F.A.Q.

I have an entire body of work I’ve been developing that centers around this very question. Review it here, though I think you will only discover more questions.

I am currently a Graduate Assistant in the MFA program at the University of Utah Art & Art History Department. The class I teach centers around time-based digital media, though I have expanded those notions to align more with contemporary intersections of mixed-media and where one focus is not necessarily weighted against another.

Post graduation I am contemplating teaching and facilitating some common sense workshops on creating art and some that are more technology-focused. I plan on making them relatively cheap.

Yes.

For more information please contact me directly at justinwatson4891@gmail.com

The more details you include (i.e “I really like x digital collage and am wondering if you could print a custom-sized, but much larger version”) the better. For specific work: please include the title of the work, the size (if multiple are provided) and, if a size is outside the norm, if it is a custom sized request as this requires extra work and lead time.

 

Depends. I don’t normally work based on commission.

Contact me at justinwatson4891@gmail.com and please provide details about what you want.

 

I will not:

Make you a painting of your dog/your brother/your grandma/your favorite meal.

Work for free. This includes apprenticeships and internships. I believe in fair wages for artists.

Work as a Graphic Designer. I am not a graphic designer and have no interest in working as one.

[I will make an exception for web design in some instances. Especially if you are an artist.]

Allow you to use my bank account to transfer your phony $5,000,000 in cash.

 

I will:

Provide artwork for an exhibition (group/solo).

Potentially collaborate or corroborate with other artists on larger projects.

Give conceptual art advice (coming up project, stay tuned).

Answer any newbie questions for those interested in the arts.

I haven’t consulted a spiritualist any time recently. It’s been a couple years, but I did meet with one who goes by the name of Julie a few times. She brought up some intriguing points about my past lives. She told me I should be a writer as opposed to an artist.

As for art: Senses. Texts. Haptic optics. Experience.

Anyone/everything.

Being.

Environment/mindscapes/dreams/emotive responses.

Output/input.

One of my mentors, Jared Steffensen, has had a lasting impression due to his anthropological/folkorist approach to creating work. A few others (if I must namedrop) include those roosting in the post-internet dialect (Jon Rafman, Simon Denny, et al) and those who utilize other theoretical backdrops to create work, ranging from the constructivist sculptures of Matthew Day Jackson, the particle investigations of Olafur Eliasson, to the absurdist reality of the late Louise Bourgeois. I consider myself a hunter of content. I am always seeking out the contemporary as well as the long lost outsider. I don’t follow a particular hierarchy or paradigm when seeking out knowledge.

My life is my hobby.

I studied martial arts for nearly 15 years, from the time I could walk until I hit mid-adolescence. I am also a state champion, several times over.

Phase 1: An enormous mess. It’s like conjuring up a tornado in your living room. You know it’s a bad idea, but you can’t stop looking at the damn thing and grow excited over the mass destruction it’s going to cause.

Phase 2: Well, that was fun to clean up, wasn’t it? At least things look more cohesive now. Layers arising. Clearer networks are being established between information. This is the collage phase, where I start assigning patterns that, often, only later I realize.

Phase 3: Many Aha!’s come out of this phase. The layers are down. I start making more informed decisions. Editing ensues. I often realize many of the connections I had established a priori and then ponder how I chanced upon such a thing (at this point in my life I know it is not chance).

Phase 4: Finalization. I get antsy. I want it over with as the “project drug” is beginning to wear off and I’m ready to move on. I make final design decisions. I snip away the excess. I set it up, document it and move on.