Name : Town Hall Meeting
Location: New York City, NY
Portland, Maine
Website: https://townhallmeeting.info/
(Currently in Beta form, to be completed by mid 2012)
Brief artists statement:
We are two art historians who apply art practice as a way of understanding art. We use public spaces, both art related and not to address the way art is integrated into daily life. We perform in front of audiences we call.
How did you become an artist? Did you always dream of a life in the art-world?
Dreams of life in the art world? No.
We became an artistic duo during and after our time in graduate school.
How has your education helped your career?
Education is a point of departure in the sense that there is still more to learn/teach. The formal educational program ended and we sought then to carry it further via town hall meeting. So, in a sense, without education, there probably would have been no formation of Town Hall Meeting.
Do you work as an artist full-time? Describe your typical day. Do you have a routine?
No. There is no typical day as most of Town Hall’s projects evolve spontaneously, based on what becomes available around us.
Which historical and contemporary artists do you refer to most often? How are you influenced by their work?
Josef Beuys, Art&Language, Allan Kaprow, Dada, Marcel Broodthaers, Arte Provera , Lee Lozano, Liam Gillick
What are the other influences on your work?
Performance, institutional promotion, curating conversations, contemporary politics, contemporary culture, curatorial practice.
What was the last exhibition you visited?
Yorgos Sapountzis at the Simone Subal Gallery, ending a day of Lower East Side Gallery.
What is your favourite art gallery?
On Stellar Rays, Reena Spauldings, Scaramouche, David Zwirner.
What are your experiences of the ‘art-world’ and the business of art?
Lots of time spent working at galleries. Heavily studied business of art (also was a point of departure). Lots of pretensions and anxiety involved in the business of art, lots of missed opportunities because of that.
Do you have any tips or advice you wish you had known earlier in your career?
Ignore the audience and focus on the work.
Do you have a quotation that you keep coming back to and that keep you going? Have you a motto that gets you through?
‘Good to get out’
‘Too busy, too lazy’
‘Keep the secrets productive’
But those are the old ones.
Which historical artist do you think is over-rated? Why?
Jackson Pollock – for reasoning, look up Aaron Young.
Do you or would you use assistants to make your work?
Yes.
Do you use social networks? if so, how and which ones do you find most useful?
Yes, but only ½. Facebook is used for promotion, but we have no profile.
Which artist should we all look up immediately? What art magazines, blogs or sites should art lovers be looking at?
Neo Rauch, Richard Aldrich, Erik Lindman, Ryan Dewalt, Michael Bilsborough, Sarah Brahman, Jonathan Vandyke, Taube Auerbach, Tomma Abts Tyler green’s modern art notes, Artnet’s magazine, Guernica.
Finish this limerick: There once was an artist from…
there once was an artist from one of two point,
wordy, nerdy and bookish but occasionally privy to a joint,
they work together on
projects for any art space or lawn,
art appreciation for all is the idea to anoint.
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