Misfits The Iranian-born, Berlin-based artist discusses the positive aesthetic and social potential of ‘not fitting in’, the need to challenge societal norms and to promote social cohesion through collaboration with both artists and audiences. Nairy Baghramian interviewed by Anna Souter ‘Misfits’, 2021, installation view, Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris Anna Souter: Your exhibition at South London Gallery centres on your ‘Misfits’ series of sculptures, which are inspired by children’s building toys in which pieces slot together perfectly. With different letters of the alphabet in each title and parts that look as though they might fit together, the work seems to be haunted by a set of ungraspable and unspoken rules – but it soon becomes clear that the organic shapes would frustrate any attempt to assemble them into neat structures. There is no ‘correct’ way to interact with them. What is the effect of this? Nairy Baghramian: As the title of the exhibition ‘Jumbled Alphabet’ suggests, a universally valid order is broken up to make space for an individual reordering. However, this is not about a counter-concept in the sense of contradiction or upheaval, but rather about the acceptance of individual methods. Also, in the concept of these works, which all receive the title ‘Misfits’, and through the addition of a Dadaist sequence of letters, they give the impression of following a specific logic, though they do not present a clear aesthetic, like toy blocks do. Instead, I was interested in exploring a vague memory of mine, of considering seemingly simple forms and their mutual relationship or potential affiliation. During the mental exercise of developing meaning-creating affiliations, it becomes clear that the individual parts do not really fit together. In Franz West’s ‘Adaptives’, one notices by ‘wearing’ one of his works how the body changes and, in a certain sense, adapts to the form. I would similarly be pleased if, during the visual engagement with the ‘Misfit’ works, the mind could be set into motion and new mismatched perceptions could emerge. The premise of understanding a specification more as a starting point than an endpoint has always been appealing to me, such as the ideas of Enzo Mari, who published instructions for self-building his design pieces and was mainly interested in seeing what resulted from the interpretation – or preferably misinterpretation – of the maker. Following how ‘instructions’ might be read or interpreted, I was interested in how you invite both children and adults to interact with your work. The first initiation of the ‘Misfits’ series was in Milan’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna in 2021, next to a playground where adults are only permitted if accompanying a child. It seemed as if you were playing with a sense of exclusion or ‘mis-fitting’ – children are often seen as unwelcome in museums or galleries, while childless adults are banned from parts of public parks. Are you interested in questioning conditions of existence within a society in which groups of people are invariably excluded from such supposedly public spaces? Art Monthly no. 480, October 2024 1