Collaboration
RS Do you have a list of those 20 projects?
SH There is the list of people up there, yes.
RS What do you mean by people?
SH The people involved.
RS so you are doing a bunch of collaborative projects?
SH Um hm (affirmative)
RS I figured it was just these little carvings.
SH No, each of these (small carvings) is a portrait of a person who is helping me with the work.
RS, Oooh ok.. I assumed these were one project.
SH Each one is its own project and each one gets its own elements.
Each portrait is in a different spot in the gallery... I THINK.... It might end up to where they all interact as a metaphor for my community. I don't know about that, I kind of want to give each one its own separate justice.
RS So you're not going to have all 20 projects in there.
SH Yes, all 20 will be there.
RS, so your tank is going to be there?
SH Not that was for a different show..
SS so for instance, who is that for, (gesturing to a carving) the coffee pot.
SH This is Mandy.
SS What is Mandy helping you with , what will we see...maybe?
SH I approached Mandy with ... here's your portrait, what should we do. and Mandy (some people have taken a similar approach) said automatically, I remember when we did this... A while ago we went camping up on the Clackamas river and found this cool spot called Alder flats. You hike in past this amazing beaver pond and bird houses, and get down to the river and there is this totally vacant and awesome campsite with this cute little rapid above. We hung out and had a fire and wondered around, the next morning we got up and she had this espresso maker (points to his carving of it) she loves this thing, she always takes it camping with her. If there is one thing you need to take care of when you're camping its having good food and coffee. So she takes this thing every where. She got it in Spain for two Euros a while ago. So as she's telling me this she is making coffee, or thinks she is, with my little whisperlite camping stove that burns really hot. And then its been going a little to long, and I'm like, Mandy did you put water in that? She'd forgotten to put water in it and it started melting the gasket and the handle, so I tried to lift it off the stove and the handle just melts right off. So we set it aside and the coffee in side is smoldering and stinks really bad...Laughs. For some reason I just had to keep that artifact, they are amazing shapes and you never find those around here.
She wanted to do something in regard to Alder flats because it was such a beautiful spot, and I had kept this, and it was kind of a symbol and we'll do something on that and make a story.
RS How are you making 20 projects possible in time for your show?
SH The story hopefully is something that gets developed between me and the people who are helping me as we get closer.
RS So you don't really care about the end product its more the story?
SH Its not that I don't care about them it is just that.. I mean each one of these... I've had a couple of studio visits where someone comes in and says “so what, each one of these took you an hour?” And I'm like.. hu uh, they took a long time, and that might come across to people and it might not. In the end these are also gifts for the people helping me. So they get to keep them.
SS It seems to me like the stories are important end products as much as these tangible objects.
SH Right
SS Also you talked about this a little bit in your critique, do you remember, how the whittling is a traditional way to sit around and keep your hands busy while you are talking and telling storyies?
SH Yeah, the male form of knitting
(laughing)
SS I like that, it kind of makes the object more ephemeral than the story.
SH, Yeah, it is the product of what happened when I went to hang out with the people.
RS I'm just still wondering why you want so many, whats 20?
SH Laughing, This is hard for me too. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this, I've tried to curate some shows with friends of mine, one was at a non profit I worked at, and another was at my parents house, and you run across similar issues. How do you have these best friends, and people in the community, and how do you cut, how do you choose, you have moral dilemmas in the back of your head, it is difficult to say, why these people and not these other people?
SS Would it be good to get started on us (sandy and rebecca) right now while were here?
SH Laughing loudly....SEE Like this crap!
SH I've already had people...My parents got really excited about this project and, I was even trying to hold off on telling them until the project got a little more developed so that I could be a little more directive, cuz they'll take it somewhere and run with it.
RS This your thesis show YOUR show.
SH laughing MINE!
SH Right, and putting your foot down on certain things in tough in these situations. But my parents already got excited and told some of their friends that are also like pseudo parents to me, and their feelings got hurt because I haven't added them in a project, or at least that's what my mom told me, (probably just to guilt me out, laughs) but i do know that often it seems like doing projects with those that are close to you can pose different challenges than working with srangers. both seem valuable and i would like to do my next project with people i don't know. There is more editing freedom, room to expand your community, and an adventurous spirit involved.
Its a good problem to have, too many people are excited about the project. You have to choose at some point.
Shelby spoke a little bit about what happens when he interacts with people on a regular bases. He calls it a chameleon effect. To read about this conversation, click here.
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