David Medalla on Art, Life, and Collective Creation

In a 2020 interview with Lorenzo Bruni, the late David Medalla reflected on his artistic journey, from his iconic Bubble Machine (1963) to participatory works like A Stitch in Time and the Mondrian Fan Club. Medalla credited his early encounter with Nobel laureates Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins in London at age 16 for inspiring the Bubble Machine, which he described as the first self-generating artwork. He discussed A Stitch in Time, which began in 1967 when he sewed two handkerchiefs for ex-lovers at London's airport. The work evolved into a global participatory piece; in 1972, he spotted his handkerchief on a stranger's backpack at Amsterdam Airport. Medalla also recounted founding the Exploding Galaxy group, which included 500 artists and performed for Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones. He addressed his hedonistic philosophy, citing Lucretius, and his multilingualism, having learned Italian by reading Dante's Divine Comedy. The Mondrian Fan Club, created with Adam Nankervis, began as a protest during the first Iraq War and later involved cleaning Mondrian's grave in Brooklyn. For the 2017 Venice Biennale, curated by Christine Macel, Medalla created a white version of A Stitch in Time and a performance with three young artists covered in Mondrian's primary colors. Medalla passed away shortly before the interview's publication.