Nora Demattio/Founder Art House Project


TF: What is the Art House Project about?

The Art House Project offers a space or a certain breathing room for the spirit. Our main focus is on art. We are presenting artists. Some time ago I read a saying of Emily Dickinson: Nature is a haunted house. For me Art House Project is a house that seeks to be haunted by good spirits. It is a platform for all types of creativity not only art. But at the end – what is not art? Art summarizes all types of creativity that need to be lived and shared. I initiated the project two years ago when I came back from Guatemala together with my husband. We realized we were missing a certain power and energy around us. We wanted to change the energy but also make it visible for others. So we started to transform the facade of our house and thus initiating a kind of artist movement.

TF: How do you think our working live is going to look like within the upcoming years?

Hopefully it will change the direction from a pressure-to-make-money-device to a community based and oriented wheel of transportation for all of us.

I want to transport the project from Eisenstadt into a global space via the internet. We are using different platforms to communicate, to share ideas and inspiration. Now the location is Eisenstadt, but we are looking for a much wider and bigger space. It’s just starting here. I think we all will work more via the internet and cyberspace. I personally am always looking for the face to face communication, as I´m still on the way to become comfortable with the virtual world.

TF: What do you think are the opportunities of our time?

It became easier to cross borders. That physical distance is less important, is a huge opportunity for me. I have family in Central America, my husband is from Guatemala and because of advantages of online communication services it´s easy to talk to our relatives.

Also the huge amount of existing and growing knowledge is easier to access through internet, although nothing compares to books, shared oral history and stories told under a tree.

TF: What are the challenges we have to face?

One challenge is, even though the borders seem more open, that at the same time they rise – not only in different countries. As news mainly focus on negative stories, media are often scaring people with their designed construct of reality, which leads to easy manipulation of the human mind. A scared mind is easy to manipulate. A loving mind is strong. It is important for each of us today, to select very consciously the stories of which we want our reality to consist. Only because something is available, doesn´t mean we have to use it.

Another challenge – because of the internet – is to maintain the diversity existing in the world. The cultural and social differences are what make life interesting. In the end, people shouldn´t pay as much attention on how they are perceived by others and if they fit in certain concepts, but ask themselves: “How can I through my uniqueness contribute to life and humanity.”

TF: What borders need to be dissolved?

What borders shouldn’t be dissolved is the question. I think most borders mean an obstacle for living together in harmony. All borders that inhibit living together in harmony – physical and mental should be dissolved.

TF: What is your vision?

My vision for Art House Project is that it becomes global and is not a physical location but kind of a movement. Art is often seen as one of the easiest and at the same time one oft the strongest means of communication. I wish to find people who can create a different world by sharing their visions and artistic features. Everything you can imagine is real.

https://www.facebook.com/arthouseproject
http://norademattio.wix.com/blattwerk2013
https://www.facebook.com/blattwerk2013

Nora Demattio speaks at TEDxPannonia on Aug. 8th, 2014
Save your tickets: www.tedxpannonia.com