of research. In the photographic work, performance was what activated the objects, and the objects then created a fiction in the image. In space, they echo the viewer's body and link it to the images, while at the same time deactivating the fiction: the objects reveal their nature, they are inert, they bear the symbol of technological artifice but no longer have their function.

What did it mean for you to be selected for PhMuseum Days 2023, and showcase your work in Bologna?

It was a big step for the series and for me to be selected and exhibited with artists I admire. It made me want to dig even deeper into installation. I'd never been to Bologna before and the festival team also played a big part in making me fall in love with the city haha.

Do you have any memories you cherish from the opening weekend?

I loved meeting everyone, from the artists to the PhMuseum team. My favorite part was the guided tour with all the artists presenting their work. Some of the works were very conceptual and listening to them develop their thinking was a real treat, with the work taking on depth, pulling new threads between the different exhibitions. I also loved listening to Brea Souders perform part of “Another Online Pervert”.

Any advice to share with other photographers on how to present their work for the application?

To feel strongly connected to the theme.

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Chloé Milos Azzopardi's project Non Technological Devices was selected last year through the PhMuseum Days open call. Apply to the new edition to have the chance of exhibiting in Bologna, Italy next September. The deadline is extended to 16 May.