When pixels go on a picnic – In conversation with Elisa von Brockdorff
Pixels on a Picnic runs from 7-27 February at Splendid
Elisa von Brockdorff is a visual artist and photographer. If you follow the Maltese art and culture scene to any degree, you probably already know about Elisa and her work, but even if you don’t, her photos are almost certainly part of your Instagram feed.
But this article isn’t about Elisa’s freelance work – it’s about her brand-new solo exhibition, Pixels on a Picnic, which opens on the 7th of February at Splendid in Valletta, and runs until the 27th.
Curated by Melanie Erixon of Art Sweven, Pixels on a Picnic features a series of over thirty staged photos, “where the boundaries between light, form, materiality, and imagination dissolve.” That’s according to the official description, but having seen the works in person I can confirm that it’s true.
As part of the Pixels on a Picnic programme, Elisa will be hosting two other events at Splendid – Sound Sandwich on February 23rd, where both Elisa and I will be giving music performances, and an exhibition talk (date TBC), where Elisa will be talking about the creation process behind these new works.
I have seen Elisa working on this project throughout 2024, from the initial seed of the idea until now, so it’s been truly wonderful to see Pixels on a Picnic come to fruition. Naturally, I wanted to ask Elisa about the inspirations and process behind Pixels on a Picnic – here’s our conversation below:
Most people will know that photography is your primary medium but Pixels on a Picnic feels like an evolution from works you’ve done in the past. What sparked this new direction?
I believe in seasons, so there are phases when I’ll focus on one medium and other times when I’ll switch to something else. In this case, photography was not the original medium I had in mind but I arrived at it as the original concept evolved.
I was initially interested in 3D renditions, fascinated by how different forms, surfaces, and light interact with each other to create a particular space and mood, which I tried to create digitally through software. Shortly after that I felt more comfortable going back to a more hands-on approach and decided to create the space myself manually, using materials, such as glass, metal, mirrors, and even natural materials such as plants, leaves, and water.
As opposed to previous works, where the light was more uniform and dispersed to give prominence to the objects in the scene, these works pay much more attention to light and the absence of it. Beyond exploring materials, surfaces, and textures, I knew I wanted to create photos that lend themselves to a specific atmosphere; a feeling of immersion, as though you’re in the scene with the works.
Why did you choose the name Pixels on a Picnic for this exhibition?
With the term pixels, there’s an obvious reference to the digital world, while picnic is more of a reference to the real world, with importance given to the playful process used to create them. Even though these are ‘analogue’ works there’s still a necessary digital element that documents the outcome and keeps the work ‘alive’.
Whilst preparing the images for printing, the pixels also went on a picnic quite literally! Two images intended for the exhibition got corrupted by my hard disk, creating artifacts that weren’t in the original photo. At first, there was some panic at the picnic, but eventually, I decided to display the corrupted photos and now, I like to think of it as a collaboration with my hard disk.
Why was Splendid the perfect home for Pixels on a Picnic? What was the process of designing the space for the exhibition?
The space was suggested by the curator Melanie Erixon, Founder of Art Sweven, and we thought it would fit the works, and it does! It has a specific character that lends itself well to the playful nature of the works.
In terms of designing the space, Mel and I considered every aspect of the space across the three available rooms. It was a very positive experience working with her as I felt like she guided me and yet was open to ideas so it felt very much like a collaborative and reassuring process.
We grouped the works in each room according to theme, colour, and materials. For example, Mel suggested dedicating the third room to works with organic elements such as flowers and plants. Once we grouped the works into categories, we played around with how to best create juxtaposition across all three rooms, so we intently made sure that we focused on printing the works in different sizes with a mix of framing/mounting styles.
We often just see the final result of an exhibition. What goes into putting together a show of this scale that people might not realize?
It’s always gratifying when it comes together but as I’m answering these questions I sometimes find myself thinking, “X’mort nivvinta?!” (“What am I doing?!”) especially as the opening date approaches. There’s a lot of money, decisions, and stress involved, and perhaps more unexpectedly a lot of patience that’s needed. I started this project with a seed in my head but not a full-blown idea. I wasn’t sure what these works would become.
Finding the time to focus on creating these works wasn’t always easy. There’s always other stuff going on. When weeks are especially busy, you have to be OK with the fact that working on the exhibition may have to be put on hold for a while. However, when things are a little less busy there’s a bit of time to plan and take more photos.
Sourcing the materials I used in these works also took time. I already had quite a few objects at home from other projects, but I intentionally wanted to explore some new things that I don’t normally use, including materials found in nature (as an aside – I had never realised how many fragments of broken tiles there are scattered in off-road areas!).
Another challenge was singling out the few images that I felt had the potential to be considered for the exhibition from the thousands I shot. Sometimes you take over 200 photos in a single shoot and you’ll only end up using one photo – sometimes two, and very rarely three! Choosing the photos can be stressful because the reality is that many of them end up looking almost the same so you need to think hard about which ones speak to you the most.
And before anything else, there’s a lot of intent that goes into the research phase and it’s a different mindset to simply browsing the internet, leaving a heart on photos you like, and moving on. Because I wanted to explore a different direction, I really wanted to study images from other artists, photographers, and illustrators I found eye-catching, to deconstruct their work. So I’d spend a long time looking at one artwork, noticing details and trying to understand their use of form, colour, texture, light, and visual narrative.
The exhibition extends beyond just visual art, with live performances planned (including both of us doing solo sets) on the 23rd of February. What inspired you to unite different mediums under this visual picnic?
Just because I thought having an exhibition wasn’t stressful enough, I thought, why not have a music performance as well?! Even though the sounds I create are entirely digitally created through DAW software, I feel like the way I approach creating music is similar to how I construct the scenes in the photos.
In both cases, I often feel like I’m using layers as though they’re building blocks, with the whole composition coming together gradually over time. I might start with a few key elements – for a photo it might be a few specific objects, for a track it might be a few sounds – then organically, I eventually end up somewhere else.