Frequent Asked Question
Why are you an artist Mike, and when did you first become one?
That's a stupid question. when I was working on my mfa thesis, Horizon, or Do Fish Drink Water I was thinking about the role of the artist. I am neither a reporter, a journalist, filmmaker, story teller, writer...but some how in the end I embodied a little bit of all those things. Maybe that's how I feel about being an artist. I am no one and I am everyone. My grandparents are Buddhist, by the way.
Could you tell us some more about your sculpture?
I actually don't really make sculpture. I don't know why you ask me that. You should do your research. Sculpture is one thing that I never really understand. It actually annoys me a little bit (like the color Aqua. its neither green or blue!). It's not an image and it has to exist in the same space and time as I do. That's weird. It's almost too real. In a way a sculpture have to compete with other objects that already exist in the world. Like architecture. Stair case, Or cheese cake. Or bats. Chair, too. Maybe from this point, I can go on to say that's why I enjoy looking at paintings. It enjoys the simplicity of existence.
My mother used to ask me Why the figures in my work are never smiling. How would you answer that question?
How would I know how to answer that? Are you just pulling question out of a magazine or something? My mother never ask me question about my art, either smiling or not. Next question.
What famous artists have influenced you, and how?
That's both an easy and hard question. I don't really like to make lists. But if I had to pick one person to have coffee with, it would be performance artist Tehching Hsieh. He is also from Taiwan. I don't really have questions to ask him or anything. I imagine that he is a quiet person like myself, so we would just sit there and stare at each. There is something nice about that. Oh plus once I bought his dvd online without paying for it. I guess I would bring my check book.
What other interests do you have outside of creating art?
Strangely I like reading articles on sports. there are some brilliant sport writers on ESPN.com. I am a big fan of Kobe Bryant. Besides a tenacious athlete, he is also a complicated figure. Recently I like to imagine myself as Bob Dylan. I am also quiet fond of cleaning my ears and watching horror films, sometimes do them at the same time. Sometimes I think about how terrible Nicolas Cage's career has become. Does that make him sad? Took off his face in Face Off, made a movie about a ghost riding motorcycle that no one saw, an action thriller in which he could foresee the future (thus able to become the antitheses of tradition action narrative: predictably, he refuse to get hurt no matter what), then finally made a movie called Bangkok Dangerous. com'on!
What inspires you to create art and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?
I don't have a studio at the moment.
How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
I don't.
How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
Thanks for jinxing it for me. Jerk. Huge.
What's the best and worst parts of being a full time, working artist?
I am not a full time artist.
What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
This might be unrelated, but I like telling this story: once a english professor was teaching american literature in a university in Beijing. The topic of the week was non-traditional narrative. The professor wanted the class to read Donald Barthelme's short fictions. After a couple of stories the class got uneasy about what were in front of them, so they booed and left the classroom as an act of defiance. I like this story because that's what I would like to do some day: get booed at being really good at something.
How long did it take you to solidify your style?
On average, how many hours do you work a day?
Have you chosen techniques that help speed your productivity over the period of a year in order to meet the demand for your work?
Is there a particular brand of oil paint or brush you prefer?
Did your parents encourage you to become an artist?
Are you originally from Leipzig?
Given your versatile history in art, it would be tough to put a one-word label on yourself. If you had to, though, what would it be? Artist, illustrator, other?
What was your greatest success and biggest setback?
What are your favorite pieces of work that you have done and why?
Was your art education worth it for you? Why?
When is it a good idea to go after a graduate degree in art?