The biography that Mau Morgó has up on his website is topped by two dates: 1988 as his birth year and 2015 as the year of his… passing? It may very well be. After all, one of this artist’s most talked about artistic actions was simulating his own death during the design, art and creation festival OFFF’15. As sort of a continuation and corollary to that burial, right now Morgó finds himself sort of embarking in annihilating his own public image in an action in which he continuously wears a pig’s mask that is the face of his alter ego.
MAU MORGÓ, THE MONSTER WE ALL HAVE INSIDE OF US
The line between the real world and the virtual world is the territory that Mau Morgó likes to dig up with his bare hands in search of his art. A kind of art in which art, technology and emotions interweave each other to deliver such vibrant results as the one from his collaboration for Rosalía’s music video of her hit De aquí no sales. However, will we be able to interview Morgó or, as we’ve read on his website’s biography section, did he die in 2015?
And so, in a nutshell, at the heart of his art, we can see the exploration of the identity of the new century, that identity that is neither real nor virtual, but it is the total opposite and everything at the same time. The walls of containment that used to halt the absolute freedom that offers new virtual worlds have fallen (but wait, the social media world is technically virtual by definition), and the result is a sheer nonsensical frenzy that is the bustling broth in which the cultivation of Mau Morgó’s artistic bacteria grow.
It should come as no surprise that each time there are more and more people that come to him to liberate those artistic bacteria in their own projects and, in an act of creative collaboration, he brings something fresh to the table, like, for example, Rosalía’s music video for her banger De aquí no sales. Working for others while he’s still building his own artistic career in which technology and emotions converge. That’s what Mau Morgó is interested in. And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this interview.
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First of all, your latest artistic action has linked you with a pig’s mask and, in fact, you only let yourself be seen wearing it. So, this brings up the question: am I talking to Mau or to an alter ego?
We’re the same person.
Exactly what does this action consist of?
I want to be valued for my work and not for my image. And, if I have to be judged by the latter, I prefer for it to be something that I created myself. He’s a representation of my ego, that little monster that we all have inside of us, an instinctive, shameless animal that feeds himself with attention. Obviously, he’s a bit scary, but he’s actually really nice. We have a very healthy relationship and we’re each in charge of doing what we’re good at: he’s good at showing his face, I’m good at everything else. Now that we’ve assigned our roles, there are no misunderstandings. It all comes from a primary necessity of making it clear who’s who and not feeling like a fraud.
If the intersection between art, technology and emotions were a specific and real geographic place, what do you think we’d be able to find there?
A robot liking posts.
Why are you so interested in exploring the relationship between the real world and the digital world?
The line has already been blurred, nobody cares for the “real” world anymore. That loss of connectivity with the physical world is what fascinates me, I’m comfortable investigating and depicting the craziness of the world.
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What was it like working with Rosalía?
She’s such a great artist. It’s such a pleasure to work with somebody like her. I haven’t seen an artist that is as committed to her project as she is in a long time. And, when you see how involved these kind of people are, you get even more involved. And that’s very inspiring.
You’ve worked with A$AP Rocky, FKA Twigs, Spoon, Cut Copy, Little Dragon, Oso Leone, Aphex Twin… Is there anyone else left who you’d seriously interested in working with?
There are tons of them. But at the end of the day, it’s mostly about working with people who truly believe in their music, those who have a soul. When you work with real people, you end up with beautiful work. Those are the projects I’m interested in.
You’ve also worked for brands like Converse, so I’d like to ask you: what is your favourite item that you start with to build all of your looks?
Giorgio underpants.
And, lastly, if you ever take off the mask, do you know what’s next for Mau Morgó?
We’ll see soon enough.
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- Photography: Viridiana Morandini