Interview with:Sylvain Chamberlain [sylvainchamberlain]
ART
 | What do you do? How do you define yourself as an artist? Many years ago I read Wassily Kandinsky book "Concerning the Spiritual in Art". I really understood his concept of the "Spiritual Triangle". I have always tried to use imagery to probe, question, and expose social and political undercurrents and agenda in our world cultures and sub-groups. My goal is always to bring into the common dialogue those issues that seem to the popular rhetoric to be "uncomfortable". My belief is that this faux "discomfort" is a disguise to excuse over-reaction, demonizing, and egregious regulation to control and criminalize or marginalize "real" and honest investigation into human life.
Having said that, most if not all, human socio-political issues are related to the human body in some form. From a sacrificial slaughter of Jesus to the "disembodied" idea of a "creator", or the movements of "heavenly" bodies, every school of thought on humanity holds its relationship to the human body or form.
There are close to seven billion humans on the planet at this time, and only two varieties. I think it is long overdue that "we" loose the taboos and celebrate the fact that our survival drives to copulate, still remains to excite us.
If that means that all figurative art is to be deemed "erotic", then so be it. What is more to the point however, is the added baggage of politic and sociological controls that are attached to the term "erotic" as good/bad, or threat/non-threat, or value/non-value.
"Erotic" simply indicates our strong survival and procreative urges are alive and nurturing to our species continued existence. How this can be anything but a "good", "non-threatening", "value" creating opportunity is beyond the sane mind to contemplate.
I create PROVOCATIVE images to ask questions, make statements, and interogate the currents of thought and memetics that influence and control us.
http://artsylvain.com is my online portfolio of images... |
| What is your message? That it is more important to know what you "think" about who you are, than to act out who you think you are. |
| Your biography in four lines. Born.
Study.
Work to enlighten.
Determined to live a life of purpose, impact, and completion. |
| Do you upload your work to the web? If so, where could we see it? |
| How is an idea born? For you, what is inspiration? Every day is filled with questions of identity and human roles or responsibilities, politics, justice, beauty, and security. Everything in my environment, which is now limitless through television and the internet has an impact of each of us. I take those impacts and chose either to be passive in letting them pass or accumulate. If they accumulate to a formidable presence in my consciouness or I cannot remain passive about them, I tebd to engage them directly and then glean imagery from their presence or against their presence in an effort to better define, understand, and communicate. So, in short, I look for inspiration in each mundane moment. |
| What role does technology play in your creative process? Is there anything we do in the "modern" world not touched by technology? |
| What is art? Experience.
To understand that better, I can only refer you to my book, Artist-Bodhisattva, ISBN: 978-1-4357-2320-7 |
| When do you get your best ideas? "Best idea"?
I don't know what that is. |
| How do you evaluate whether an idea is good or not? That is a better question.
If we are all honest here. A "good" idea is one that excits and satisfies you. If it satisfies you to make people think, well then your idea must accomplish that as a goal. |
| Three creative ideas that you would have liked to have created? Peanut Butter.
Rubber Bands.
Electricity. |
| When and how did you begin to see yourself as an artist? When you embrace your talent. |
| Why do so many artists and creators have such volatile personalities? I don't know that this is a true statement. For instance, what do you mean by it?
I think it is different for each individual. "Volitile" means to evaporate quickly, like paint thinner, or alcohol.
If you are a truly dedicated person, dedicated to your endeavors, then you may express some form of singlemindedness as you pursue deeper and more satiating knowledge and experience regarding your endeavor.
Then again, if you are a charletain who is posing or role playing for attention or success through deception, the casual observer may see little difference in your defensive nature from the honest dedication of the previous example.
So whose to know. |
| Do you consider yourself postmodern? "Modern" used to mean "new". So does "post" "modern" mean "old"?
I have no choice about being "Contemporary". Those labels are for others to make. |
| How should a work of art be evaluated? By repeated exposure and experience. |
| Must an artist reinvent him/herself everyday? This is the human condition, not just for artists. |
| Which artists do you admire and how do they influence your work? I admire artists who create very "strong" work technically and with content. I do not refer here to "subject", that is "what" is interpreted in the medium, but rather the interpretation and its context in the medium as well as its space and reference. The content in a painting for instance is the paint, the scale, the subject or subjects, the tones and hues and drawing of the piece.
These artists keep me striving to create powerful imagery that poses multiple layers of meaning and questioning. |
| What do you think about public funding for the arts? absolute necessity. Art is the public trust. Art must be an integral part of all levels of education. Only with the Arts can our children, young adults, and aspiring professionals explore and hone the skills of critical thinking, analysis, problem solving, and quality of life. |
| Is art necessary? Babies, human babies, cannot exist on their own for about seven years. During that time they need to be supported and taught basic survival skills. After seven years they can just begin to exhibit self-survival skills. Human life is like this in a society. Humans need to be supported and taught life skills in order to understand, appreciate, and value life beyond mere survival. Art is the tool, the medium, the universal teacher of skills that are required to be an effective and fulfilled human. |
| Does it pain you to let go of a piece you have sold? No.
Art is a dialogue. It must move on to live. |
| Is a work of art purchased, or is it better said, that it is the artist who is bought? That is a mess of a question, and somewhat upsetting.
Art is an idea, and the beginning of a dialogue. A "work" of Art is an artfact created of that idea. The idea is started by the artist, evolves and tranlates into work that results in an "artifact". The "artifact" is purchased as a talisman of the idea, and thereby continues through the collector. No "art" or "artist" is sold. |
| In art, there is no guide. How do you know what the next step is? certainly there is a guide! Life is the guide! |
| How do you feel about the fact that the pieces exhibited in contemporary art museums are often of artists already deceased? Humans don't live for ever... |
| What role have the figures of art dealer, gallery owners, representatives, and intermediaries in general played in your career? not nearly enough! |
| Do you personally collect any items? I like to collect other artists work that intrigues or inspire me. |
| Which websites do you frequently visit? |
| What advice would you give to those just beginning? get funding |
| 
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[sylvainchamberlain]
Sylvain Chamberlain
Shannon, MS
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