Being a wonk, I need to make wonky art.
Here’s what makes art wonky for me:
Sitting at a drafting table, laying out a beautifully composed sheet of detail drawings for a clever way to store food.
Making pen and ink drawings to go with haiku poems and collaborating with someone who will set the type by hand, make an engraving and print a series of handmade posters.
Looking at a discarded thing, not seeing something that should move to the recycling bin or the landfill, but seeing a building block or design element for something else.
Building up collections of discarded things that are similar. Like bread bag tags. They look like good fodder for making scaly things like Joan of Arc statues, or dragons, lizards or fish.
Subverting the original function into another function that serves form first is the best creative revenge against any ultra-modernist dogma that might be lurking about.
Recycle, upcycle, incorporate.
Taking cues from motifs in nature to design structures that get built or are just for dreaming.
Describing the spectacular results of crashes at intersections between the rational and romantic, the bullshit and the truth in spoken word form.
Building a cigar box guitar, playing slide and singing old-school torch songs on stage while wearing a leather corset and stilettos.
Designing clothing as 3-d art pieces.
Creating tactile, interactive bits and pieces for homes and gardens that are full of whimsy and love.
Collaborating with amazing musical people to create performance art pieces – singing and spoken word.
Come for the science, stay for the art.