How do you interview an artist?

[carter]

dhermann1, Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Becky]

as an artist

As an artist myself, hmm, lets see, I can tell when you're asking sincere questions or just looking for filler information. Ask the artist what they think of world in terms of "do you feel that anyone gives a damn about what you paint"; alot of us feel abandoned, depending on our environments, upbringing, etc. Ask them if they would do art even if no one bought it or saw it, or whatever. I've had years of experience with these issues. If I don't do my art, I feel like something ebbs away, maybe even dies. Yes this sounds harsh. Until I made time and space for me to do art, I felt like I was neglecting myself. Ask the questions that no one else will ask. I don't think artists are afraid of offending anyone or losing ties/associations, not at the expense of truth.

 

[carter]

Originally posted by Becky
As an artist myself, hmm, lets see, I can tell when you're asking sincere questions or just looking for filler information. Ask the artist what they think of world in terms of "do you feel that anyone gives a damn about what you paint"; alot of us feel abandoned, depending on our environments, upbringing, etc. Ask them if they would do art even if no one bought it or saw it, or whatever. I've had years of experience with these issues. If I don't do my art, I feel like something ebbs away, maybe even dies. Yes this sounds harsh. Until I made time and space for me to do art, I felt like I was neglecting myself. Ask the questions that no one else will ask. I don't think artists are afraid of offending anyone or losing ties/associations, not at the expense of truth.

It's raining outside and thunder ripples thru the night.The dogs are lying at my feet 'cause thunder frightens them.

I haven't visited here in a few days.

Becky, thanks for your thoughts. No, not harsh, just honest.

Carter

 

[Dr Doran]

I am impressed with how philosophical this thread has gotten and broken free of its more practical purpose. This is always good. The last thing I have to say on the subject is that an acquaintance of mine with training in art theory and such, was hired by a local older artist, a painter I believe, to be her media connection and to compose little writeups about each piece. My acquaintance went to town and wrote in the most lofty postmodern terminology of magazines like ARTFORUM explanations of the woman's art that had nothing to do with the artist's intentions. The stuff sold like hotcakes with these new "explanations" which "contextualized the luminous space between viewer and viewed, the metonymy of self/other interaction in the miasmic post-industrial landscape, a culturally constructed fictive enterprise of memory and forgetting, of the subaltern's ceaseless search for the Other," or whatever gobbledygook she came up with.

 

[carter]

Originally posted by Doran
The stuff sold like hotcakes with these new "explanations" which "contextualized the luminous space between viewer and viewed, the metonymy of self/other interaction in the miasmic post-industrial landscape, a culturally constructed fictive enterprise of memory and forgetting, of the subaltern's ceaseless search for the Other," or whatever gobbledygook she came up with.

lol lol lol

I don't even know the definition of metonymy (I have a dictionary right here.) but I'll be using a cup instead of a mug henceforth.

"Rage, Rage against the dying of the light."

 

[Sonoma Jack]

If you're interviewing an artist whose works are for sale, refer to a specific piece and ask the artist 'what kind of person do you think should own this'. Once past the obligatory remark about 'a person with a check that will clear', the artist will likely, albeit unintentionally, describe the work from his own point of view.

Works everytime.