Interview with Thorsten Schmidtkord

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

a)Thorsten Schmidtkord. Born in Monheim, Germany, in 1970. I live and work in Düsseldorf, Germany, since 2004.

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

a)Advertising photography, corporate communications, my own creative projects.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)I don't go out looking for what's there, but for what's not there. I capture the picture behind the story and not the story behind the picture. I capture the picture others don't see.

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

a)My new portfolio has been available online since the beginning of June 2010. But only my project "Head on Top" brought me a lot of attention - I have been showcasing this project on my website since November 2010, and have since had 3,000 visitors to my website. Many bloggers have been reporting on this project on their photography and designer blogs.

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)My environment. Everyday situations. I often get my inspirations when I'm in the shower or in everyday life when things haben by circumstance.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)I don't want to say anything about my latest project just yet. But I am very fond of my project "10,000,000" which I have been working on since 2006. Here's a short description:

The biggest invasion we have to fear today will not be the US army or Chinese copyright pirates. It is millions and millions of people who invade a place every year that offers the valuable resources sun and sea: tourists. Tourists like to stay incognito, they don't like to call themselves tourists. Yet, they can be easily identified as such, and tourist has become a swear word.
In Western Europe, Majorca has become synonymous with mass tourism. Majorca is a beautiful island in the Mediterranean, but it has sacrificed its beauty and nature for the sake of infrastructure and amusement opportunities to please the Anglo-German conquerors. Like a drug dealer Majorca lures them with endorphins, pheromones, ethanol and memories to recall back in the grey reality. But what does this temptress look like when she calms down? Reduced, naked, unattractive? Yes, but also natural, relaxed, melancholic....

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

a)No. When I'm outside I focus on my environment.

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

a)No. I only take photographs.

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

a)Go out there and show your work. Blogs are a great medium and will help to spread the word.

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

a)I am currently looking for a gallery to show my work. An exhibition will be the next step.

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

a)I mainly showcase my work on my website, there's a section dedicated to people. Other media might follow.

Interview with Thad Kellstadt

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

a)My names Thaddeus Kellstadt. I was born in Ohio. I lived in Pittsburgh, pa for many years before moving to Chicago, IL. Which is where I live now.

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

a)I do a lot of different things. Painting, sculpture, video. I make zines and play music/make sound. I would say if I had to pin down one media that I work the most in it would be painting. Even though it’s the most frustrating.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)I sign the back every time with my name. That’s a tough question. I guess I have worked long enough and had a particular vision in mind that I feel comes through in what I do/make. Is that style? I don't know. Style is a scary thing but also inevitable.

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

a)Around ten years. The first real show I took part in was in an old horse livery. That was 2001. A big break? Is this my big break? I’m not sure that’s happened yet, but if it has I am calling off work tomorrow.

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)American Midwest culture. Psychedelia. My wife. My friends. Music. Some days I look at a weird pile of garbage and get totally motivated. So many different things.

Skateboarding was an early inspiration. Not only the graphics but how you look at things, things that may seem useless or arbitrary can become really

useful and amazing.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)A collaborative video with my friend Jerstin Crosby. We are working on two videos where we work on the sound and video independent of one another. Not knowing what each other is doing, just working with a set time frame.

The first video I worked on the sound and Jerstin worked on the video. You can see it here- http://vimeo.com/16488565

We are working on another with the duties reversed. It’s turned out pretty rad so far.

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

a)I love music. Old folk music. A lot of music from the nineties like older dinosaur jr, pavement and guided by voices. Old punk. Psychedelic music. As far as new bands deerhunter, animal collective and lot of my friend’s music as well gets played in the studio. Wu tang clan or old hip hop if I am a little depressed. I do that instead of taking prozac. Will Oldham is one of my favorites.

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

a)I work in a variety of ways/mediums. Mostly painting and video though. Sculpture but not in the traditional sense I guess. What ever means that I can execute an idea to the best of my ability. Sometimes an idea should manifest as a drawing and sometimes it should be a physical object. So I go from there and figure it out. I like that challenge. I like working outside of my comfort zone. But that can also lead to stress and to throwing away 50 percent of what I make. I also write poetry and I make little zines of those from time to time. And I am playing in a band called BEAST. Its two drummers and a strobe/synth player.

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

a)Find the right space. Be nice. Eat right. Get enough sleep. Don’t drink too much at your opening and let people talk you down in price. I think doing it yourself is a good start. Get some like-minded friends and have a really fun art show. Don’t waste money when you don't have too. Have fun. Embrace utter defeat. At least for a little while. Then again, don't get defeated if you don't have too.

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

a)I just had a solo show at Lump Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina. That was great. Amazing space. Bill Thelen runs it and he is one of the best art dudes/artists I have ever met.

So that was then, now, I am showing some work at Future Tenant in Pittsburgh, PA in Jan. and a few groups here in Chicago.

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

a)My website www.thadkellstadt.com. There are links to my videos and all my friends work there. Thanks for reading!

Interview with Lauren Poor

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

a)I am Lauren Poor. I am from around Washington DC and I'm living in NYC.

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

a)I mainly take pictures, most often digitally, but I also love to paint, make videos, and create just about anything.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)I'm not sure, I think everyone's art is different because they've made it and not someone else.

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

a)I've never had a showing. I would like to though and am working on some ways to do that. I don't think I've had a big break.

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)I've been very inspired by Harmony Korine and Elliott Smith although I'm not sure if that inspiration is always apparent in my work. The inspiration that is used for my work is that which I get from the suburbs, my friends and life. To be honest, I am inspired by too much to put my finger on or explain.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)Lately I've been working on a ton of different projects, some that produce physical work and some that involve making magazines or bringing artists together. I've been experimenting with little videos and have been wanting to make a film for a while now. There is so much work to be done it is overwhelming.

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

a)Yeah, sure, I like to listen to a bunch of different things, but I constantly love Elliott Smith, Ben Folds, The Smiths, The Mountain Goats, Cat Stevens, and Rilo Kiley. I often listen to mixes while I work and I love mixes from this site: http://8tracks.com/teacakes because they have such a wide variety of music.

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

a)Of course, but maybe in some way they are all somewhat related to each other. I like to make little videos and stop motions and design magazines and create hats and paintings.

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

a)I don't know, I've never shown my work! But as for most things, I'd guess that it would be best to just be motivated and do what you like.

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

a)I wish. I have a secret project involving this subject, so I can't really say. If I go into an apple store I pull my website up on every computer, does that count?

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

a)http://laurenpoor.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lapoor/

http://lapoorvideos.tumblr.com/

http://namemag.tumblr.com/

http://untitledcollective.tumblr.com/