The Interview Format

I am going to start a new series in this space.

I am spending so much time writing my dissertation (and – at the moment – other things, but that's another story) that I am sort of feeling as though I don't have much to blog about. So I conceived of an idea for having conversations that is not really about me telling you my opinions about things. I am going to begin a series of interviews.

The other thing is that this year has been incredibly productive for me as a thinker. I've had a friend in town who has been pushing me (without even trying, really) to think in new ways about things. In other words, I have been having a lot of dialogues. It has been really good for me. And one of the topics to which I keep returning is the question of art.

What is art? (I sort of don't believe there is such a thing.) Why do we need it? (I sort of think we need it even though I don't believe in it.) How do we make it? How can it be judged? Why do we like what we like?

And so I thought I would ask some artists! I know quite a few in my life, and I know many who I consider to be excellent, incredibly talented artists. And I thought: What if we begin to have some dialogues about what we think art is.

I did an interview a couple years ago with my friend the playwright Jon Fraser, that was published in ATHEnews, and we had such a good time with it, that I thought it might be nice to try the format again. One never knows what one can learn if one simply listens.

So: I don't know how often these will be, I am not sure how many I will do, and I am not sure what I will be inspired to ask people, but I think this should be fun for me! And I hope it is fun for you.