1 When did you start to make art?
I took some art classes in elementary school, but that was mostly life drawing stuff. It wasn’t until I discovered records and music that I really took it seriously. Maybe it was around the age of 13? I used to go to the record store and come home and design record covers for the bands. That’s the first stuff I made that I would really consider art. I mean…I spent time on it and considered it a personal expression.
2 How did you evolve into a professional artist?
It was a slow process. I guess the first real show I had was showing my art on the first Lollapalooza tour in 1992. Perry Farrell from Janes Addiction put an ad out in a magazine that they were looking for artists to show their art on the tour. I sent in some photos and I got accepted! I toured with the Lollapalooza tour on the East Coast of the US. The line up was Janes Addiction, Rollins Band, Ice-T and Body Count, Nine Inch Nails, Siouxie and the Banshees and Living Color. I was only 21, but it felt pretty professional to me at the time. I guess it’s just grown from there.
3 What drove you to make art as a professional vocation?
I think art chose me. I never set out to be a professional artist. I t was never even really a consideration. I just sort of became drawn to creative people and they supported me and next thing I know I was an artist too.
4 Explain your inspiration?
Oh I can really be inspired by anything. I like looking at the world in all it’s different factions. It’s not like one scene or one aesthetic is more important to me than another. I’m really into the soup of life. I suppose I find myself constantly being drawn to people who have a rebellious spirit…that can mean either people from the current day or heroes of mine from the past. Sometimes it’s much more simple than that though. I was really admiring the mosiac tile work in the Los Angeles airport the other day and in some ways that affected me as strongly as the writings of Marcel Duchamp ever have. I guess I’m just trying to say that I look at the world. I look at all its aspects and I love it all.
5 In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
I keep a giant cork board above my desk that has about two years worth of ideas pinned onto it. To any outside viewer these things might seem totally abstract, but to me each and every element is a signifier of something. Sometmes it’s just an energy, sometimes a sketch, sometimes a mock-up of a work in progress. I find that I work things out on this board and it is here that most slivers of an idea become manifest into a full-blown project. I also always carry a notebook in my back pocket and many things start very simply there as well. I find that in most things I do, in almost every media there is a formula to completion. It starts with raw material, then a rough sketch, then some sort of loose assembly, then editing, editing and more editing and finally it ends with a final product.
6 From Ideas to production of art – how? And why?
I can’t really answer the why. It’s like a need. There’s no real explanation for me as to why I am an artist. I just am. It’s just what I do. In terms of how, I kind of just answered that, but maybe the how is connected to the why. Artists see things in a special way. When you look at the world in a particular way the “how” of it all just kind of manifests itself. It’s like a mimicry of nature.
7 Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
I’ve been wanting to try my hand at choreography for some time now. I tried to put something together in the realm of dance last year, but due to numerous circumstances the project stalled. It’s still something I think about quite often though.
8 Which artists would you most like to blatantly rip off?
Good question!! Jean Cocteau without a doubt! I love everything he did. Maybe the Velvet Underground? William Klein’s films are highly copy-able as well.
9 Why is your art made?
Mostly as gifts for friends actually. Sometimes I give it to them, sometimes not…but usually someone inspires the creation.
10 What does being an artists mean to you?
I look at it as a responsibility…almost a duty. I’m always surprised actually when artists don’t feel this way. I look at art museums as the places that hold the truest interpretaions of human history in the world! I believe artists are the great historians. It is our job to tell the story of our times.
11 Are you happy with your reasons for making art? i.e Are there any trade offs that make life hard?
Most of the time I am very happy. Even doing this nterview makes me happy. Making art is like a therapy for me. It calms me down when I’m having a hard time and inspires me to be a better person. I think life is hard for everyone. I’m not so sure that artists have a harder time of it than people in other professions. I think that artists just talk about it more. It shows up in films, in paintings, in song. We have this view that the artists’ life is one of struggle, but I think everyone’s life is a struggle. I’ll bet plumbers hurt too.
12 When does your art become successful?
That is a question I always find very hard to answer. I guess when you don’t own it anymore? When the things you make become part of a public vernacular? Maybe that means that you have done your job well?
13 What is art?
No comment.
14 How do you start the process of making work?
I pull out a big can of white latex house paint and cover whatever surface I’m about to conquer with an all-over blanket of white. This is the case in paintings, but also in a metaphorical sense with all the mediums I work in.
15 Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?
I have a team of consultants I work with who determine the values of my work. When I finish a piece, I usually hold a small tea party and invite all my experts over and then a discussion and debate ensues. By the end of the afternoon the works are priced and everyone goes home feeling very satisfied.
16 What is your next; move,project,show etc?
I’m currently living in Portland starting a television network with Wieden & Kennedy advertising. Also I’m about to open an art school for high-school kids in Los Angeles.
17 What are the pros and cons of the art market?
Sales vs. no sales I guess. That’s a hard question to answer. Sorry.
18 Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
I think the school would be a pretty cool thing to be remembered for.
19 Any routine in making your artwork? If so what?
N/A
20 What has been the biggest break in your career?
Oh man…there have been so many. I’ve never had a big break actually, just lots and lots of small breaks that have added up to a big one.
21 Who has been the biggest influence on you?
There isn’t really one person. All the incredible artists that I have come into contact over the years have been the biggest influence on me for sure. I constantly look at the way the creative people around me manage their lives, their gifts, their careers and I learn something from each and every one of them. I consider myself very lucky for this.
22 How many artworks have you given away and to whom?
I’ve given away probably thousands and thousands. I could never list all the people who have stuff. If I had it my way I would give everything away.
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