The art world is a complicated one, and it can be difficult to understand how an artist becomes legitimized in such a complex and opaque environment. To cope with this uncertainty, many artists fall prey to a “let the chips fall where they may” type of approach to their career. “Let the work speak for itself,” they say. “If it’s… Read more →
The technological disruption of creativity and artmaking is a phenomenon that has been ongoing for centuries. Technology has always been behind the artmaking process, playing an integral role in shaping how art gets made and what its purpose is. Pigments were a technology when they were discovered tens of thousands of years ago. So were brushes, carving tools, chisels, looms,… Read more →
As an artist, I have always been interested in the intersection of technology and art. In the past I wrote progressive, interactive fiction using Twitter as a creative constraint (when it still only allowed 140 characters.) I authored DVDs with my own Choose Your Own Adventure stories readers could play on their televisions, using DVD menus to make narrative decisions.… Read more →
Sue Sommer is a contemporary artist based out of Pinedale, Wyoming. She serves on the National Advisory Board of the University of Wyoming Art Museum and is a founder of Pipeline Art Project. She also contributes writing to the Studio Wyoming Review on WyoFile, which she helped establish with other Pipeline Art Project members in 2016. Sue spoke to Nick… Read more →
Asceticism is a practice with a long history the world over. Typically, the practice consists of some form of abstinence, frugality, and retreat—or a combination of all three—for a specific spiritual purpose. Some ascetics pursue redemption, others seek communion with their deity of choice, and still others remove themselves from the distractions of the world to discover an ephemeral thing… Read more →
Steve Knox is an artist, arts educator, and arts advocate from Cheyenne. He spoke with Nick Thornburg over the phone in March of 2021. Nick Thornburg: Steve, you’ve had a pretty eventful year on top of what we’ve all experienced during the pandemic. You’ve been keeping busy and a lot of things have happened for you. Do you want to… Read more →
Andy Couch is the Executive Director of The Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming. He spoke with Nick Thornburg over the phone in early March of 2021. Nick Thornburg: Talk a little bit about your broad vision for The Nic. I know you came in during a pretty challenging time for the arts and for nonprofit institutions, so you’ve got… Read more →
One easy-to-find nugget of wisdom making the rounds on the Internet these days reads: “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ― Aristotle But while the words make for an insightful expression, they do not, in fact, belong to Aristotle. They rightfully belong to the historian William James Durant, having… Read more →
Nick Thornburg: What has changed for you in the last several months, between the release of your Featured Artist article and now in early February? Luke Anderson: In the past year I think that my fundamentals have been the thing that have changed and improved the most, oddly enough. NT: Is that something you were deliberately focusing on? LA: Yeah.… Read more →
I nearly drowned when I was eight years old. It happened during a weekend sailing trip at a lake in a remote state park in Iowa. Too young and too inexperienced to aid in the operation of the 18-foot sailboat, I had seated myself at the bow while my father and brother took charge. It was an unfamiliar boat, a… Read more →