The interview with Brian Sherwin that never saw the light of day:
Let me set the stage for you the way Brian always does - (a little poetic license please)
------------------------------------------------ (Brian) I met with Avery in his godforsaken studio on a drizzly Seattle morning. I had flown from Pheonix to interview an artist and before that to Lisbon to do the same and before that to Philadelphia to do an interview, and before that to Billings for an interview - and that was before I took a break for lunch. Well, anyway, here I was amongst the canvases and brushes yet again doing another interview again.
(Brian)When did you first discover that art would be an important part of your adult life?
(Avery)Avery woke up Yesterday - he finished his morning coffee and thought about the work he was going to do."At sixty," he thought "it doesn't pay to get too far ahead." He thought about washing the sinks but decided against. "Better push ahead" as the heat in his body grew.
(Brian)How has creating art shaped you professionally and personally?
(Avery)He walked into the studio, slightly limping after tweaking his knee yesterday. Two canvases on the wall: one full of color and the other full of medium. Avery felt himself being hooked - drawn by a magnetism that was complete - an electrical charge that would move his imagery further. The wall behind the work grabbed his attention - it was so flat, so square, and the drips that had been flung upon it waved and beckoned.
(B)How has society influenced your art? Are there any social implications in your art?
(A)Nah, none whatsoever. Now let's see where was I?
(B)What are your artistic influences? Has anyone inspired you?
(A)I have inspired me. (He thought.) And then - The randon assemblages of pasty paint, of things instead of things themselves is no less Dada, but frees the artist from contrivance, artiness, and déjà vu. The artist is a poet among vulgarians and a vulgarian among poets. As Lyndon Johnson lifted his shirt and showed his scar to the people, he in his work has made no bones about his style. Even when he fails, the result has redeeming features those of high camp, and honor badge, of a conspicuous attitude. He builds a comic relief clause in his work to shield him against charges of pedantry or melodrama.
(B)Tell me a little about your background. Are your past experiences reflected in the work you do today? If so, how?
(A)He stood in the doorway, a sixty year old James Brown - balancing on one foot and wondering whether the dog had been fed. For the forth time today the world spoke back to him to say that "the world is a far more wondrous place, greater in extent and breadth and twisted, gnarly depth than you could ever imagine." He had received many Boy Scout medals for pain and pleasure. What was he doing when the hallways of highschool grew silent except for the thin voice saying that "the President has been shot". And when the Greatest became the Greatest. And when, high on mescaline, he watched the moon with men on it. Far, far away. Combustible and grey.
(B)How long have you been a working artist?
(A)Forty years.
(B)On average, how long does it take you create one piece?
(A)Scratching the bald spot over his left brow he released a puff of air over a voice tired of commerce - "I haven't finished one yet."
(B)Do you have any 'studio rituals'? As in, do you listen to certain types of music while working? What helps to get you in the mood for working?
(A)I like to put my fingertips into the paint and imagine I am having sex with Donald Trump.
(B)If you could pinpoint the characteristics of people who collect your art, what would they be?
(A)An arm stretched from his hip and swung through a thick void in front, at it's end was an upturned and curved palm - "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good."
(B)Discuss one of your pieces. (Let me know which one you are talking about."What were you thinking when you created it?
(A)I was like going - "Whoops". (You choose.)
(B)What is your artistic process?
(A)Avery keenly realizes that unless (his) bravado technique be given a new reason for existence, soon nothing of the style remains. As he systematically sets out to provide a new rationale for painting: utopian ambition of usurping the properties of painting.
(B)Why did you choose the medium(s) that you use?
(A)I use a light foam of day-old milk poured over hamhock suet. The medium's iconic, yet relatively non-allusive effect and its potential for color and form permutation suggests a reference to the expansion of color in a given configuration and to the expansion of the pupil as the eye passes more light to the retina.
(B)Do you have a degree or do you plan to attend school for art? If so, how has it helped your art career?
(A)There was a time - artschool time - when the students stood naked before a dressed model. Avery glanced at the door and wondered whether anyone else was coming. As if he was outside the oil-based room right now, passing the stone blue concrete, swimming his way downstream with the wild surge of water behind....as he realized where he was by crossreferencing realities a course was channeled. Riding his bike across San Francisco with a painting tied to his back seemed no longer unusual.
(B)If you have a degree, how influential was the school where you studied?
(A)Not very.
(B)What can you tell us about the art department that you attended?
(A)It was full of art students from all over and they all had one thing in common - they wanted to learn about art, and even make artistic things - with their hands - and then keep the artistic things in their basements where they would be discovered if anyone dropped the Big One - of course.
(B)Where can we see more of your art?
(A)On the Discovery Channel.
(B)Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have any upcoming exhibits?
(A)No. No.
(B)What galleries have you exhibited in? Can you provide links to their sites?
(A)What is that name? He thought about his favorites list for prospective shows: First there was The Pastee Buildup Gallery. Then:
2. Big Guey Slopper Gallery 3. Heaven's Hog Bar and Grill (Gallery) and finally 4. His Friend Eric's Garage (Gallery) where most of the paintings were stored anyway. And besides, in the Garage his work reflects a painterly situation in the manner in which it is conveyed by operational division between experiential interpretation, that framing device that provides art value and art context, where there is a deficit of sensuous materialism without the elegant, mature formalism that is manifested in idealist philosophy and prescriptive perception to which this work is informed.
(B)What trends do you see in the 'art world'?
(A)None.
(B)Any tips for emerging artists?
(A)After running his finger tip over the cracks in the rest of his finger tips he felt the small sharp pains and raised the hand, face to face - back of hand to window - the same hand he had carried with him through all the days (and nights). Avery the philosopher intoned, "Choose to live by your own code; be a good father to your children. Be a good husband to your wife, try to be a decent person in a fucked up world, and keep doing the work."
(B)Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with it?
(A)Yes, one of my pieces was eliminated from a gallery show because it wasn't controversial enough to be censored. I cried and then went to therapy for six weeks.
(B)What was the toughest point in your career as an artist? Have you ever hit rock-bottom?
(A)No, only soft bottoms.
(B)In one sentence... why do you create art?
(A)The computer screen flickered - "I think there was an electrical short for an instant," Avery pondered the consequences lifting a leg like a dog getting ready to pee. "Well then all of this valuable interview would be lost to posterity", so to sum up quickly (before the big blackout) he pronounced, "art shmart, just like Little Orley rolling down the hill attached to his tremendous bubble gum bubble and collecting items as he went, each making particular sounds like moooing, barking, baaaing, so-on until the whole object was one big orchestra of cacophonious triphoberation - because of it."
(B)Can we find your art on MYARTSPACE.COM? (It is a free gallery site for artists.)
(A)Nah.
(B)What can you tell our readers about the art scene in your area? (Please state where you are at so people will know where you are talking about.)
(A)Climbing up in the Lombardi hedge everything was vertical, everything was acrid smelling, and there was no ceiling - so when Avery's head finally popped out of the top he appeared as a tiny person with very large shoulders. And that is how he perceived the art community of Seattle - very tiny head - very big shoulders. They are many hardened criminals and in an art scene like this, so to say, stay away. They are children of a lesser god. Their passions are incited when aroused and occasionally pitchforks and torches - especially when real genius is evident.
(B)Has politics ever entered your art?
(A)"Mmmmmmmm," he thought rubbing his formica jeans. The light came on, "If I don't answer that I won't be censored - but then how can I be controversial, but on the other hand politics is art and art is everything and stuff. But what about when Avery joined the Whatever Party, the party that advocates the Passive Policy agenda? - they cried. That was art.
(B)Does religion, faith, or the lack thereof play a part in your art?
(A)Yes.
(B)Does your cultural background play a part in your work?
(A)No, only cultural foreplay. (B)Is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the 'art world'?
(A)Owww.
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