Roughly once a month, we’ve been posing questions to artists about issues they face in their careers and lives. As we forge ahead: what question would you like us to ask artists? What questions about artists’ work, lives, practices, craft, inspirations, would you like answered – or like to be asked? It’s a chance to steer the future course of the ArtSake blog (the power, the power!).
Let us know, either in the comments section or by email.
And in case you’re curious, here’s what we asked artists this past year:
Artist to Artist Discussions in 2013
Go local! Share a local artist (or several) whose work excites you.
Photographer Rick Ashley, multi-disciplinary artist Steven Bogart, choreographer Lorraine Chapman, painter Ariel Freiberg, visual artist Mary O’Malley, and writer Susan Stinson share the local artists that have captured their imaginations.
How do social, environmental, & political issues impact your art?
Poet Danielle Legros Georges, visual artist Raul Gonzalez III, playwright Ginger Lazarus, and sign painter Kenji Nakayama share how issues as wide-ranging as Guantanamo, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, homelessness, and cultural identity shape their art.
If you’ve ever had to set aside a work of art that still had potential, why did you do so? And will you ever return to it?
Novelist Lisa Borders, furniture maker Timothy Coleman, poet Amy Dryansky (for whom the question inspired both a response and a new poem), video/installation artist Georgie Friedman, composer Evan Johnson, and ceramic artist Megumi Naitoh discuss the creative projects that got away.
What is your strategy for using online platforms, as an artist?
Filmmaker Ellie Lee, performing artist Seth Lepore, photographer Bruce Myren, and writer/editor Henriette Lazaridis Power discuss why they use online platforms, how to cultivate a public identity, and which platforms work best for which purposes.
Do you separate or integrate your art with your “other” life?
Biologist/filmmaker Alberta Chu, physician/writer Lisa Gruenberg, advocate/teacher/screenwriter Caitlin McCarthy, and computer scientist/playwright Vladimir Zelevinsky discuss whether they keep their two careers – or “lives” – separate, or integrate them together.
Where does a work of art start?
A landscape, a striking image, a beguiling “if” – artists including playwright Liz Duffy Adams, composer Lou Bunk, mixed media artist Sally Curcio, poet James Heflin, filmmaker Jared Katsiane, and fiber artist Elizabeth Whyte Schulze share the launching points of their works of art.
What do we “owe” when making historical art?
Writer/museum exhibit developer Sari Boren, James David Moran of the American Antiquarian Society, filmmaker Susan Rivo, novelist Karen Shepard, and theater artist Susan Thompson explore what we owe not only to history but to historical art to make it great.
What’s the most unexpected journey your art has taken?
As an artist, where you intend to go at the outset of a new work isn’t always where you end up. Visual artist Marguerite White, filmmaker Mary Jane Doherty, writer Patricia Stacey, and playwright/performer Michael Mack share instances where their original idea led into surprising, even bewildering territory.
Share a surprise twist in your story.
Creative projects take twists and turns… but so do the lives of artists. Crochet artist Huckleberry Delsignore, curator Liz Devlin, playwright/screenwriter Jason Grote, writer Daphne Kalotay, writer Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, theater artist Charlotte Meehan, writer Ilie Ruby, and multi-disciplinary artist Ellen Wetmore divulge the dramatic, unexpected turns in their personal stories.
How does place impact your art?
Writer Elizabeth Graver, photographer Sarah Malakoff, screenwriter Steven J. Martin, and filmmaker James Rutenbeck discuss how “place” shapes, transforms, or becomes a central character in their works of art.
What makes a work of art “new?”
Traditional Irish dance artist Kieran Jordan, writer KL Pereira, choreographer Jody Weber, and film artist Suara Welitoff explore the elusive dividing line between what makes a work of art new versus an interpretation of past work.
Happy reading, and don’t forget to send us your ideas for 2014 discussions!
Image: Sally Curcio (contributor to Where does a work of art start?), HAPPY VALLEY (2010), pins, beads, flocking, fabric, thread, extruded polystyrene, acrylic paint, acrylic bubble, wood frame; 6x12x12 in; with pedestal: 44×13.5×13.5 in. The artist’s work is included in “Mapping Heaven” at The Front Room Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, thru 1/5/14.
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