Name: Sam Durant
Age: 52
Occupation: Art
City/Neighborhood: Los Angeles
Your new body of work at Paula Cooper shines a light on a number of overlooked Surrealists who were from the Francophone colonies. What sparked your interest in these artists?
Historian Robin D.G. Kelley’s work opened the door. In his introduction to poet Aimé Césaire’s famous essay, “Discourse on Colonialism,” Kelley links Césaire’s work as a surrealist to the anti-colonial struggles erupting around the world, especially in the francophone colonies. Kelley also discusses Césaire’s influence on fellow countryman Frantz Fanon, who became a psychiatrist, eventually becoming head of the main psychiatric hospital in Algiers. In addition to becoming part of the Algerian struggle for independence, he is seen as a primary theorist of the psychological effects of imperialism. This made so much sense in terms of the surrealist’s focus on the unconscious and psychoanalysis.
In what ways did the practices of these artists change your conception of the movement?
Their practices were more overtly political, many were involved in national struggles for independence and racial justice. And this was always about total liberation, both individual and collective. The mid-20th century was a very dark period and yet these artists struggled for beauty and freedom, toward the marvelous, toward life force, eros.
For this show you also use “trench warfare objects” such as artillery shells to construct wind chimes or lamps. What does it mean to turn these objects into art in the form of common household items?
The use of “Trench Art” functions as a reminder of the inextricable link between war and art, violence and culture. I made two sculptures which involve war material. One, a large wind chime, uses artillery shells as the bells, which might actually qualify the piece as Trench Art. The other work is a collection of various examples of Trench Art, which I accumulated over the past several years in my research. The artifacts represent a variety of different forms of Trench Art from different conflicts throughout the 20th century. They are arranged into a unified composition that is a cross between modernist and anthropological artifact display conventions. Trench Art as a recognized form developed during World War I as soldiers trapped in the trenches for weeks and months on end began to use what was at hand to make things: lighters, vases, ashtrays, little sculptures of tanks, animals, planes, people, and so forth. The tradition has carried on from WWI to WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and on and on and on. I imagine there is Trench Art being made in Syria, Iraq, Libya, perhaps even in Gaza right now.
What project are you working on now?
The future is unpredictable, hopefully some things will come to fruition and you will hear from me again.
What’s the last show that you saw?
Selasar Sunaryo Gallery, which is something like the Noguchi Museum except there is less of Sunaryo’s work and quite a collection of artists from the Bandung region.
What’s the last show that surprised you?
“Edo Pop,” an exhibition at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute. A beautiful selection of Ukiyo-e prints, landscapes with extraordinary details, maternal imagery, mothers nursing and playing with children, and several instruction manuals for making shadow hand puppets.
Describe a typical day in your life as an artist.
There really isn’t one; each day is different. I am frequently stunned at how lucky I am.
Do you make a living off your art?
I teach art at California Institute of the Arts. This gives me a degree of freedom from the art market.
What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?
Books.
Where are you finding ideas for your work these days?
In “Asia” and also in books.
Do you collect anything?
No.
What is your karaoke song?
“A Spoonful of Sugar” from “Mary Poppins.”
What’s the last artwork you purchased?
A work by Gala Porras Kim depicting whistling languages from Central America.
What’s the first artwork you ever sold?
Probably one of the Abandoned House models.
What’s the weirdest thing you ever saw happen in a museum or gallery?
Psychic TV — they really shook me up in 1983. I still remember it.
What’s your art-world pet peeve?
The predictability of it.
What’s your favorite post-gallery watering hole or restaurant?
Home.
Do you have a gallery/museum-going routine?
I try to get out every month and see things.
What’s the last great book you read?
“Europe in Sepia” by Dubravka Ugresic.
What international art destination do you most want to visit?
Beirut.
What under-appreciated artist, gallery, or work do you think people should know about?
Project Row Houses in Houston.
Who’s your favorite living artist?
Adrian Piper.
What are your hobbies?
I don’t really have any but your question makes me think perhaps I should.
