DUPE talks to artist Andy DuCett about everyday vernacular, density and why things are things in his practice.
"Thumbs up (we must be living right)", 2008-2010, Collection of The Minneapolis Institute of Art
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Andy DuCett and I’m an artist from Minnesota. It’s up North. It’s like South Canada. I’m currently Visiting Faculty in the MFA Program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
"Why we do this", 2012 (detail on 12,000 sq. ft. exhibition at The Soap Factory)
Describe you practice in 5 words.
I like looking at things.
"Why we do this", 2012 (detail on 12,000 sq. ft. exhibition at The Soap Factory)
Who or what inspires you?
Everyday vernacular and situations. I get a lot out of walking around and looking at stuff, making connections and celebrating mysteries. My ideal artist statement would read something like this:
You: “Hey Andy, do you want to come over and look at this?” Andy: “Absolutely”.
We’re surrounded by thousands of things at all times: ideas, objects, histories, networks, contexts, memories, etc. My practice as long as I can remember has been concerned with contrast and juxtaposition and what happens when different things are put next to each other. I love how certain arrangements vibrate in ways that others don’t.
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my parents put a limit on how many times a month I could re-arrange the furniture in my room. They were afraid I was going to wear out the carpet; I was moving everything around 3 or 4 times a week. I loved the feeling of waking up and seeing familiar things in different formations. The old was new for a few minutes. It’s a great span of time while it lasts. Those are the moments I’m looking for in the studio, when the arrangement vibrates.
"Please mow my lawn OR other acts of neighborly kindness", 2015, Commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art
What are your chosen tools?
It depends on the project. I started as a graphic design intern when I was 15 and did that until I was 19 or so. Those interests evolved into multimedia design and animation, which lead to painting and drawing in college.
The “paintings” started getting more and more three-dimensional with the inclusion of found objects and have grown into larger scale constructions and room-sized installations. The drawings have grown in their own way as well, and are usually done in pen, pencil and colored pencil. All of that is to say that I have a few tools in my toolbox, or different ways of approaching an idea that helps keep things interesting and new. I just can’t seem to commit to one way of working, which is just fine with me.
PS- If I had to pick a favorite tool, it would be my 12V Dewalt cordless drill that I bought in 2003. It’s been a real champion.
"Untitled (nothing to see here", 2011
Can you talk us through your making process?
It usually begins with an hour or so of just being in the studio, re-familiarizing myself with my materials. It takes me a while to figure out where to jump in. I’ll do some cleaning, put things away, listen to a few records, shuffle some things around, and before I know it, connections are being made and the work has started.
I always felt somewhat guilty that it took me so long to get started before I realized that my making starts with looking, just like every jump needs a crouch before it. Input leads to output.
"Laying low (prepping for a calculated response)", 2010
Your work can be quite dense and large, do you ever restrict yourself?
Haha. A lot of the dense and large work WAS restricted; you should have seen them without any editing.
Most of the projects I work on take a long time to simmer. Because of that, I generally work on a few different projects at once, so I can balance making and reflecting. Some are complicated and take a while, and some are limited to a few components. When I started making more detailed drawings and installations around 2004, I wanted something else to work on that was more immediate. I was at a “Car Boot Sale” in London and found someone’s photos from their 1967 trip to Yugoslavia. They were beautiful! So many mysteries I’d never solve! Why did the photographer choose that moment to capture? Who were these people? What was the deal with the compositions? I really liked the idea of unintentional collaboration. I limited myself to only adding one element to each photo, something that would complete what the photo had started, but also embrace the spirit of each photo.
That’s a long answer for a question about density, what I should have said was “Yes.”
"Currently standing where some have stood", 2007
Has your experience as a tutor affected the way your approach your own work?
Definitely. I’ll often find solutions to questions I’ve been having when giving feedback to a student. It’s easier to solve your own problems when they’re worn by someone else.
A lot of a successful teacher-student relationship is based on trust. I expect a lot of my students, asking them to take risks and be reflective in their work. I think part of that understanding is that I wouldn’t ask anything of them that I wouldn’t be willing to do in my own practice. It’s important to have that be a part of my art conscience when I’m alone in the studio. My own voice reflected back at me, waiting to see if I’ll challenge myself the way my students are.
"Mom Booth", 2014, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
What are you working on next?
Right now it’s creating proposals and having discussions about potential projects, it’ll be exciting which ones develop into dates on the calendar. In the interim, I’ve been doing a lot of drawing, mostly in pencil. I’ve made around 40 or so drawings since May, which is a huge number for me. I like the way that pencil has added some immediacy to my process. Other than that, I’m in conversations with 2 or 3 other artists about doing some collaborative projects with spaces around the country, and finding ways to interface with different situations and contexts. I’m excited about the horizon, it feels like there’s good artistic energy out there.
"Walk with me?", 2015, Bargain Spot Project Space, Ten Chances, No Hustle Artist Residency program, Edinburgh, Scotland
Any specific subject you would like to discuss in this interview?
How do you feel about a long monologue about my hopes and fears about the upcoming season for the Green Bay Packers? Or how neglecting to add Brian Eno’s “Ambient 1: Music for Airports” to a top ten list I recently filled out has been gnawing on my soul? I’d be up for either one, let me know when you want to grab a few beers and really dive into those.
http://andyducett.com