David Medalla has conquered the fields of painting, land art, kinetic art and performance from the 50s until now like a vagabond Don Quixote. For his recent show and event at the  GSK Contemporary Season at the Royal Academy, commissioned by Jen Wu and Anthony Gross (temporarycontemporary) as part of their programme Event Horizon, he decided to look at the Musée du Louvre as an emblem of the cultural market. The venue hosts icons of popular high culture such as the Venus de Milo and Medalla wanted to pay tribute to the paganised divinity, translated into the cult of beauty and perfection that characterises modern society. I was taking part in this performance, hence my Roman attire. After the performance David and I sat down for a chat… about God.

Gedvile Bunikyte: Let’s talk about God David…

David Medalla: I am an Atheist you know….

GB: Well yes especially because of that. We live in a largely secular society, don’t we?

DM: Oh but I do believe. I believe in the sacred. It is a very different thing... Life is sacred.

GB: I like the idea of religion. I think it has got a lot to offer. It can inspire people. It doesn’t work for me, but I like the poetry of it.

DM: Although all religions produce something beautiful they also produce something horrible. Because you see the problem about being religious is that it comes with this exclusivity. You can’t believe in all the Gods you can only believe in the God of your faith and I find that a little bit… no, not a little bit, very constrictive!

GB: Most of the time faith is passed on through the family. However, some people can consciously make a choice as to which God they want to believe in.

DM: Well yes some people may be born Christians but then they read Buddhist texts and they go on and become Muslims. It happens. The concept of believing is wonderful. It can really inspire imagination. On the other hand, it is a strange kind of paradox you know. If you believe in God it is real to you, you don’t question it.

GB: Religious rituals, imagery and literature can be very beautiful, but it has a different meaning to someone who is a non-believer. Talking about paradox and irony, religious memorabilia has become terribly fashionable to some people. Things that are taken out of context lose their original meaning. Is your family religious?

DM: No, not all. My parents were not religious… I come from the Philippines. It is a Catholic country and I did have an aunt who was very fanatical. She used to walk across the church on her knees everyday! She was married to a very wealthy man and they had no children so she gave all her money to the church. It really pissed off my father! She did it because they will be praying for her soul…

GB: It was worth it to her.

DM: Yes it is a form of therapy.

GB: No matter how you look at it God or the idea of God has an undeniable power.

DM: I had these neighbours and just before the millennium they said they were going to go to Jerusalem because it was going to be the end of the world. But of course it didn’t happen so I was very naughty and I said: “What happened? Did it happen? Is this the new world and we all have been reborn?” They said the calendar was wrong and it will happen. They believed very strongly.

GB: What is the role of God and Art today?

DM: In the old days the church performed a very important function - you get baptised, married. It was very social. For example, in Christian countries every Sunday people would get together. However, there is less and less of this happening in the developed countries. Museums and galleries should take that function.

GB: People say art is a religion. Don’t you think you and me are, in a way, religious fanatics?

DM: I accept what they say - art is a very self-indulgent thing. You do it for yourself first.

GB: How do you get inspired?

DM: Well, for example, the big bubble machine (Cloud Canyons No. 3: An Ensemble of Bubble Machines 1961) that I did and was exhibited at the Tate, started as a little idea. You start with something small. You start with the atom and then it gets bigger and bigger. Similarly with the performance you have done today. It was very very beautiful and it started with an apple. I looked at the apple and I thought why not take it in the hand. It is very simple. Anybody can take an apple… and it worked very well.

GB: It did…

David Medalla was born in Manila in 1942, and since then has migrated all over the globe.

Pictures taken by Phil Miller.