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Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Frank Plant
By Spraygraphic | September 16, 2009
Spraygraphic Interview with Frank Plant
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
FP: I’m an American trapped in Europe. Of late I call Barcelona home and am in no rush to uproot myself. I have two cats, I teach young creatives and I find joy in cooking for friends
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
FP: I live and work in an Industrial space in a working class neighborhood in Barcelona, Spain
SG: What mediums do you work with?
FP: My primary vehicle is steel but I love to mix it with just about anything, the latest frontier is flocking which I’m just now beginning to explore
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
FP: There’s a spectrum, the extremes being fidelity to an idea and flexibility and improvisation on the other side, I try and stay in the middle but it really depends on the project which needs more of one or the other extremes. Alchemy might be a good description. Most of my ideas come from being in the process, when you are presented with a universe of possibilities in relation to the idea you happen to be developing.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
FP: It really depends, but when I’m on a role I try and leave the work at a point where it will be interesting to pick it in the morning. But sometimes when your blocked your blocked then I try and keep myself busy by doing all the banal things around the studio that are the unromantic side to my trade. I make an analogy often about how my relationship to my creativity is like an athlete’s relationship to his/her body, you don’t just get up and run a marathon you have to warm up, you have to train and you become more attuned and capable of achieving your goals.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
FP: My belly button, amazing things therein!
SG: Where has your work been seen?
FP: Most recently in a group show in Tacheles in Berlin, Last year in Galeria Contrast and ADN Galeria in Barcelona, as well as Zaum Projects in Lisboa
SG: Can you tell us a little about Personally Political, Contemporary Sensation.
FP: Was a series of two shows curated by Barbara Fragogna, one focusing on photography and the other on drawing, at Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin. Barbara did a great job of pulling together a variety of artists who deal with in some way, shape or form, the political in relationship to their personal lives and creativity.
SG: Where will it be seen next?
FP: In September, waiting for a confirmation on a date in Amsterdam at a space called funnily enough, Another Space (anotherspace.nl), I’m in contact for involvement in two more things in September one in Dusseldorf and the other in Madrid but don’t want to get ahead of myself until all the details are ironed out. Also, a show in Madrid called Mad is Mad.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
FP: Not too sure, I still struggle with commissions which in my experience change my relationship with the work and to my process. Instinct plays a certain role in my process and once you begin to have someone else’s parameters as a guiding force it can be tricky. Having said that it’s also a very good skill to develop, I’m still working on it, when i have it figured out , I’ll answer the question properly ;).
SG: What is your favorite color?
Don’t have one
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
FP: Also don’t have one, what I do have are artists that I like or appreciate for a variety of reasons. Some for content, others for technique etc… Of late ones that I like a lot are Erwin Wurm and Jon Pylypchuk.
These are two artists I like for their creativity as well as the sense of irony and humor that both employ. Irony and humor are for me very powerful tools that are often over looked.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
FP: Latest issue of the New Yorker. Just finished “My Friend Leonard” by james frey
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
FP: Not sure if I have one but I know I’ve been making good decisions if there’s sand under my feet and the smell of the sea or if I happen to find myself floating on the St. Elm somewhere in the Mediterranean.
SG: Any final words of advice?
FP: Difficult question, I imagine the question is geared towards creatives. Then i would say Patience, Focus and Perseverance. None of which have ever been strong points of mine but I have definitely come to appreciate the value of all of them. And as my buddy Jim Barnard put it late late late one night, “There’s no substitute for practice and There’s no short cuts….”. That’s Gospel to me.
Additional Links: Flickr
Topics: Artist Interviews, Sculpture Art |
September 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Please come back to your country. We have enough mediocre artists in Barcelona, thanks.
October 1st, 2009 at 8:50 am
Max go crawl back under your shell.