Interview with
Nana Mandl
& Herbert De Colle
Nana Mandl (b. 1991) and Herbert De Colle (b. 1978) are artists based in Vienna. Nana Mandl combines digital and analog worlds through collages, embroidery and textile manipulation, offering a tactile contrast to fast-paced digital imagery. Herbert De Colle references countercultural movements flattened by pop culture into labor-intensive public installations with renewed vigor. We visited their respective studios during Vienna Art Week and continued the conversation over email.
Related issues, portrait, Nana Mandl Portrait, Herbert De Colle
& Herbert De Colle
Nana Mandl (b. 1991) and Herbert De Colle (b. 1978) are artists based in Vienna. Nana Mandl combines digital and analog worlds through collages, embroidery and textile manipulation, offering a tactile contrast to fast-paced digital imagery. Herbert De Colle references countercultural movements flattened by pop culture into labor-intensive public installations with renewed vigor. We visited their respective studios during Vienna Art Week and continued the conversation over email.
March 2, 2025
Interviewed by Ali Khan | Co-Founder
Ali Khan: We are increasingly having to navigate between the digital and real world, creating tension and new challenges for artists. How does it inform your creative process?
Nana Mandl: Right now, I’m really enjoying this balancing act. Since much of my work relies on meticulous analog techniques, I feel like I’ve found a good equilibrium between these two worlds. And the process of translating one into the other has been a major part of my creative work.
Herbert De Colle: Analog plays an important role in my work. When I think of my work “EMOTION” for the Art Box in the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, for example. It is about handmade papier-mâché faces modeled on Harvey Ball's smileys. Conceived in 1963 in analog form, later distributed digitally and now brought back to analog form by me.
In my work “LOVE, PEACE, FOREVER” – which consists of cut posters and prints – the subjects I designed are also crafted in analog form in a very time-consuming, repetitive gesture.
Interviewed by Ali Khan | Co-Founder
Ali Khan: We are increasingly having to navigate between the digital and real world, creating tension and new challenges for artists. How does it inform your creative process?
Nana Mandl: Right now, I’m really enjoying this balancing act. Since much of my work relies on meticulous analog techniques, I feel like I’ve found a good equilibrium between these two worlds. And the process of translating one into the other has been a major part of my creative work.
Herbert De Colle: Analog plays an important role in my work. When I think of my work “EMOTION” for the Art Box in the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, for example. It is about handmade papier-mâché faces modeled on Harvey Ball's smileys. Conceived in 1963 in analog form, later distributed digitally and now brought back to analog form by me.
In my work “LOVE, PEACE, FOREVER” – which consists of cut posters and prints – the subjects I designed are also crafted in analog form in a very time-consuming, repetitive gesture.
Photo: ©Simon Veres
AK: Vienna has a long history of contributions to the art world. How
does the city figure into your work? How does it influence your process?
NM: To be honest, I wouldn’t call it the most inspiring city for me, but definitely the most comfortable. After living in various other cities, I embraced settling in Austria—but I always need to leave for a while to truly appreciate the privilege of living here.
HDC: Vienna is often described as a hub between East and West and this is indeed reflected in the art scene. The connection to our eastern neighbors has a long tradition, and the common German-speaking region also plays a key role.
In recent years, I have repeatedly worked with art in public space – the cut posters from the studio mentioned above are returned to their original purpose here. This is how the several hundred-meter-long poster installation “LOVE” was created at Vienna Central Station – the last thing you see when you leave Vienna, or the first thing you see when you arrive.
NM: To be honest, I wouldn’t call it the most inspiring city for me, but definitely the most comfortable. After living in various other cities, I embraced settling in Austria—but I always need to leave for a while to truly appreciate the privilege of living here.
HDC: Vienna is often described as a hub between East and West and this is indeed reflected in the art scene. The connection to our eastern neighbors has a long tradition, and the common German-speaking region also plays a key role.
In recent years, I have repeatedly worked with art in public space – the cut posters from the studio mentioned above are returned to their original purpose here. This is how the several hundred-meter-long poster installation “LOVE” was created at Vienna Central Station – the last thing you see when you leave Vienna, or the first thing you see when you arrive.
“Berlin has always been an option, but the conditions for the independent scene there are getting tougher. I hope we will be spared that in Vienna for a while longer.” - Herbert De Colle
AK: Would
you move to another, bigger art capital in the future or is Vienna too integral
to your work?
NM: Moving a co-parenting family to another place is a logistical challenge, but recently I do feel the pull to live in another city. Even after all these years (and all the changes) Berlin still holds a special place in my heart. But I can also imagine spending some time somewhere completely new, like Paris or LA. But for now, residencies and short-term travels will have to suffice.
HDC: As a city itself, Vienna doesn't play a major role in my work, but the economic realities are comparatively pleasant for artists.
Berlin has always been an option, but the conditions for the independent scene there are getting tougher. I hope we will be spared that in Vienna for a while longer.
AK: There is a lot unfolding geo-politically in Europe and the world at large – what do you think is the artist’s role in today’s society? How do you see yourself playing that role?
NM: That’s a difficult question… I do see my role as an artist as one of engagement with the world around me. At the same time, I recognize the challenge of fully grasping large-scale events while being immersed in one’s private life—something I have often explored in my work.
Still, I wouldn’t say that art has a prescribed role it must fulfil. Its beauty lies in the freedom to choose which topics to engage with, no matter how banal they may seem.
HDC: These are difficult times! The shift to the right in Europe and the USA is deeply worrying. It's only an hour's drive from Vienna to Bratislava where you can see what happens when right-wing politicians declare war on culture. As artists, we must not become quieter in expressing our opinions. I think we have to show presence. Actually, when I put up “LOVE” posters in the city, it's also meant as a call!
“I do see my role as
an artist as one of engagement with the world around me. At the same time, I
recognize the challenge of fully grasping large-scale events while being
immersed in one’s private life—something I have often explored in my work.” - Nana Mandl
NM: My work has always engaged with the complexities of what I call a globalized patchwork society. I don’t see my role as delivering a message but rather as making topics tangible—perhaps posing questions and, most importantly, encouraging viewers to discover their own narratives within the work.
HDC: Yes, as stated above, when I put up posters with simple terms like LOVE, it's meant as a message. I use terms that, among other things, refer to the 1960s, catchwords of past utopias, adopted by the mainstream countless times. In my works these repeating or dissolving terms form an analog, deliberately nostalgic counterpoint to the digital communication culture.
AK: As with fashion and other creative fields, the artworld has been criticized of green-washing and flouting sustainability concerns. Where do you stand on this debate? Can a truly sustainable practice develop under growth driven models?
NM: As long as we live in a capitalist society, everything—including sustainability, gender equality, and human rights—will be leveraged for profit. Capital generation remains the ultimate measure of success, so even when criticism arises, it rarely shifts the balance of power.
I do question our growth-driven economy, but I don’t see it as the sole obstacle to sustainability. As much as I wish change could come from the top down, I believe it must begin on a personal level, by asking ourselves what kind of world we want to live in and whether our actions align with our values.
HDC: I find it very exciting how much this topic has become established in the art scene. At the moment, I'm unsure whether sustainability will remain an important theme in the arts.
Unfortunately, it generally looks as if profit and national interests are once again coming to the fore. On the other hand, it is only a matter of time before the urgency is understood that something has to change.
“I use terms that, among other things, refer to the 1960s, catchwords of past utopias, adopted by the mainstream countless times. In my works these repeating or dissolving terms form an analog, deliberately nostalgic counterpoint to the digital communication culture.” - Herbert De Colle
NM: I believe it really simplifies our lives! Just yesterday, I submitted a last-minute application and don't think I would have managed without the help of AI. I also used AI to rephrase a lot of parts of this interview.
However, I am not sure if we are discussing all the risks and issues that come up for me enough.
HDC: It is generally difficult to predict where the journey with AI will take us.
It will depend on how it is used – there are countless ways to apply it positively. But when I think of the algorithms in social media, which are already incomprehensible, it will certainly be a new challenge for all of us. And if the most important representatives of the tech industry are now rallying behind Trump, it seems like a gloomy announcement.
AK: What and who has been the biggest influence on you? And how do these influences find their way into your work?
NM: I believe the work of other artists has likely been the biggest influence on me. But also architecture, design, fashion, and even random images I come across on social media play a role. I tend to collect everything that initially catches my eye, and in a later stage of the process, I filter through it to decide what resonates and what I want to incorporate into my work.
HDC: The most important reference points for my work in recent years are codes and symbols, certain catchwords, images and poses from subcultures and countercultures. These are by no means biographical but circulate freely available in the media and have long since entered the mainstream. The works can be read as time machines, but they do not take us back to a point in history; instead, they create a suspended state in which different levels of time overlap in terms of style and content.
NM: Lately, I’ve been diving into some incredible books! Two that had me so hooked I stayed up for hours, lost in their stories, are Und alle so still by Mareike Fallwickl and All Fours by Miranda July—both authors I deeply admire.
HDC: ---- I would prefer to skip this question, if possible!
AK: Was there an instrumental event that defined you as the artist you are today? Was it one major event or a long, slow process?
NM: Ever since I was little, my parents told me I would become an artist—so I suppose I never really had a choice. Hahaha.
But in all seriousness, there was never a Plan B. From a very young age, I was certain that this was the path I wanted to follow.
HDC: It is more of a process that is constantly evolving. I usually work in larger series or blocks of work, so ideally one work leads to the next.
AK: What is next for you?
NM: Going international!
HDC: There will be a presentation of my new publication “LOVE” in the next few weeks. This summer I have been invited to a biennial that deals with the topic of water in rural areas.
AK: What is the absolute must one do or visit if they are in Vienna next time?
NM: If you come before the end of February 2025: go and see my solo show at STRABAG Kunstforum ;)
HDC: Look at contemporary art not only in the institutions and established galleries but also in the numerous off-spaces all over the city! There are 91 exhibition spaces listed on the website of the Independent Space Index (www.independentspaceindex.at).
And there is a lot to discover on the way – nice bars, clubs and stores in less touristy districts :-)