artist

6 

   "I’m a compulsive collaborator. I think it’s because I’m interested in a lot of things, and if you’re working with fifty people, many more things can happen. Everyone has a different way of working, a different way of communicating. I have friends who I have to plan six months in advance to see and friends who hate advance planning. Some people like phone calls, some like texts, some just want to be left alone. Collaboration is also like that. I often give prompts to artists as a curatorial approach. I’ve asked artists to perform for plants, with babies, in closets, while driving cars, and while submerged in swimming pools. A prompt is really a constraint, and there are always constraints at play when an artist makes a work of art with an organization. Maybe there isn’t enough money, or there is too much money, or too much space, or too little space, or it has to be child-friendly, or appealing to non-children. Or whatever. I try to avoid boring, invisible constraints like “don’t embarrass the institution” in favor of more visible, interesting constraints like “the performance must involve a herd of cows.” Some artists really like these challenges and interventions. Other artists just need money or space, which I try to find for them. That’s a kind of collaboration too. It’s fun to do things with other people. I don’t really like socializing; I’m not into hanging out, and I don’t care much for going out to dinner. But I love making things with people."

excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION

By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN