Ideas are like Rabbits

owleyes Interview

Chris — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:00:17 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

Our ability to adapt to virtually any new circumstance with the slightest of ease, little adjustment, or without hesitation. It’s that phase out of time/space where some force outside myself turns the cosmic channel for me. To see without eyes.

What influences your work?

I could rattle off hundreds of others that came before me that have sparked new ways of seeing for me, such as Austin Osman Spare, Brion Gysin or Robert Anton Wilson….although really, what truly shapes how I see or what I make is beyond my scope of detection, its the convergence of spirit in the flesh a momentary lapse of the gray reality grid that we are locked into. Cats.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Perception. Seems to me that the number one wall I face most of the time is peoples’ limited imagination or unwillingness to step beyond the defined parameters of how they see reality. Being able shape new modes of possibilities with confidence and having the courage to act on it even though everyone one around me may not see it yet.

Phil Mucci Interview

IALR — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:00:12 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

Creativity means that when you’re asked what creativity means, you spend way too much time thinking about it. It’s that compulsion to be witty, enlightening, and concise all at once. I don’t think I’m up to the task. Besides, creativity and I have a long-term relationship with so many ups and downs that I wouldn’t dare attempt to summarize it for fear of totally pissing her off. She’s definitely some kind of curse and addiction. The “creative freedom” people always talk about doesn’t really apply to me. I’m hooked. If I don’t get my fix, I go into emotional withdrawal. I have to do it, which to me isn’t freedom at all. I’m a slave with a leather ball gag in my mouth, suffering my mistress’s lashes and loving every sticky minute of it.

What influences your work?

Music. Vampire lesbian movies from the 60’s and 70’s. Soledad Miranda. Danger:Diabolik, Black Sunday, and pretty much any other Mario Bava film except for Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, which I’ve never seen, but which couldn’t possibly live up to its title. Suspiria, and most of Dario Argento’s films from the 70’s and 80’s. Same for Lucio Fulci. Stanley Kubrick. Murnau. Ralph Bakshi. Kurt Vonnegut. Lovecraft. Poe. Kafka. George Saunders. Hunter S. Thompson. Old James Bond movie posters. The failures and hypocrisies of organized religion. The Island of Misfit Toys. Bodacious fantasy art on Chevy vans. Fumbling conversations with strangers. Fond memories of childhood acid trips. New experiences. Emotional scars. Brief human lives that echo like Hendrix solos long after they’re gone.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Coming up with good ideas on a tight deadline is always an issue. I have a love / hate relationship with writing. When I’m rolling and the words are pouring out, there’s nothing like it. Writing generates ideas all by itself. But when I have to come up with a concept that fits a certain budget for a music video – and I only have a day to do it – it’s a total drag. I like having deadlines, but you can’t really force inspiration. I have LOTS of bad ideas that I have to wade through until I get to the semi-good ones. What works for me is brainstorming all the bad ideas out first – literally pages of them. Once I get some crap down, I take a break and do some kind of mundane task like sweeping my apartment, doing the dishes, or going for a walk around the neighborhood. Forced concentration followed by mindless physical activity keeps the ideas percolating. Then I sit back down and squeeze out a few more, repeating the process until my time runs out. Usually the good stuff starts around page 7. If not, at least my apartment gets cleaned.

Daniel Trese Interview

IALR — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:00:05 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you

Creativity is about intuition in action. And forgetting your own name when you can.

What influences your work?

Looking. Time alone with images. The artists in my family.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

I find the triumphs and difficulties inseparable. It’s a muddy/porous line. But when something difficult happens, often times you slow down. Maybe think more. I enjoy that break in trajectory very much.

Hal Horowitz Interview

IALR — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:00:17 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

Creativity is a mysterious thing to me. I don’t typically put a lot of thought into my creative process I just pick up my camera, look threw the viewfinder and capture what I see.

What influences your work?

As a photographer I am mostly influenced by other visual artists, especially other photographers and filmmakers. Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, Michael Haneke and Lynne Ramsey are all hugely inspiring to me, as well as rock photographers like Bob Gruen and Mick Rock. However, I am also motivated to create by the style and energy of endlessly creative artists like John Lennon, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Fear, laziness and distraction would be my greatest obstacles. Thinking that I might not be able to complete a project or that the results won’t meet my expectations (or the expectations of others) freaks me out and can definitely stunt me. Once I do get up the balls to do a project the internet and television are there to insure that I don’t get started right away. It’s taken me an hour to finish this survey cuz of the goddamn Price Is Right! To motivate myself I make lists and try to accomplish each item on the list until I’ve accomplished whatever it is I’ve set out to do. I also yell at myself a lot.

Rachel Ehlin Interview

IALR — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:35 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

Creativity to me is constantly challenging myself to do something or make something that makes me happy or makes me really think about something. It could be cooking a new dish or learning a new art form.

What influences your work?

It depends on what work we’re talking about. If it’s work as a mother (which is more of a privilege than work) It would be seeing my son grow everyday and knowing that I am guiding this happy beautiful person through life. If it’s work on my art I am influenced by nature, different cultures, color, challenges and definitely learning something new.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Challenges with being a mother are probably what every parent feels and that I’m hoping I don’t super F**K my kid up. The challenges that I feel with art right now is that I’m so exhausted it’s hard for me to commit the time to make anything. I have to force myself to be creative sometimes. So I’ll sign up for a class or studio time and get into the groove that way.

Max Lugavere Interview

IALR — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:00:01 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you

It’s an itch.

What influences your work?

Raw, undiluted emotion. The tragicomedy of the human condition. Poetry, music, film. The transcendent interconnection of technique and grace, science and art. I’ve always been into the most honest and naked forms of storytelling and I’ve never had a casual relationship with art. My heroes range from singer-songwriters to directors to actors to authors to TED speakers.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Creativity itself is your imagination challenging you to articulate something intangible in a medium that befits it. When I wanted to write some songs, the challenge I was faced with was not knowing how to play guitar. Five years later, I released an album and am currently working on the next.

Linda Perhacs Interview

IALR — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:18 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you

Creativity is not something I do all by myself. For me, creative energy begins with emerging in a oneness with higher light energy, the source of which is God. I’m merely the receiver and the student of these energies when they flow through me, it’s very humbling because you your self are receiving these energies and they are a gift from a much higher plane. It’s a very humbling experience because you know your own merit is very small in comparison to the enormous reservoir of these higher light energies.

When I am composing music, I am not concerned with fads and trends. They are so temporary and at times so contrived. Also when I am composing, I am not concerned with “Me” and “I”. I am more concerned with “we” and all of “us” and the effect this will have on all living beings.

In the past two years, I have done 7 live performances, my first ever. And to my surprise, the comments from the reviewers and people in the audience have been wonderful. From “it was an “experiential” rock concert as well as “something astral or molecular has happened and we have been transported”.

What influences your work?

When I was in my 20′s, relational experiences (man/woman) were very much in my mind because it is the time for that to be occurring in someone’s’ life. I truly searched for a very pure deep love, and this inspired me to write a number of songs. But my parameter of love has now expanded and now when I am creating music, I am expressing a deeper form of this great love.

I love individually created amodal tunings. And I love to weave modal sounds and airy harmonics with electronic splashes. Standard western chord changes are very predictable. I prefer to mix them with modal sounds to add texture and mystique. As I compose, I am working from “spirit”, not just my own culture. I have always loved mixing worldwide sounds. This is why I can jump from the healing sciences to musical composition with a fast pivot, because they are all ONE in spirit. It is all a matter of inner concentration and wavelength, because all of live is a vibrational field from the sub atomic to the vastness of the universe.

In everything I do, there is no compartmentalizing in my life. Energy is the key. It pervades all that we do. When we keep this flow moving, creativity show up in all that we do, and in all people we associate with. This is why I see no division between creating music and working with healing. Music and the healing arts are all as one to me. We limit ourselves when we do not understand that what we express outwardly has tones and energy- shapes that truly reach others and have an effect on them. If each of us could see our thoughts emanating outwardly from ourselves in patterns of energy, we would be shocked at what we see and take our thoughts and music more seriously! I have seen these patterns since I was a child. For me, it is random primarily when I am peaceful and have more light within me.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

By nature I am a contemplative spirit. I need a lot of peace and quiet to work at these levels. My greatest challenge is finding enough quiet time in our very busy noisy world. I am sure I share this with many other people! It is a daily struggle, and in our busy world, it is very challenging finding enough of this space and quiet.

One of the most beautiful experiences for me since the 70′s has been recording and creating music with some of the artists I met at my first performance at the Red Cat theatre. Jessica Hundley and Frosty McNeil with DUBLAB put this whole show together and it was a landmark performance because of the amazing creativity of all the young artists that took part during that night. One of my greatest joys is currently working with Julia Holter with her imaginative keyboards and vocals and Ramona Gonzalez of “Nite Jewell” with her vocals and synth keyboards in preparing new music for new shows and new recordings. It has also been a joy to work with Aaron Robinson and Sean Hoffman on guitar, Heather McIntosh on Cello and Michelle Vidal.

It is a very high experience to work with other artists with whom you have real resonance. It just “COOKS” and it just flows right and it is a very happy experience for us all!

Jeff Feuerzeig Interview

IALR — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:00:50 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

Creativity means exiting life’s traffic jam to joy ride on the Astral Plane and commune with spirits of heroes dead and alive.

What influences your work?

I believe you are what you eat and in coppin’ feels. When it comes to music, art, lit, and cinema, I’m an equal opportunity obsessive. But there have been a few bellwether moments that have very much shaped my aesthetic: The 60’s & 70’s New Journalism of Terry Southern, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, and Nick Tosches, Ed Sanders, Lester Bangs, Jerry Stahl, 1st Generation Punk, CLE, D.I.Y. and Spacemen 3, Krautrock, 50’s and 60’s Free Jazz, Miles Davis Fusion, Jamie Reid, Stuckism, Jon Langford, Josh and Drew Friedman, Martha Colburn, Kicks Magazine, Ugly Things, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Crumb, Warhol, Velvet Underground, Modern Lovers, Stooges, The Gories, The Cramps, The Mummies, Half Japanese — Jad & David Fair, Daniel Johnston, Galaxie 500, Bo Diddley, Jandek, Slim Harpo, Howlin’ Wolf, Arthur Lee & Love, Elephant 6 Collective, Dan Treacy, Tiny Tim, ‘61-‘66 Dylan, Best Show on WFMU, Howie Pyro’s Intoxica Radio, 80’s Woody Allen — Broadway Danny Rose, Stardust Memories, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Kubrick, Elia Kazan, William Klein, Bob Fosse, Scorsese, Coppola, Bogdanovich, Orson Welles, Vincent Gallo, Bruce Conner, Abbot & Costello, Uncle Floyd, The Maysles’ direct cinema and a large helping of Thee Great Billy Childish for good measure.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

The only obstacles are gatekeepers of the status quo who sell short the audience’s thirst for innovative documentary filmmaking. Nonfiction film is a blank canvas where disparate ideas can coexist and the true last frontier of independent film. The only solution is subversion.

Ryan Heffington Interview

IALR — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:00:12 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

A room with music and a body.

What influences your work?

The pleasure given by movement…And…
Human behavior…The constant questioning of who we are, what sex we are and the answers that are often unresolved…
The heartbeat and rhythm…The severity of sound and lack of it…
I’m influenced by excitement, sex, colors, emotion and the desire to create…
Succumbing (or not) to gravity…The orchestration of bodies in a space and determining what is possible within it’s architecture and boundaries…
I examine bodies (dancers, pedestrians, artists) and how their bodies function, how they walk, scream into a mic or how one holds their cell phone and the modified body language that occurs while doing so…The human make up of skill, agility, character, emotion, passion – all allow the design of dance to resonate.
Deeper complexity even if the movement calls for sterility or basic technical skill.
It’s the bond between dancer, choreographer and audience that must be visceral – allowing all to understand the nature of the dance presented.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

My biggest challenge in my work is saying no. I’m passionate to create every moment of the day. I create over eating, I create over responding to day to day duties that in turn bite me in the ass. I mostly freelance – naturally having some spare time – but I simply would rather sketch, pull imagery, create dance in my living room or meet with others to facilitate greater creations. I’ve failed when it comes to overcoming this challenge (my obsession). No feel good ending here…Oh wait!

Grant Krajecki Interview

IALR — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:00:09 +0000

Describe what creativity means to you.

It’s something everyone is born with whether they have chosen to develop it or not, like being telepathic. I try having an open mind and not worry about falling on my ass numerous times when starting a project. Not knowing the outcome and jumping right into a bevy of ideas has always been what keeps me going. Creativity is the antithesis of boredom.

What influences your work?

Anything that makes an impression on me. I like to try and find the root motivation of an artist that I admire and translate it through my own vocabulary to create something new. Other artists get my wheels spinning.

What challenges do you face in your work and how do you overcome them?

Making something for arts sake and and making a product that needs to sell has always been my issue. Most of the time I find a balance between these two but sometimes I will do whatever the fuck I want regardless of pleasing buyers. I have to do that a lot to remain somewhat sane.