Artist Interview

I decided to interview a graphic artist named Erik Finsrud. He is from Sedona, Arizona. He went to Full Sail University for his degree in Recording Arts/Digital Art and Design. He currently works at R/GA in New York City as Visual Designer. He contributes often to Depthcore, a digital art collective. He also curates Typcut, his own digital showcase for experimental design. Along with digital pieces, he creates physical pieces using traditional mediums. He lives in Brooklyn.

What is your official job title? Describe your work briefly.

My "Job" title is Visual Designer at R/GA. An advertising agency in NYC. I work on the Nike account doing interactive design for their digital sport brands, such as Nike+. I design and stylize the look and feel of the digital interfaces, as well as designing the products to be transparent and easy to use. R/GA is considered an "Ad Agency", but I wouldn't say what i do specifically is "ad" work. I am creating products that will hopefully improve people's life's. Aside from official job titles, I see labels as limiting in terms of defining who i am as an artist. My mediums vary greatly from digital to physical, and my expressions literal and abstract. I have a graphic language that i like to express through my familiarity with design, and i also have an abstract approach.

"Superior Strand" 2011

"God Enriches" 2011

What is the best work you have accomplished in NYC?

Professionally I am very proud of my redesign of Nikerunning.com. Personally my work for Typcut and Depthcore have been a proud success.

How does NYC inspire your work?

The fast pace and creative energy, the sheer larger than life size. NYC is a place of extremes, I am somewhat of an extreme person in focusing on my goals. This place fits me.

How would you define success in NYC? (art related)

Creating art that people feel strongly about, either love or hate. Of course if you can live comfortably as an artist in this money trap and not OD on partying, then there is also something to be said.

Can you name some artists that have influenced your work?

This is always a tough question because it changes. But right now, i'm really into early synth music, Jean Michel Jarr and 60's - 70's design and the psychedelic movement. As well as contemporary expressionists like Basquiat and Cy Twombly. Herb Lubalin and Dali are also amazing artists that I constantly reference.

Do you have any advice for artists that are just starting out?

Explore & learn (like a sponge), experiment, steal, have fun, work hard (really hard). Be persistent, and don't take yourself too seriously, or life in general for that matter.

How would you describe Typcut? What influenced you to start it?

A platform for experimentation & expression of graphic ideas. We are focused on but not limited to typographic expression and design principles. Since i started the group about 2.5 years ago, we have grown to about 2 dozen members internationally that submit work to a simple blog style site. It spawned out of the yearning to have a reason to create those little ideas we had pop up on the subway or on the way to get milk.

Any other things I left out that is important to you as an artist?

Be happy. Without it, there is no creativity.

You can see his work at: www.thenorik.com You can also visit his art collective at www.typcut.com

Sketchbook

This is a sketch I did of an installation piece that was apart of the Pace Gallery in Chelsea done by David Byrne entitled "Tight Spot".  The piece is a 48-by-20-foot inflatable terrestrial globe wedged into a lot underneath the High Line. Byrne imagined the pastel map we associate with childhood: “a wholly unrealistic world, a world of somewhat arbitrary political units, not a planet of clouds, deep blue oceans, beige deserts and swaths of green jungle.” 

Image courtesy of www.brooklynstreetart.com

NYC still life

This is my painting for my NYC still life. I choose to paint a spray can and a wheat pasting brush. I choose these items because they represent the wonderful street art you can find all over the city. There is artwork covering the entire city in the form of street art. I love the wheat pastes of illustrations and the beautiful typography made with spray paint.

David Smith at the Whitney

David Smithʼs exhibition, Cubes and Anarchy, at the Whitney feature his
sculptures he made throughout his career with a focus on his works from the 1960s. His
sculptures seem to be his representation of paintings in a three dimensional form. Smith
began his career as a painter, then moved to sculpture after being inspired by the
welded steel sculptures of Pablo Picasso and Julio González. Smith was also inspired
by the Cubism movement, and he used overlapping geometric shapes in much of his
work. One of my favorite examples of this from the exhibition was ZIG IV, 1961. Walking
around Smithʼs pieces, it seems that the element of balance plays a role in his most of
work. Not only do the individual components of his sculptures balance on each other, as
seen in CUBI I, 1963, but the entire sculptures seem to have an even balance with
weight and space. Although Smith creates these abstract, non representational
sculptures, when you walk around the gallery you can relate to them as human forms
because of their scale. I can imagine his work outside in nature. His structures may be
made out of steel, but still seem very organic.
Works Cited
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/DavidSmith. Web. 30 Nov 2011.

9/11 Memorial

I think that the architect, Michael Arad, did a great job when he designed the 9/11
memorial. He seemed to take such care when deciding how to pay respect to the victim
and victimʼs families that suffered on 9/11. Each name is inscribed onto bronze parapets
that surround the North and South Memorial pools. Itʼs very touching that he considered
the relationships that the victims had. He grouped them into nine different sections
instead of just putting them alphabetically. The groups are as follows: the victims of the
attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993, the victims of the four different flights, the
victims that were at the Pentagon, the victims that were at the World Trade Center or
surrounding areas, and the first responders. He even considered the requests of the
victimʼs family members if they wanted friends or families names to be inscribed next to
each other. I think that seeing where these people were during that tragic moment, for
example, on the flight or a first responder, connects the visitors to the victim. The way
that the names are etched so smoothly into the bronze, along with the beautiful and
serene reflecting pools, makes you feel like the victims are connected to this memorial
and you are connected to the victims.
Works Cited:
www.911Memorial.org. National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade
Center Foundation, Inc. Web. 29 Nov 2011.

"Bad" Drawing

 Below is my Interpretation of "Bad" drawing as seen for the first time at the New Museum in New York City in 1978. Here is a link to the website: http://archive.newmuseum.org/index.php/Detail/Occurrence/Show/occurrence_id/5

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Art Resource

Non- Art Resourse

3 eggs

This assignment was really difficult for me to do. I've never taken an art class before so figuring this out was tough. I started by sketching what I wanted to do first. I tried to add shading so it looked more realistic. I found some cool digital feathers that I cut out and put on the table, as well as a sun. I think it still needs some work.