For our interview, Mikkel Astrup wears a futuristic black vinyl track suit. He has two favorite art works in the lobby: the Chelsea Dogs, and Robert Lambert’s painting of the man feeding the chickens. A Samuel Beckett scholar, when Mikkel discusses his discipline, most of what he says is rather hard to follow (which is probably inevitable given the notorious opacity of Beckett), much less transcribe, but I managed to get a bit of it down, hopefully without misrepresenting Mikkel’s thought too egregiously.
Where are you from and what do you do?
I’m from Oslo, Norway and I’m a research fellow at the University of Oslo. I’m working on my PhD. dissertation on Beckett and sickness. My field may be described as Literary Theory, or Cultural Theory. I work with doctors and psychoanalysts, discussing the relationship between literature and health, the arts and medicine. I am also interested in Beckett’s relation to Abstract Expressionism.
Is this your first time at the Chelsea?
Yes. I usually stay with friends when I come to New York, but I thought I’d try the Chelsea this time. I had heard about the Chelsea from some people who had stayed here long ago, and I wanted to see if it was the same as they said it was, with all the creative people. I found that this was still the case. It is exciting, a good place to work, and very central. I have been spending my days doing a lot of writing.
How would you describe the atmosphere of the Chelsea? There is an atmosphere of creative freedom which is permissive, yet discrete. One is not stifled or oppressed here. But at the same time I can blend in and do my work and not be distracted by the festivities. In the lobby I feel like part of the furniture. I can go there when I’m stuck in my work and get unstuck. People here can have a relation that is a sort of non-relation that I find liberating.
What is Beckett’s connection to New York? New York is not directly connected to Beckett. I came here to learn about contemporary art. I’ve been going to museums and galleries and events for two months. I wanted to understand all aspects of the art world, especially the financial situation, the distribution networks, the hype, and the potential pratfalls.
Did Beckett ever stay at the Chelsea? I’m pretty sure he didn’t. He only came to New York one time, to make a movie about perception, Film, with Buster Keaton. He said of the United States: “This place is too weird. I’m going back to Europe.” [Editors Note: Ha!]
What is Beckett’s relation to abstract art? His biographical relation to the Abstract Expressionists is quite boring. He looked at them to learn production strategies that he could transfer to his own writing. Theoretically, they are important to his quest to abstract a language expressing levels of human organization that can’t be perceived directly.
What artists has Beckett influenced? Bruce Nauman, Damien Hirst, and especially Frank Stella. Among Chelsea Hotel residents, I know that Burroughs was very interested in Beckett, though Beckett did not think Burroughs’ work was important.
Could you describe your project?
I’m trying to expand the notion of health beyond that of physical and psychiatric illness. There is also pragmatic illness, which is a reaction to certain forces, and can be brought more to the forefront of the health discourse as a supplement to these other notions. I want to communicate to doctors and psychiatrists that their cure may not be the absolute cure. In some instances, the medical gaze can be replaced by the aesthetic gaze. In my study I employ all of Beckett’s major novels, from Murphy onwards, focusing on three important aspects of his fiction that can be brought to bear on this notion of changing paradigms of illness. These are: his non-progressive teleology, the shifting essence of his characters, and the fact that his characters have their own level of reality which doesn’t intersect with more common levels.
Has anything exciting or interesting happened to you here at the Chelsea? While working late one night in the lobby, I noticed the wide variety of people passing through the doors, and this transformed my way of looking at what is normal. Although I don’t have a very strict theoretical framework as to what constitutes normalcy, my practical view was previously somewhat constricted. It has now been broadened considerably.
Have you encountered any ghosts while you’ve been here?
No, those who encountered them must have been indulging in some illicit substance.
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