I’m seriously giving thought to giving up my studio. The main impetus is money. The whole space is $950, of which I pay $550, when the small adjacent room is sublet. But, I just lost another tenant, thanks to my landlord.
Anyone living outside of New York is probably vomiting right now. Anyone living in New York, should be vomiting, but we’ve forgotten. These numbers are outrageous.
Upstate I could rent an entire warehouse and make Christopher Buchels. But, I'm no Christopher Buchel. Most of my work is made at a desk.
On a practical level, this consideration also pushes me to let it go: no video studio visit happens in a studio. If you want someone to see your work, in my experience, you have to bring the studio to them (in this case, a computer).
Major cons include:
1. Can I make video work in the same place I eat and sleep, and translate
And more urgently:
2. Can I really consider myself an artist if I don’t have a studio?
I take some comfort in David Hammons. In a 2002 New Yorker profile of the artist, he says:
"I decided a long time ago that the less I do the more of an artist I am. […] Most of the time, I hang out on the street. I walk."
Posts
2 comments:
I'm looking for a studio...I'm really discouraged by the prices that I'm seeing. If I could effectively work from my apartment, I would definitely do it, but I need a real space for my sculptures. You might be able to do without, and with all the money you'll be saving you can buy a new camera.
Right on! Thanks, Mike.
Sculpture is such a hard practice to support. Especially in NYC. I hope you find something...
Post a Comment