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mercoledì 15 aprile 2009

Interview with Laurent Impeduglia





q)Please introduce yourself.


a)My name is Laurent Impeduglia. I am a left-handed man who was born a Friday (the thirtheenth) at quarter for midnight…


q) Where do you live and work?


a)I live in Liège (Belgium). I teach in the royal academy of fine-arts from Liege as professor assistant.


q) How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?


a)My painting is popular narrative and expressive with some spirituality and derision…


q) How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?


a)I started interesting my-self to art when my brother died. I was 16 years old and he was 18. After that I spent 20 years with painting which gave another meaning to my life.


q) What are your favorite art materials and why?


a)I like to paint over all support with different kind of paint (acrylic, oil, water color,…).However I have a particular pleasure to work with oil and high quality of pigment’s coloration.


q) What/who influences you most?


a)Of course my past and my true-life constitue the substance of my work, but the form evolved year after year according to artistical discoveries.. The 80’s music, video games, tv show all this popular culture is really important too… I feel also concerned by some mystical approach like alchemy, symbolism and other spiritual quests.


q) Describe a typical day of art making for you.


a)It’s really nice when I can spend the whole day in my workshop with some flipper-breaks…héhé


q) Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?


a)Today my main aim is to be right in my painting, to be in perfect balance with myself.


q) What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?


a)At the beginning, I followed several artistic streams. I always analysed my painting, I never kept any certitude within. I was always looking for something else .Today I feel more relax and peaceful and the contemporary realities always depend on countries. So I ‘m not interested into « what’s in and what’s not », even if I try to be in my century. Above all, I’m very happy to notice that painting is not dead as people said 15 years ago.


q) How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?


a)As long as my picture is « in » my workshop, I can do some changes. It’s funny to see different peaces of life on the same picture. The white background symbolize those changes, revivals. I like to do some painting which seem to be « out of time » because time is a part of undefinable space , globalized instead of a defined moment. Time is ungettable and I don’t like to give a frozen moment in my pictures. I try to give a global image and give a particular sens to the color.


q) Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?


a)I don’t feel so linked to them , I prefer knowing them living by other persons than dying in my closed.


q) Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?


a)Rock’n’roll…


q) Books?


a)I read mystical books (kabbale, alchemy) even if sometimes I only look at the pictures…


q) What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?


a)I have no secret of fabrication, sometimes it ‘s magic and the pictures appear by itself and sometimes it’s not so evident but I play the game, I like this adventure .. I try to follow my feelings.. sometimes i have a concreet project and sometimes not. It’s great to induce some accidents ! In that case I really have fun because I have to find some pictural solution (event if i don’t know how the picture will look like at the end).


q) What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?


a)Spending time with my wife and my daughter…


q) Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?


a)Nothing special. No matter my quest continue in my workshop. I like showing my painting in other countries whose languages are unknown for me. In that way my pictures tell all by themselves.


q) Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?


a)I always try to keep interested in many different things…


q) Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.


a)Living in harmony with my family and friends, my painting and in the world I’m living in.


q) Any advice for aspiring artists?


a)To keep in search with what is the most suitable for them and not to be afraid to analyze themselves and to be patient …

giovedì 2 aprile 2009

Interview with Sean Samoheyl





q)Please introduce yourself.


a)Hello I'm Sean Samoheyl


q) Where do you live and work?


a)I live and work at Twin Oaks community which


is a worker owned farm collective where I make rope,


work in forestry, work in hay, garden and other


farm tasks. As well as make art and put on performances


with improvisation and puppet shows.


q) How would you describe your work to


someone who has never seen it?


a)My work consists of carved wooden figures


varying in sizes from 4 inches high to 11 inches high


and I also work larger in wood using chainsaws.


The pieces are often painted or treated with some


fiber element. The puppetry is made from chip board


and articulated with brads as hinges. I perform


using a small theater mounted on my chest like


an accordion. The work is usually funny and I


try to deal with serious issues too.


q) How did you start in the arts? How/when


did you realize you were an artist?


a)I wanted to go to art school. I was following


a lot of the skateboarders who made their own


graphics and graffiti artists from the 80's. I realized


I was an artist when I moved to Twin Oaks farm


and started selling things through a gallery.


q) What are your favorite art materials and why?


a)Wood. Wool. Metal. Pen and paper.Things


that have a long rich history. I like drawing these


days a lot with pencil and paper or colored pens


or colored pencils. I have worked in welding too


which I like but don't do as much these days.


Mostly, I'm parenting in my free time


now and doing puppetry.


q) What/who influences you most?


a)It's weird to say, but maybe Myspace. Magazines


like ANP Quarterly. Kids in art school. But also The


Nabis, David Park, The artists at Cinders Gallery.


Claes Oldenburg, Ray Johnson, Karel Appel, Misaki Kawai,


Jim Drain, Munch, Cecily Brown, Edgar Tolson,


George Condo, Mike Kelly, Skateboarding,


Tarkovsky films, Dana Schutz, Jules de Balincourt,


De Kooning, Joan Brown, Eva Hesse, Kiki Smith,


Joan Mitchell, Barry McGee, Chris Johanson,


Kathe Kollewitz, Keegan McKargue, John Currin,


Franz West. Punk music from the 90's and 80's.


Cartoons. Farm equipment. Inventions and inventors.


Miranda July. Peter Doig.


q) Describe a typical day of art making for you.


a)Fretting and pacing and then being super focused


and not stopping for hours until the work is finished.


q) Do you have goals, specific things you want to


achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?


a)I want to create a junk room of sculptures made


from all manner of appliances. I want to perform on


David Letterman on TV. I want to meet my favorite


artists and have conversations with them. I want to do


trades with my favorite artists.


q) What contemporary artists or developments in


art interest you?


a)There's too many to mention. Many are listed above.


I'm very interested in the underground as well as the


super successful. I'm interested in the super inflated


art market and how stars are made and why. I'm also


interested in the cast aside or forgotten groups of artists.


Particularly from the 60's, 70's and 80's. Women's groups


and artists who challenged the system in a powerful way.


The Black Panthers' art, feminist groups, labor oriented


groups. People who gave art away, and those who made


tons of money. Damien Hirst for example. But also Banksy.


Outsiders. I think the money aspect is funny. It's a


symbol of the priorities we have or the collectors and


gallerists who generate the interest and hype. I'm interested


in fairs, and blogs. The Black Mountain school in NC.


Joseph Albers, Twombly, Harmony Korine, Matt Leines,


it goes on and on! Taylor McKimens! I couldn't remember


his name. He's good. Nina Bovasso's good too.


q) How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?


a)1 day to 1 week or it always remains unfinished and


has to remain that way forever because sometimes I


like it better that way.


q) Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally


attached to them?


a)I really enjoy selling work. I'm seldom attached to a work.


Sometimes though if it's in my home long enough and I


develop a relationship with that work the way a collector


might. I start to sort of see it like another person's work


even if I sort of think it sucks.


q) Is music important to you? If so, what are some


things you're listening to now?


a)Music is so huge to me. I listen to my wife's music a


lot. " Super Daughter", Also New Young Pony Club,


Fugazi, The Make Up, Iron and Wine, No Age, Pelican Ossman,


Sonic Youth, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, The Rachels,


Eric Satie. A super long list.


q) Books?


a)I'm sort of embarrassed to say I'm reading Harry


Potter now. I'm in the 4th book. I'm also reading


some Kenneth Koch poetry and Frank O'hara. I like Rilke,


Nabokov, and Raymon Carver.


q) What theories or beliefs do you have regarding


creativity or the creative process?


a)I have a spiritual practice. I ask the creator


for guidance.


q) What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing)


when you're not creating?


a)I'm not sure I understand the question. I often take


breaks when I'm creating and listen to the radio.


I like interviews with artists and film makers. I listen


to a lot of radio. NPR, BBC. I also enjoy going skateboarding


for a break when I can to think about the things I want


to make or am in the process of making. When I'm creating


though, I guess I enjoy creating. Carving wood, drawing,


performing, goofing off.


q) Do you have any projects or shows coming up that


you are particularly excited about?


a)I just found out I'm performing some time at Hope


Gallery in L.A. California. I also have a puppet show


next week in Charlottesville, VA at the Twisted Branch


Tea House. I will be doing a gallery show at ADA gallery


in Richmond where I will install a small drive-in theater


with small cars and project my films onto a small screen.


q) Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how?


What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?


a)Magazines like Artforum and Beautiful/Decay and ANP,


Art Papers, all of which I subscribe to. I like Parkett and


Cabinet too. Fader, I read the New Yorker obsessively as


well as the New York Times, The Guardian Weekly, the


Economist, Utne Reader, Artforum's blog, ANP's blog


is awesome! Miranda July's blog, Alec Soth used to have


a photo blog, Art in the Age of Reproduction, Zoe Strauss


is rad, Aaron Cohen's occasional photo blog, I like


Loyal Gallery in Sweden. I like surfing all over for new links.


I always follow links on artists pages and blogs. I love


trivia, doing NYT crossword puzzles and reading all the


info on the answers. I love wikipedia.


q) Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer,


and answer it.


a)Why do you obsess so much about information


in the art world? I want to learn as much as possible


to be able to talk on any level with gallerists, curators and


writers, directors, dancers, carnies, hobos, professors,


entrepreneurs, apiarists, gardeners, foresters, machinists,


engineers, architects, historians. I want to become or be


a polymath. Or maybe a polyglot.


q) Any advice for aspiring artists?


a)Study, work hard. But be informed. Ignorance is


annoying. Also be nice to other artists. Have interests,


the best art is informed by all sorts of other interesting


things. The poet Wallace Stevens was an insurance man.


Sophia Coppola wanted to design clothes. Goethe wanted


to be an architect. Schopenhauer wanted to play the


violin. Duchamp with chess. Cartier Bresson wanted to


be a painter. Find other interests other than art I guess.


For me, it's everything. With a focus on skateboarding.


q) Where can we see more of your work online?


a) http://www.seansamoheyl.com/


myspace.com/samoheyl/ facebook, under Sean Samoheyl. Cinders Gallery used to


have some of my work on their site I think they still do.


http://www.sanangelfolkart.com/ Molte Grazie.