I've been holding one to this one for a while, but I figured that during the August lull, it would be good to post this. I recently turned the tables on myself and answered my own interview questions. After a few artist interviews, I only thought it fair to have to 'go through' the scrutiny I forced them to endure.
Enjoy! Oh, and if you have any questions to add, please feel free to comment, there is still Part II to come!
Name: Ester Ippolito
Current City: Oggebbio, Piedmont, Italy
Hometown: Palermo, Sicily/ Dallas, Texas
Preferred Medium: speech, text, ink, photography, printmaking
Education: BA-University of Dallas; MPhil (expected) University of Kent
Website Link: duh.
Gallery Link: not yet, but one day I will.
Tell me about you work in one sentence:
I am interested in learning about art: what it is, the people, the history, the motivations…everything. I am aware that there is a wealth of information pertaining to art history and I want to share it with the ‘silent majority.’ In my own art, I am still searching.
Would you prefer to work at a gallery or a museum, why?
Both. I haven’t decided if I want to go into the public sector or the private sector. I am sure like every other choice in my life, I will have to experience both and see which suits me best. I do know that whatever I do, it should be non-profit. Money complicates things and turns art into too much of a commodity.
What is your favorite forum/method of sharing information about art?
Word of mouth, I like talking (especially about art.) In this blog I talk about many different places- but I try to take a local approach. I think that if people step outside their door and find the hidden jems in their own neighborhood, then they are much more likely to do the same thing when they visit another city. Eventually, when I move somewhere a little more permanent I will try to focus on that place, but for now- the world is my playground.
Your work is selected to show in a gallery or museum in the world, where would you choose?
If I could curate a show anywhere in the world, I would probably choose something close to home, like the Rachofsky House, and make it a party with friends, music, food, and drinks. I like the idea of taking the art out of the museum and putting it in a home. I think the general public doesn’t relate well to the white walls and empty hallways of museums and galleries. Plus, food and music make art so much more enjoyable! Note: When I say close to home, I mean Dallas. I love Palermo, but I would want to be in an environment where I am surrounded by friends, family, and my history. Stories from my adolescence that creep out of the walls. Not to say that I don't have this in Palermo, I just have much more of it in Dallas.
In what period of your career did you feel most aware of the needs of your audience, if ever?
In several instances. In 2005 while touring the Sistine Chapel (Rome) with my sister and her friend, they asked me some questions and all of a sudden, I became their docent. It was fun and I was good at it. In the senior year of my BA I realized that I had to make a choice to between focusing on art history or studio art. Obviously, I chose art history, but it was due to the fact that I had become a sort of art guru for some of my friends and I loved talking about art, especially when it was due to a particular question they asked. After university, I had idealistic goals to work in a London gallery or move to New York and ‘make it.’ For my MA I moved to the UK to achieve these goals, but I realized when I returned to Dallas in the summer that if I couldn’t change the pre-conceived notions about art that my friends and family shared, then what was the point? Art should be shared! So I guess that’s was when I decided to take a grassroots approach. I never gave up on the dream of curating or working in a major art center, I just gave myself a bit more wiggle room.
The art world right now is experiencing a newfound medium of exchanging information virtually. Do you think that this has affected the relevance of galleries, studios, and museums?
I think if anything, these places have become more relevant. Blogs like mine have helped to make receiving information about obscure topics so much easier. You can literally find information about anything on the web. This sharing of information makes it easier for someone to know about art events in their own neighborhood as well as abroad.
Would you rather have your work well known in the art community or well understood in the general population?
I never got into art to become a household name. I don’t care if I am a faceless entity behind a great project. I would rather be a part of a program that is well received and attended by hoards of people from every aspect of life.
Who are your artistic influences?
This is a tough question. When I think of artists from the entire history of art, I am most intrigued by those who went against the grain and did their own thing, whether by snubbing the Academy, art critics, or the general population. Right now I am really into the American Graffiti and Punk artists from the 1980s. Actually anything from the 1980s is of huge interest to me during this phase of my research. But I think the beauty of graffiti art is that it is made knowing it is not permanent, its free to the public, it typically deals with a social issue, and most of the time the artist is only known by their ‘tag’. I guess name wise, (those that I actually ‘know’ are) Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blek le Rat, Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quinones, ABOVE, and Banksy. I am also exploring the nature of the art collective and how it fits into our contemporary culture.
What is it about your work that makes it different from current art historians and relevant in today’s society?
My take on art is based on two factors: technology and money.
1) We are a generation that experienced the technological revolution at its prime, after most of the major advances had been discovered, but before they had been ‘tested’ on a majority of the population. As such, we got to experiment with this medium and shape it into something that best suits our needs and desires. Art blogs, virtual art catalogs, gallery websites, art-themed social networking sites (ARThood & ArtReview), all appeared because ‘we’ had an interest in them.
2) I am part of generation that is experiencing the harshness of the market more than our predecessors. There are no jobs without experience and no experience without jobs. Due to this catch-22, I, like many other 20-somethings, have had to become more creative about fulfilling my desires. Although somewhat disappointing in the face of social norms, this situation is great. When money is tight you have to be more inventive whether you are talking about art, making art, or experiencing art.
Also, due to a need to travel and ‘be part’ of whatever location I go to, I have a very small town approach to the art world. I like to use colloquial terms, I like to explain things so everyone understands and no one feels excluded, and I like it when people who had previously shied away from art begin talking about art. And perhaps the romantic side of me loves to see peoples eyes light up when they experience a work of art.
Its 2012 and as the Mayans predicted, the world ends. Every cultural link is destroyed, but luckily there are few survivors. You are among them and are selected to document our cultural past. What artifact/artwork would you choose to record first?
I know that I would choose Picasso’s Weeping Woman (1937). But how could you talk about a work knowing that no one would ever again get to experience it first hand?
But, after studying Postmodernism, I would really love to say none- we should just start over and see how society chooses to shape art history. But the historian in me would be disappointed, so much wonderful work, with so many links to ‘our’ past. Also art history helps artists look at the past for inspiration, but also to see what has been done and avoid imitation/repetition, so I think it would a necessity to have some records of styles, major works, etc. It would be tricky though, how do you teach art history without influencing artists.
