When you think about art, what’s its main purpose for you? Is it about leaving a mark?
It’s not to leave a mark. I don’t want to be famous or extremely well known. I just want to be well known enough not to be scared of people finding me and stealing my stuff.
The purpose of art is not to leave a mark, but it’s definitely something to leave something behind—kind of leaving your PC or your mind behind so others can experience it or witness it. You want to leave your mark a little bit, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t think the purpose of art is to leave a mark or make any huge changes, but to balance yourself.
How does art help “balance yourself”? What does that feel like?
Well, when you go into a museum, or not even a museum, not even an art place—just a piece of art or something you admire or find, something that is somehow extremely pleasing to you. Like walking downtown and somehow there’s a huge painting, a mural. Gorgeous. Yes, you admire it.
But then there’s something different, something that’s more artful for you, something that’s as gorgeous. You end up taking a picture of a small flower coming out of the wrong end of a pot in the downtown areas. And you’re like, “That shouldn’t be growing like that because that’s a crack.” But that’s beautiful. It’s peaceful. It’s gorgeous. Or whatever emotion that you feel. And you just want to take a quick snapshot.
So, is the purpose of art more about finding something, then? Whether it’s out in the world or something you create yourself?
A snapshot of it. But you created your own art and you have something for yourself. You may print it, maybe you put it on a pillow, maybe you just have it as your wallpaper for a while and delete it when you’re done with it. But in that moment, that was art for you and you enjoyed it. And it gave you a certain feeling or some kind of chemical in your brain that says, “Yes, this is art, this is beautiful, this is something that I can admire.”
Art is anything and everything. It’s not to leave something behind, but I think it’s something to find. Maybe art is something to find, not something to find or leave. That’s probably the purpose of art: to find it everywhere you go. Because on our walk, it’s gorgeous. We don’t even have to go to a museum. We don’t have to pay 30, 50 bucks to go into a fancy-schmancy gallery or go to a fancy dinner just to see these thousand million pieces of art that cost thousands of millions of dollars. You can just walk and admire things. Art is everywhere. It’s what you accept. So the purpose of art is to find it.
Does art always have to be beautiful or positive? What if you find an emotion with it that’s negative, or you just don’t like the piece?
When you look at a painting, you find how you connect with it. Find its beauty, or find not its beauty and just find an emotion with it. If you love or hate it, meet it halfway maybe, or maybe not meet it at all. It just made you feel a certain way; you didn’t like it. But that’s what art is supposed to do, make you feel certain ways. Maybe you think, “Art is a piece of shit. That piece of art is a piece of shit. Who would make that? Why would you do that? Who would sell that? Who wouldn’t buy it?” But then you’re getting upset. You have an emotion, you have an opinion because of it. The artist made you have an opinion about their art.
Even if it’s strongly negative, it doesn’t care. They got something out of you. You took the time to look at it, be upset about it, express your opinion about it. It’s art.
So, in your view, is there such a thing as “bad” art, or art that fails if it doesn’t make you feel anything?
No, there’s no such thing as worse art. There’s no such thing as good or bad art at all. That is an actual thing. Art is art. Like I said, you’re probably going to consider that pot with the flower—or, who knows, a used condom peeking out of it because you thought it was funny—but essentially, that is art. Would another person consider that art? You considered it art because you thought it was funny, symbolic in some way. Maybe it meant something to you in a certain way. Maybe it had a perfect meaning in that perfect moment that became your art.
To somebody else, that means nothing to them. They’re going to have an opinion. They’re going to express something, an emotion of feeling towards your art. Even if they don’t like it, they’re not going to feel anything towards it. Like, “What the fuck are you talking about?” But you found something in it. So you might not like something, but other people will.
As an artist, what’s more important: what the art means to you, or what it means to the audience? Does your art have to evoke an emotional response?
For myself, I definitely want to have some kind of emotion for myself, because the art is meant for me. If I don’t make it for myself, I won’t make it. If it was commissioned, yeah, in some aspect, I need the person to accept that I’m going to have my style with it. I have to express my feelings towards it. I need to know the story behind what you want me to make so I can feel it too, so I can sense it. So for myself, I want to express emotions. I want to feel something for myself. When I look at the painting, if I don’t feel anything for the painting, if I start drawing it and I just can’t sense its emotion, I can’t feel it. I’m not in the mood. It’s not going to happen because I’m not in it. No one’s going to feel that.
And for the audience, I do want them to have a sense of feeling in the paintings. I don’t want them to feel nothing, obviously. I want them to express something. Do I care if they have that expression or express anything at all or say anything? No, I don’t care. They take the time to look at it at all because that painting was essentially made for myself. And other people tend to tell me they enjoy looking at my art. So I’m going to put it up. And so they can enjoy it too, because they’re feeling a certain emotion. They’re appreciating it in a certain way. At a negative or positive, they are appreciating it.
What about art that doesn’t seem to evoke a strong emotion, but is perhaps more about aesthetics? For example, a piece that’s just meant to “look good” in a room?
Well, it’s aesthetic. It doesn’t have to really feel anything. It’s supposed to bring a room together. The room is then putting the room together. They created art with art. This is for aesthetic reasons only, to look good.
This does look good. It gives me a sense of peace. I don’t really think about it. I don’t really care for it. You might say you feel nothing. But it makes the room. It gives you a certain peace, a calming sense. The colors chosen for a room might be very calming, muted colors, because they want you to be relaxed in there. So the painting is supposed to inflict that and help the aesthetic of calm and peace.
So, if you’re feeling calm in there, it’s doing its job. If you’re relaxed in there, it’s doing its job. You’re noticing it because it’s not really trying to grasp your attention at all. Unlike my art, where I do want to grasp your attention, this type of art doesn’t want to grasp your attention. It just wants to make the room look pleasing. It’s not trying to grasp anything.
So a feeling of nothing is a feeling of peace. You don’t feel alert, you don’t feel excited, you don’t feel crazy, but you feel calm. You don’t really sense anything with it. You’re like, “Okay, see?” Feeling nothing is feeling something. You can’t really say you feel nothing because you have to really look at it.