Interview: Shana Lutker

All images of artwork are courtesy the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.

In Fall of 2006, I went to the opening of the OCMA Biennial, not really knowing what to expect. I mean, I knew to expect Sonic Youth's performance to be fun (though tiring after a while), and I knew OCMA tried really hard for some of their shows, but I hadn't always been excited by visits there, and hadn't been to one of their Biennials yet.

The show was incredible. Easily one of the best art shows I have ever been to. I would, sincerely, stack it next to the inaugural BCAM installation. Yes, there was a lot of frustratingly shallow work that made you think either (a) we weren't seeing the artist's best, or (b) something was being shown as the result of a backstage connection. But overwhelmingly the show was beautiful, funny, odd, surprising, deep, clever, and mindful.

Chief above all in my mind was the installation "May Have" by Shana Lutker, a room-like (though open on some sides) installation that reached from the floors to the tables, lights and wallpaper. There were a few different connections between the pieces, Which I would categorize in two groups: (1) Dreams and (2) Newspapers. The Newspaper piece was a giant reproduction of all of the advertisements "with something to say" from the New York Times over a certain period. No true editorial, and no sales-oriented advertisements. The paper became a new paper, one made up solely of alternative editorial views, as well as views that had paid for their audience. This was fascinatingly woven into the table along the spine in a way I can't describe.

The "dreams" work was the majority of the pieces: beginning with two books recording her dreams every night for two years, then moving throughout the room with "Art That I Dreamt I Made," including large yellow balls resting in the corner of the floor. In the center of the room was a model of the house she grew up in, populated entirely by art she dreamt, such as a series of models of Oedipus. Yes, Oedipus. Ms. Lutker's not just telling us her dreams in a self-expressive or journalistic way, she has an interest in Mr. Freud, Oedipus and what dreams as a whole might represent.

I've read some press about the installation and no one seems to capture the interesting "hand-made" vibe about it, not in a punky DIY way, but in a craftsman or interior designer kind of way. The room was considered, not just a receptacle. Warm, light browns and unstained wood abounded.

I was so enamored of that room I visited it several more times, and upon learning Shana would be a part of this year's Biennial too, I wrote right away asking for an interview. I will definitely be at the Costa Mesa event she mentions below, I hope to see you there.

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What will you be showing at the OCMA Biennial this time?

Under the umbrella of the California Biennial 08, I will stage a performance in Santa Barbara and Costa Mesa and I will have an exhibition at the University Art Museum at UCSB. I’ll also have a preview of the performance, a mini-performance, at the opening party for the Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA). I won’t have an installation at the main OCMA site, but will be part of these satellite exhibitions that will be taking place all over the state. The performance, called “Hear It Here II” is a re-working of a piece first staged in Miami last December, and it will take place at the Contemporary Arts Forum in Santa Barbara on November 6, and at the Lab, a mall in Costa Mesa, on January 10 2009. The basic set up is this: there’s 2 actors wearing headphones on a stage, waiting for lines, and the audience is asked to supply them. The audience is able to tell the actors what to say through microphones that go directly into the actor’s headphones. The actors repeat everything that they hear, without filtering or editing. Essentially, “Hear it Here” is an opportunity for an audience to create the action on stage, immediately. It’s unscripted and unplanned — a snapshot of the audience’s imagination or unconscious at that moment. Both performances are free and open to the public, in nontraditional art spaces, so the crowd should be pretty diverse — a mix of tourists and students and art people and locals. The topics and themes of the “play” on stage could be anything. The exhibition at the University Art Museum at UCSB takes up the themes and ideas behind the performances. There’s a miniature stage curtain, a sculpture called “The Pillars of Society,” some text pieces etched in mirror that deal with speaking and presence and translation, and a floor that covers the gallery.




“Hear Here”
2008



“Curtain, Take 1”
2008



“Pillars of Society”
2008


Do you "finish" with a theme? i.e., are you still working with your dreams and newspapers?

I don’t think I do ever finish with a theme. I would say that I work in widening circles, where each new element looks both forwards and backwards. Dreams and newspapers are almost always at the foundation of my work, because for me, the dreams stand for freedom from interpretation, and the newspapers stand for linear time and history—the subjective and the objective, the private and the public, the unfixed and the fixed. Those are the two elements that are always in play for me, and most of my work has to do with the balance between the two, or pointing to the imbalance. A lot of things that we think are very real are completely imagined, and vice versa. The narrativization of events by journalists and historians always affects the story, there’s always some level of interpretation of information, it’s always mediated. So you start to think it should be rare to have real experiences. But there’s this element of surprise in life that is constant -- everyday, listening to the news, I think, “I can’t believe this is really happening,” but I don’t think this is new. We live in a really dramatic world, and it’s always been this way, filled with war and death and accidents and coups and flood and famine. But somehow it continues to be surprising and surreal to us. And, it’s hard to believe that the chaos and drama factor has not been increasing as of late— it feels like it gets crazier and crazier out there.





2 views of “May Have”
Installation at the California Biennial 2006
Orange County Museum of Art, October 1 – December 31 2006


Is it rare for an artist to be featured in two Biennials in a row? What's been your experience behind the scenes?

I think that this might be the first time that the California Biennial includes artists from Biennials past. But there are a number of repeats – Walead Beshty, My Barbarian, Joel Tauber, Karl Haendel...there might be more. And I think that each of us are working off-site, and not repeating installations at OCMA. The CA Biennial is driven by the curators, and this Biennial’s curator, Lauri Firstenberg, seems to have decided that inclusion in past biennials should not be a reason for exclusion from this one.


As a non-native, do you think life in L.A., or L.A. art history affects your work in any way?

Yes, I think the geography of LA and it’s art historical legacy has definite influences. I’m from the East Coast and even after more than 6 years here, something about this latitude and all the sun and dust and space make the pace of life different – there’s not the same pull from the seasons or from being in contact with other people to keep me on a regular schedule. And in spite of that, I think it’s a great place to work, because once you start working, it’s easy to build momentum and keep going. And it’s a good time to be an artist in LA. The influence of LA artists of the past 40 years is finally being recognized and the support system that is in place here through the network of art schools and institutions have led to a more stable and sustained interest in art from LA, from both inside and outside the city. When I moved here to go to graduate school I was sure I would head right back to New York when I was done. But once i was here for a while, it’s became impossible to give up the good things about LA for the bad things about New York.



“Cluster”
2008
lightjet print
30 x 24 in



“Group Formation No. 1”
Installation view form “The Commiffioners,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, May 10 – June 14 2008



“Re-formation and Counter Re-formation (study no.2)”
2008
lightjet print
24 x 27 inches

What other artists are you excited about right now? Who else are you looking forward to seeing or meeting at the Biennial?

There’s a lot of stuff happening in LA right now. I was hibernating over the summer and didn’t see all that much, but this fall I am looking forward to seeing the Martin Kersels shows, Martin Kippenberger, Louise Bourgeois. The California Biennial is rather enormous this time, and while I am personally excited to see the installations and work of Edgar Arceneaux, Justin Beal, Andrea Bowers, Jed Caesar, Sarah Cain, Piero Golia, Karl Haendel, Mark Hagen, Skylar Haskard, Mary Kelly, Elad Lassry, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Joel Tauber (to name a few), I am also looking forward to the surprises too, and work I don’t already know.

Visit Shana Lutker's Website

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Keep your eye on the Biennial page for more info on her performances