Fill In The Blank Gallery: You utilize many different types of methods of photography varying from albumen prints, large format, anaglyph, and most recently daguerreotypes. Which technique do you prefer to work with and why?

Brittonie Fletcher: In general I am a process based person. The way I prefer to work is whatever I am currently learning. I love the struggle of trying to figure something out. If something seems hard I want to do it. In that same sense, when I see lots of photographers tending to a certain style my immediate reaction is to do the opposite. With all that in mind, I try to keep the medium appropriate for which ever project I'm working on.

FIB: Where do you develop your photographs?

BF: You mean the chemistry? I used to do it at school, now it has become a bathroom operation.

As for concepts—that is an entirely different question. I am constantly working, typically on a few different projects simultaneously. I become fixated on some thing, this generally leads to months or years mulling and obsessing until I've completed some work about it. I do spend a lot of time looking back in history for inspiration.There are many periods that feature amazing feats in both the arts and sciences. My favorites are the Islamic Golden Age, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. Seeing what people were able to discover and put to practice never fails to stimulate me. During each of these periods advances were made involving chemistry and optics, which I can't help being a nerd about.

FIB: Do you ever feel like a mad scientist while working with and developing these various processes?

BF: Oh yes. The first time I got my hands on some silver nitrate was for the purpose of making albumen prints. I had never done any printing aside from standard silver gelatin at that time. I wore goggles and gloves but still managed to get the stuff everywhere. I am expressive, even in production. I came out of the darkroom and the monitor asked me if I had been eating the stuff! Apparently I had little spots on my face. In the photo department at MassArt some students used to refer to the alternative processes area as "Brittonie's Lair". I have always had some pride about that. It is exciting to use dangerous chemicals. Right now I am making bathtub daguerreotypes. Of course, I'm using the becquerrel process right now. My roommates would have a collective fit if I was cooking mercury. When I was a kid, I had a chemistry set and was always frustrated that I couldn't make explosions or anything reactive. I suppose I am making up for it now. All I need is a lab coat.

FIB: Do you feel that there is a strong correlation between art and science?

BF: Absolutely!!! Right now I'm reading "Proust Was a NeuroScientist." The book lines up various artists and systematically parallels their work with scientific discoveries made years later. I find the comparisons in the book both stimulating and comforting.There is a long history marrying art and science- DaVinci is a perfect example. What he was doing was trying to learn, about the world and in the process he created art. It works both ways. Over the past year or so I have been especially inspired by Boston photographers who melded science and art; Doc Edgerton, Bernice Abbot, and Harriet Casdin-Silver. This phenomenon of scientific art is witnessed across many mediums transgressing literal to fantastical applications. Scientists and artists seem to be after the same questions and answers; just as science is made of theories, a work of art is never really finished. We can always further our research and improve upon our work.

FIB: When exhibiting your work how important is the final installation and the viewer’s experience to you?

BF: I will spend hours upon days upon weeks mulling over tiny details of things people might not ever notice. I am sometimes disappointed at the lack of effort I see at shows. Really good work can be diminutized by too much framing or too little care/thought. Thumb tacks through work is a gigantic pet peeve of mine. It sends me the message that the artist doesn't care about their work.

FIB: Do you have a specific agenda in mind while taking a picture?

BF: It depends. I work in a variety of ways- photographing is a constant part of my life and variety is the spice of life. A lot of it depends on my mood. I tend to over analyze and really enjoy the tangential thought patterns while exploring a concept. Sometimes my work is just documentation, I have always enjoyed the diaristic qualities of photography. I suppose my main concern is simply trying to make something I like to look at.

FIB: Where do you store your photographs and negatives?

BF: I have many negative storage cases. I have experienced the absolute trauma of losing some film and files. I have been researching fire safes. At the moment I am trying to avoid making prints if I don't have a use for them. I am moving for graduate school in September and don't want to risk ruining or losing them in the move.

FIB: Your work has brought you to many different countries. What equipment do you take with you when you travel? What advice do you have for others as to what supplies to bring?

BF: I'm Traveling to the Middle East for the month of March: one bag- camera equipment goes first, then whatever else I can fit. I always bring my 4x5 and a minimum of 100 sheets. I have had to ration my film.I like to have a backup camera (I cringe as I write this) having a decent digital camera is really a great way to travel. You don't have to worry about film being ruined by the x-ray, pay for processing, you can retake and delete. Especially if you want to obsessively document everything.

When photographing strangers: people see western tourists and assume that you have a lot of money. Carry around lose change if you want to shoot people in the street, they will want to be compensated.

Take safety measures. The last trip two men came up behind me late at night and ripped my digital camera bag off of me. I bet they were upset when all they got was some postcards and a plastic camera.

FIB: Have you ever experienced any negative reactions while taking someone’s picture without their permission?

BF: Probably? I don't do it often, not on the street too much and when I do I like to be sly about it. I love the yashika t3 for that purpose, it has a super scope which enables nonchalant photographing. I digress.. negative reactions? Yes, from friends... shouting "why do you always have to take pictures?!?!" or "No, No, NO!!!!" and squealing and running away.

FIB: How do you proceed to locate and obtain grants, scholarships, and gallery shows?

BF: This is the work part of work. Long hours of searching the web, filtering through the many lists I am on for calls, hoping I have the cash for the fee and so on. I love to write, but not academically. Grant writing is very stressful, too often I am scrambling to make the deadline. I am very lucky. I am surrounded by a great community of friends and artists. I really value that. We forward calls and grant postings to each other frequently.

FIB: In this day and age where anything can be uploaded online in an instance and anonymous individuals may appropriate your work for other uses, how do you ensure the protection of your work i.e. copywriting?

BF: This is a sticky issue. Appropriated art is really popular right now. There is no way to really 100% protect your work. One can officially have work sent to copy write but I believe that is an expensive and time consuming process. Flickr is pretty good about making it very hard for someone to obtain images if that is the artist's intent. Another method is to utilize flash although I find flash websites more of an annoyance. With screen capture though, I'm not really sure what one can do aside from abstinence from uploading.

FIB: What qualities do you look for in a photograph?

BF: I work a little too intuitively to answer this properly. Good photographs produce a physical reaction. I like strong composition and texture, yes definitely texture.

FIB: What special characteristics do you believe your work possesses?

BF: I'm not sure I know how to answer this question. Honesty.

FIB: Kant’s theory of the relationship between phenomenons and noumenons can be applied to photography as well as many other occasions. Noumenons represent what is in our imagination (a reflection of phenomenons) while phenomenons are something that can be experienced by the senses. The moment that a picture is taken is ephemeral and yet there is proof that the moment occurred through the documentation of photographs. How can a photographer capture a moment and retain its true essence? Do you believe it is possible?

BF: Short answer, no.

The question of truth and photography has been battled since infancy. I love the philosophical argument. It's a question of sematics and semiotics. What is truth? How about sign, symbol and index? A moment is so much more than a visual—for instance Magritte's "Treachery of Images" even he stated, the image "does not satisfy emmotionally." I've been thinking about this subject a lot. A photograph of my cat, no matter how amazing, cannot express or capture the complete. No one can know the sound of her purring, the tactile of fur, or the way she smells. It would be a photo of a cat, but it would not be my cat. We can make attempts to convey specific aspects of moments beyond that of the image. I'd like to think we have the ability to derive meaning and feeling though it will always be twisted. There is the initial experiece which happend in a time and space, with a speciffic set of surroundings. The phograph has removed part of the moment. We have cropped it, and pointed at some fraction but now we have only that to react to. What are we missing on the outside of the frame? That moment is elsewhere. Our personal truths are only as real as we put faith into them—think of them as false idols.

By Ariel Radock

Fill In The Blank Gallery: There are numerous terms associated with social and individual identity. To identify oneself as an artist is a particularly difficult concept utilized to firmly place one’s own character in the world of creative expression. What was your earliest memory of identifying yourself as an artist?

Michael Crockett: I was very young when I started to draw obsessively. By the third grade I was telling people I was an artist. I won't lie and say I knew what that meant at the time, but I was most influenced by Disney movies and 1970's cartoons than I was with any other children's activity. If I could draw then I was content with life. It may have isolated me a bit from other kids when I was young, but as we grew up I had something I could call my own and share with other people. It's not difficult to call yourself an artist as long as you truthfully believe that you are. I have been able to easily identify myself as this because without art I am not complete. 

FIB: For an artist developing his/her own personal style takes time, work, and confidence. What and when did this moment occur for you?

MC: It occurred for me when I learned to separate influence and inspiration from straight out copying. After college I was confused about direction. I kept getting that dreaded comment "that reminds me of..." so I took some time away from my work. I traveled a bunch and played music a lot. In thinking about my work I realized that I was altering the styles I was influenced by. I was referencing someone else's originality. I may have been changing it but I was not finding my voice through it, I was simply following its artistic dialog. Taking that needed step away from my college work allowed me to live my life and find my natural hand again. It's easy to loose your self in other artists work. It's easy to forget what your own hand can do when you're trying to squeeze yourself into a style or ism that exists already. Influences are necessary but we can quickly be mimicking others without realizing we are.

FIB: You recently had your work represented at Art Basil Miami. Could you elaborate upon your experience participating in this celebrated event.

MC: I owe that honor to Art Whino Gallery in National Harbor, MD. I met this gallery owner in a Washington DC show I was in around 2008. An artist named J. Coleman invited me down to participate in a show he was curating. I met J. in the hay day of Myspace. J and I chatted many times about art and the possibility of sharing shows in DC and Boston. I loved how that site worked. It really opened a door of communication that did not exist before. Being able to talk with artists I would never have the pleasure of knowing otherwise. I found people all over the world that were doing interesting things with collage and alternative mediums. This domino effect from online communication brought me to Art Whino. Art Whino's goal is to unleash the work of today’s most underground artists working in the styles known as Low Brow and New Brow. They have one of the largest communities of underground artists anywhere in the US right now. They attended Art Basil Miami this year by bringing together two traveling shows they were curating. I had work traveling with them in the show titled "Life Essentials" which had over 100 artists involved. That show along with their other show titled "Old Skoolin" which also had over 100 artists involved became their entry to Art basil Miami last year. This was the largest show I had ever been involved with. There are tons on photo's here http://www.facebook.com/ArtWhino and here http://artwhino.com/miami/

FIB: Some of your drawings appear to be on pages of old books and notebooks. Is this an aesthetic incentive or another other purpose entirely?

MC: At first I was experimenting with type as texture by layering words into my work that I found in old books. I would cut them out and over lap them so they would create textures and patterns to draw over. I moved into drawing directly on the pages from books as a background for my work, blotting out parts of the pages instead of layering them. I fell in love with the aged color of these pages and began using the faded colors as flesh tones. Today the old paper has grown into a whole new idea for me. Now I can collage these old pages into a story, layering it under the flesh of those I paint. I can use paper ephemera from your own life, such as, hand written letters, favorite photographs and scraps of your own history to map out a visual time capsule of the life you have lived. I want to be more than an artist that can reproduce your likeness, I want to reproduce your history and being. The papers we keep in boxes under our beds and in our closets that remind us of our pasts are what I look for when I search for materials. Old paper is now as important of a medium for me as is the pen or brush.

FIB: Besides having a blog and other websites portraying your work, what made you decide to publish a book? Could you describe your process compiling, publishing, and promoting this exciting occasion.

MC: This book was a great way to showcase what I have been making over the last few years. I have been focusing on portraits which tends to be more of a private relationship between the artist and the patron rather than a shared experience. I wanted a way to bring others into this experience and the best way I could do that was to combine all the portraits into this one book. This way the entire series can be viewed together and you can see the progression from one to the other. Rather than trying to understand who the single portrait is, this book lets you see them all in one context. I feel this allows you to see what I am striving to achieve in portraiture as a whole.

Compiling these images meant being able to capture them digitally and in a printable format. I have studied photography, and graphic design along with drawing and painting so I am capable of digitally formatting my work for my own cataloging and storage. I try to do this with everything I make, if I can. Digital camera, scanner, photoshop and illustrator are also major tools I cannot work without.

Publishing is pretty much painless these days. Blurb.com allows you to create a book easily and free. They will publish one at a time if needed but also in bulk. The quality is amazing, there is no difference between a large publisher and a small printing company these days. The technology has improved so much that print is no longer dead, it's just changed its rules.

Promoting it is a much harder task than you would think, but thanks to online networking sites I can spread the word pretty quickly. Interviews such as yours help send the message across to a larger audience I wouldn't be able to contact otherwise. What I am learning however is that the word may spread fast online but people still hold back from buying online. I still have to be a door to door salesman if I want get them into peoples hands. This means having a bulk of them at my disposal to bring to shows and events. It's always good to have wares to sell at your shows. Having something, especially a book of your art, that everyone can afford is a great way to get your work into the hands of many. You can view the book here www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1117345

FIB: Currently there is a debate as to whether or not commercial illustrators should be called fine artists. What are your thoughts upon this argument?

MC: My opinion is that there is no difference between the two. If the work looks good on its own merit than it can be whatever the viewer interprets it to be. An image can be used to tell a story and you would call it an illustration, but that same image can stand alone on the wall of a gallery and take on a whole other identity. I believe that illustration or commercial illustration is just defined by the copy presented along with the image and not the image alone.

FIB: Many contemporary illustrators are using Wacom tablets and computers to generate their art. Have you ever considered using such tools in your work or do you prefer to strictly stick with traditional mediums?

MC: I'm a traditional kind of guy. I want my final output to be just that. if you look at my original I want it to be the same as the printed version. I want no difference between the way it looks in an advertisement or article and the way it looks hanging on the wall. I may use the computer to adjust sizes and contrast or to crop the image to fit but I'm not adding anything more to it with the computer. I do like the way technology has made colors and strokes look realistic these days. I think there are wonderful artists out there that have found their voice through the computer. My work however gets its results from being hand done.

FIB: What advice would you give to an emerging artist who has difficulty maintaining an equilibrium of commercial success and artistic integrity?

MC: Do it for yourself first and always. If you are striving to "make it" the reality of that can crush your spirit and you're going to need that if you want to be free from commercial restraints. Artistic integrity is equal to how confident you are with yourself. As long as you continue to believe you are expressing yourself truthfully, your integrity will be solid. I have a job as a commercial illustrator and at times it can slow down my desire to work for myself, but it supports my goals as a fine artist. It allows me to afford the studio space I need to work in, pushing myself further in the world of fine art. I will say that my artistic integrity is not a career path. I do not intend to retire from it as I will commercial illustration.

FIB: What projects are you currently working on?

MC: I am pleased to say this year I am in a new book by Findhorn Press. The author Cat Bennet used many of my drawings with her words to express the different ways drawing can be used to express yourself. You can read about it here catbennett.net/preface-and-introthe-confident-creative/

I'm also working with Terminal Press and their Zombie anthology book series being released this year. 

I would also like to attend a few conventions this year and continue to spread the word of my book and a few toys I've been creating. 

I continue to show my paintings around New England and hope to expand further into the states I haven't shown in yet.

I have a solo music project that will be released in the next month or so. Check out some samples here www.myspace.com/themoonbloods

You can keep up with everything I'm working on here www.facebook.com/hazeleyesstudio or here www.hazeleyesstudio.blogspot.com

Prints of my work can be purchased here www.redbubble.com/hazeleyesstudio or here www.zazzle.com/hazeleyesstudio

Of course I will continue to self publish collections of drawings and paintings through my online publishing company Vesica Books. www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1117345

I can be contacted here hazeleyesstudio@gmail.com

FIB: Fun bonus question. If you were a love child of two artists, who would they be?

MC: Oh just two won't do... I would make out with Kent Williams, Dave Mckean, James Jean, Lucian Freud, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimpt, Windsor McCay, Bill Watterson, Lisbeth Zwerger... and so many more. I may contract syphilis but it would be worth it.

The Lives I Wish To Paint

An explanation of the figurative meaning in the works of Michael Crockett.

I am a painter of the human experience. What do I mean by this? I’m referring to the way that I use human elements as a mode to explore and compliment relationships to the individual life I am trying to paint. My paintings must have a connection to the life they are representing. They are more than just interpretations of my subjects. They are collaborations.

I refuse to only paint the shell of the figure. A portrait can stand alone in its beautifully crafted likeness, this I will not dispute. But I will always believe that it can be more than a carefully scrutinized discipline.  As an experimental figurative painter, I have always intended to push the old views to the side and follow my own instincts.

What I have been developing for over 10 years is a new approach to portrait painting. I have learned to incorporate patterns such as type, found objects and paper into my under paintings. Collaging these elements into a gradation of pattern and color that blend together forming many parts of the finished portrait. Some of the ways I have experimented with this collage is to use it to literally form the muscle & bone structure, light and dark papers will affect color and tone or highlights and Shadows. Swirling patterns or photographic images can push and pull the surface creating a real sense of space.

This collage technique has allowed me to incorporate personal elements into whatever painting I am creating. Handwriting and personal messages can be blended into the skin and backgrounds. My subjects may bring me paper ephemera that holds some form of sentimentality for them, to collage into their likeness. Any paper Items such as cards, photos, letters, etc. can be modeled into my portraits. I find this process of layering paper with sentimentality into a portrait of its patron will create a work that not only captures the subjects likeness but share a deeper personal meaning about them.

Lately I have been painting portraits of people in my life. These faces I capture are my people. Those artists and musicians, the worker bees and political thinkers I spend my time with. I do not seek to exaggerate their likeness, but in fact reflect it through my work. They are the folks that make me believe in what it is I wish life to mean. They exemplify, through their own lives, the characteristics I seek within my own. They are not regular people. To me, these people are the reason I am. I do not exist alone. I do not separate myself from them. Together “we” are a reason, a unified reason for life.  The life I wish to paint.

I will always use the figure as a bridge to help connect the way I see and feel. The human form is my favorite vessel for metaphor. Whether it's close personal relationships I'm investigating or my own invented subject matter. The human form is ever present.

I exercise this idea everyday. Sketching quick pen and ink figure drawings over found paper. These are studies in shape and form that I let flow out of me as often as I can. I let go of any reference and allow the subjective thought to escape. These are a great release for me. I display these collections on the wall in overlapping scattered groups. The effect being a massive amalgam of characters dancing across the walls as they do in my mind.

I'm interested in creating a direct relationship between the viewer and the work that is a fresh escape from the norm. I want the viewer to be engaged by what the piece has to say as well as show. They should find themselves wanting to investigate the details of these individuals. From a distance my paintings will be reflections of their subjects, but the closer you get to them the more abstract they will become as they reveal little secrets about themselves. A familiar juxtaposition we all live with as we try to discover the details of ourselves in relation to each other.

by Ariel Radock

As a metalsmith, Rachel Lenzen creates highly personal and unique small sculpture as well as jewelry. Under the tutelage of Jane Weintraub at Northeastern Illinois University, she received a degree in art with an emphasis in metals. Rachel exhibits her work at select galleries throughout Chicago in addition to studying and working under professional jeweler Steff Korsage. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Fill In The Blank Gallery: For hundreds of thousands of years humans have embraced the inherent desire to adorn themselves in jewelry and possess portable art objects whether it is for symbolic, protective, or merely artistic purposes. As an artist, do you feel that you are part of this history continuing the creative lineage of those who came before you?

Rachel Lenzen: I do. I love looking at the jewelry that others have made. I find it very inspiring but also intriguing. I am very interested in the whole concept of a piece, not just the beauty. I’m interested in what the meaning or intention of the piece is. I think this is something that my work does. There is an entire idea behind it and every part of the piece was made for a reason. It is all very intentional.

FIB: Where does the inspiration for your designs come from? What meaning does it have for you personally?

RL: My art is extremely personal and the inspiration comes mainly from my life experiences. Art for me is in a way a form of release. I feel I am able to fully express the person I am through art. This can be difficult at times because I become very attached to my work and it makes it hard to let it go.

FIB: Do you specifically choose certain materials aesthetically for each object?

RL: Yes. I usually work with copper and silver but it is based on the piece. Most of my jewelry is done in fine and sterling silver and most of my small sculpture work is done in copper. However, I have a few pieces that are a mix of both as well as found objects. It really does depend on the piece because each type of metal gives the piece a different feel.

FIB: How long does it take you to complete a piece?

RL: It depends on the piece. Most of my pieces will take about a month to complete. However there are a few that are less complex so they don’t take as long and few that are more complex so they take longer.

FIB: Do you prefer to create jewelry or small sculpture? Why?

RL: I enjoy small sculpture more. I feel I can express more with small sculpture because I am not as limited with space. I do enjoy making jewelry, which can still have lots of meaning behind it. With jewelry I have to consider the person who may be wearing it which may limit the size, weight, and some materials.

FIB: Do you believe that functionality and form are inseparable? Or do you regard one more dominant than the other in the consideration of design?

RL: I think they go hand in hand. The pieces’ form and function have to work together. Every piece I make has a function of some kind whether it is a piece of jewelry or a sculpture and the form of that piece must coincide with that function. For me they have to work together.

FIB: Is your work strictly one of a kind or is it a production of multiples?

RL: Almost all of my work is one of a kind. I have made a few pins that were similar but each still unique in their decorative aspect.

FIB: What is your biggest frustration and greatest pleasure working with metal?

RL: I think my biggest frustration in working with metal is the cost of metal and sometimes the amount of time it takes to finish a piece. There have been a few times when I have had to scrape together enough money to order silver to make a piece. I also do a lot of research for my pieces before I actually start them. This adds even more time to how long it takes to complete a piece.

My greatest pleasure working with metal as crazy as it may sound is the tediousness nature of it and the end result. I love working with my hands and actually forming something from a flat piece of metal. It is always really exciting to watch my pieces start to come together and turn into something really fantastic.

FIB: Do you wear any jewelry on a daily basis?

RL: I have people ask me that question all the time when they find out that I am a metalsmith, and as funny as it seems I don't. They only thing I really wear on a daily basis are broaches. I have a bunch of my grandmother's broaches, which are more along the lines of costume jewelry but I love them.

FIB: Are there other mediums you enjoy working with as well?

RL: Most recently I have fallen in love with enamel paint. I am not a painter but the feel and look of enamel paint just intrigues me. I have also been doing embroidery work for a little over a year now and I still enjoy taking photographs, which is what I first studied in school before switching to metals.

FIB: If someone, one thousand years from now, excavated your work what do you believe his or her reaction would be? How would you wish them to respond?

RL: I think his or her reaction would be that the work is very unique. I guess I would hope that they would see some sort of beauty in it or find a connection with it in some way. My hope is that people will see my work and they will be pulled in by it but also really question what it is all about.

FIB: What are you working on now?

RL: Right now I have quite a few different ideas written down on paper but have not yet started. I have recently begun to do embroidery work again and I would like to start incorporating that into my metal work. I also been working with a friend to create a book made completely out of metal. This is an idea that I have had for sometime now and am really excited to actually get it started.

by Ariel Radock

artist's website :: marabaker.com 

Fill In The Blank Gallery: When did you start creating these installations and where did the idea originate?

Mara Baker: It all started in a Jewish Deli. In my second year of graduate school I was struggling with direction in my work and was really grasping for any idea to move forward with. I went out to lunch with some friends and over the course of the meal I started playing with my soda straw. I wondered how long a straw I could make and still physically be able to suction liquid from my glass. I then started thinking about the fragility of my imaginary straw. Would it flop around, would it develop kinks? I went to the local grocery store, bought 7 or 8 boxes of cocktail straws and started working. Initially, I was not thinking of creating large-scale installations but rather small, manageable straw structures. The complications began immediately. Cocktail straws have very little structural integrity and I had no idea how to connect them one to another. I tried every single type of glue and tape at home depot, Walgreens and any other craft/hardware store I could think of. Although I was incredibly frustrated, I was intrigued by the absolute unsuitability of the materials I had chosen for the structure I was trying to build. The decision to use water pumps was a direct result of the fact that I could not create a completely airtight straw system. The inevitability of leaking made me want to hijack this flaw and showcase it. I started to think more conceptually about the functionality of my materials and the inherent impossibilities of my machines functioning properly. As I became more adept at making airtight systems the installations became more ambitious. I was always trying to put the proverbial last straw on the camels back.

FIB: What type of materials are best to achieve a tentative operational failure? How do the materials differ with every installation?

MB: I have a couple of criteria when it comes to materials. First and foremost the material must have some visual integrity. For example, all of the straw systems on their most basic level are formal line drawings in space. Secondly, I prefer to use materials that have an intimate human connection. For example, we put our lips on straws (Weather Systems) or we use kitchen sponges to clean our dishes and our houses (Even the Kitchen Sink, 2008). I like the mundane and part of my job as an artist is to retain the essence or basic intrinsic functionality of my materials while at the same time transforming them into something magnificently other. Tentative operational failure is achieved by really paying close attention to the strengths and weaknesses of any given material. For instance, a straw is made of extremely flimsy plastic meant for one time use. This is a weakness. The ‘one time use’ aspect plays directly into how I build the system. I combat the weakness (e.g. reinforce the flimsy plastic with very strong surgical tape), with full knowledge that I will never be able to completely correct or eradicate the weakness. I am thus guaranteed some level of failure. In the interest of full disclosure, I have built systems that did not function at all. However, I have also built systems that functioned too well. What side of the equation I end up on in any given project is a matter of practiced trial and error.

FIB: Technology is prevalent in our everyday lives. Do you feel that it is satirical for you to create an intentional transitory apparatus?

MB: Satire might be the wrong word. However, the work is definitely confronting or rubbing up against ideas of technology. The transitory nature of the installations ultimately is about history, process, cause and effect and ultimately loss. I adore physicality, which in most cases inevitably leads to deterioration. Infrastructure, bodies, things in general, all deteriorate. One of my favorite books currently is The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman. Chapter by chapter it traces what would happen to our world if we were to simply disappear tomorrow. He talks in great detail about the technological systems we have developed to control the natural world. His conclusion: our roads, underground subways, canals (and the list goes on) would quickly return back to an altered but natural ecosystem. I embrace this apocalyptical scenario in my work.

FIB: Would it be of importance if the viewer did not observe the device in action? Can the installation and its derivative be viewed interchangeably or do they need to be witnessed as one? Do you view them as separate?

MB: All of the systems I have built purposefully run for just minutes every day. Part of the reason for this is purely practical. The system breaks down slower with less use and exhibitions tend to run for at least a month. However, the other larger consideration is conceptual. Making the action of the water pumps in minute increments allows the installation to function on both an experiential and analytical level.

When the systems are turned on the straws and tubing shake with the pulse of the water pressure. The overall impression is of something incredibly unstable and volatile. How the system functions and fails is on full display. When the system is inactive, the viewer is given less information and thus has to come up with their own conclusions as to how the system functions. One of my favorite parts of building these complex installations is observing audience response. I enjoy when the viewer has to become a detective of sorts. I have succeeded if they are curious enough to try to figure out what is happening. In this viewing scenario, the work becomes less about action and more about the history of the action and the residue. Ultimately, I believe the work can successfully function as pure action, derivative of the action or any combination of the two.

FIB: There is great beauty to be found within catastrophes. Do you feel that opposites are necessary for one another to exist?

MB: Just yesterday, I was almost drooling over photos I found of the recent fires in California on the New York Times website. However, as I was drooling, I was also incredibly uncomfortable with my gleeful reaction to images of debilitating natural disaster.

My most recent body of drawings, deterioration of:, derives inspiration from the effects of natural disasters on both public and personal infrastructure. My main sources of imagery come from flickr accounts found on the web. I find this personal documentation reflects an obvious sense of loss as well as a fascination with the confounding terror and beauty of the natural world. What leads a person who has just seen their home or property destroyed by the natural forces of nature to take a picture? Is it a need to memorialize? Is there an underlying fascination at the brutality and sheer force of nature? I have found myself more and more looking at the monumental works of artist’s such as Frederic Edwin Church and being wooed by ideas of the sublime. I am uneasy yet drawn to the great beauty found in catastrophe. My gut reaction is that opposites are necessary for one another to exist. Yet I am also glad that I struggle continually with this concept.

FIB: Temporal art is created to intentionally expire. Although your installations are set up to deconstruct, you arrive at a product of inevitable abstraction. How do you feel about this concept?

MB: Good. The work is about much more than temporality or deconstruction. I believe strongly in the experiential potential and power of conceptual, site-specific work. I am also convinced that my work must be driven by both conceptual and visual concerns equally. The abstractions created by the installations are random is some ways, but are also curated. I have a good idea of what kind of residue will happen.

When I finish an installation I take away every residue that will easily leave the site. If drywall pulls of the wall, I take it with me. I am interested in abstraction that reveals a history. The residues come back into my studio where I can derive new meanings and create new works from the leftovers.

FIB: What sort of images have viewers told you they see in your work? What do you see? Is it necessary to see anything at all?

MB: I get a lot of comments about bodily fluids and stains. Some of my other favorites include, a science project gone wrong, arteries, plumbing, tears, cleansing and catharsis. It is not necessary to see anything. I hope that the viewer makes the connection with the process and the action.

FIB: Do you find enjoyment in unpredictability?

MB: I have a love/ hate relationship with unpredictability. My personality is very ‘plan’ or ‘agenda’ oriented and to let go of a predictable, stable outcome is hard work. I went through a stage in my first year of graduate school where I planned everything. The work was meticulous with no surprises. Eventually, I got bored. I have found that my artistic process is reliant on curveballs. I am good at problem solving and my most interesting work happens when something ‘goes wrong’.

FIB: What’s next for you?

MB: I have finished the weather system installation series. I continue to make mini-disaster situations in my studio, but I am focused more on the residue bi-product. As mentioned earlier, I am working on a series of drawings derived from amateur documentation of natural disasters found on flickr. The drawings have allowed me to layer my own manufactured disasters into a history of actual disasters. I am slowly but surely gaining momentum to turn this work into site-specific installations.

by Ariel Radock

artist's website :: kylehbryant.blogspot.com

Fill in the Blank Gallery: What are your work habits? Do you have any specific routines or superstitions while producing art?

Kyle Bryant: I wake up most days around 11 or 12, make coffee and drink it while watching the family of swallows that fly near my eighth floor balcony. I take it easy for a while and then sneak onto the train to my studio around 2 oclock. I try to skate a little every day just to get my mind off of work for a while. When you make your hobby your profession it leaves a serious gap in your free time. By evening I make it to the studio and get to work. If I arrive too early I just end up smoking a lot of cigarettes and pacing around. I think my muse gets in kind of late, and the later I stay the more productive I am.

FIB: Where do you work and what is your process?

KB: Right now I have a studio near Alexanderplatz in Berlin. I'm currently participating in an artist residency. My work right now is focused mostly on the architecture of Berlin. It's really interesting to see the contrast between the Eastern Berlin architecture which all looks the same, and the West Berlin stuff that is equally boring but more unique. The interesting parts of Berlin are mostly in the details and the ignored places.

The work itself is made of woodcut prints. I carve the prints when I need to chill out. I just open the windows and listen to the trains at the station on the other side of the river. It's nice to hear such repetitive sounds when doing such a repetitive task. After I print the blocks I start cutting the prints up to collage them into new pieces. The physical process is pretty simple, finding new relationships between the buildings from different prints is the fun part.

FIB: How do you determine an idea for a piece? What is your inspiration?

KB: I don't really sit down and think about an idea, I usually just sit down and get to work. I think my concepts come from what is going on in my mind when I start working on something and eventually that concept starts to take hold of the piece that it was born from. There is a very harmonious relationship between the theme of a piece and it's form, they are usually born from each other.

FIB: Do you generate ideas through preliminary drawings or is it more ephemeral?

KB: My process is really ephemeral, I usually just sit down and get to work. What happens as a result is usually something I can use, and when it's not I just move on to the next thing. I never do preliminary drawings unless I'm just doing it to keep my hands busy.

FIB: Where do you get the images used in your art?

KB: The imagery comes from going for a bike ride, or a long walk, with my digital camera around Berlin or wherever else I am living. Lately I have found a lot of interesting interpretations of buildings in reflections so I have been taking pictures of car windows.

FIB: Why a black and white color scheme?

KB: I am a minimalist at heart. I strive to keep things simple, I like my coffee black and my whiskey on ice. I also think black and white comes as a by product of the printmaking process. On another level I think the graphic nature of black and white works well as a contrast to the sensory overload that we encounter every day. Advertisements are designed to grab our attention so often they use incredibly saturated colors and loud motifs. I don't want my work to get lost in that world. I am working to create my own world that doesn't immediately reach for the visual language of the world around us.

FIB: What spatial planning do you formulate in relationship to your work? Is it a well thought out pattern or purely organic overlapping?

KB: Most of the time I have absolutely no plan when I start something. I might have a basic idea of shape, or some sort of compositional device that I want to try, but most of the time I find a lot of excitement and enjoyment in the surprises that manifest themselves through the process. Even I'm just doodling or something I just start and let it create itself. I often think that I am much less an artist than a vessel through which artistic energy travels. My work is constantly surprising me and I think that is what keeps me interested in it.

FIB: How long do you typically work on a piece?

KB: I work on it until I think it's done. I don't think about things in terms of time because I don't really believe in time in the sense of a clock, I think of it as moments and memories. I tried to start wearing a watch recently, and the sound of the second hand made me go crazy so I left the watch on a ledge for someone else to find. Time is infinite and it doesn't make sense to me to try to note these specific measurements to keep track of it.

FIB: How do you know when it is complete?

KB: A piece is complete when I can't figure out what else to do with it and everything works harmoniously for me and the piece. If a piece is missing something I will work it until it has what it needs to be healthy and then I leave it to grow into it's own being. It's a lot like raising a child, not that I would know anything about that, but you create this thing, you take care of it until it is old enough to stand on its own and then you come back to it and see how it has changed since your initial conception of it. Pieces change with time, your way of looking at them changes, and after a while you may not even recognize it anymore.

FIB: What elements of an urban environment entice you?

KB: I grew up in a small New England mill town that had this really small "urban center". I found myself hanging out there exploring a lot, constantly searching for new skate spots and in that exploration I found a lot of graffiti, abandoned spaces and new places that I could use for my own purposes.I find that a lot in the cities I have lived in. I think cities give people the opportunity to thrive in creating their own realities. I enjoy discovering new places that I haven't been before, new details, new skate spots, new tags, new stores, new people, new everything. It is the unexpected that keeps me interested in cities.

FIB: What initially sparked your interest in this series? How long have you worked on this concept? How has it evolved?

KB: I started working on this project in the fall of 2008. I had this awful job at the time. I came home one day and I was totally furious about having spent 10 hours at this place and missing a date with my girlfriend at the time because they didn't let me out when I was supposed to leave. I saw this woodblock that I had been drawing sitting on my desk and decided to calm down by carving it. I sat down until three in the morning carving this thing and went to sleep excited to pick up where I left off in the morning. I spent 20 hours carving it and decided that was what I wanted to focus on for the next "block" of my lifespan. I quit my job the next day by putting up signs that said closed during construction on the store and moved to New York City. I spent all of my time there carving blocks, printing them, and eating really good vegan food. Making little prints got boring so I started cutting them up and making cool shapes for city spaces out of them. I had so much fun doing this that I haven't looked back since.

FIB: What architectural features attract you the most and why?

KB: I like the textures of tall buildings, the repeated patterns of balconies, windows, lines of different elements coming together, and the skeleton of buildings under construction. I like the small details in shorter buildings, window moldings, roofs, fire escapes, intircate facades, and ornamental doors. I like texture and detail a lot. I also really like the contrast between how imposing tall buildings can be how intimate a three story apartment can be.

FIB: What is your connection with the depictions of cities in your work? Is it a negative attitude or a more positive and hopeful one?

KB: I don't try to portray the city in one particular light. I think at times it comes across negatively, my aesthetic tends to be aggressive and negative. The places that I create are so densely built up and it doesn't leave much room for anything natural. Growing up surrounded by nature I was always drawn to anything that resembled a city. I think I wanted to be around the tall buildings and away from the trees. As I grow older I want to have both, but I tend to only focus on the architecture in a city, which through my work creates a kind of glorified metropolis.

FIB: What do you wish to convey to those viewing your art?

KB: I want to convey a sense of urgency, chaos and density. I think the modern way of life is too fast and people don't know how to slow down, myself included. There are never any people in my cities. People do not play an important part in the work which is relative to the isolation that people create around themselves in cities these days. As we grow more connected through technology we become less connected in a lo-tech sense. I hope to convey this strange feeling of having to do things, but not knowing why or for whom you are doing those things.

FIB: What advice would you give to emerging artists?

KB: As an emerging artist myself I would just say work, work really hard, and try to show as much as you can.

FIB: What’s next?

KB: I am planning to start populating the cities that I make with people that I would like to hang out with: skateboarders, pretty girls, people who relax in parks, basically the people that I hang out with now. I exist in two realities, the real and the work, both of which can seem isolating. I would prefer to make my work feel more like a party, with lots grilling, skate spots, hip hop music and dancing. You can come if you want to, just be cool about it.

FIB: What would you like to accomplish in the future?

KB: Synchronicity.