KRISTYN WEAVER courts absurdity anywhere she can, inadvertently referencing Internet memes that tap into the joy of shared ridiculousness. Her graphite drawings of cats in unexpected places and modified found object sculptures entertain, ultimately posing the question: Does art have to be so serious all the time? Kristyn received her BFA from The University of Texas at Austin (2004) and her MFA from Washington State University (2008). In 2010, she received the Austin Critics Table Award for Outstanding Work of Art in Installation. Recent exhibitions include Fakes II at the New Jersey City University Visual Arts Gallery in Newark and Man & Animals: Relationship and Purpose at Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Kristyn lives and works in Brookings, South Dakota.
OtherPeoplesPixels: Talk about your interest in the absurd, both in general and in your work.
Kristyn Weaver:
I have always reveled in the ridiculous and the ludicrous. I delight in
silly things that don’t need to happen. Marveling at how someone’s brain
conceived of something so perfect in its bizarreness. My philosophy of
creation has always been that of enjoyment, both for me and for the
viewer. In that, absurdity runs parallel to enjoyment. My hope is that
if I enjoy something, someone else will, too. And that delight in the
pointlessness connects us in a purer way than a clear message or
narrative could. Art in itself is at variance with reason, yet we still
endeavor to create it and seek it out.
OPP: A simple pleasure shared with another person is a profound human experience that is never pointless. To me, the connection is the point. It’s just an unexpected point that not everyone thinks should be the function of "capital A-Art." That’s one of the functions of entertainment, but many people want to guard the border between art and entertainment because they believe allowing that border to be fluid denigrates art. Do you think there is or should be a border between art and entertainment?
KW: In my opinion, the sooner we can get the masses to consider themselves legitimately entertained by "capital A-Art," the better. The type of entertainment that art provides inspires divergent thinking. I have always considered it to be more reminiscent of the way that we entertained ourselves as children when we were left outside to our own devices. There can simultaneously be very strict self-imposed rules and complete gratuitous freedom. It is wholly unfettered by reason, and you get out of it what you put in. That is why I aspire to make work that morphs from viewer to viewer and can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Art is more denigrated by people choosing not to see it as a sincere form of entertainment. I find it disheartening when people feel that they have to “get it” to enjoy it. If only they could experience a moment of enjoyment without reason. The sooner that people consider themselves “entertained” by something other than Iron Man, the better.The imagery I work with in both the drawings and sculptures is sourced from the everyday. They are populist images like cats, celebrities and so forth. Access to this subject matter is not exclusive; it really belongs to everyone. The question that I ponder when people say they don’t get it is why does the act of me creating/pairing/composing these different situations and making “Art” out of it and then placing it in a gallery change the relationship that the viewer has with it? Part of the reason I choose certain subjects/images is because they are accessible to the larger public and have the potential to attract others besides myself.
OPP: What isn't absurd?
KW: The collective absurdity. . . and ellipses. . . and cotton candy.
OPP: Speaking of absurdity, is Nope. . . Face Down Garfield a reference to Chuck Testa?
KW: Well, it is now. I had actually never heard of Chuck Testa before your question and I watched his video on YouTube. That man deserves a medal.
OPP: Instead of a traditional artist statement, you've written a treatise. In it, you first say that you don't want to use language to define your work, but then you go on to use quite a lot of words. It's very funny and also gives a clear sense of how you think about the nature of art. It feels like a piece in and of itself. How did you generate the Q&A format? Are these questions you were repeatedly asked or questions you ask yourself?
KW: I still hesitate to use words to define my work. I wish I could use images to answer these questions—insert picture of grandmother’s hands here. The work is already communicating with the viewer. Words have the potential to unnecessarily complicate things. . . but, I digress. The Q&A format came about as an attempt at a more succinct way of answering certain questions that I was asking myself. I referred to it as a treatise to add ridiculous formality to the whole stream of consciousness mess.
OPP: Since 2007, you've been making a series of graphite drawings
of cats that have the feel of internet memes (although I don't think
I've seen these particular memes anywhere). It all started with Kittenseum but continued with Staring Contests and your series of cats inserted into Steve McQueen movies. KnowYourMeme.com charts the early origins of cats on the Internet,
but cites 2007 as a moment of major growth:
. . . the online popularity of cat-related media took a leap forward beginning in 2006 with the growing influence of LOLcats and Caturday on Something Awful and 4chan as well as the launch of YouTube, which essentially paved the way for the ubiquitous, multimedia presence of cats. The LOLcat phenomenon is thought to have entered the mainstream of the Internet sometime after the launch of I Can Has Cheezburger in early 2007. (Knowyourmeme.com)
Could you talk about the relationship between your drawings and the phenomena of cats on the internet?
KW: My series of cat drawings began because I
had an epiphany that I should be making art that I wanted to spend time
with and see happen, and not to question from where these desires
stemmed or what it all meant. I think that the Internet viewing world at
large had the same inclination. Cat memes fulfill our unabashed desire
for release through frivolity. We don’t have to question why we like
watching them or what it is that draws us to them. We can just sit and
appreciate them for what they are (often for hours at a time). If I am
going to put my art out there for consideration by the public, I want it
to be something that is valid in its simple, joyful enrichment of the
time that viewers spend with it. In summation, cats are fuzzy. I want to
hug them, and so does everyone else.
OPP: In sculptural work, including your series of altered newspapers, rubber sculptures and altered school chairs,
you use the repeated strategy of rendering everyday objects useless, at
least in the way that they were originally intended to be used. Have
you stripped these objects of function or have you created a new
function?
KW: I suppose I have done a little bit of both.
Most of the objects’ direct functions are to make one's life easier, and
now, in their altered form, the ease of their use has been stripped. My
sincere endeavor in creating these pieces is to have the objects to be
viewed in a fresh way. Not necessarily in a different way than their
initial pre-altered form, but just with an added dimension. It is my
intention to transform them in a way that doesn’t obliterate their
relevance or original form, but draws attention to something that might
have otherwise gone without consideration. I want the viewer to ruminate
on objects that take up space.
OPP: It seems that that’s also what you are ultimately doing with your cat drawings and with the very notion of frivolity or absurdity. Forgive me for putting words in your mouth—and please feel free to disagree—but it’s like you are saying: “You think you know what frivolity and silliness is, but guess what, it’s something more profound than you think. Boo-ya!”
KW: Perhaps it is more of a Shazam! than a Boo-ya! But yes, I suppose I want to say that the notion, desire and need for absurdity and frivolity are, in a strange way, serious and are just as deserving of one’s contemplation as anything else. The act of pondering and taking something away from a work of art doesn’t have to be only reserved for works that have somber themes. I want the joy that comes from encountering this work to be just as valid of an emotional experience as a deadpan work elicits.
OPP: What are you working on right now in your studio?
KW: Currently, I am finishing up my second drawing of cats with rap lyrics and working on another pen-swirl drawing like Jonathon Livingston Seagull (2013) where I cover the entirety of a Sculpture Magazine. This one will probably take me the better part of a year, because I can only do so much at one time before it starts to make me feel like a lunatic. I have some sculpture projects on the horizon where I’ll be working with expanding foam. I also have plans for a new series of large drawings of various exploded diagrams. In addition to that, there is a Morris Louis inspired painting that I have been dreaming about for some time, and some expressionistic paintings on paper that I envision hanging sculpturally off the wall. I haven’t really done any paintings since I was at The University of Texas for undergrad, so. . . fingers crossed on those two.
If you want to see more of Kristyn's work, please visit kristynweaver.com.
Featured Artist Interviews are conducted by Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist Stacia Yeapanis. When she’s not writing for OPP, Stacia explores the emotional and spiritual significance of repetition in her cross-stitch embroideries, remix video and collage installations. She is an instructor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where received her MFA in 2006, and was a 2012-2013 Mentor-in-Residence at BOLT in Chicago. Her solo exhibition I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For is on view at Klemm Gallery, Siena Heights University (Adrian, Michigan) until December 6, 2013, and she is currently preparing for another solo exhibition titled Everything You Need Is Already Here (Heaven Gallery, Chicago) in January 2014..