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THE Q&A: GABRIELLA GOMEZ-MONT, WRITER, ARTIST, CULTURAL ENTREPRENEUR

Gabriella Gómez-Mont always feels a twinge of panic when she has to fill out her profession on immigration cards at various far-flung airports. The dynamic Mexican founder of Tóxico Cultura, an experimental creative lab, and a TED senior fellow, she is also a writer, photographer, visual artist and cultural entrepreneur–not exactly an easy title to put in a box.

Unsurprisingly, Gómez-Mont is fascinated by the intersections of different disciplines, creative and otherwise. This motivated her to create Tóxico Cultura in Mexico City four years ago, which functions as a kind of multidisciplinary think-tank. Artists, filmmakers, photographers and writers come here to discuss and present their work amid cultural workshops, lectures, exhibitions and film screenings. The city's creative types have all heard of Tóxico, and everyone wants to be a part of it.

Committed to reviving what she calls Mexico’s “cultural legacy”, Gómez-Mont is embarking on even more ambitious adventures. Bubbly and passionate, she gushes enthusiastically about filming her first documentary (about a reclusive Mexican scientist and artist), and about her creative approaches to social-justice problems. Here she talks to More Intelligent Life about Tóxico Cultura's mission, her interest in outsider artists and the impact of TED on her creative thinking.

More Intelligent Life: How would you describe what Tóxico Cultura does?

Gabriella Gómez-Mont: The name of Tóxico, which I know is somewhat strong, comes from a phrase by Nietzsche that says, “For art to exist, for any aesthetic activity to exist, one physiological condition is necessary: intoxication.” So it’s more of that type of intoxication. One of the things I’ve seen from my time at Fabrica [a creative laboratory and visual arts centre financed by Benetton], at Aperture magazine, and with my own friends, who are quite talented people scattered around the world, is that one of the greatest motors of the creative mind is inspiration. When you actually see somebody doing amazing things, there’s no excuses for doing mediocre work. Seeing people who are super passionate about what they do, I think that creates a self-propelling hunger.

So intoxication, in that sense, is actually one of the most important facets of Tóxico. You can ask yourself, “What good can a five-day workshop do?” because five days is absolutely nothing. So in a certain sense the only thing I think can be created...is  opening up the hungers that become self-propelling. You inspire people to a certain degree and confront them with people that are doing amazing work, and that holds the bar a little bit higher. I’ve seen it again and again and again, and it’s really quite amazing.

MIL: What kind of impact has Tóxico had in Mexico City? Has it been limited to residents in creative fields?

GGM: One of my obsessions is actually a recurring phrase in Tóxico’s projects
that says, “Creativity is not a luxury”. I  sometimes think that many times we feel that culture, imagination, creativity is the cherry on the cake. Many of Tóxico’s activities try to embed the notion that creativity is actually a supremely important component in every field–I don’t just mean cultural or artistic fields, I mean every facet of life.

For example, I’m starting a new series of projects where we will be marrying people from the creative fields with people from social fields. The first one will be a communications strategy for a hospital for burned children. I am putting together artists and writers with psychologists and educators to see how the creative world can actually help with social issues. We will be creating both brochures on dealing with burns for the children and specific awareness campaigns for magazines and TV. There will also will be an artistic component: we will be putting together an editorial project that will be all about fire, and we will also be holding an exhibition at Border [an art gallery in Mexico City]. So you’re doing something for the hospital, a social campaign with an outreach that is a lot more public, and something that specifically caters to the creative urge.

MIL: I understand you are also working on a documentary feature. What is it about?

GGM: It’s about a man I’ve known since I was seven years old, a friend of the family who’s an incredible artist and also a scientist–again talking about the multi-disciplinary thing. He’s been working in silence for the last 40 years, holed up in his house. He’s kind of the epitome of the outsider artist and scientist. The film is an investigation into how he lives his life. I think it’s a reflection of how we try to keep imagination in malleable and controllable terms, and push it out of our daily life. [Sometimes] imagination comes at a huge cost on a personal and family level.

MIL: But what do you mean by “working in silence?”

GGM: I mean he’s been working on his philosophical, geometrical and artistic
projects in his house. Everything he has, maybe 40 years of work in there, has been rotting away in his bodega. So it’s about that. I’ve always been fascinated by the silent figures.

MIL: But with Tóxico, you advocate the opposite, right? You want imagination
and creativity to be out in the open?

GGM: Unbound, in every way, yes (laughs).

MIL: How has being a TED fellow helped your current ventures?

GGM: After TED, I have been advocating the multi-disciplinary component of creativity. How do you bring people together to work on multi-disciplinary projects and what advantages are there to work outside of definitions? It helps you to think outside of the box. It also shook me, being at TED, in a very good and also painful way. To confront culture with social fields is an interesting exercise.

MIL: Were you faced with the question of what is more important?

GGM: It has to cross your mind! It’s always very enriching to have your feet on the ground. We cannot live in this little creative bubble; you have to know that culture is part of the world at large. Then again, I don’t think all art has to be inherently social.

MIL: What’s next for you?

GGM: One of the things I really want to do next is create links between Mexico and Latin America. The next type of Tóxico is taking creative people from Mexico abroad, because there are fantastic things going on in Mexico.

~ ALEXIS OKEOWO