{"id":631,"date":"2011-11-16T22:02:50","date_gmt":"2011-11-16T22:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?p=631"},"modified":"2015-07-28T02:38:57","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T02:38:57","slug":"myself-to-myself-to-the-world-an-interview-with-tanner-slick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/?p=631","title":{"rendered":"Myself to Myself to the World &#8211; An Interview with Tanner Slick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?attachment_id=636\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-636\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-636 size-medium\" title=\"Tiny\" src=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Tiny-590x786.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"786\" srcset=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Tiny-590x786.jpg 590w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Tiny-950x1266.jpg 950w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a>Tanner Slick is a puppeteer, painter, sculptor, photographer, and organizer.\u00c2\u00a0 His work, in whatever medium, succeeds in being engaging, visually exciting, and, usually, entertaining- it&#8217;s dark yet playful, witty, fun, smart, and self-reflective.\u00c2\u00a0 Tanner&#8217;s mischievous and playful nature shines authentically through all of his work, which jumps effortlessly between media.\u00c2\u00a0 I was blown away by his insight in this interview!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are you trying to communicate or explore with your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think I make art to try to understand myself. Generally, my work explores my own thoughts and ideas about my existence- who I am and where I am. There are many, more specific concepts that I communicate in different pieces, but they all come from an attempt to situate myself within the world around me. I learn a lot about myself when I look at what I make. I often try not to think too much while I&#8217;m working, so I can learn from looking. Each piece is like a compact and complicated log of information from myself to myself and to the world.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?attachment_id=635\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-635\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-635 size-medium\" title=\"Plunge\" src=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Plunge-590x760.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Plunge-590x760.jpg 590w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Plunge-950x1224.jpg 950w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Plunge.jpg 1936w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where were you when you created one of your favorite works?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not really sure, I&#8217;ve been in so many places doing so many different things that I like, but I think putting on my first original puppet production in Brooklyn in 2009, which was called The Sage: A HipHop Puppet Ballet, was probably one of my favorite times. It was with a big an amazing team of about 20 people. We had a lot of fun, did a huge amount of work and make something very cool together.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/21996413?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"400\" height=\"295\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/21996413\">The Sage (Short)<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/tannerslick\">Tanner Slick<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you see your art in relation to cultivating community and how does community affect the work you make?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My artwork is probably me at my most honest and raw. When I think about cultivating community, those are two qualities that I want to have in myself and in others around me. Sharing my visual work is a way for me to open up that kind of dialogue with people around me. I share something about me and then, hopefully, someone shares something with me, a response. Ideally, both sides are being real, that&#8217;s how community develops and evolves, or at least the community I want to have. With puppetry and theater, it is such a communal process and experience, that it has the power to cultivate a community just through happening and everyone has a hand in it. Then people see it and then they are a part of the community too, in a way. Its a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?attachment_id=633\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-633\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-633 size-medium\" title=\"DCP_2940\" src=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/DCP_2940-590x413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/DCP_2940-590x413.jpg 590w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/DCP_2940-950x665.jpg 950w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/DCP_2940.jpg 1366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your spirit animal?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It changes often, but right now I gotta say the albino skunk that lives in my backyard.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What places in Northampton and around are you most curious to see inside of, or to make work in?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Abandoned industrial spaces are really exciting to me. I like to go into places that have not been lived in or used in a long time because they are like physical ghosts. I don&#8217;t always make work in them, but I find them inspiring for what I do in my work space. I do a lot of dancing in these spaces though, which feels like art, or at least visceral expression and plan to be dancing in old, broke down ghost buildings &#8217;til the day I die.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?attachment_id=634\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-634\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-634 size-medium\" title=\"M for Monster\" src=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/M-for-Monster-590x789.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"789\" srcset=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/M-for-Monster-590x789.jpg 590w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/M-for-Monster-950x1270.jpg 950w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/M-for-Monster.jpg 1892w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are some strategies you use to sustain your creative practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Variety. I think my creative process flourishes when I allow myself to have a variety of ideas and practices. I make all kinds of stuff from food, music, puppets, movements and paintings, so I have a practice for every mood, I guess. This helps me keep on making even if I hit a block or something in one area, or on one project. I think continuing to work is what sustains my work, for me. I also get really excited by collaborative projects and feel that they are a kind of break from my own solo stuff, so I try to do that a lot too. making even if I hit a block or something in one area, or on one project. I think continuing to work is what sustains my work, for me. I also get really excited by collaborative projects and feel that they are a kind of break from my own solo stuff, so I try to do that a lot too.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/c3northampton.org\/?attachment_id=632\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-632\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-632 size-medium\" title=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/1-590x392.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"392\" srcset=\"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/1-590x392.jpg 590w, http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/1-950x631.jpg 950w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can see Tanner&#8217;s work in lots of places!<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Online at <a href=\"www.tannerslick.com\">www.tannerslick.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>In the window of Food For Thought Books in Amherst, starting December 4th.<\/li>\n<li>In a puppetry piece at the Band of Puppets Festival at the Bushwick Star in Brooklyn, NY December 8th-11th<\/li>\n<li>In a 2012 artists calendar that will be available soon in local stores!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tanner Slick is a puppeteer, painter, sculptor, photographer, and organizer.\u00c2\u00a0 His work, in whatever medium, succeeds in being engaging, visually exciting, and, usually, entertaining- it&#8217;s dark yet playful, witty, fun, smart, and self-reflective.\u00c2\u00a0 Tanner&#8217;s mischievous and playful nature shines authentically through all of his work, which jumps effortlessly between media.\u00c2\u00a0 I was blown away by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/c3artscollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}