Interview with Keery Horvath

q)Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

a)Kerry Horvath, Sherman Oaks, Age 32

q) Do you have any formal training?

a)I went to Otis College of Art & Design, and took painting classes in NYC at the School of Visual Arts. When I moved backto Los Angeles though, I lost of all the paintings I made there.

q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

a)My parents are artists so I have been drawing and painting forever. I was always encouraged to create and use my imagination.My mother is a children's book illustrator and toy designer and my father is a creative director. It was always easy to feel inspired.

q) How do you come up with your concepts?

a)I draw in my sketchbook or on paper and see what comes out. If I love something than I may single it out and do a large scale painting of it.Most of my current artwork has been endless doodles. I just keep drawing until the paper is covered.

q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

a)ACK! I need to think about this. :)

q)What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

a)I would love to experiment more with photography. I love how clean photos look on glossy paper. It would be a nice change from my messy drawings.

q)What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

a)NIGHT, of course.

q) What are your artistic influences?...and …generally who or what influences you the most?

a)People, nature and life are my influences. Watching everything around me. I think unusual experienceshave the most impact on my artwork.

q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

a)Ludwig Bemelmans, De Brunhoff, Marcel Dzama, Andy Warhol, Yoshimoto Nara, and too many more....

q) What is your next project?Exhibition?Collaboration?

a)I have an art show with my husband in August. We will be showing paintings and drawings which reflect the toys that we have designed together.

q)What are your plans for the future?

a)To keep making art, toys and creations that keep me busy and laughing.

q)Are there some web sites that You would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

a)Not that I can think of. I would love to investigate more.

q)What sort of music do you listen to?

a)I just went to an Arcade Fire show. I love the Strokes, Devotchka, Notwist, Snow Patrol, NIN, and a bunch of old stuff.

q)Do you collect anything?If so what?

a)Books! I cannot seem to have enough books and magazines. They are in piles. I need more shelves, badly.

q)What do you do for fun?

a)Have Ice tea by a pool, art shows, reading, hiking, drawing and being a goof ball.

q)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Always have fun.

q)Your contacts…

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

http://www.evilicecream.com/

Interview with Joseph Daniel Fiedler

q)Let's start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

a)Joseph Daniel Fiedler, Berkeley, CA, USA 54

q) Do you have any formal training?

a)I went to a 2 year Associates Degree program directly from High School [the Ivy School of Professional Art –now defunct]. I went to College when I was 24 and graduated with a BFA [Painting] from Carnegie Mellon University when I was 26.

q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

a)Of course, it always does in some way or another, doesn’t it? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was still a tough mill town in the nineteen fifties. It was gray and sober. That’s just one small example.

q) How do you come up with your concepts?

a)Well I read the text [if there is one] and deduce the most appealing images to me. Then I make them by sketching, tracing and photocopying until I get some sense of what kind of a painting it will be. I often second-guess the
client here depending on the job. I usually send too many ideas. We pick one and that’s it. Sometimes there will be some modification necessary, but generally that’s all. I like to have time to think about my ideas to really develop them. That’s not always possible, but I try to build it into the process.

q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

a)I’m adopting the Syntax of Tradition, creating a carefully articulated scrim of combinatory ruminations and superimpositions with pensive, lyrical vignettes evocative, on the one hand, of spontaneous visual sleight of hand and on the other, a compelling chyme of ideas. Ideologically eliciting the esthetics of impoverishment, what Jan Anvikos has called "the collective revenge of the marginalized", retrograde, antiesthetic meta-narratives repudiate sanctimonious identity politics [along with conservative attitudes prevalent in the contemporary flirtation with "Pop Art" viz. a vis wacko internet junkiedom, MTV, YouTube and the Fox Network et al] by conflating irreverent, socio-cultural symbologies, historicisms and fortuitous disassociations in a multi-meme constellation of Institutional Critique; a physical and psychical convergence of dubiously aligned frameworks.

q) What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

a)I’m doing OK with what I’ve got. In my mind, I haven’t yet made that picture that I’m looking for so I feel no pressure to switch mediums. I have been learning more and more Photoshop recently and I’m happy about that. I’m exhibiting some giclee prints this summer that have been created digitally. That’s a lot for me.

q) What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

a)I’m an afternoon person [that dawdles into night]. I try not to drive myself nuts and make myself a physical wreck. Pacing!

q) What are your artistic influences?...and …generally who or what influences you the most?

a)Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Sam Philips, Cosimo Matassa, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Ping-ting, Tom Waits, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Kick it around.

q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

a)David Hockney, Odd Nerdrum, Neo Rauch, Raymond Pettibon, The Harold M. Lambert Studios Catalog No. 4, Ping-ting, Wilson Pickett. It’s a long list.

q) What is your next project?Exhibition?Collaboration?

a)Well, I’m working on a small book cover and a very interesting editorial for New Orleans Magazine about a secret cover-up that might have evolved into the AIDS epidemic. I’m in three group shows right now [Los Angeles, Brooklyn and San Francisco] and have others in August in Sacramento and December in Hamburg, Germany.

q) What are your plans for the future?

a)I have absolutely no idea whatsoever about the future. I need to concentrate and stay focused and do the very best that I can.

q) Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities,
xxx,...!?

a)See my links page @ http://www.scaryjoey.com/.

q)What sort of music do you listen to?

a)I like more genres of things than most people I've ever met Recently I'm on a Duende/Sentimental jag; lot's of really emotional Mexican or Bolero stuff like Chavella Vargas, Lila Downs, and Martirio. I love Teresa Salgueiro! Keep it Rootsy! Marc Ribot! Tom Waits! Also saw U2's "Vertigo" Tour and Sinead's Sly & Robbie "Throw Down Your Arms" Tour. Awesome!

q)Do you collect anything?If so what?

a)I have a very small crucifix collection and although I never intended it, I seem to collect old girlfriends.

q)What do you do for fun?

a)The most fun thing for me is to be busy with work. After that I like to experience what Harry Smith called “old, weird America” in all it’s manifestations. I also enjoy big nature.

q)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Not at the moment.

q)Your contacts…

a)Joseph Daniel Fiedler2730 8th StreetBerkeley, CA 94710313-804-7047
http://www.scaryjoey.com
http://www.drawger.com/josephdanielfiedler/
or http://www.magnetreps.com
or http://www.myspace.com/josephdanielfiedler

Interview with Matt Burlingame

a)Tell me something about yourself….What’s your background…?

a)I grew up in a small town in Michigan, where I went to Catholic school for eight years. Obviously, all of that churching up did little good. Later, I went to college where I got a degree in Telecommunications (to this day, I’m still not sure what that means.) I am essentially a self-taught artist, since I haven’t had an art class since High School.
I live a life of hedonistic leisure in Los Angeles, California.

q)When growing what was the greatest force pushing you towards art?

a)Boredom, I think. I grew up in Michigan, where it’s snowy and grey for about four months of the year, which forces you to stay inside. You have to do something to hold off madness, and since there is only so much T.V. you can watch, sometimes you’re forced to get creative.

q)Were you inspired/encouraged by any one person to pursue your craft?

a)My older sister Ann always was a big influence on me, turning me at a young age towards good music, film, and books. Later as I started making art, she would always tell me how great it was (even though it was probably pretty bad), and she still does to this day (even though it’s still probably pretty bad).

q)How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)A fan that found my art on-line described it better than I ever could. He said, ” Your stuff is twisted, creepy and swell. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's like Gumby and David Lynch meet the Quay brothers in the secret tunnels below the abandoned funhouse.” I’d say that sums it up.

q)Are certains colours,shapes that you’re drawn to?

a)I like them all, except for beige.

q)What other talent would you like most to have?

a)Besides safecracking and other cat burglary skills, I’d love to be able to play the electric guitar. Let’s face it, rockers get all the chicks. Sadly, I have absolutely no musical skills, and doubt I’ll develop them this late in the game.

q)What’s your favourite mediums to work in/on?

a)It’s a toss up between wood and clay.

q)What artists influence or have influenced you(these need not be visual artists)and how have they done so?

a)It’s funny, the big influences that come to mind are filmmakers. Perhaps that is my Los Angeles bias at work.
David Lynch’s film “Blue Velvet” blew my mind when I first saw it as a lad. Until seeing that film, I’d only been exposed to the mainstream movies from the Hollywood crap factory. It was a revelation. It’s hard to explain, but the film hinted at a different way to look at everyday things, and how what we think of as normal is only so because we want it to be.
Also, Terry Zwigoff’s documentary “Crumb”, about artist Robert Crumb was a big influence. It showed me that art takes a willingness to dig through the emotional sludge in your brain and the guts to put your crazy ideas on display for all to see.

q)What non-visual art interest you and does this have an impact on your art?
a)Music. It makes me whistle while I work.
Books. Good fiction pushes my mind in different directions, and fuels the brain in ways that “American Idol” cannot.

q)What do you think about artists using the Internet as a forum for sharing their work?

a)It’s amazing. People from all over the world have discovered my work, just by surfing around and somehow finding me on-line. It’s really great, getting a message from South America or Scotland or wherever, people telling you they like your work. It shrinks the world in a good way. It’s been a great way to connect with other artists, too.

q)What is your favourite toy,game or other artefact from your youth(and do you still own it)?

a)It was a little known toy called “Hugo, Man of 100 Faces”. He was a strange bald doll that came with all sorts of disguises (fake noses, scars, mustaches, wigs, etc.) that you could glue to his face, then later peel off and rearrange. He was very creepy. I believe he still lurks somewhere in my closet.

q)Got any new projects planned?

a)I always have new projects planned, but alas, it seems never enough time to get to them. In general, I’d like to go BIGGER with the work I make now, so I can add more and more detail.

q)What advice can you give to other artists to help them improve their chances of survival in this global village we call our home?

a)Do it because you love it and can’t stop. If you go into art looking for a big payday, chances are you’ll be very disappointed. Have patience and stick to your guns.

q)Favourite books/authors?
Denis Johnson’s “Jesus’ Son”, Ernest Hemingway’s short stories, William Gibson, Charles Bukowski, lots more stuff

q)Favourite music?
a)Radiohead, Damon Albarn, The Black Keys, PJ Harvey, lots more stuff

q)What do you fear most?

a)Sharks, Alzheimer’s disease, Dick Cheney .

q) Your contacts…

a) http://www.mattburlingame.com
e-mail: matt@mattburlingame.com