Artists Interview Artists: Josh Feldman

Josh Feldman, an artist from San Francisco, participates in the Artist Interview Artists Project. Below Josh responds to another artist's five questions. In order to participate, Josh had to provide me with five questions for some other artist to answer. The assigning of questions to artists is completely random. If you're an artist and interested in participating, let me know.

The Truth and the Light
digital output encased in clear plastic
41" x 84"
2004

Artists Interview Artists: Josh Feldman

1) Does getting paid for your art work embarrass you? If so, why? If not, why not?

It doesn't embarrass me. I'm making an object, people want to pay money to buy that object because they like it enough to want to own it— I don't have a problem with that. When certain pieces of mine sell, though, I sometimes feel sad because I kind of wish I could keep them.

2) Do you feel an art object's power is diminished or changed by having assistants actually do the physical production?

Good question. In some cases I would say yes, in others, no. Painters for example who have assistants do all of the painting end up with diminished work in my mind. But it's OK with me that someone like Donald Judd has industrial fabricators make his metal boxes for him. In my case, I have acrylic fabricators constuct the clear plastic "encasements" that frame my work. Since I want the final product to seem "perfect" and almost untouched by human hands, that approach works for me.

3) Did you choose, or were you chosen to create art work?

I think I chose to create art, although I've always had a creative drive inside of me. If I wasn't creating artwork right now I'd be doing architecture, graphic design, filmmaking, photography, sound design...

4) What are your methods of visualization? How does the process of creating an art object begin?

The style of work I've been refining over the past ten years always starts with a blank computer screen. I take simple monochromatic shapes and replicate/process them in the computer until they turn into complex multi-layered images. I'm one of the few artists using digital technology who doesn't use photography in my work at all.

My process involves happy accidents and trial and error. Although I exercise a lot of control over the image as it's progressing— moving an element a millimeter to the left, or darkening a color by a fraction of a percent— I don't necessarily know how the final image will end up looking before I begin.

5) Why aren't you working on an art object now, instead of answering questions?

Like most artists, I spend at least half of my time dealing with the "management" side of being an artist. So answering questions is pretty normal for me...

Flatlands 2 (detail)
digital output encased in clear plastic
20" x 20"
2004

Previous Interviews:
Juno Doran

Comments

[Joseph Barbaccia]

JT, I think you should give credit to the artist who asked the questions as well as the artist who answered them. More often than not, a question says more about the person who asked, than it says about the person who answered.

[Scott]

I agree with Joseph. Unless, of course, the question-asker wants to remain anonymous.