Michael Janis, a Washington, D.C. based artist, participates in the Artists Interview Artists Project. Below Michael responds to another artist's five questions (Scott Listfield from Somerville, MA). In order to participate, Michael 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.
1. Use a character or theme from Star Wars as a metaphor to describe your work.
Star Wars… hmmm… other than a fixation on the trivial? Since I did not see most of the later Star Wars series, the basis of my answer is all from the original movie. The theme that I would relate most to is the cautionary theme that over-reliance on technology is a weakness, and that one must trust their own intuition. That the space ship can't always make the timely leap to hyperspace, that droids can fail, and that computer targeting is unsuccessful combating the Dark Star becomes essential to understanding my art.
2. You're in a large supermarket shopping for peas. You pause for a moment and take a long look down the canned food aisle. A feeling wells up inside of you. What is this feeling and how does it relate to what you make in your studio?
I don’t particularly like tinned vegetables, and though I like the convenience of supermarkets, I find that the over-abundance of similar products vying for attention is rather numbing. I try to keep a clarity of thought and focus on the content of my artwork, rather than trying to have artwork that screams NEW! NEWER!
3. Which is more inspiring to you: something you've seen lately in a local gallery or the movie The Goonies? Or, if not The Goonies, a movie of similar quality and inherent nostalgic influence.
I find going to the local galleries much more inspiring. By far. I like the immediacy of the artwork – it has the potential to be more raw, more tangible, more provocative and thoughtful. I find most Hollywood movies to have creativity processed out as they focus on target audience expectations. And most of the fabricated movie nostalgia rings false and forced.
4. In what way does the music you listen to directly inspire your work? (bonus points for citing Hall & Oates or REO Speedwagon).
Finally, a question that has some depth. I gladly forgo any bonus points that blue eyed soul or that REO speedbuggy, (or Boston, or Styx) could generate. The glass studio usually has many artists working at the same time, and the music played is all over the spectrum. The polyglot of music can be rather heady - one minute Indian Hip-hop, the next ‘60’s movie soundtracks, and then remixes of Marianne Faithful… it was bit of a cultural overload for me when I first came to the studio, but now I love the mess of music.
5. Suppose McDonald's approached you and wanted your work for their next big advertising campaign. Would you be thrilled or apalled? Rationalize the benefits (fame, money, international recognition of your work) vs. the negatives (selling out to the man). Really, we're all selling our work to somebody, so is there such a thing as "selling out to the man?"
Thrilled. Sell out to the man? I aspire to be the man! Really – McDonald’s… that is such an unlikely prospect… (But in case the art consultant to McDonald’s is reading this, I am often in the Oakbrook area and would happily stop by to discuss options.)Now, if you had asked about being outrageously successful doing decorative-but-vacant pieces or struggling to survive and making content driven work that I felt a connection to each piece – then there would be something to talk about.
Previous Interviews:
Juno Doran (questions by James W. Bailey)
Josh Feldman (questions by Joseph Barbaccia)
Lisa Stephenson (questions by Whitney Lynn)
Joseph Barbaccia (questions by Josh Feldman)
James W. Bailey (questions by Matt Hollis)
Matt Hollis (questions by Juno Doran)
Carol Es (questions by James Leonard)
Alexandra Silverthorne (questions by Ami Lahoff)
Christine Buckton Tillman (questions by Carol Es)
Douglas Witmer (questions by Alexandra Silverthorne)
Sky Pape (questions by Douglas Witmer)
Whitney Lynn (questions by Lisa Stephenson)
Heather Levy (questions by Joanne Greenbaum)
Heather Lowe (questions by Samantha Wolov)
Samantha Wolov (questions by Heather Levy)
Timothy McClellan (questions by Heather Lowe)
James Leonard (questions by Sky Pape)
Joanne Greenbaum (questions by Timothy McClellan)
Richard Kooyman (questions by Robert Walton)
Candy Keegan (questions by Warren Craghead)
Robert Walton (questions by Candy Keegan)
John M. Adams (questions by Richard Kooyman)
Prescott Moore Lassman (questions by Mary Addison Hackett)
Mary Addison Hackett (questions by Prescott Moore Lassman)
Andrew Wodzianski (questions by Nathan Manuel & D.Billy)
Nathan Manuel & D.Billy (questions by Andrew Wodzianski)
Comments