Gutterpunks, rentboys and other underdogs of our modern society, beautiful and frivolous in their own youth, turn into leading characters that inspire the works of visual artist Matt Lambert. Their skin soft, sometimes red-slapped or covered in bruises and blood. A raw sight captured with an equally raw dynamic which almost make us doubt the fine line between fiction and fact. Curious about the man behind the camera, Chasseur sat down with the artist himself to discuss his tough upbringing in LA and how this has shaped his current attraction with themes of sex and violence, his plans for a feature film and how does it feel to be a man of the world having travelled everywhere from NYC to London and Berlin where he currently resides.
First things first. Been up to much today?
I’m onto day 2 of shooting a short film for ARTE. It’s an adaptation of La Jetée.
After a long list of destinations you finally settled in Berlin. How is that working out for you so far? Do you find that this change has brought a new perspective to your current work?
Berlin has been everything when it comes to the work I make. LA, NYC and London made me, but it’s Berlin that has helped me figure out what that is. This honesty of the city and the people around me are what allow me to make work I’m finally starting to feel good about.
Berlin together with London, another former destination, are two cities strongly associated with the culture of punks and skinheads; elements which you seem to incorporate a lot in your works. What’s the story behind that?
It’s not just those cities. Growing up in LA I was around a pretty intense skinhead scene as well as gangbanger and punk crews. I rediscovered these scenes in London and then watched them all fuse into a homo-cult/punk blender after living in NYC. Berlin has been a place to synthesize all these lives and experiences into a reduced version.
Sex and violence also seem to be two very recurring themes to your projects. What personally intrigues you about each one?
These were both things that scared me when I was younger, mostly because I didn’t understand them. There was extreme violence and an extreme masculine sexuality around me that was paired with it. I started making work about these subjects to understand, demystify and own them.
Do you feel that moving to Europe has given you a certain artistic freedom to finally portray such themes with a bigger ease? Why so?
Despite liberal America imagining itself as progressive, it usually does so theoretically when it comes to sexuality and social issues. Outside of a few scenes I’ve had the pleasure of hooking up with, most of the US preach what is actually ingrained in Berlin youth. This has allowed me to lay a canvas with people that are genuinely open to exploration. There’s also an unmanufactured honesty and purity in the subjects I work with in Europe that I have to work a lot harder to find in the US.
Let’s talk youth and boys in specific. You seem to have a keen interest to them. In fact your approach almost seems to have an autobiographical nature with narrative taking the lead. What do you see in these boys?
I’m fascinated by the strength of modern youth and also its new found ways of expression. I suppose there’s a level of retroactive voyeurism as well, a way to live through a youth that I missed. Some of my new film projects are dealing with digital culture and how that has expanded and defined the fringes of youth subcultures.
Although you are an excellent photographer, I understand that you’ve only recently decided to venture into this direction. What do you think this ‘new’ medium has to offer in comparison to videography?
Practically speaking, it’s cheaper, quicker and often takes much less to coordinate. This works for Berlin. However, it’s also been a way for me to workshop visual ideas, develop characters, candidly cast and connect with people without the intermediate of my crew. It satisfies my need to be prolific, but also helps me work through themes for films before diving into a lengthy production.
During your career you were able to shoot quite a few films as well as music clips with Emika and most recently Patrick Wolf being just two of the artists you have worked with so far. How easy do you find adjusting your vision into a particular soundtrack rather than the other way around?
I’ve never seen myself as a music video director. I’ve done a few and they are usually born from a connection with the artist on a personal and creative level. I’m quite used to working with a composer and sound designer to develop the sound of my video work, so it’s been a learning collaborative process.
Any hints on the near future?
Hopefully beginning a feature next year, working on a photo book, maybe a final exhibition for BARE BONES and a handful of ongoing documentary projects to see what sticks.