Kyle Butler: A few words on art and post-industry
As hype for our upcoming group art show, YØUTH//CONTINGENT, we are proud to present Kyle Butler. We spoke with the young artist about life and art in the city of rust.
"I can't speak for the experience of artists in other post-industrial cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Despite their similar predicaments, each place has benefits and drawbacks stemming from whatever particular trajectory of decline and rehabilitation they are undergoing, how that trajectory has affected available cultural resources and the local conversations on art, and the relationship of that local discourse to the national art scene. Buffalo has a very welcoming art scene and being an emerging artist here comes with relatively low stress. The arts community is also very interconnected despite the different scenes that exist in town. Along with the typical resources that come with a post-industrial city (space, low cost of living), these attributes make Buffalo approachable. But I think that sort of chumminess also limits the local discourse at times. The scene can get wrapped up in itself, creating something like tunnel-vision that limits our criticism of each other and our perspective on how what we do here relates to the art scenes outside of Buffalo.
I'm not sure how the young artist fits into this. I'm hesitant to say because it'd probably be biased and prescriptive. Maybe this: While its the job of all artists, emerging and established alike, to be discerning and vigilant viewer and makers, the younger artists have an asset in the relative newness of their perspective. They might see opportunities and flaws that someone who's been doing it a while would not. That's probably pretty typical."
ØC:What does the phrase: "the vision of a generation" mean to you?
"That's tough. It seems too grandiose...I wouldn't want to be responsible for pinpointing the zeitgeist of such a large and fractured population. That phrase makes me think of a monumental lack of consensus rather than a discernible vision"
Youth Contingent will exhibit a handful of Buffalo's young artistic strength on 1.26.12. See Onlycomrades.com for more information.
