''CoSMIC Crystals&DIRTY PigS''

Interview with Libby Black

2012-01-18T09:12:00.001-08:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)Libby Black
Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, and Installation

q) Why do you make art?

a)I make art cause I love it. I like to be alone in my studio and take a journey through a painting. It fills a part of me that no one can touch or fill.

q) How do you work ?

a)Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

q) What´s your background?

a)I was born in Toledo Ohio and moved to Plano, Texas when I was in High school.
My mom put me in art classes at the Toledo Art Museum and private lessons when I was in Texas. I have two older brothers. They don't make art.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)It seems like a very small one. We have walked out on a limb. To keep making work and trying to survive is a big project in this world.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Having a kid with my Partner.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes in the best way. No time is wasted anymore.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Lisa Yuskavage, Nigel Cooke, Manet, Liz Craft, Luc Tuymans, and Philip Guston to name a few.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)Driving in Florida with my family when I was younger. We where looking for the guy on the corner selling fake Louis Vuitton Purses. My mom wanted one.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Luxury, Love, Sex, and Lose.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)On the first day of High School in Texas someone had written on the lockers "We're not snobs, we're just better"

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Teaching. Working in a cafe.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Love and Hate.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)People thinking they are better.

q) What research do you do ?

a)Internet and Fashion magazines.
Lately just looking at my own life.

q) What is your dream project?

a)To keep making work till I die.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Don't do anything for money.

q) What couldn?t you do without?

a)Jeans and nice shoes.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Selfishness.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Can never make up my mind.

q)…Dogs or Cats ?...

a)Fish

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. …Know what I mean ?...

a)Yes

q) What does ? copy? mean to you ?

a)For me it means take it and then take it to the next level!

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)Mother Fucker!

Interview with CARLOS PAREJA

2012-01-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)CARLOS PAREJA, BARCELONA

q) Why do you make art?

a)BECAUSE I'M HYPERACTIVE OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. I’M PRONE TO THINK CONTINUOUSLY SO I FEEL THAT I NEED TO DO THINGS TO AVOID NON-SENSE THINKING, ART RELAX ME.

THE OTHER REASON IS THAT MAKING ART PERMITS ME TO KNOW ME, AND MY INTERIOR LIVE, WHEN I TALK TO MYSELF, AND MAKING ART, I’M ALWAYS MAKING THIS.

q) How do you work ?

a)EVERY TIME I HAVE A NEW IDEA I WRITE IT IN MY NOTEBOOK. I DRAW FEW LINES; LATER, IF I’M UNTIL IN LOVE WITH THIS IDEA, I MAKE IT REAL. I USE TO WORK WITH DIFFERENT MATERIALS. SOME OF THEM WERE NOT CREATED FOR ARTIST, I MEAN, RECYCLED MATERIALS. I USE DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES, DEPENDING ON THE MOMENT AND WHAT I WANT TO GET.

q) What´s your background?

a)I STUDIED GRAPHIC DESIGN IN ELISAVA (BARCELONA) , ONE YEAR OF FINE ARTS AT THE UNIVERSITY, ( I LEFT IT A YEAR LATER) I HAVE ALSO A MASTER ON AVERTISMENT PHOTOGRAPHY & PRODUCTS.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)I THINK THAT IT DEPENDS ON THE PARTICULAR ARTIST, I DO ART JUST FOR ME, I HAVE MY OWN IDEAS AND I DON’T MATTER WHAT PEOPLE NEITHER WILL OR WILL NOT UNDERSTAND. I MAKE ART BECAUSE I NEED TO KNOW ME BETTER, TALKING WITH MY INTERIOR VOICES, SOMETIMES I DON’T LIKE TO WORK IN ART, BUT I NEED IT.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)I THINK THAT TO KNOW SOME PEOPLE THAT I MEET IN MY LIFE, THEY ARE EXPERIENCES FOR ME, AND INSPIRE ME TO MAKE ART. SOMETIMES I FORCE MY LIVE, AND MY PEOPLE TO HAVE THIS EXPERIENCES. TALKING WITH PEOPLE THAT I DON’T KNOW, OR LOOKING SOMEONE WITH AN OPTIMIST FACE...

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)YES, I DON'T LIKE MAKE ALWAYS THE SAME, I NEED STIMULS, AND MAKE DIFFERENT THINGS, TO LEARN, AND TO SORPRISE MY SELF.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)I THINK MY ART IS NOT DEFINED YET, BUT I WANT TO DRIVE MY ART TO LOWBROW, I LOVE IT

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)I THINK THAT I HAVE A BAD MEMORY, AND I DON’T REMEMBER VERY MUCH OF MY CHILDHOOD OR MY LIFE NOW BUT NOW, I’M REMEMBERING THE SCENE OF MY OLDEST BROTHER AND MY, WITH 5 OR 6 YEARS HAVING DINNER ON A WHITE TABLE ON MY FAMILY HOUSE... LOVE MY BROTHER.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)REALITY, OBJECTIVITY, SINCERITY, LOVE, MURDER

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)TO MEET A SINGULAR PERSON, MY PAINTING TEACHER OF FINE ARTS, LISTENING HIM IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE I’VE NEVER HAD

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)WHEN I CHANGE TO ANOTHER SCHOOL. I WAS 16 YEARS , I HAD MISANTHROPY AND I DID'NT WANT TO TALK WITH ANYBODY. I DIDN'T KNOW WHY I WAS AT SCHOOL, I HAD LOTS OF EMBARRASSING MOMENTS BECAUSE I HATE TO BE THERE, AND MY FACE TALKED FOR ME IN CLASS... I ONLY WANT TO LIVE, TO FEEL EXPERIENCES , BUT NOT LEARN THE LIVE HOW THE LIVE OF OTHER PEOPLE WAS... OR LEARN HOW CAN I CALCULATE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN 2 POINTS... IT’S NOT FOR ME...

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)GYM RECEPCIONIST, ARRANGING PRODUCTS IN A SUPERMARKET, ARRANGING PRODUCTS IN A FACTORY, MAKING CROISSANTS, DOOR-KNOCKER, RECORDING DVD's IN AN AUDIOVISUAL STUDY , GRAPHIC DESIGNER , RETOUCHER OF PICS IN A DIARY...

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)MOST OF THE PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND NOTHING, NEVER. BECAUSE I DON’T EXPLAIN SO MUCH MY PIECES... BUT SOMETIMES SOMEBODY CONGRATULATES MY WORK, LOTS OF TIMES PEOPLE THAT I DON’T KNOW WHO THEY ARE. THAT’S BEAUTIFUL.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)NOTHING, I'M A RESPECTIVE AND OPTIMIST PERSON, I THINK, THAT ARTIST MAKES ART FOR SOME REASON, SOMEONE BECAUSE IT MAKES HIM OR HER HAPPY, SOME OTHERS FOR MONEY, SOMEONE FOR APPEAREANCE SOMEONE FOR SPEND HIS TIME...
I THINK ALL IS POSSIBLE IF YOU DON'T MAKE HURT TO ANYBODY...

q) What research do you do ?

a)I’M TRYING TO REMIX PHOTOS WITH PAINTINGS, I’M LOOKING FOR ATRACTIVE TECHNIC, I’M INVESTIGATING ON THIS

q) What is your dream project?

a)I WANT TO HAVE A GALLERY OF ART, WITH PIECES OF ME AND OTHER ARTISTS, I LOVE AND VALORE SO MUCH THE JOB OF THE OTHERS. RESPECT

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)I DON’T DO ALWAYS THE SAME BEAUTIFUL THINK YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE... DO ALWAYS DIFFERENT THINKS, THINKS THAT YOU DON’T KNOW NOTHING.. FOR LEARN , FOR INNOVATE “

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)MAYBE NOW I’VE BEEN DOING THE SAME TYPE OF PHOTOS, OR THE SAME TEXTURE OR PAINTINGS... NOW I LOVE MAKE ALWAYS DIFERENT THINKS... WITH DIFERENT MATERIALS, IN DIFERENT SITUATIONS, WITH DIFERENT PEOPLE... ALGAYS NEW

q) What makes you angry?

a)PEOPLE WHO LOST HIS TIME AND DOESN'T VALORE HIS LIFE, AND ALSO AGRESIVE PEOPLE...

q) What is your worst quality?

a)I HAVE NO MEMORY IN GENERAL, BUT WITH NAMES OF PEOPLE I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM... THEY DON’T KNOW IT BUT THE FIRST MONTH THAT I WAS WORKING IN MY ACTUAL JOB ( PRODUCT AND FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER ) I HAVE A PAPER IN THE DESK WITH THE NAME OF MY WORKING FRIENDS, THEY WERE 10 PEOPLE MORE OR LESS...

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)BOTH. I DON’T LIKE TO DISCRIMINATE SOMETHING! BLACK OR WHITE? IT’S THE SAME. LOVE

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)YES, I DON’T TASTE LSD BUT I CAN IMAGINE IT... FOR ME ART IS RELAX AND FEEL MY INTERIOR LIFE... MARIHUANA MAYBE ? :) I DON’T KNOW, BUT YES, IT’S LIKE A DRUG

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)COPY IN GENERAL IS LEARN, KIDS COPY BOYS, BOYS COPY ADULTS, AND ADULTS COPY BOYS ... COPYING ART IS LOSING YOUR TIME

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ? un “cuss word”

a)HIJO DE PERRA

Interview with Sebastián Vallejo

2011-12-14T04:05:00.001-08:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Sebastián Vallejo and I’m a NY based artist.

q) Why do you make art?

a)I make art because is the thing I do best and because it’s my passion and I believe in it.

q) How do you work ?

a)I work in my studio during the day. The most productive time is during the morning hours. Most of the time I paint with music: Bob Dylan, Manu Chao, reggae, salsa music, fado, etc

q) What´s your background?

a)I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My father is an artist (painter) and my mother is a retired professor of the University of Puerto Rico. In 2004 I received a BFA from the University of Puerto Rico and in 2009 an MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)The artists should be catalyst and filter during the formation stages of a society.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)A seminal experience for me was a summer class trip to NY with The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The professors were Terry Myers and Candida Alvarez. It was a revealing experience for me to see how the art world really works, and that if you want to be part of it you’ve got to approach it with maturity and non-romantic ideals.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)My practice is always changing. Every time I start a new body of work, the artistic process is different from the previous one, but without leaving behind what I learned from the last one, as if in an evolutionary process.

q) What art do you most identify with?

a)I identify myself a lot with the art of the second half of the 18^th century in Europe, specially the work of William Blake and Turner.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood?

a)My strongest memories as a child are the family reunions made during holidays at the countryside of the island, with the atmosphere filled with popular music, traditional food and alcohol.

q) What themes do you pursue?

a)Some themes that I pursue in my work are for example: The irrationality of the sublime. The expansive and improvisational forces found in nature; and Theological contradictions, among others.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)A real life experience that inspired me was a trip I did when I was still in High School through the Caribbean islands in a sailboat. We sailed from Puerto Rico to Virgin Gorda and back. Since then, I got in love to the Caribbean, specially to its light and colors, where most of my inspiration comes from.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

a)I’ve worked as a waiter in a coffee shop and as a delivery guy for a restaurant.

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a)I’ve had good and bad responses to my work. Some people hate my work with all their heart, other people think I might have a future…

q) What do you dislike about the art world?

a)What I dislike about the art world is how artificial it can be sometimes.

q) What research do you do?

a)I read a lot of biographies of artist. I try to understand their work based on the places and period of time they lived in. I make researches also on literature, philosophy, culture, religion, and language, among other topics.

q) What is your dream project?

a)My dream project is to never quit doing art and be able to support my family with it.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)When I was in my last year in Grad school one professor told me: “ You should give up painting and quit school. If you are going to keep studying art its your choice but if I were you I would think twice what professors should take as an adviser for next semester so I don’t waste their time”. This advice made me put my best through the last phase of Grad school. It is a memory that hunt my mind and make me feel great about my profession. When people don’t understand your profession or your ideas that’s when you know you are in the right path.

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)I could not be me without the Caribbean in my veins.

q) What makes you angry?

a)When people say, “Be realistic”.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)My worst quality is that I make to many assumptions… I take a lot for granted.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)I have a Dalmatian dog and a DSH cat

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)At the end, making art it’s a state of introspection and liberation.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Not invented

q) What´s your favorite cuss word?

a)“Sea la Madre”

Interview with Jesse Treece

2011-11-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?

a)My name is Jesse Treece. I was raised, and still live, in Seattle, Wa. USA

q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?

a)I make collages or photomontages and I like to draw as well. I like to work with vintage materials, books and magazines from the 60's, 70's preferably. My other tools are scissors, exacto knife, glue stick, ruler and whatever solid surface I can find.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)Hmm, I'm not sure. I like to think that most of my work is simple but striking. There are elements of absurdity, whimsy, surrealism, odd perspectives and some darker undertones that maybe people are drawn to. I also use landscapes a lot, everyone loves landscapes.

q)How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”

a)It's been a little over 2 years now I think since I started putting my stuff up on the web.

I don't think that I've had a "big break". Maybe an accumulation of "little breaks". The work that i'm most proud of is designing the cover art for Arrange's album Plantation (http://arrange.bandcamp.com/album/plantation), being published in some cool small press zines and getting to collaborate with some really amazing artists like Jeffrey Meyer( http://www.goofbutton.com/), Agogwe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/phokingdragon/) Delilah Jones (http://mymindisanisland.tumblr.com/), etc. And just the feedback I get from people that are really into my work, that's pretty cool!

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)Music, mindblowing art, film, books, comic books, people, lot's of things really.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)I'm getting ready to start another collaboartaion with Delilah Jones and we have an ongoing project called Ice Cream Kingdoms (http://icecreamkingdoms.tumblr.com/) which is a book that is being passed around to different artists to add collage elements to. Other than that I'm always collecting materials and working on new stuff, I seem to always have a few sitting around waiting to be finished.

q)Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you give some examples?

a)Yes, constantly. I'm currently really into the J. Mascis solo album, Gorgeous George by Edwyn Collins, Freedom Run by The Rifles, Romantic Comedy by Big Troubles, new singles from Dive, Terry Malts, Minks. I'm pretty much obsessed with anything on Captured Tracks and Slumberland Records right now.

q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

a)I do dabble in drawing and playing music also but nothing serious at the moment. I would love to have the time to collaborate with someone on some kind of musical project, I have tapes and tapes of ideas that I've recorded when the inspiration strikes me.

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)Juat get it out there somehow! The internet is a great way to get your work seen. Put it up on a social network of your choosing, shop it around to galleries, coffee shops, artwalks. If it's good you'll find an audience.

q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

a)I'm going to be part of a group show later this month at the Loading Bay Gallery in London. It's a launch show for Artistic.ly, a new website that will sell limited edition art prints. Other than that, nothing solid but I do hope to be involved in more shows next year.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I have lot's of websites! People can see more of my work at www.collageartbyjesse.tumblr.com, http://www.flickr.com/photos/collageartbyjesse/, https://www.facebook.com/collageartbyjesse and prints can be purchased at http://society6.com/collageartbyjesse/prints and http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/jessetreece/.

Interview with John Schuh

2011-10-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)John Schuh, from Seattle, USA.

q) Why do you make art?

a)It just comes naturally to me.

q) How do you work ?

a)Most of my collage material comes from my own photography. I also use vintage magazines, comic books and sports cards.

q) What´s your background?

a)Born in 1968. Moved to Seattle in 1995. Making collages since 1996.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)To surprise people.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Meeting my wife.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)The piece I'm currently working on is mounted on an antique door. That's a first for me.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)1970s funk.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)My father.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Cars, flowers, sports, architecture, water, flags.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)Reading Jorge Luis Borges.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)I'm sure I've forgotten it.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Lawyer, radio journalist, music teacher, waiter, pizza delivery.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)"How long do these take?" "Do you sell them?"

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)Nothing. I love the art world.

q) What research do you do ?

a)I go to car shows and antique stores.

q) What is your dream project?

a)To make art and music in my studio, work in the garden, take care of my family. Each completed artwork is a piece of the dream.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)"You can handle it."

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)My family.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Disrespect.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Indecision.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Cats.

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)I think it's more like eating oatmeal.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Degenerate.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)Boogers!

Interview with Teiji Hayama

2011-10-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)Hi, my name is Teiji Hayama, I live and work in Switzerland.

q) Why do you make art?

a)Passion!

To make people feel different ways and think about different kind of issues …

q) How do you work?

a)Hard I guess!

Technically speaking, mainly with oil, I have also worked on a fibreglass doll.

q) What´s your background?

a)I grew up in Kumamoto, Japan, where I studied in a Protestant Christian school. At the age of 18 I left Japan to go to London where I studied in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)To create a catharsis of emotions.

I think art is a different method or tool of communication, it is a language.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)I grew up in a big family of artists, I had the chance to be surrounded by musicians, painters writers and architect, furthermore I studied in a Protestant Christian school with a Shinto environment , to evolve in this kind of melting-pot definitely had some impact.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes, it has.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Medieval, symbolism and renaissance art.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)To go to the very first funeral of my grandfather, it was very dramatic as a kid. Japanese funeral are very different from any other funeral in the world. It was the whole part of the cremation which was disturbing. The coffin is placed on a tray in the crematorium. The family witnesses the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber. Then,after an hour, the relatives return and pick the bones out of the ashes and transfer them to the urn using large chopsticks, two relatives sometimes holding the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks.

q) What themes do you pursue?

a)Religion, adolescence, innocence, sexuality, nudity, fragility, mythology.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)The human condition.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Not worth explaining.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Fashion designer, illustrator for fashion and multicultural magazines, making Children’s picture books, fashion model, so far only artistic jobs…

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a)I have noticed that for some people my work can be really disturbing, religion, sexuality, adolescence, teen pregnancy, are right in the middle of polemical topics. When you want people to discover what you do, your work has to go public, in that way you have to accept and be aware of any good and bad criticism, it is always interesting to read and hear people’s opinion.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)Elitism

q) What research do you do ?

a)A lot really, curiously some research start before sleeping, I try to shape the expression, face and body of the figure I will draw the next day.

q) What is your dream project?

a)To reach a certain level where I could afford having only one big solo show a year in order to have enough time to create!

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Never give up!

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)My job, my eyes, my hands.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Unfairness

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Perfectionism

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Dogs.

A cat inside an atelier full of canvas can get pretty nasty...

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)I don’t know I have never been on lsd!

Personnally, painting requires a lot of concentration and not some kind of visual hallucinations.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)An imitation or reproduction of an original, a duplicate.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)None really

Interview with Emmanuelle Esther

2011-10-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)Hello ! My name is Emmanuelle Esther and i work in Berlin.

q) Why do you make art?

a)For me is not necessary art. Is art if people think is art. For me is just what i have under me.

q) How do you work ?

a)I work in my flat in Berlin in a big table with a lot of documentary in my computer or shit TV like real tv. Sometine on my bed with movie.

q) What´s your background?

a)Normal school, normal different work, shit design school, nice sewing school. Lot lot of craft at home.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)The artist are just people doing what they want. A lot of people have some idea to do think but is not do it. For me i'm not an artist. I'm just someone doing what i have in me.

So maybe artist make people dream. Poeple who don't dare make thinks...

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)I don't anderstand this word "seminal"

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Of course ! Is evolve all the time and is gone be different in a few years !

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Textil art.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)Sun. I come from Nice.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)I don't know

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)When i was young, when i looked my dad on work.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)When i work not for me

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Saleswoman on a lot of shops, work on a preschool

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Good because is knitting is hold think and people like hold think it is rassuring...

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)A lot of people think in artworld they are above other poeple because is say "i'm an artist" is not mixing with other people. I really think is shit !

q) What research do you do ?

a)nothing of special...

q) What is your dream project?

a)Work for me for the rest of my life. Don't have boss. live in country with my man, my chidren and a lot of animals !

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Stay real...

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Without love of course !

q) What makes you angry?

a)Opportunism

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Choleric

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Cats

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)Maybe

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Is like commit a steal

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)Putain mais merde fait chier quoi !!

Interview with Chrissy Angliker

2011-09-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Chrissy Angliker. I grew up in Switzerland and I live and work in Brooklyn, New York.

q) Why do you make art?

a)Making art helps me process the world around me. My surroundings are my inspiration. They are constantly changing, therefore my relationship to them always changes and I have endless inspiration that I'm working with. I use making art as a tool to make sense of it all. Art, currently in the form of painting, helps me arrive at understanding and then share with others my present philosophy. It's a constant path of exploration and questioning, new discovery and evolution.

Making art also gives me a sense of power in engaging my environment, versus succumbing to circumstance and passively living life.

q) How do you work ?

a)I have a time-lapse video on my website that documents my creation of a wall mural commissioned by AOL for their San Francisco Offices. Check it: www.chrissy.ch

q) What´s your background?

a)I grew up in Switzerland. When I was sixteen I moved to a suburb of Boston to study fine art in an art high school. After that I moved to Brooklyn to study Industrial design at the Pratt Institute. I stuck around Brooklyn doing my own design and then transitioned back into painting. I do both now, but my heart is in painting.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)I once asked this of my mentor Juri Borodachev (RIP) when I first started working with him at age 13. I was beginning to realize how creating art consumed me, and wondered what the point of being an artist was.

This is what he said:

"In society there are people that do things that everybody understands and expects. There is the farmer that will provide with food and there is the bus driver, the garbage man, the police man etc. They have a place in society. But then there is the artist. At first glance he has no place because he seems removed. And in fact, he is. His place is at God's foot. The artist's role is to listen to the whispers of God. He takes those messages and makes it his mission to tell the people in society about them. The artist bridges the gap between society and God for a greater awareness and good."

…Now I know this sounds whack, especially if you are questioning any concrete existence of a God. But to me this is an analogy of a person that is seeking his or her position in society at the fringe of what is acceptable. If you explore the fringe there are stories to tell on the return. To me that is what an artist will contribute to society, a greater awareness and good. The artist is a translator.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Moving from Switzerland to the States.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes, it is always evolving. Each piece I create is a new experience that will effect the next. Currently I work in collaboration with gravity, which creates the dripping aesthetic. I've been exploring my philosophy though developing this technique for almost three years now. My practice changes according to what I'm thinking and what I want to say with my work. Aesthetics are very important to me but first and foremost is the philosophy I'm developing through the work. When I was doing design I had form follow my design intention. In art I have aesthetics follow philosophy. Whenever my philosophy evolves it is reflected though the development of my technique. The paintings haven't stopped dripping because I'm in the middle if fleshing out my philosophy on that subject. I'm positive that they will stop dripping at one point. When they do I will know when and why.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Music. I'm not extremely on top of what is rad in new music these days but what I like I like hard. Music will help me with my own art. It helps me to get in the zone of creating.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)I remember a lot of my childhood. I was always outside. Switzerland was a great place to grow up in.

I climbed trees a lot. I had a little posse that I would climb with. We pretended that we were black panthers ( the animal ). I once got bit by a mole which is quite memorable.

My family would go to Maine every summer to visit our our good friends Jim and Betty. My sister and I would spend hours playing in the tide pools catching crabs and other critters. Both of us won't eat crabs because we have such fond memories of playing with them. I could go on…I had a great childhood.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Below is my artist statement that explains my current philosophy and how it pertains to the development of my painting technique.

Artist Statement

The focus of this painting style lies in creating a balanced relationship between the controllable and uncontrollable. For every intentional mark, there follows a free-falling drip, challenging it. The artist is searching for a sense of grace in the transition between these two opposing elements.

The theme of this series arose from her feeling of life itself being a balance between control and chaos. As people, we have intentions, but must anticipate the intervention of outside forces beyond our power. In each subject, extreme opposites are juxtaposed: ugly versus beautiful, sorrow versus elation, order versus disorder. The drips represent the things that exist about a subject that the artist doesn't know enough about to depict. It's the things one senses are there, but doesn't want to make any assumptions about. The drips physically fill those unknown gaps.

Every living creature is made up of a unique mixture of opposites; therefore to honestly portray a subject, one must include the dark, the shadowed, in order to highlight the depth and beauty. The finished painting captures the relationship created by the artist collaborating with gravity. Together with nature she aims to create a whole, and frank representation of the subject.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)The death of my two mentors Juri Borodachev and André-Pierre Müller, both within a year of each other. The passing of these personally influential people made me want to deepen the commitment of being an artist and explore what they taught me in terms of their life philosophy as artists.

But overall, my surroundings and relationships are my main source of inspiration.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Oh man. So in the 90's I was 11 and I was really into Nirvana just like any other super cool kid at that time. I really loved the song "Rape Me". And yes I understood english and I understood the lyrics… So I made a cassette tape with that song many times repeated on it and some other Nirvana songs.

Our family friends Jim and Betty were visiting my family in Switzerland from the States. They were in their late sixties at that time, and they were pretty damn hip and still are. So I was just about to run out of the house to go hang out with my neighbor Chriggi, when Betty stopped me and asked me if she could listen to what I was listening to on my walkman. You should have seen her face! That's that.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Hooker…just kidding. I did a lot of industrial design in the fields of furniture, product design, way-finding design, P.O.P design, some graphic design and branding. I also did art for corporations like America Online, Burton Snowboards, and other collaborations with companies of different mediums. I've done awesome odd jobs, my favorite current one being scanning bills of famous people. I know the gossip but can't tell…RAD.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)I get e-mails from people that will take the time to describe how they feel about the paintings and what it makes them think. Many people identify with my exploration of the relationship between control and chaos. Those e-mails are very meaningful and encouraging to me.

q) What do you dislike about the art world ?

a)I'm still too busy getting over the design world… I'm not ready to hate on the art world.

q) What research do you do ?

a) Living it, and then thinking about it.

q) What is your dream project?

a)Painting for an upcoming show…Painting and showing in different galleries around the world so that people can see the work in person.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Living in New York makes it sometimes hard to not get sucked into the hype and the superficial things that come and go so fast. This piece of advice is about the relationship between humans and material things. (Those damn Buddhists…)

So all these monks are hanging with their teacher and the teacher always preaches to them how it is pointless to seek inner peace through worldly goods and that one should not have and addiction or dependency to any object. But the teacher had this mug that he always drank from. None of the monks would ever touch his mug because it was clearly his. One day one of the monks had enough of all the preaching and called the teacher out on his mug. His said: yo, you totally have a relationship with that mug! You depend on it every day. The teacher responds: The reason why I can use this mug every day and you can't is because I already know it is broken."

WHAAAT!..Heavy. I try to remind myself of this when I feel myself getting too attached.

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Love and Art. Redbull and Guns N' Roses.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Dishonesty is lame. It's a waste of anybody's time.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)I don't like mexican food.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)It’s Cats all the way. I have the coolest cats, Axl and Artaud.

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)LSD on crack.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Easy Money.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word

a)Fuck

Interview with Diego Barrera

2011-07-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)Diego Barrera

Madrid / Santiago de Chile / Bogota, Colombia

q) Why do you make art?

a)Es una complicada pregunta, he llegado a un punto en el que considerar las expresiones
artísticas como el punto más elevado para poder expresar los sentimientos y pensamientos,
representaciones de estados de conciencia alto, uso el arte para liberar todas las frustraciones
que me pueda crear la sociedad de este momento y sutilmente devolver mi manera de ver las
cosas.

q) How do you work ?

a)Mi forma de preparar los trabajos siempre toman un tiempo, me gusta escribir los guiones y
es un proceso lento, de introspección, influenciándome por el momento que vivo, por lo que
leo, por lo que veo, por el amor y la muerte.

Posteriormente me encanta diseñar los escenarios, que formen parte del lenguaje y la historia
que quiero transmitir.

q) What´s your background?

a)He estudiado dirección de cine en Madrid, comencé a trabajar en Chile en algunas
productoras, pero fue en España donde empecé realmente a realizar cortometrajes desde los
18 años, siempre escribiendo mis propios guiones y realizando la dirección de arte, que son las
dos cosas que más disfruto de todo el proceso.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)Creo que el arte tiene un gran potencial para revelar las grandes problemáticas de la sociedad
de una manera sutil, sin llegar a ser panfletaria, influyendo de una manera muy variada en
las maneras de pensar de la gente, así entiendo lo que yo hago, realizo criticas que puede
que algunas personas no lleguen a entender en su plenitud, pero sí que parte del mensaje a
quedado grabado en sus retinas, o es más, variar el mensaje dando nuevas respuestas.

q) What was a seminal experience for you?

a)Para mí ha sido muy importante el haber tenido la experiencia de vivir en distintos países
cuando era un niño, de esta manera pude conocer distintas realidades, también tener una
hermana melliza con la que compartimos gustos y es un constante aprendizaje.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)El cine, video arte, la escultura, las instalaciones, la performance, en cuanto a movimientos de
arte con el Art Nouveau, el simbolismo, pre-rafaelismo, impresionismo.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)El formar parte de una familia tan religiosa ha dejado una marca fuerte en mi forma de ver las
cosas, positivas y otras negativas que han moldeado mi personalidad.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Me gusta hablar del amor, de las distintas formas de amor, del camino del amor al odio, de
cómo entiendo la muerte, la naturaleza, el animal, el hombre y la mujer, la androginia.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)El tener una hermana melliza, compartir una sensación de equilibrio en esta unión hombre/
mujer que se crea cuando estamos juntos y creamos.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

a)Desde los 17 que he estado involucrado en el cine, así que solo he dedicado mi experiencia
laboral a ello.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Tengo dos principales trabajos, mi cortometraje “Síntesis de Amor Orgánico”, seleccionado
en festivales de Madrid, Gijón {España}, Calanda {España}, Salento {Italia}, y mi Videoclip para
el grupo alemán Mater Suspiria Vision “Seduction of the Armageddon Witches”, publicado
en revistas de España, USA, Alemania, Inglaterra, Japón, Finlandia, Polonia, Noruega, México,
Chile, Argentina.

q) What research do you do ?

a)Considero como investigación el día a día, que es principalmente ver películas de directores
específicos, en este momento mezclando directores clásicos orientales, con artistas de video
arte contemporáneo, también la lectura diaria, principalmente literatura vinculada con el
romanticismo y el simbolismo.

Me interesa mucho la dirección de arte, por lo que últimamente averiguo bastante acerca de
temas relacionados con la escultura y las instalaciones.

q) What is your dream project?

a)En este momento, poder trabajar en la creación de videoclips para grupos importantes del
mundo musical actual, como Fever Ray, Coco Rosie, Antony, Planningtorock, etc...

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Tratar cada proyecto de la manera más cuidadosa posible, mas profesional posible, entender
tu lenguaje y enfocarte hacia un solo punto, entender el mensaje que quiero transmitir y el
cómo lo quiero transmitir.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Soy bastante impaciente.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Gatos, definitivamente

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)No lo he probado nunca, pero sí que he recibido comentarios de personas que me dan las
gracias por mis obras y la experiencia que han tenido al verlas bajos efectos de alguna droga
alucinógena.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Depende en que términos, algunos artistas se refieren al arte como algo que ya ha sido
explorado en su totalidad, por lo que la palabra “copia” es muy fácil de malinterpretar, la
división entre inspiración y copia es bastante ambigua, desde warhol que este término paso a
ser visto de otra manera.

Interview with Philippe Batini

2011-07-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Philippe Batini and I live in Angoulême, France.

q) Why do you make art?

a)it is verydifficult, it just happened, child,I began to want to copy artists, then I wanted to make my images and i continued for the rest of my life until today.

q) How do you work ?

a)I work my little plastic figurines from the years 60, they are scanned and I work with these pictures using Photoshop, just to add one more reality lighting

q) What´s your background?

a)self-taught, then seller in bookstores until today illustrator.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)show images, show, dream, help them live

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)When I have to discover computer for my job, it opened to me many possibilities, particularly the scanner.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)At the beginning It was the paining , now the photography with a scanner.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Photography.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)The games with my little plastic soldiers. The studios Harcourt's photos in the cinemas hall in the 1years 60.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)memories of childhood again see through the eyes of that age

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)the day long after I opened a box of my old toys and a universe where everything is put together in my mind

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)I am a very embarrassed, it is difficult to find a moment, to stay in the art, visits to galleries where owners look at your work as if they saw a dead cat may be examples.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)self-taught, then seller in bookstores until today illustrator.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)it begins to attract people after a very long time to ignore.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)too much glitter, too fashionable, too commercial,not enough curiosity, diversity.

q) What research do you do ?

a)I research my childhood, find the way we think, to imagine , that we have at these ages.

q) What is your dream project?

a)course to expose , with a perfect material in a prestigious place, it's not very original, but deep down I think many artists dream of the same.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)go further

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Unfortunately far too many useless things, but which form a protective cocoon around me against the outside.

q) What makes you angry?

a)in art, the injustice of the success of some artists who we can see the lightness of work, compared to others which we see the depth of work.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)be careful always to add, do not know stop me, I often passed the point where the picture is at its peak, and I work unnecessary detail.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)cats, to silence and loving presence, they are just there!

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)It's very nice when creating works for a while and is enjoyed around the world, everything is concentrated there.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)copy means for me a of opportunity to see my work , that's life for a successful image to grow, to be pirated, it is ultimately a tribute (to me)

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)In french i think is oh,putain!!! :(

Interview with Niko Citriniti

2011-07-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

q) Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Niko Citriniti. I live and I work in Catanzaro \ Calabria \ Italy

q) Why make art?

a)Making art for me is to communicate and to express my sensations, my intuition, my interpretations, my views on everything that surrounds me, my view of the world, the people, the lifestyle changes, contrasts, the pros and cons of life and consumer society in general and everything that attracts me. We transfer or at least that is my intention in my creations, the result of all these operations. Finally, I make art serve to communicate distress, protest, rebellion against the system and that serves to break down mindsets that keep us used to our society, a sort of counter, which is necessary to understand where we are or where we're coming!

q) How do you work?

a)I find things on the road, cellars,from old warehouses objects of any kind. Then they remain in gestation in my lab until the mood strikes, and I begin to assemble them together. Using paints, all kinds of aluminum, plastic, sand, glue vinyl, hardware of any kind and I try to trap objects decomposing, nearly did not recognize them as their initial form.

q) What is your background?

a)The music on the whole, the B-movies, vintage, seventies and the design of that period, the environment, comics, contemporary art, recycling art and art in all its forms and expressions.

q) What role does the artist in society?

a)Much to the margins, except insofar as you are not helped by someone or something you bring out. This is very sad to think that artists should be protected only by institutions that are artists.

q) What has been a fundamental experience for you?

a)The beginning of my work as an educator with disabled people, has opened my mind and gave me the privilege of observing the world around me with a deeper look, caring and passionate. He also taught me the value of respect. Unfortunately, over time my work has undergone a major change but the "look" and "respect" still resisting me.

q) Your practice changed over time?

a)I’ve used undoubtedly different materials over time, and I learned to use new techniques. Especially for the creations that I realize I have to always find new ways to relate objects to work with and to adapt them to the work of the moment. Sometimes I start to create and build a firm and started making other simultaneously and often I destroy the first assembled to a other in a sort of fusion creative work, as long I’ve realized the image I had in mind, or other image I get a potentially higher. It depends on the inspiration and the music I listen to at that time and emotional state.

q) Whether the art is identified with the most?

a)I identify a bit with the pop art of Warhol, with Duchamp's Dadaism, the art of abandonment of the master and then Saverio Rotundo, Gaudi, Rotella, Palladino and all the contemporary overseas artists .

q) What is your strongest memory from your childhood?

a)I often went to a carpenter from a small near my house where he made me observe his work from outside the door of his laboratory. He was a gruff man and he did not want that I entered , but seeing my curious stubbornness he decided to explain me what served the machineries he used for the construction of his furniture and after a while he began to give me scraps of work with which I have built a self-propelled wooden Pinocchio ,I think this was my first creation in absolute.

q) What issues do you forward?

a)First of all, the consumer society that produces no love and no respect and awareness of its products. Once the objects, products such as consumer goods. a television, table and so on were built to last forever and they also had some form of soul, uniqueness but now all that is produced today is obsolete after a week and once broken will be ruined.Therefore I reject the rejection and redesign what others leave to give him a different destiny. Then the vintage, the seventies, the challenge of sixty-eight, music, BMOVIES Italians, Tarantino pulps, comics.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)My first exhibition that inspired me for everything I've done after. contact with people who came to see my work and that took me back what I sent them the same. It was really important to me.

q) What is your most embarrassing moment?

a)The day of my separation from my wife.

q) What jobs have you done besides being an artist?

a)Throughout construction by the worker for a short period, the representative from door to door, the 'attack, gardener, volunteer in the juvenile prison, fitter spectacular nightlife, and now an educator for 16 years with people with disabilities.

q) What responses have you had in your work?

a)the work I do to keep me no longer gratifies me, both materially and spiritually. I hope that the future reserves to other possibilities.

q) What do you like the art world?

a)I am fascinated from the infinite variety of combinations, contamination, experimentation, languages and endless space where to dive and to be more and more hungry of it!!!!!

q) What kind of research do you do?

a)I do a search continues at all times of day and night. When I walk, or are in the car I look all around me I like the shapes of objects and immediately as I see them a second later, I see them as they are built and in my mind I guess I'm looking dell'oggettto components. oggettti accumulation and materials of all kinds. Experiment techniques, paints, equipment and any material.

q) What is your dream project?

a)Being able to make my creations in art and convey something to people who neither enjoy and maybe only do this in my life by living moderately.

q) What is the best advice you were given?

a)To continue to manufacture my own creations, never stop, and remain what they are.

q) What could you do without?

a)To make my creations. They are part of me.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Who does not rebel, the indifference, ignorance, abuse of power, social behavior, indecision.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Patience and tell me my being obstinate, contrary and stubborn.

q) dogs or cats?

a)Dogs & Cats.

q) Making art is a bit 'like being on LSD. You know what I mean?

a)Yes I think it is just so. Look what Gaudi has done ,I don’t think he took drugs but I think making art is like a hallucination that takes shape and becomes real.

q) What does "copy" mean to you?

a)"Copy" is a term that I do not like ,it’s as the theft of something,of an idea.

q) What is your favorite cuss word?

a)"CONTAMINATION", "MIXING", "ASSEMBLY" .

q)Your contacts....

a)http://www.nikocitriniti.eu/

Interview with Ariel Zachor (a.k.a. R.E.L)

2011-06-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Ariel Zachor (a.k.a. R.E.L) and I live and work in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

q) Why do you make art?

a)Being creative is the only thing I know and Art is the direct manifestation of that.

q) How do you work ?

a)I use different methods and Medias depends on the concept.

q) What´s your background?

a)I was born and raised in Israel, both my parents being Holocaust survivors. After my military service I left Israel, disillusioned and came to Amsterdam where I followed my Art education at the Rietveld Academy. I live and work in Amsterdam since then, for the last 22 years.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)To give the simplest solutions to the most complicated processes and problems.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Death of beloved.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes, it evolves and changes through time like space itself.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Any form of expression that can touch me and activate my imagination and emotions.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)Smells & colours.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Life as we know it and its decay.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)Various things, the death of my parents, 9/11 and women.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Yet to happen…

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)I cooked, but that is another passion of mine, being creative with food.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Like everyone else, some love it and some hate it. Any emotional response is welcome, regardless.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)Any effort to create rules, definitions or borders.

q) What research do you do ?

a)The life and work of Ariel Zachor!

q) What is your dream project?

a)To eradicate corruption and greed.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Never argue with your Mom, just say yes and later do whatever you choose to do. (by my Father when I was 9, it worked!).

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)My body and my soul.

q) What makes you angry?

a)In justice, greed and disrespect.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Impulsive.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Cats!

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)I know what you mean but for me it is more like therapy or meditation.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Forgetting to be original.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)FUCK