Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American artist, and right now is based in London. He was born in San Rafael, California, on January 11th, 1955 and is currently 67 years old. Marclay’s work focuses on the fusion of fine art and audio cultures, transforming sound and music into a visible, physical form through a variety of different media like performance, collage, sculpture, installation, photography and video. He first began exploring art and sound when he was a student in 1979 through the use of turntables, and most of his early works reflect that. One of his first series was “Recycled Records” in the early 80s, in which Marclay took vinyl records and cut them up, juxtaposing the pieces with other records to create a unique, but chaotic sound. While the main theme throughout his work is the relationship between fine arts and sound, he also focuses on some other themes, like art as activism. Within his work, Guitar Drag  (2000) Marclay drags a Fender Stratocaster behind a truck, alluding to the murder of James Byrd Jr. 

Q #1: What makes the connection between music and art so important?

A #1: Both art and music are forms of self-expression.

A #2: Art and Music can both portray symbolism in some way.

A #3: The subjects both fall under the category of the arts.

Q #2: How does the recreation of an already existing object translate as art?

A #1: The artist is still creating an aspect of the work.

A #2: It changes the meaning of the original object.

A #3: The artist takes the original object and makes it their own.

Q #3: Why do artists incorporate social and political events within their work?

A #1: To express their opinion.

A #2: Documenting a moment in history.

A #3: To bring about change.

Q #4: Why would an artist destroy one work of art to create another?

A #1: So the artist can rebuild something better.

A #2: To move on from past events.

A #3: To tell a story.

Q #5: What constitutes as art?

A #1: Something that is created with original thought.

A #2: Art is something that makes the audience think.

A #3:  Something that invokes emotion.

My first choice would definitely be Christian Marclay. I first learned about his work a few years ago in my Design Form class. Marclay’s work focuses on the relationship with the visual and audible and does this through a variety of media. I’m really drawn to his collages of juxtaposed vinyl records, as well as his printmaking work. His Scream series gives me Junji Ito vibes and I love it.

My second choice is Ai Weiwei. Ai Weiwei’s work is political, and most of it exposes negative aspects the Chinese government. I’m mostly drawn to videos, like Grass Mud Horse Style. If you haven’t seen this video I highly suggest you watch it. Grass Mud Horse Style is a parody of PSY’s Gangnam Style and literally means “f*ck your mother”, which you know makes me laugh so he’s getting the #2 slot. I’ll link the video down below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LAefTzSwWY

My third choice would be Avery Singer. I’m really drawn to her as a whole because we have similar method to producing our artwork. Singer uses the 3-D modeling software Google Sketchup, where she creates and underpainting, and then airbrushes acrylic paint on top of it to create works that are both digital and analog. I on the other hand use Procreate to sketch my prints out, and get the layering all set before printing it out, and using that as a template on my silkscreen. While our methods may be different, it was really interesting/cool to see a professional artist doing this as well!