French conceptual artist Daniel Buren has often been a
controversial figure over the years, usually for the same reason. Best
known for paintings and installations involving stripes, his signature
motif for the last four decades, Buren provoked an uproar in 1986 when
his monumental forest of differently sized black and white columns,
titled "Les Deux Plateaux," was unveiled in the courtyard of Paris's Palais
Royal — and again in 2010 when it reopened after a €6 million
facelift. Last week, the artist was in Britain to install a new piece
for the opening of Turner Contemporary in the seaside town of
Margate.

The work, occupying a double-height gallery on the new
building's first floor, will consist of mirrors and colored film
arranged to create an "infinite view," while a large circle traced in film will echo
the view of the seascape outside. Buren, an old hand at such ambitious
installations in institutions and public spaces alike, talked to ARTINFO
UK about the sweeping cuts to art funding across Europe and
politicians' lack of long-term commitment to the public art they
commission.

How do you start working on a site-specific piece like the one you are
currently installing in Margate? Do have a strategy?

I don't have any kind of regular system. It depends on the space, on the
type of exhibition, and whether the piece is a public work or it is
meant for an institution. I usually like to see the space before I start
working, but this is not a rule. Sometimes I just go there and
improvise a work in eight or 10 days. For this piece, I went to Margate
when Turner Contemporary was under construction. I could almost have
worked from plans, but visiting the city gives you some perspective and
ideas.

As you know, the cultural situation is quite strained in the U.K. at
the moment. The government voted major funding cuts and art institutions
across the country are now waiting to hear from the Arts Council if
their funding will be renewed.

I've heard about it but it would be wrong to say that I know the
situation really well. Having no money to do things has become very
banal. Institutions are getting poorer and poorer everywhere. It's not
only an English problem — the situation is the same throughout the
Western world, and especially in Europe where museums are paid for by
the state, the cities, or the regions.

Do you feel that people are less interested in contemporary art or is
it just an economical problem?

There's a lot of confusion: the public for contemporary art has never
been as important as now, but politicians keep limiting institutions'
budgets, making it difficult for them to survive. It's a total
contradiction.

It is really exciting to see a venue like Turner Contemporary opening
in Margate, but in the current climate one hopes that it'll be given
the means to sustain its activity in the long run — which is often a
concern for new institutions. There is a parallel here with the
situation of your piece "Les Deux Plateaux" at the Palais Royal, which
was commissioned at great expense in the 1980s but not properly
maintained and had to undergo major restoration last year.

Exactly, it's the same contradiction. Politicians who are abandoning
artworks by not paying for their maintenance end up either losing the
piece or having to spend a fortune to restore it. This can be really
frustrating.

Have you ever felt let down by commissioners?

The maintenance is always really problematic. Unlike 25 years ago,
people now understand the benefits of commissioning a piece of public
art but they still don't get that they are responsible for it afterward —
and as an artist you automatically end up in big conflicts.

Like architecture, public art is always dependent on politics. You
are chosen by a group of politicians, but as time goes by these people
are replaced by others who might stop financing the piece just to attack
their predecessors. The artist ends up in the middle of a stupid fight
between two politicians and the work usually suffers from it.

If you are in charge of a city, small or big, you have to take care of
millions of things whether you like them or not. Even if you are in a
place like France where the church and the state have been separated for
centuries, the state has to maintain churches. As a mayor, even if you
are against religion, there's no way you can say "I don't give a shit
and won't restore this cathedral." It should be the same thing with
contemporary art but isn't — and I think that's a huge issue.

View Slideshow: Drawing the Line: Artist Daniel Buren Speaks Out Against Europe's Arts Cuts