TONI KITTI

Toni talks about how his life experiences and art practice have always been intertwined. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and ADD, art for Toni is a way to process his interactions with the world and employ the contagiousness of smiles. Listen to his conversation with Defne Oruc to find out how Toni’s mind “is so busy doing imagination work all the time” and discover the mindscapes he photographs in extreme close-ups of immortal plastic objects.

02:19 “Asperger’s is a kind of syndrome where there is a strong sense of justice and balance. I’m always in a courtroom in my mind.”
Why is it important for your work to operate on the two scales of personal experience and collective awareness?

05:54 “My mind serves me things all the time, and some of them are quite funny, so I laugh.”
The smile becomes a leitmotif in your work, is it a critical artistic device, how does it function?

09:52 “I’m a clown and my job is to spread around my smile.”
How would you want to mediate the audience’s encounter with your photographs?

14:04 “It’s very difficult to read micro-expressions for people with Aspergers. I’m all about big smiles and big anger.”
Is it all about fun, or is there an element of trying to disturb the audience?

23:53 “Plastic doesn’t decay, as we people do.”
How do we encounter plastic in your show, Persistence of Plastic II: The Caleidoscope?

29:30 “Surviving AIDS was easier than surviving not being able to go clubbing.”
Could there be a certain feeling of liberation artistically and socially that we can extract from this moment?