Art Space Talk: Don Ritter

Don Ritter is a Canadian artist and writer living in Berlin, Germany. Since 1986, he has created electronic artworks that audiences control with their bodies, voices, or music. His large scale video-sound installations have been been exhibited at festivals and museums throughout Europe, North America and Asia, including SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico, Metrònom in Barcelona, Ars Electronica in Linz, Sonambiente Sound Festival in Berlin, New Music America in New York, and ArtFuture 2000 in Taipei. He is considered a pioneer of interactive video-sound installations and performances.

Vested, interactive video and sound installation, 13 x 15m, work in progress

Brian Sherwin: Don, I understand that you were born in Canada. You are currently living in Berlin, Germany. How did moving to Berlin make an impact on your art? Did you move to Germany for your work?

Don Ritter: Yes, I was born in Camrose, a small city near Edmonton, Alberta. I also lived in Toronto, Boston, Montreal or Brooklyn between 1979 and 2005, and in 2006 I moved to Berlin. My move to Germany was important for my art career because for the previous sixteen years I had been a full-time professor of art; now I can focus completely on my art activities.

Culture and art are very important to many people in Germany, especially in Berlin, making it an invigorating place for anyone in the arts. The country has a very intellectual and serious approach to culture and it seems especially fond of artworks that are dark and brooding, such as those by Max Beckmann, George Grosz, or Joseph Beuys. I am not sure if Berlin provides more opportunities to an artist than one living in New York City, but it offers a rich cultural environment and a large studio at a lower cost.

Since I began exhibiting in 1988, my work has always received support from Europe--especially from Germany-- but the main reason I moved to Berlin was because of a personal relationship with a Berlinerin that started in 2003.

FIT, interactive video and sound installation, 5 x 9 m, 1993

BS: Don, you are considered a pioneer of interactive video-sound installations and performances. Since 1986 your works have been exhibited at festivals and museums throughout North America, Europe and Asia. With that said, can you recall your early years... how did you get your start?

DR: I had been drawing, painting and making sculptures since I was six years old, but I was also interested in electronics—especially audio and video equipment. I was repairing the family television set at ten years old, and by high school I was an audiophile. I started oil painting when I was seventeen and copied Van Goghs and Picassos. After completing high school, I studied electronics engineering at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, hoping this background would support my future art interests. After I completed these studies, I worked for the telecommunications company Northern Telecom in Toronto. I worked in an engineering department on the design of telephone switching systems, large electronic boxes that connect together thousands of telephones, but I would paint in the evenings and on weekends.

I had a few exhibitions in Toronto during those days, and some of my friends and engineering colleagues bought my paintings. After three years working in telecommunication design, I started studying fine arts at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. I also started a second degree in psychology at Waterloo with a concentration in social psychology.

During my fine art studies, I painted, sculpted, and made a few installations with sound. My favorite professor at Waterloo was artist Basia Irland, who now teaches at the University of New Mexico. During my summer breaks, I worked for Bell-Northern Research (BNR) as a human interface designer. My colleagues at BNR were mostly European industrial psychologists who specialized in human cognition and perception. That experience was very important to my development as an artist because it led to my understanding of human interfaces, which I would later use within my interactive installations. My artworks during this time tended to be very organic and they usually contained human forms, but no electronics. My influences included Joseph Beuys, Eva Hesse, William de Kooning, Francis Bacon, and Titian.

Defenestration, interactive video and sound installation, 5 x 8 m, work in progress

BS: Don, I've read that you've studied film at Harvard University. Who were your mentors during that time? Also, care to give our readers more information about your academic past? Where did you study... have you taught as well?

DR: After I finished the undergraduate degrees at Waterloo, I began my graduate studies in 1986 at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was officially a student of CAVS, but I also took classes at the Harvard Carpenter Center and the MIT Media Lab, a research facility that focuses on new media technologies. Since the 1960’s, CAVS has a history of artists using video, lasers, holograms, and many other technologies. Artists who had been in residence at CAVS included Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman, Peter Campus, and Antonio Muntadas.

I first started combining my interest in art, technology, and psychology at MIT in the form of videotapes, electronic music, video installations, and computer animation. My primary professors during those studies were artist Otto Piene (MIT), film maker Richard Leacock (MIT), and film theorist Vladimir Petric (Harvard). MIT and Harvard are sister institutions, so students at one institution can take classes at the other.

Petric had a sincere enthusiasm about film and life, and through him I learned about cinematography and film history. Through Leacock, I learned how to make documentary videos, which would became important for documenting my installations. Otto Piene is a German artist who has a long history of working with technology in the creation of very large artworks. Otto was the director of CAVS and my primary advisor.

In my final semester, I developed a software, called Orpheus that enabled video to be controlled by live music or sensors. I used this software to create my master’s thesis, a 30 x 30 ft interactive video installation titled Stithy (1988). Orpheus became the technical basis of my work for many years.

At MIT, I also made interactive performances that featured video controlled by live music. My primary collaborator was trombonist George Lewis, an improviser and pioneer of interactive music. In conjunction with an electronic music class, our first performance was presented at the MIT Media Lab in 1988. Between 1988 and 1990, George and I performed at various new music festivals in US, Canada and Italy, including New Music America (NYC) and the Verona Jazz Festival.

I held full-time positions as a professor of art at Concordia University (Montreal) from 1989 to 1996 and at Pratt Institute (Brooklyn) from 1995 to 2005. I taught BFA and MFA students the use of new media technologies to create videos, animations, web sites, digital images, and installations. My main responsibilities at Pratt were to supervise MFA theses and develop curriculum for the artistic, non-commercial use of new media. I worked with many outstanding students at both schools.

BS: Since those early years your work has made a huge impact. For example, your installation Intersection (created in 1993) has been experienced by over 600,000 people in seven countries. How does it feel to know that so many people have interacted with your work?

DR: I am very happy that Intersection has been so well received over the years, and that it is still being exhibited today. Intersection is a very experiential work. Visitors respond to it quite emotionally and they find the work either funny or frightening.

Intersection, interactive sound installation, dark space, 16 x 13m, 1993

BS: Don, Intersection is one of your most widely exhibited works. Intersection is an interactive sound installation presented in a large dark room. The work presents the sounds of four lanes of car traffic that respond to audiences by screeching to a halt, idling, accelerating or crashing into each other. Can you recall your thoughts behind this piece? What inspired you to create it?

DR: Although I had used audio in previous works, Intersection was my first sound installation. The idea behind Intersection is based on an experience I had as a teenager. I was walking down a street one evening and encountered two freight trains that were stopped on parallel tracks crossing the street. To continue on my way, I crawled over the first train; when I was standing between the trains--which were less than three feet apart--they both started moving in opposite directions. Fearing I might be hit by something sticking out from a train car, I lay down on the ground, parallel to the trains while they increased in speed. This situation went one for a few minutes until the last cars had passed. It was quite frightening because I didn’t know if I would get hurt or not. I didn’t get hurt, but it was still a stupid thing to do.

Intersection is a reference to that experience, but not in a literal sense. It refers to our fear of the unknown, the fear of not knowing if we have encountered something harmful. The installation is exhibited in a completely dark room, usually 45 x 40 ft. After entering the installation, people hear four lanes of car traffic traveling across the room and through the darkness. If people intersect with a passing car as they move across the room, the car will screech to a halt and remaining idling in front of them. If a person moves away from the path of a stopped car, it will accelerate and continue across the room. If a person remains in front of a stopped car for more than a few seconds, the sounds of subsequent cars traveling down that lane will smash into the stopped car.

Vox Populi, interactive video and sound installation, 13 x 15m, 2005

BS: Don, one of your most recent works is titled Vox Populi, an interactive video installation that enables audience members to become leaders by reading political speeches to a large projection of a cheering crowd. Can you tell our readers about the motives you had behind this piece?

DR: Vox Populi was completed in 2005, but the idea developed around 1994. The installation enables visitors to feel like leaders while reading political speeches from a lectern to a video projected crowd. The lectern has a microphone and also a computer screen containing historical political speeches. As a person reads a speech within the installation, a computer analyzes the speaker’s voice, determines the speed of the scrolling speech, and selects the response of the video projected crowd as being supportive or not. The specific speeches used in the installation are less important to me than having visitors feel like leaders, like they are controlling others through their speeches. The installation uses one or three video projections, depending on the size of the space. When it was shown at SITE Sante Fe in 2005, three video projections were used to create a 45 x 12 foot video image of a screaming crowd—it was very intimidating.

o telephone, 8 channel interactive sound installation, 6 x 6m, 2007

My most recent work is o telephone (2007), an interactive sound installation. Within o telephone, six modified 1960’s telephones are arranged in a circle within a darkened room and each randomly rings with a distinctive sound. If a viewer answers a ringing phone, "om" is heard through the handset and through the body of the phone. When viewers answer other ringing phones, the resulting "om" sounds will pan through all the answered phones and create a circle of audio traveling around the viewers. If no ringing telephones are answered, the telephones spontaneously begin a new composition comprised of "om" sounds. The idea for this work came from my yoga practice while living in Brooklyn. Hearing twenty people chant "om" is a very calming experience. According to Hinduism, "Om" is the sound of existence.

o telephone, 8 channel interactive sound installation, 6 x 6m, 2007

BS: Don, your work was initially recognized by institutions associated with new media art, such as Ars Electronica and MIT, but it now receives more recognition from museums and festivals of contemporary art. What do you think caused this shift in interest?

DR: I think there are a few reasons for this change. Since the early 1990’s, many of the international festivals that focus on new media art have become increasingly interested in commercial applications of digital technologies and less interested in work containing a fine art component. Also, many of the smaller new media festivals cannot accommodate large or costly installations. Intersection is relatively expensive to exhibit because the organizer must prepare a completely dark room, provide a multi-channel sound system, ship my equipment, provide my transportation and accommodation, etc. It seems that fine art venues are more able to afford my work. Also, I think the humanistic aspect of my work is of more interest to fine art venues than new media ones.

I used to aggrandize the technologies within my installations, but I now downplay their role. I still spend thousands of hours dealing with the technical construction of my works, but I am now more interested in how my works are relevant to audiences. For me, the medium of an artwork is less important than its meaning. I think this perspective is also of more interest to the fine art world than the new media art scene.

I have spoken to many new media curators regarding the acceptance of new media art into the contemporary art world, and most say that it has not happened to a great degree. I think the reason for this situation is that new media art is often evaluated according to its technology, while contemporary art is usually judged according to its relationship with art history. When I exhibit at a new media venue, people are always interested in which technology I use--such as the model of computer—but fine art venues are relatively unconcerned about those details.

Digestion, interactive video and sound installation or performance, 5 x 10m, 2003

BS: Dottie Indyke (ARTnews) stated the following about your work-- "Ritter's play with his viewers' phobias recalls the anxiety-provoking tendencies of Surrealism.". With that said? Would you say that there is a great deal of psychology within the context of your work? What are your motives behind revealing-- or exploring-- the human condition? The majority of new media work is about the technology itself... why do you choose to study the human condition by utilizing technology?

DR: I think all artworks are about psychology, not just my own, because all artworks relate to how humans behave and think. I consider all media as mechanisms for promoting certain entities, making them more authoritative, more powerful, and wealthier. Artworks from the Italian Renaissance promoted the Papacy using imagery from the Bible, while contemporary works use modern imagery to promote something else.

Since 2003, I have been writing a book on media literacy called The e Decision. The content of the text is based on interviews with art curators and information from the fields of art, psychology, philosophy, aesthetics, and new media technologies. The book explores the function of media in general and it proposes that all media—including artworks-- have the same general function: to promote something within a society. In my own artworks, I am less interested in contributing to this social mechanism, preferring instead to talk about the existence of these mechanisms and their functions.

I have always been interested in psychology and considered becoming a psychologist after I competed my BA in psychology. It took many years for me to realize that the content of my artworks are often reflections of social behavior. Within my installation TV Guides (1995), for instance, viewers encounter a living room with a television that plays live commercial broadcasts. In response to any movement by viewers within the installation, the television sound and imagery fade out, followed by text on the screen that requests viewers to remain motionless. The imagery and sound resume only after everyone within the installation is motionless for at least five seconds.

TV Guides, interactive video and sound installation with live television, 8 x 5m, 1995

In many ways, my installations are like narratives with audiences as the actors. At one time, I was obsessed with using technology as an art medium, but I am now more interested in creating works that are meaningful. Artworks usually convey meaning through symbolism--certain imagery, symbols or whatever--but I am interested in conveying meaning by presenting audiences with particular experiences. In TV Guides, people feel the control of television, in Vox Populi they feel control over other people, and in Intersection they feel fear of the unknown.

BS: Don, what are you working on at this time? Do you have any upcoming exhibitions?

DR: I am currently working on a collection of installations called Roman Holidays. The term "Roman Holiday" originates in the 19th century and it refers to any situation where people watch the suffering of others as entertainment, such as the gladiator events of ancient Rome. I see this phenomenon happening today as portrayals of real and fictitious suffering are presented in films, television programs, news programs, newspapers, etc. The installations within the Roman Holiday series will permit audience members to enact suicide through interactive video and sound installations while being watched by other people.

My next exhibition is in Lille, France, October 11 to November 11 at the Maison Folie de Moulins. The festival is called Les Chants Mécaniques, and I will be presenting Intersection and o telephone. In November, I am a speaking about The e Decision at the Interactive Futures conference in Victoria, Canada.

BS: Don, do you have any advice for installation artists who are just starting out?

DR: I think there are many factors that contribute to an installation artist’s success. The ones that I think are important are the following. Know what you want to say through your work and, also, what your audience thinks you are saying. Know your media; get familiar with all the aspects of installation art, including architecture, theater, visual art, music, robotics, and whatever. Know art history and world history, and how it relates to your work. And finally, know the art business and how to interact with audiences and curators. Unfortunately, I am not a master of these items, but I am pretty sure they are all important.

BS: Thank you for answering my questions.

DR: Thank you Brian!

You can learn more about Don Ritter by visiting his website-- www.aesthetic-machinery.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Mark Melvin

Mark Melvin is one of four artists who will be featured in Saatchi's 4 New Sensations exhibit-- a Channel 4 Prize for STUART 2007 graduates. The four were chosen from a selection of twenty finalists. Mark Melvin is currently based in London where he experiments with various cycles and levels of repetition, be it a discussion of the habitual and routine, investigations into recollection and memory or appropriation from popular culture. These loops and repetitions are always fractured by a series of interruptions and reworkings, so that although the pieces are often cycles of appropriated songs, films or words in their entirety, a linear narrative or harmony is always broken, which arrests overlooking the passing of time.

Same Again (A sign from Cyndi)

Brian Sherwin: Mark, you have been chosen as one of Saatchi's 4 New Sensations. How did you feel upon learning that you had been selected? Also, can you tell us anything about the project you plan to create for Channel 4?

Mark Melvin: I was really quite surprised initially to hear I was selected for the final twenty let alone the final four. It’s really quite flattering and unexpected. With regards to the project, I hope to create a new neon work around the themes of the competition itself and continue what is a relatively new way of working for me.

Performance for wallbanger and solo percussion

BS: Mark, can you tell our readers about your background. When did you know that you wanted to be an artist? Where did you study? Who were your mentors and early influences?

MM: From an early age I knew I wanted to be an artist and it was something that I was good at at school. I knew I should pursue this interest and studied from foundation level to MA at Leeds College of Art and Design (UK), Glasgow School of Art (UK), Maryland Institute College of Art and Design (US), Konsthogskolan Valand (Sweden) and then now Central saint Martins College of Art and Design (UK). I think that a real turning point for my practice was during my BA at the Glasgow School of Art where I was taught by many influential people, David Harding, Ross Birrell, Stephanie Smith, Bryndis Snaesbjornsdottir and Peter McCaughey to name a few.

Peter introduced me to the music of Steve Reich during my first year; a composer whose music is concerned with the loop, synchronicity and the changing same. Reading about and around his music laid the foundations for the sculptural, video, collaborative and curatorial work that I have been making to date and my interest in repetition.

My brother, composer Adam Melvin, has also influenced my practice and I have worked on numerous site-specific, cross-disciplinary projects with him and hope to continue our interest in pairing music and visual art. In terms of contemporary artists I think that Pierre Huygue, Martin Arnold, and Christian Marclay, are definitely artists that I find interesting.

BS: Mark, you often experiment with various cycles and levels of repetition-- stating that, "Repetition is the key to an understanding of my practice". With this theme you focus on aspects of habit and routine-- you also investigate recollection and memory. Can you go into further detail about the use of repetition within the context of your work? How would you describe your work to someone who is not familiar with it?

MM: Sure. What I feel can be seen in my pieces through out is a preoccupation with the work as process, and in turn looping, sequence and rhythmic iteration have been prominent in their construction. Repetition is important to my practice and I often experiment with various cycles and levels of repetition. American Minimalist music has especially influenced my approach to video and performance and I have adopted similar cyclical and repetitive compositional tactics to provide structure for the processes in my work.

With my most recent video work I have ventured into the world of cinema both reconstructing and appropriating sections of film. This can be seen as a natural progression from the use of music in my work as I moved to an exploration of the musical as a film genre, amongst others. In pieces like Von Trapped 2005 and Tomorrow Remember Yesterday 2006 my practice has moved towards the familiar territory of popular cinema. Within the last ten years alone, film as a found object for manipulation or recreation has become a prominent genre in contemporary art: from Stan Douglas’s looped re-creation of a scene from Marnie (Subject To a Film: Marnie 1989) to Pierre Huyghe’s shot-by-shot remake of Rear Window (Remake 1995) or in the majority of Douglas Gordon’s work. But, in contrast to those re-enactments of film in contemporary art or cinematic samplings of artists such as Candice Breitz, Martin Arnold or Christian Marclay, I am less interested in narrative or representation than I am in cadence and gesture.

Von Trapped

In my sculptural work I have been exploring the language and formal aspects of signs, editing and accentuating elements in a performative manner. With Applause 2006, I began dealing with the written word and particularly wordplay in relation to signs. The sign is viewed in place of the thing itself, the "thing" existing in the present and simply being referred to by the sign. The sign therefore represents the present in its absence by replacing it. It is essentially a signifier for when we cannot fully experience the thing in the present.

The sign in a sense, could be perceived as a deferred presence. The circulation and distribution of signs defers the moment in which we can encounter the thing itself and interact with it. Whether we look at the signified or the signifier, language has neither ideas nor sounds that exist before the linguistic system itself, but only conceptual and phonic differences issued from it. With this in mind I have developed my sculptural ideas to explore what occurs when the sign becomes itself the "thing" and where language is deliberately constructed to make it difficult for us to encounter the signifier in the absence of the thing; where are initial interpretation is halted by a delay and where the subject of language becomes self referential. This idea of the sign as object is something that is prominent in the works of artists like Bruce Nauman and something I have tried to explore in sculptural works like Stop Making Sense 2007 and Stammer 2007 for example.

Another aspect of my practice is my collaborative practice. Over the last few years I have been working with International musicians and composers on projects, continuing with my interest in combining musical performance and video/installation both in traditional and non-traditional art settings. With these projects we concentrate on the idea of creating cross-disciplinary and often site-specific projects combining music both elements in a manner where no one element musical or visual gains overall prominence. Examples include: 4/4 2003, Speak 2004 and Three Glimpses 2006.

BS: Mark, you often work in collaboration with your brother, composer Adam Melvin. Can you discuss some of the projects you've worked on together? Also, Minimalist music has influenced your approach to video and performance-- would you say that your brother is part of this inspiration?

MM: Well. As I said before, Adam is an influence. Its very hard for us not to influence each other when you work so closely in tandem on these projects. Our projects have been quite prolific working with Juice Vocal Trio and Duo X on recent occasions. I suppose two good examples which show the diversity of our practice are 4/4 2003 and Speak 2004. 4/4 was a site - specific project at the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Museum.

The project designed and curated by myself used the space as both its venue and inspiration, acting as both subject and site for the development of an evolving process. 4/4 was intended to open up the possibilities for musicians and contemporary visual artists to respond to each other, investigating the inspiration for the construction of music and video and attempting to articulate how the two can operate together, where neither is subsidiary to the other.

In constructing a process whereby architecture fed music, music fed video, and video inspired live musical improvisation, the aim of 4/4 was to expose and become the product of the separate stages of its own development. A four minute compositions was made, four artists asked to respond to it in the form of four silent video works and four musicians asked to improvise to the four videos in four performances. The project was a work in itself, dealing with the cyclical and very characteristic of my approach to my solo practice.

Speak 2004 is a multi-media piece which uses video and music in a uniquely intimate way, focusing on and exploring the ways in which the two art forms can be manipulated in close relation to one another. It is something of a theatrical piece in essence, the video element takes the form of a performer in much the same way as each of the musical performers do, working in close dialogue with the singer in particular.

The visual animation assumes the role of a silent performer, complementary yet integral to the performance structure of the piece. The narrative of this video projection comes from and influences that of the musical performance and composition, constructed in the manner of a musical part. The character projected is choreographed to move in and out of sync with both the live vocal performance and musical material at different stages, echoing and mimicking what the audience will see and hear. I think it is quite successful and in a sense influenced my use of language in my new neon works.

BS: Mark, you have noted an interest in Nietzsche’s concept of ‘eternal recurrence’, in Freud’s speculations on the repetition compulsion and the death drive, in Derrida’s discussions of ‘iterability’ and in Deleuze’s theories on repetition and difference. Tell me... what is your personal philosophy in regards to your art?

MM: Yes it is the writings of these philosophers on the subject of repetition that is of interest.
I feel that a temporal category, like repetition, is a subject that can be found in much of contemporary theory. What can be seen from these philosophers is that the question of repetition imposes itself once the idealistic system of thought exhausts its resources and becomes blocked.

In Nietzches theorizing on eternal recurrence, he suggests that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur in the exact same self-similar form an incomprehensible and unfathomable number of times. This theory deals with the idea that we are destined to repeat the same actions, mistakes, etc. again and again and only through clear communication and learning can we possibly create hurdles for inevitability. With this in mind, I have tried to explore the cyclical and repetitive in my practice. In doing so Derrida has also brought up ideas for exploration.

Derrida’s differ(a)nce, for example, a word which belongs neither to the voice nor to writing in the usual sense, and which could be even understood as being located in a space between. The verb differer in French has two meanings, which are quite different. Firstly it can mean to defer and secondly to differ. The double meaning occurs simultaneously so I think it is important to try and understand and explore how differ(a)nce as temporization and differ(a)nce as spacing might be brought together. I suppose I have tried to react to these theories by moving my practice on incrementally with knowledge that each new work should complement my whole body of work so far.

BS: Aside from music and philosophy... what else inspires you?

MM: Film, writing, theatre. I often appropriate texts and films reinterpreting moments from past works.

Applause

BS: Mark, this year you were awarded the Nationwide Mercury Prize Art Prize with your piece "Applause". Can you tell us more about this prize and how you felt upon learning that you had been chosen?

MM: The prize is a competition for student artists and you applied online. The winners work was shown on this years Nationwide Mercury Music Prize album. It was an incredible success and again unexpected. It seemed to be a music related competition and therefore something that I should apply for with the nature of my practice. I felt the selected work, worked well as a kinetic light piece and in documentation for the cover. Its amazing to think that your work will ever appear on the front cover of an album. I walk in music shops now and keep seeing it in multiple. It somehow seems fitting to see it again and again repeated across the shelves.

BS: Mark, I'm certain that you have been very busy lately. Have you found it difficult to find balance between your recent success and remaining devoted to your artistic process?

MM: It has been a successful year for me and it has also been busy. But I believe this success had enabled me to develop my work. I am a driven person and am only trying to keep the momentum so that I can continue to practice as an artist. Its difficult but its what I want to do. The two residencies I carried out during my degree (one in Traverse Theatre Edinburgh and one at CESTA, Tabor, Czech republic) were tough to balance with the degree commitments but I accepted them because they would inform and develop my practice on all levels, which I feel they have.

As soon as I finished my degree I went to Gallery Uhoda in Belgium to work on a new group exhibition with colleagues from University. I have just got back and am full of new ideas for work. I think that these experiences have fueled me to make new work and experiment more. That’s what you hope for as an artist I would have thought. I am thrilled to be given the support to keep going.

BS: Mark, can you tell us about any projects you are planning for the future? Where will your work take you next?

MM: Its hard to say really. Duo X, Adam and I are planning to work on developing a project combining neon and music where the buzz of neon contributes to and intersperses with musical material. This is one of many collaborative ideas Adam and I have been developing.

The show at Uhoda has also spurred Lia, Mike, Marcin and I to seek out spaces to continue our ideas for exhibition. The show worked well and the pieces were complementary to one another. We will certainly be working towards exhibiting together again soon. Ultimately I just hope that people continue to be interested in my practice so that I can continue experimenting with ideas.

Muted Score no. 1

BS: Mark, how do you start a piece? Do you draw up plans? Do you write it out? Tell us†a little about the process itself.

MM: It really depends on the idea and medium. With my video works I often begin with a moment from film, music or text and obsess over it until I find a process to begin production. With my more sculptural works they start life as drawings.

BS: What kind of mediums do you use?

MM: I work predominantly in video, with musical instruments, and neon. I have been known to use other mediums from turntables to mobile phones. I don’t want to restrict myself. My ideas often dictate the appropriate medium to use.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the art world?

MM: I am not sure what else to say really. I have only touched on a few of my works. I could talk for hours about the work but for now its probably time to stop.

You can learn more about Mark Melvin by visiting his website-- www.markmelvin.co.uk. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Myartspace.com: New York, New York, 2007 Competition Winners!

Vincent Como
Minkyung Lee

The New York, New York 2007 Competition winners have been announced. The jurors-- James Rondeau of the Art Institute of Chicago, Jessica Morgan of the Tate Modern, and Steven Zevitas of New American Paintings --selected 50 finalists and then chose 4 winners from that pool. The winners are: Vincent Como, Minkyung Lee, Svetlana Rabey, and Masha Ryskin. Congratulations to all of the winners! A lot of great work was submitted, and, as always, there was not enough room to showcase it all. Thanks to the editorial staff and the jury for the fine work, and thanks to the sponsor, Blick Art Supplies, for their support. You can find out more by visiting the following link: http://www.myartspace.com/contestresults/nyny07/ . You can read my interviews with each of the winners by going to the following page: www.myartspace.com/interviews

Svetlana Rabey
Masha Ryskin

Art Space Talk: Masha Ryskin

We are pleased to announce that Masha Ryskin is one of the four winners of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. She and the three other artists were chosen from a group of 50 finalists. The Myartspace.com team would like to thank the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago), and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings). We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the competition.

Masha Ryskin is a Russian-born painter, printmaker, and installation artist. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has participated in a number of national and international residency programs and has worked in both United States and Indonesia, Finland, Costa Rica, Norway, and Spain. Her work has been featured in a number of publications, most recently in the New York Times.

Coffeescape II (detail), This is a detail of the site-specific wall piece Coffeescape II, 11 ft x 10 ft

Brian Sherwin: Masha, you are one of the Finalists of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. How does it feel to know that the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago, and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings) selected you as a winner?

Masha Ryskin: I am really happy and flattered to have been chosen as one of the winners.

BS: Masha, tell us about the work you submitted. Why did you decided on those five images?

MR: This is one of my latest works and one I am the happiest with. I used the detail shots that I thought highlighted different aspects of the installation.

Coffeescape II (detail 2), 11 ft x 10 ft, coffee, intaglio, collage

BS: Masha, the media that you use ranges from painting and printmaking to installation. Can you tell us about your educational background? Who were you mentors? Also, what artists have influenced your work?

MR: My education is in traditional painting, followed by a Bachelor's degree in printmaking, and later an MFA in painting and mixed media. I also started working with fibers in graduate school. There really are too many mentors to mention here - I have been very fortunate - but the two wonderful people that I still turn to are Joanne Stryker from Rhode Island School of Design and Randy Williams from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

BS: Masha, you were raised in the Soviet Union. You now live in the United States. Can you tell us more about your background and how it has shaped you into the artist you are today?

MR: It was quite a difference to experience the education in the United States after the Soviet schools. The variety of things I was exposed to in this country was unbelievable. But, at the same time, I always draw on the foundation received in Moscow.

Coffeescape II (detail 3), 11 ft x 10 ft

BS: Masha, you have stated that your painting are like imaginary landscapes and that some of them are influenced by Russian folklore. Can tell us more about these paintings and the stories behind them?

MR: Well, there is not an overt narrative in my paintings, but the idea of a journey is always present. I use elements of nature as metaphors, in a subtle way.The personification of nature and especially trees is central in the Russian folklore.

BS: Masha, aspects of nature are a constant theme in your work. Why do you feel so connected to nature? Can you explain that connection?

MR: I grew up on the eighth floor of a concrete building in Moscow, so my encounters with nature were always very special.

Coffeescape II (detail 4), This is a detail of Coffeescape II, 11 ft x 10 ft, coffee, intaglio, collage

BS: Masha, I've read that you have collaborated with other artists. Can you tell us about some of the collaborations you've been involved with? Why do you enjoy working in this manner?

MR: Collaboration really allows you to step out of your comfort zone, and, if you work well with the other person, enriches your work tremendously. I have collaborated with Margaret Yuko Kimura, a printmaker who now lives in Cleveland, for about ten years now. We have complete trust in each others judgments, which opens up a lot of doors during our work together. I think it is difficult to find a collaborator you can work with well, so I really treasure the opportunity to work with Margaret. I have also collaborated with musicians and dancers.

BS: Masha, tell us about your studio space? Do you follow a routine when you are working on your art? Also, can you tell us more about your artistic process?

MR: I have a studio at my house and also get a lot of work done at artist residencies. I do not follow any specific routine, and my work is very intuitive, the pieces undergo many changes before they become final. I usually work on many pieces at a time.

Coffeescape II, This is a site-specific piece done directly on the wall, 11 ft x 10 ft, coffee, intaglio, collage

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

MR: Not at the moment but anybody who has further questions is welcome to contact me through my Myartspace page.

Thank you reading my interview with Masha Ryskin. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Vincent Como

We are pleased to announce that Vincent Como is one of the four winners of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. He and the three other artists were chosen from a group of 50 finalists. The Myartspace.com team would like to thank the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago), and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings). We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the competition.


Vincent Como focuses on the color black with his work. In a sense, he explores the significance of black through projects that involve drypoint prints, drawings and a cube cast in ink. Vincent creates thought provoking works that blend concept and technique by investigating the artistic, scientific and cultural significance of the color black.

Things in My Studio That Make Black- Every available medium in my studio at the time which makes black, 22 x 30in, Mixed media on paper

Brian Sherwin: Vincent, you are one of the Finalists of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. How does it feel to know that the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago, and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings) selected you as a winner? Where were you at when you found out? Also, why did you decide to enter the NY, NY, Competition in the first place?

Vincent Como: I moved to New York (Brooklyn) about a year ago from Chicago, where I had spent the previous 9 years, so I have been pretty familiar with the exceptional curatorial work James Rondeau has been doing at the Art Institute. I've also been very familiar with the New American Paintings publication for many years and while comparatively, I wasn't nearly as familiar with Jessica Morgan's work, I certainly know about the Tate's programming and reputation. So as far as the decision to enter the competition it was really based on the quality of the Jury. To have an opportunity for these three professionals to view and assess my work was not something I'd pass up willingly, so with regard to my feelings on being one of the four selected by this jury it's definitely an honor.


History Of Painting- Series of 40 drawings chronicling the history of painting as an object, 11 x 8.5 in. each, Gouache and Ink on Paper


BS: Vincent, tell us about the work you submitted. Why did you decided on those five images?

VC: I felt that these particular works represented pretty well the whole of what it is I'm trying to accomplish with Black. Dark Matter relates to the scientific investigations, the History of Painting series of drawings relates to, well the history of painting. Basically taking the idea of contextual elements applied to works of art and exploring their impact on the reading of said work, as it has been done throughout history with different aesthetic stylizations. 4.5 cubic inches (Volume of the inside of my head) is a cast block of sumi ink which corresponds both to the idea of my head being filled with blackness, and also as an independent object a very miniature black "monolith" making reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Things in My Studio That Make Black is an ongoing drawing project which basically describes my studio practice. It depicts the materials I have on hand at the moment to make these Black works, and every few years I have occasion to re-visit the project with a slightly different format and somewhat different materials depending on what I've been working on. Black, Darkness, Matter is a drawing which explores the different facets of my ongoing investigation. Not unlike Solid liquid and gas, these are properties that I am interested in exploring and applying to the work I do.


4.5 Cubic in. (Volume of the Inside of My Head), 4.5x4.5x4.5 in, Cast Sumi Ink


BS: Vincent, what are you working on at this time?

VC: Why, I'm working on making things Black, of course... The Dark Matter drawing is the first in a series of three large-scale drawings accompanied by footnotes containing tertiary information, which reference properties of Black Holes/Dark Matter/Dark Energy so I'm continuing into the second of these, as well as a series of black monochrome paintings utilizing classical oil painting techniques. Then the ever-present research into all things Black, which is a mainstay of my studio practice. I've spent alot of time this past summer reading up on alchemical practices, particularly because of the Mandalas which they generate to describe and categorize different properties and transformations. I've been sketching out some thoughts on how to apply this to mapping out different properties of Black, Darkness, Matter etc. That's the most recent development.

BS: Vincent, tell us about your educational background. Where did you study art? Who were you mentors?

VC: I went through the Cleveland Institute of Art's rigorous 5-year BFA program, majoring in Drawing and also studied alot of Printmaking. I think the instructors I had the most interaction with, and the most discourse with were Holly Morrison, Ralph Woehrman, and Michael Houlihan. All of whom had a focus toward Print/Drawing.

BS: Vincent, what artists-- or art movements-- have influenced your work?

VC: I'm very fond of the Arte Povera Movement which was happening in Italy, with Kounnellis, Merz, Pistoletto etc. I'm very fond of what Spencer Finch is currently doing. I'm really interested in the specifics of his thinking process and how that translates into the works. The obvious influences are the Malevich, Reinhardt, Black Square Mafia who I'm also greatly indebted to.

Dark Matter- The first in a series of large-scale drawings referencing Black Holes accompanied by smaller drawings as "footnotes", 75 x 116 overall, Guoache on paper with additional drawing


BS: Vincent, can you tell us about your artistic philosophy? What are the motives... the thoughts... behind your work?

VC: To put it very simply, I'm really interested in Black. I'm interested both in the challenges of working with what many consider an absolute, and in doing so, I'm interested in how to keep challenging myself to bring in something new to the conversation about black...

BS: Vincent, tell us about your studio space? Do you work in silence or do you listen to music? Do you follow a routine when you are working on your art? What is it like to be in the studio of Vincent Como?

VC: I have a modest studio in Brooklyn that's a pretty straightforward white cube with a wall dedicated to shelves and storage for finished work and supplies. I work directly on a wall for larger pieces and have a table for smaller projects. Pretty much the first thing I do after entering the studio is plug my MP3 player into the speakers, usually before taking off a coat or doing anything else. And yes, there is a great deal of Heavy Metal that can be heard on the other side of my walls, but it all depends on what I'm working on that day, and how well a project is going. So it could vary from Om and Electric Wizard to the Velvet Underground or the Smiths to Bach or Ornette Coleman.

I'm pretty much nothing without a routine. I'm in my studio at some point almost every day and it's the only way I've found that works for me. It took a couple of years out of school to realize that I really needed to put myself in that head-space every day in order to keep the momentum of a project going and to make more fluid the progression from one series or project to the next without a huge gap in the process. So even if I'm spending alot of time reading and researching I try to do it at the studio to be in the space and really engage the space as a dedicated space to "Making things Black".


Black, Darkness, Matter, Mixed Media on Paper


BS: Vincent, can you tell us more about your artistic process? How do you start a piece?

VC: I guess part and parcel to the engagement of the studio space, the beginnings of the works are very often just notes scribbled on index cards as I read or strange blurbs/phases that i hear. There is usually a pretty long gestation period while I'm working on a project the next series is always at the back of my mind, so when I've completed the physical production of a show or series of work I'm pretty well ready to try and answer any questions I've thought of in the interim and get started in laying out the next ones. That's the Cliff Notes version, but it usually happens over the course of several months or for some thoughts even years rolling around in the back of my mind until something sparks and the right thing falls into place.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

VC: I'm pretty pleased with the direction of my work and feel that I have alot of ground to still cover with regard to the focus on Black/Darkness, so I hope a few of the readers will check in from time to time and come along for the ride.




Thank you reading my interview with Vincent Como. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.


Take care, Stay true,


Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Minkyung Lee

We are pleased to announce that Minkyung Lee is one of the four winners of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. She and the three other artists were chosen from a group of 50 finalists. The Myartspace.com team would like to thank the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago), and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings). We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the competition.

The work of Minkyung Lee must be viewed within the context of the complex relationship between identity and place. Minkyung focuses on her situation in relation to her surroundings and to the circumstances that are attributable to the spaces she encounters. Place-- which can be used as a both noun and verb, is about the situation, a process of involvement, and intuitive experience that Minkyung moves from one place to next.

Her photographs could theoretically be a kind of documentation that reveals segments of reality without interpretation. However, still sharing this attitude, her approach is to find a balance between the two extremes by uniting a authenticity with anonymity. In these places, she consciously removes the personal criteria of her social and cultural status, she becomes a nomad who does not leave traces. Minkyung took pictures of actual places that she had lived or passed by and made miniatures of those places. Her images are miniatures of those places.

The Temporal Moment- Foreign Home series, Digital Print

Brian Sherwin: Minkyung, you are one of the finalists of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. How does it feel to know that the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago), and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings) selected you as a winner? Where were you at when you found out? Also, why did you decide to enter the NY, NY, Competition in the first place? Did you feel lucky upon entering, so to speak?

Minkyung Lee: When Brian Skiba called me Wednesday morning, a holiday in Korea, I was on my way to observe Roni Horn’s show in Seoul. It was a mundane morning. Honestly, I felt as if I were in a dream when I got the call. Also, I couldn’t believe that the jurors, very big names in art world, really selected me. A mundane day turned into an unforgettable moment.

Three weeks ago one of my friends talked about MyArtSpace and mentioned the NY, NY, Competition. I was skeptical about the competition, because I applied to competitions thousands of times when I was a graduate student, and never had been selected for anything. At that time my friend told me, "It would be great if we became artists of 40 people in finals." I was persuaded after that. However, I never expected to be one of the four winners. This is a great surprise!

BS: Minkyung, you are an art instructor at Yeungnam University in Deagu, Korea. I understand that you earned you MFA degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Can you explain the difference between how art is instructed in Korea compared to the US... or is there a difference? Are there different viewpoints in Korea about art compared to what you found in the States? Also, would you mind telling us about the department you work in?

ML: I must first tell you that this is my own opinion. In Korea the art education system and curriculum are similar to those in United States. Before undergraduate school, Korean students are trained in basic drawing and painting intensively for a couple of years and that makes a difference. Upon becoming college students they have well-trained hands, but they are often slow to learn how to express their ideas with those skillful hands. In the United States it is different-- when I taught a basic drawing class, at the University of North Carolina, it seemed that most of students knew what they wanted to express even though they had some technical problems. Still at graduate school, one of most important things is the ability to talk about art works. In Korea, maybe it is due to a cultural difference, but graduate students are careful when speaking about the concepts in their artwork.

I teach a basic printmaking class in the Painting Department. The Painting Department is very much like studio art-- including basic photography, basic printmaking, drawing, painting, video, and installation. When teaching the technical course of printmaking I find that one-on-one discussions with students is the most important process in the class.

Hallway, 49 x 67 inches, Digital Print

BS: Why did you decide to travel in order to study art?

ML: I was born and raised in Daegu, a quiet and calm city. It was a good place to live. Because I lived in the same place with the same people for 23 years, I felt living was some kind of habit. I believed art was about the ideas of artists ideas and the story that came from their experience. To me, art is the way to understand oneself, people, and their issues through my experience. I felt limited experience restricted my expression in visual language so I decided to travel. It was good to travel in order to study art. Studying art in various places is the fun way to travel.

BS: Minkyung, before attending Cranbrook you worked as a printmaker and with a camera. After your studies you continued to work with traditional printmaking and with a camera... but you now utilize computers and other methods of artistic creation as well. How did your studies at Cranbrook influence this growth?

ML: I applied to many graduate schools in the United States. During that time I got a lot of reaction about how I was a poorly skilled printmaker and I was not even an amateur photographer. After spending a year at the University of North Carolina, I was accepted to Cranbrook.

During my first day in Michigan I went to the studios in my department and found out there was a big clean room next to the studios. For two years, in that clean room, 14 colleagues and I shared each other’s ideas and critiqued our works freely. In the Print Media Department, we did not care whether works were drawings, paintings, wall papers, fabric sculptures, videos, photos, digitally manipulated prints, or installations. We just talked about the work... what it was about, how it was interpreted. Two processes existed-- working and talking. Critiques allowed me to find out clear and accurate methods visually and conceptually,

Opened Door, 33 x 63 inches, Digital Print

BS: Minkyung, you took part in the Summer Residency program at the School of Visual Art, New York in 2005. How did that experience influence your visual language? What did you study while you were there? Also, who were your mentors at that time?

ML: That summer for the Residency at SVA was memorable due to the expensive dorm room and meeting Cindy Sherman. After the flight from Michigan to New York, I was squeezed into a tiny room crowded with a bed and a desk and spent my first night in New York. Honestly, I was not excited about being in the art Mecca. I was frustrated with the pressure to make good works.

After a couple of days in NY there were visiting artists’ studios planned by SVA. One of the artists was Cindy Sherman. As a person, she looked shy, but as an artist she was passionate. What I was impressed about was the fact that she didn’t have a fancy studio in Manhattan like most big artists. She instead worked in the attic of her house. It gave me an idea that a person was able to decide the use of a space... from there the space would determine a person’s role. After returning to my dorm room I started taking photos of my cleaned and occupied room. That was beginning of the miniature series I have worked with so far.

Judy Linn, a very thoughtful and experienced teacher, and Peter Garfield, a passionate man full of new ideas, were my mentors at that time. They always listened to my concepts with curiosity. They let me learn-- good mentors are good listeners.

BS: Minkyung, you have stated that your work has always been about the question of who we are and how we live. You have went on to say that your work is not just from the situation of being a Korean in America-- instead you focus your interest to know true identities beyond the concept of time, culture, society, country, and situation. Can you go into further detail about this philosophy?

ML: Basically my concept starts from the belief that all human beings live in temporal lives while they desire something more and something eternal. Also, I believe the desire would be the motive force for displacement. Some of my works are the images of dorm rooms, some are interiors of middle class home, and others are images of one bed room apartments. Most images are from my place and from Korean friends living in America that shows American style interior. Like me, they also moved from their home-town or country to a foreign place. Because of my limited choice for the images, there is a possibility that my works reflect the issues of social class, status, culture, certain country and situation. Essentially, the idea is about their displacement in foreign places. The images questions why they have to leave their home, what they are longing for, and what they want to search for in their present dwelling.

The Space for Everyone- Foreign Home series, 104 x 43 inches, Digital Print

BS: Tell us about your artistic process. How does your work get from point A to Point C, so to speak? I understand that you observe your work as a form of documentation-- can you go into further detail about that?

ML: First, I choose a place and take photos of component parts of the place, such as the ceiling, wall, carpet, floor, windows, furniture, and everything in the room. Then through the computer, I reduced the sizes and try to make it close to actual impression of the place. It is like an architect making a small model for his future planned building in a different order and it is the process of preserving the common moment of the room. I might not be able to bring everything to my miniature completely, but the purpose is reappearance of the place.

BS: Minkyung, you have stated the following, "These days I have worked with the notion that people including me who lives in post (maybe post-post) modernism era are all nomads and exiles."... can you go into further detail about that statement and how it is of importance to your work?

ML: In this era, it is believed there is no absolute truth or unchangeable concept. In the theory of knowledge from Buddhism or modern philosophy from western society, the essence might be the changeable personal experience. For example, the monitor I have been watching is not a monitor but something I have known that is a monitor. In this absence of absoluteness, the lives that people have can be temporal and instant. Like the lost orphan, people would desire to search for essential truth.

As temporal beings in limited time, the human being’s searching could be endless and lonely like a nomad, who carries every personal belongings and a small tent instead of a stable home. In this notion, nomads and exiles that I have mentioned are not political and social terms but the definition in the mental and spiritual part.

BS: Minkyung, tell us more about your Room series. Can you go into further detail about the thoughts behind this series?

ML: A room is a restricted space with limited time in my definition. Also, when a room is an empty space, it reflects perfect anonymity. Then while it is occupied, it conveys the owner’s identity. The room can be the life itself, or the person’s identity.

Father's Room, 42.5 x 35, Digital Print

BS: What kind of equipment do you use in your work?

ML: My equipment is not fancy. My cameras are Nikon 801 and 70s and a Nikon Coolscan 5000 film scanner. Sometimes I use a Cannon IXUS for fun. I make small drawings of the places before I actually take photos.

BS: What are you working on at this time? Also, do you have any upcoming exhibitions?

ML: These days I have worked on the ‘Foreign Home’ project. Some of my friends moved out from their home countries or states and live in new places. I interviewed them about why they left and asked them to take some photos of their home. I have been working with the images they have sent. The group show for young artists is opening in October 9th in Deagu. I have two solo shows starts December 13rd and January 23rd, 2008.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the art world?

ML: For now that is all. I am more than happy to have this precious opportunity to talk about my works. Thank you.

Thank you reading my interview with Minkyung Lee. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Svetlana Rabey

Myartspace.com is pleased to announce that Svetlana Rabey is one of the four winners of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. She and the three other artists were chosen from a group of 50 finalists. The Myartspace.com team would like to thank the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago), and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings). We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the competition.


Svetlana Rabey creates variably scaled fabric installations in response to the shape and feeling of an architectural environment. The pieces function as architectural shadows, reacting to the shape and dimensions, color, texture and scale of the architecture. Volumes are flattened, multiplied and expanded within the structure. She follows a systematic process based on impulses, in which the geometry unfolds according to a rhythm that she discovers in the architecture, and ends when all possibilities are exhausted. Each piece is a variation on a theme.

Untitled, Detail of felt wall installation, felt, thread, pins

Brian Sherwin: Svetlana, you are one of the Finalists of the Myartspace.com NY, NY, Competition. How does it feel to know that the jurors-- Jessica Morgan (Tate Modern), James Rondeau (Art Institute of Chicago, and Steven Zevitas (New American Paintings) selected you as a winner? Also, why did you decide to enter the NY, NY, Competition in the first place?

Svetlana Rabey: I feel very honored and excited to be part of this opportunity and look forward to meeting the jurors. Since part of my work is installation based, an exhibition offers me the opportunity to interact with a new space and create a new work. A group show in NY under the umbrella of such a great jury was very appealing and challenging to me.

Untitled, Felt wall installation, 15' x 20', felt, thread, pins

BS: Svetlana, tell us about the work you submitted. Why did you decided on those five images?

SR: I chose these five images because they best represent the scope and range of my work in the past year. I create installations from fabric, mostly felt, drawings, and paintings. The installations are inspired by architectural elements in the space I am working in. They can be wall pieces or floor pieces. I also wanted to include a drawing to show the repeated themes in different materials and approach, my attention to detail, the importance of repetition and rhythm.

BS: Svetlana, can you recall when you first decided that you wanted to be an artist? Feel free to share any early memories that have directed you on the path you are on today.

SR: As a child I studied classical piano and then trained professionally as a dancer in NY before going to college. Dancing left me with a sensitivity to the physicality of space. I understand movement and am able to choreograph shapes in space very instinctively. i am also inspired by the structures of music. This informs the sense of rhythm and repetition my drawing.

Untitled, Cut and hand sewn felt installed to wall, 10' x 8', felt, thread, pins

BS: Svetlana, tell us about your educational background. Where did you study art? Who were you mentors?

SR: I studied Art History at American University in Paris and graduated from Parsons school of Design on 1996. Since I started art school in Paris, my education was very academic. Lots of painting and drawing from the model and still lives. I painted in oil from life religiously. It took me many years and a return to dancing to come into my own language.

BS: Svetlana, what artists-- or art movements-- have influenced your work?

SR: The Support Surface Movement in France. Minimalism, including Fred Sandback, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, and Sol LeWitt. Also Gordon Matta-Clark, Barry Le Va, Diana Cooper, Jessica Stockholder. i appreciate the rigor with which these artists deal with their form and content whether it is conceptual, formal, or intuitive.

Untitled, Detail of thread drawing, 10' x 8', felt, thread, pins

BS: Svetlana, what else has influenced your art?

SR: Looking at and experiencing the architecture n NY from Art Deco to present day. Also Soviet and eastern Block era architecture and Gothic architecture.

BS: Svetlana, can you tell us about your artistic philosophy? What are the motives... the thoughts... behind your work?

SR: When I start a piece, I want to satisfy my impulses. I want to capture a moment or feeling in a piece but also something that feels as if it always existed in the space. Walking the line between fiction and honesty.

BS: Svetlana, tell us about your studio space? Do you work in silence or do you listen to music? Do you follow a routine when you are working on your art? What is it like to be in the studio of Svetlana Rabey?

SR: I have recently moved into a studio space in L.I.C and am still setting up. I like to keep my space empty. I have almost no furniture. I work on the floor.

Untitled, Two 32 inch mirrors- one covered in felt, felt and mirrors

BS: Svetlana, can you tell us more about your artistic process? How do you start a piece?

SR: I spend time in a space, looking for clues and impulses. Then I lay out fabric and think abut the structure of how a piece will unfold. Then I decide where the piece will be installed.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the artworld?

SR: I can't wait to see the space for the show.

Thank you reading my interview with Svetlana Rabey. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Elana Gutmann

Elana Gutmann was recently listed in ARTnews as an artist to watch. Reviewer Kevin Nance captures a sense of her Tales of Enchantment works as follows: "Elana Gutmann’s beguiling suite of abstract paintings brought to mind the weirdly vivid but imperfect reconstructions of dreams one recalls in the morning." The commentaries are consistent – evocative, dynamic, synaesthetic.

Of the series "La Passagiata" it is written: "Elana Gutmann's paintings are sensory landscapes whose climate and topography are mapped via color and gesture - her interest lies, as she says, in "infinite arrangement, pairing, sequence. Does orange lie lightly on cream, infringe on blue, incite red and if so, what happens?" One might think of these images as flowcharts from a dream-state, or choreographic notes for the imagination-- their imagery is full, tangible, yet fugitive, buzzing with synaesthetic scent and tone.

In addition to numerous exhibitions in the United States, Elana's work has been exhibited in Berlin, Paris, Düsseldorf, Valencia (Spain), Stockholm, Saigon, and Pescara (Italy). Her work can be found in the collections of the , Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Wingspread Foundation and the University of Chicago, as well as in corporate and private collections worldwide.

Feathers, Oil on Panel, 7 x 9.2", 2004

Brian Sherwin: Could you tell us a little bit about your background and how it is reflected in the work you do today?

Elana Gutmann: I’m a first-generation American, my parents from Eastern and Western Europe, my mother born to parents from Ukraine and Bella Russe, my father’s family from Latvia and Germany. They both spoke several languages but my mother was still learning English when I was young so English was rarely spoken in my early years.

Our home life was lively -- filled and informed by the multiple languages and perspectives of an extended "family" of émigrés – friends from a broad variety of countries and cultures. The line between conversation and debate was often blurred and it was always an adventure for me as a child-- trying to make sense of what they were saying -- to figure out, intuit -- the content and intent expressed. I grew up interpreting, sorting and synthesizing life and information counting on my sense of things.

The fluid, fluctuating nature of what I came to experience as history has also informed my curiosity and appetites. Since there were little or no written documents surviving the war, and few members of the prior generation to contest "the truth", everything I learned of our history -- my roots -- was subject to change and interpretation, relying heavily on who was telling the tale and circumstance for its content and message.

Pond, Watercolour, 9.2 x 13.5", 2004

My current body of work, the Contes et Merveilles and One Thousand and One, works with these areas…colour and form as evocative language and content. The new work has as much to do with oral tradition, the telling and tellers of tales, with multiple perspectives, one’s sense of things and the transmission of culture through the individual’s experience. In it, I am the primary source, the interpreting, originating lens and hand that invites the "other".

The Contes et Merveilles will be presented in June of 2008 in France. I’ll be presenting a series of works -- paintings and works on paper -- with Tales of Enchantment: The Seeker and the Search, a limited edition print folio that focuses on the nature of the individual and imagination, and on the universal – the heroine/ hero and the quest for the sublime. The exhibition will include readings from various texts that have been authored in response to my images and within the frame of this inquiry. Each of the authors viewed the same seven images; each of their texts – in poetry and prose – is unique.

I am hoping to find the support to travel the exhibit in Europe, Asia and the Americas and to work collaboratively on an installation that engages the works and this process in other media.

Stroll, Oil on Panel, 25 x 15", 2003

BS: Can you tell us a bit about – about your working ritual -- how you work? What goes in to the making of a painting…

EG: How the work is made is a matter informed by my dailiness just as much as it is by the time in the studio mixing color and making marks on the surface. What I see, listen to, experience, what happens --by choice and by accident – what I recall and what I leave out or "forget" are all a part of the work.

As for ritual in the studio -- the first part is to become truly quiet, to come to the place where I am receptive and can attend to the work. I walk, I pace, I meditate…from there on it is the conversation between me and the piece that’s developing. Sometimes I lead, sometimes it does.

Bridge, Monotype, 13.5 x 25", 2004

BS: Speaking of listening, do you ever listen to music while you work?

EG: Yes, -- all kinds of music, recorded texts, chants, lectures, public radio from around the world. They become a kind of subtext to the work.

BS: Your work spans from paintings to works on paper and prints. Can you talk about the relationship between these bodies of work?

EG: My paintings are on wood panel, often they take a diptych or triptych format. With the exception of my print editions, the works on paper are primarily on rice paper or on printed matter – often on the pages of books. Many of my works take a diptych or triptych format or semblance of it.

They are two quite different extremes – the solid, substantial nature of the wood and the ephemeral, floating nature of the rice papers, yet they share an important quality. Each surface is prepared, designed, to have a high fidelity in terms of accepting my mark, each having the ability to be "truthful" to the intention and to the moment when those marks are made. My print work – stone lithography and montype -- has that rigor and an exquisite quality: your mark as you make it, your intention in that moment recorded. From there on each medium has it’s own affordances – it’s challenges and delights.

The paintings on wood panel allow me to use my whole body. I like to work with my hands, to press -- to rub --as much as I do enjoy working with the brushes and pigment. The substantive nature of the wood panels allows me to use the full force and range of my body – to use as light or as extreme a touch as I wish.

Las Ventas — La Bella Fortuna, Pigment on Rice Paper, 19.5 x 15.7", 2003

The works on rice paper have been made almost exclusively outside of an urban setting where I can work for long stretches of time undisturbed. They are original pigment on paper works, whose fundamental layers must be produced in a single session. Here, uninterrupted time is essential. One layer floated upon the next, they are a kind of meditation for me, borrowing from my work in lithography and often informing my paintings. The process holds both rigor and magic – far from the dailiness of my life – working toward a moment – transferring portions of imagery, teasing the imagery through as the layers of sight in the sea – building it, peeling it, moving back into it. While this process takes me out of the studio in New York, it later comes back to inform the painting.

A part of the current body of works are the paintings on book pages. These works on printed matter began with a series -- my visual "text"-- layered upon the pages of an antique volume of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. I am a bibliophile – a lover of reading and books. They accumulate around me wherever I go. Printed on a substantial and fine book stock, it was both the Vanity Fair text and the sensual nature of the paper that compelled me. In a political climate wherein the voice of the people seemed no longer to be heard, I was spurred by the need to take some personal action. It seemed just right to me to put my intimate hand – watercolor, pencil and brush, close–up as one holds a book – on to this treatise (or satire?) of absolute right and wrong. That instinct initiated a series of works on printed pages that ultimately took me to the Thousand and One and the realms of creation, cultural congress, storytelling, transformation and quest.

I pursued the notion of text both written and visual – of the retelling of story – the invention and alteration of narrative by virtue of memory, emotion, the physical, personal, cultural, imaginative. These works informed the paintings that followed and they in turn provoked the next series of original works and limited editions on paper. A whole new body of work has evolved -- a kind of abstract visual narrative that confounds the lines between text and subtext, of inspiration, origin and response. It responds to the formats of the thousand-and-one nights – the never-ending tales. Within it my paintings and works on paper "converse" – image sparking image, color instigating form, one "story" informing the next.

Metamorphosis, Monotype, 13.5 x 25", 2004

BS: Where do you work outside of your studio in Manhattan?

EG: My work in residence began in France and continues there till today. I have a second "family" there, a community of support, of critical thought and inspiration. Over the years I had the privilege to edition my work there with master printer Yann Samson in Paris, and soon will begin a new series of prints with one of the oldest and finest ateliers in Paris: Clot, Bramsen & Georges.

I work in the studio in residence in the south, in the Drome, in the Cevennes, and more recently in Umbria in Italy, in Delhi in India and near Morelia in Mexico. While I’m in the States I most often go to the studio in Connecticut where I can work undisturbed, "off-the-grid", where the quiet and light are exquisite and time seems to stop to accommodate my rhythms.

It’s through my travels, the experience of different light, sounds, scents, the varying skies and seasons and the individuals I have had the pleasure to share my time with, that a whole new body of work has evolved. At first it was my travels that created the necessity for a way of working that would be portable – that could voyage along with me. Overtime, I’ve adapted my work so that I can carry it with me – continue my train of thought. I’ve come to the point where I can work almost anywhere, if the conditions are right. I need quiet, light and beauty – which comes in many forms.

I have the good fortune to work in a marvelous studio in Connecticut, near to the border of Massachusetts. I travel primarily between Europe and America, but I’ve also worked in residence in Mexico and more recently in India and Italy. I think it’s in my blood, the traveling and appetite for other cultures, languages, sounds, and sights. Each place evokes a different palette and resonance – uncovering, exploring, awakening, experience layering upon and informing experience. I continue to enjoy working in this way and hope to also have the opportunity to return again and again to those places and also to work in Japan, in Africa, and near to the sea.

Proximity, Monotype, 16.6 x 12", 2004

BS: Can you talk to us a bit more about your traveling and how it relates to your work?

EG: One of the treasures of travel is the refreshment of "the other" – language, sound, the taste, light and rhythm of life. To read, speak and live in the language where I am. It was in preparation for a residency in France, that I first searched for a volume that I could read and then work on. I found a wonderful old volume of Les Milles et Une Nuit (A Thousand and One Nights). The engravings and typography were compelling and the paper itself had a generosity – a great density to it. Some of the pages were tattered but many of the quartets were in perfect condition. They provided the foundation and inspiration for a whole new body of work which I continue on today.

They brought me from the initial engagement with painting on the texts of books (Vanity Fair" to an intimate and practical, corporal relationship to the whole. My love for travel and my need to keep working, to continue my train of thought, created the necessity for a kind of portability. Initially, I carried the "stories" with me, working with them and painting -- retelling –my stories upon their pages as I traveled from the cities to the countryside outside the cities and beyond. Later, I brought them back to the studio to continue the tales… The resulting works are inspired by the framing story of A Thousand and One and the character Scheherazade. They are informed by the notion of initiation, metamorphosis, transformation. They are abstract yet evocative, my own "telling"of the tales…

Plein Lune, Pigment on Rice Paper, 15.7 x 19.5", 2003

BS: Who are the collectors of your work -- what do you think engages them in your work?

EG: The collectors of my work are diverse – they’re scholars, doctors, anthropologists, conservationists, designers, teachers, architects, heads of industry, inventors, other artists…What they have in common is their own curiosity, an openness—an appetite for new experience, knowledge, ways of seeing – of knowing life. I would like to believe that it is this appetite and capacity that resonates and engages them with the work.

Ufizzi, Monotype, 13.5 x 25", 2004

BS: Can you tell me if you’re represented by a gallery and about your next upcoming exhibit?

EG: I’ve been working with Perimeter Gallery, a wonderful gallery with wonderful people since 1989. I show with them in Chicago and I’ve also shown with them in New York. In our last show there we received a very positive review in the New Yorker but they have since closed in Manhattan. So, while I continue going strong with them in Chicago, I will be looking for representation in New York, the city where I live.

In Europe I also have the good fortune to have long-term relationships. I work with Cilla Lowenhaupt in Paris, Margrit Gass in Basel and Boris Brockstedt in Berlin. It is through their efforts that I have had the opportunity to present my work in exhibitions in Asia, Scandinavia and Europe.

The next exhibition coming up will be in France in June of 2008 at the Chateau de Brantes in conjunction with the Festival at Avignon. It is a wonderful venue, where I will be presenting my Tales of Enchantment folio along with new works. The show will travel in France and Switzerland and at the end of 2008, beginning 2009 I will be presenting in a new solo exhibition in Chicago with Perimeter.

Saetia, Monotype, 6 x 10", 2004

BS: Thank you, and finally, where can we see more of your art?

EG: You can see my art at Perimeter Gallery’s website (www.perimetergallery.com) at my own site (www.elanagutmann.com) and at upcoming exhibitions (see my site for dates and exhibition sites as well as additional venues).

BS: Thank you so much.

EG: Thank you, it is my pleasure.

You can learn more about Elana Gutmann by visiting her website-- www.elanagutmann.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Ruth Pastine

Born and educated in New York City, Ruth is a classically trained artist who believes that art is life changing and that life changes can dramatically influence her art. Ruth considers herself an "essentialist"; her focus is light and color. Her desire is to confront the viewer viscerally and optically-- to confound the viewer with light and color. It is her hope that we start to re-think the way that we see upon viewing her paintings-- that we re-train our eyes in order to absorb her work in the moment.

Equivalence Blue Orange #3, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in., 2005

Brian Sherwin: Ruth, you earned an MFA from Hunter College of the City University of New York. Who were your mentors at that time?

Ruth Pastine: My painting process and the principles that structure my painting methodology have always been the greatest teacher. I was fortunate to work with Sandford Wurmfeld, Robert Swain, and Vincent Longo at Hunter, as they were all invested in perceptual painting. Sandy Wurmfeld introduced me to color and perceptual theory, which fueled a deeper insight into my painting process, and a greater understanding of my work, which continues to inform my studio practice.

Blue Orange Series- Lady Lake, Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 x 1 in., 2006

BS: Ruth, Can you recall any early experiences from your childhood that impacted the work you create today? Did your family support your artistic growth?

RP: Having been born and raised in New York City, the major art institutions such as MOMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, and the Met were essentially my back yard. My mother was educated in art and art history, and we went to museums and galleries as a part of our daily life. My H.S. of Music & Art painting teacher, Yvette Berlowe, was very influential in inspiring me to be a painter. She taught me how to see, and challenge preconceived notions about what we think we see, because of what we think we know. This was the onramp to investigating essential content, which I realized years later.

Tribute (SW) Saturated Warm, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in., 2004

BS: Ruth, you have been reviewed in the New York Times, Art in America, New American Paintings, Artforum, and several other publications. Did you expect your work to be so successful?

RP: I’m always pleased to have the work reviewed and acknowledged in the press, and participate in the discourse. As a painter, one spends an inordinate amount of time alone in the studio, and it is always rewarding to hear an echo in response to the work. I always expected success from the work, as I am diligent and true to my vision. I expect the work to receive more recognition as it’s acknowledged as a significant participant of the greater dialog of experiential painting.

BS: Ruth, your Black Light Paintings investigate the presence of light and color through exploring the darkest values of the color system. How did your work evolve to this point? When were you first interested in this study? Can you discuss how it has advanced from the early stages- to where you are today?

RP: The work is rooted in the perceptual experience of color, light, and temperature. Working serially has been instrumental in evolving the work. I began working serially my last two years at Cooper Union, and this has structured and evolved the work since. The Black Light Paintings evolved as a direct response and juxtaposition to my prior series of White Paintings, which diffuse the materiality of the painted surface into immaterial perceptual experiences. In contrast to the White Paintings, I was interested in the Black Light Paintings investigating the spatial tension between the solidity of the iconic structure and the density of an experiential space. The ‘black’ is a perceptual field fueled with color, light, and temperature, that resonates from a ‘nameless’ place, yet to be defined.

Paradise Eyes, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, 2000

BS: Ruth, you seem to work in series-- White Paintings, Black Light Paintings-- where will your work take you next? Can you give our readers some insight into your next body of work? Also, is there a ladder of sorts in regards from working from one series to the next? Are your series always connected in some manner?

RP: I never know from one series to the next what will evolve as the successive series, until I’m in the thick of it. As I work toward completing a group of paintings, there is always some recognition of a point of departure, which defines the next series of paintings. This is discovered, I never know in advance. One series always influences and informs the next series of paintings. Usually a pivotal painting is the threshold and door to a new group of paintings. This painting is key and mercurial in that sense, as it’s able to define the closure of one body of work, and offer a potential gateway to a future series.

Every painting is connected in the series, and there is a greater continuum that links series to series, and the work as a whole. Working serially advances the work within such close parameters, and offers me great insight into that which is unknown.

As I’m nearing completion of the Black Light Series, I can share that my next body of work is in between black and white, and might be perceived as Gray.

Yellow Magenta #8- Triangle Skies, oil on canvas, 28 x 28 in., 2000

BS: Ruth, tell us about your painting process. How do you start a piece and when do you feel that it is finished?

RP: Although the paintings appear as a smooth seamless skin, and the hand is virtually undetected, the paintings are rigorously painted with a brush, composed of numerous layers and hundreds of daubs of paint. I approach each painting with a sense of direction, but with no end in mind. They are somewhat brazen and scrawl like, the first few layers, but gradually I work towards a certain perceptual resolve, that each painting reconciles on its own terms.

I love what Andy Warhol said when he appeared as a special guest on the TV Series "The Love Boat," and was asked by the crew director how he knew when a painting was finished, his reply being "When the check clears in the bank!"

Equivalence Blue Orange #2 (Yellow-Orange), oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in., 2005

BS: Ruth, can you tell us about your studio practice? What is it like to be in the studio of Ruth Pastine? Do you follow a routine? Do you prefer to work alone or with company? I find that the studio practice of an artist is often just as interesting as the work that is created since the two are connected in so many ways.

RP: They are inextricably connected. I need to paint everyday. I get anxious and agitated when I’m not painting. Painting connects me to what I am. You’ve heard of the fish out of water. I approach working in the studio and paint everyday like it’s my job, but it is so much more. It’s my greatest challenge and pleasure. My studio practice is methodical. I’m systematic and focused, and have to be alone. My process is very demanding and I have to work uninterrupted for 5-7 hours a day. There is always something to learn from the actual process of painting, which is what advances the work. On the one hand my practice is like a laboratory, on the other hand, it’s very active as I’m working on up to ten paintings at a time. I start working each day by blasting the music to bust the clutter of any thoughts racing through my mind, that distract me from my focus on painting.

BS: Ruth, can you discuss some of your influences? Have any artists from the past inspired you?

RP: Heroes are very personal, and although there are several artists, thinkers, and musicians that have been a beacon in my life, I don’t look at art for inspiration. I look at art because it connects me to greater humanity and to the greater humanity within myself. Painting and working in the studio has been the greatest source of inspiration.

Equivalence Blue Orange #3 (Red-Orange), oil on canvas, 30 x 30in, 2005

BS: Ruth, where can our viewers observe your work at this time? Are you in any public collections?

RP: I have a few solo shows coming up at Peter Blake Gallery in Laguna, CA: and at Gallery Sonja Roesch in Houston, TX, in May 2008; and at Brian Gross Fine Art in San Francisco, CA, in June 2008. Unfortunately my work is not in more public collections, which I hope to have rectified. It’s an on going challenge to have the work endorsed and installed in the public psyche.
BS: Do you have any advice for artists who are just starting out?

RP: Be honest with yourself in the studio and stay true to your vision, and keep a private studio.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the artworld?

RP: Painting is my life, and the art world is the world I live in. I grew up and lived in New York City until just prior to September 11th, when I moved to Southern California. I got to the point where I wanted to work from a much more private place outside of the hum of the market place, and enter the art world when I wanted, not because I was living in the midst of it. This has been important to the work, as the paintings are hard won, and my process is rigorous. I don’t like being sidetracked from my focus.

You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page, www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin