Education and Community Programs

The upcoming Free First Saturday, People Pictures, happening April 4th, takes inspiration from the exhibition Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton. Find out more about the artist in this family-oriented edition of the 8-Ball interview.

When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
Very early – as long as I can remember.

How did you express creativity as a child?
I drew a lot and put a lot of pictures of people up on the wall.

How would you describe the art that you made as a child?
Pictures of faces.

How did your family or teachers influence your career as an artist, if at all?
They were very supportive – gave me lots of paper / drawing materials – very encouraging etc.

What kinds of music did your parents play around the house?
They played Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, old Swing. My older siblings were always playing the Beach Boys and the Beatles.

Did you know any working artists growing up who inspired you?
Not really, though my mother painted.

What artist turned your world upside-down as a teenager?
Warhol – I loved Warhol as a teenager.

What was your favorite book?
A photo book of Elton John and Undoubted Queen – about Queen Elizabeth II, a large photo book my grandmother had.

What was your first job?
I worked for my parents in their candle shop.

Did you have an imaginary friend and if so, what was he/she like?
I did. She was like a genie.

What did you collect as a child?
Pictures (photos) of people – ice skaters, tennis players, musicians.

Who was your favorite pop-star growing up?
David Cassidy, Shaun Cassidy, Elton John, David Bowie – in that order.

Is it quiet when you work? If not, what do you listen to / watch?
I listen to a lot of different kinds of music.

Whose portrait are you still waiting to paint?
Jay Z

Installation shot of Text/Messages by Gene Pittman

Right now the Walker is celebrating the book, specifically the artist’s book, in its exhibition Text/Messages: Books by Artists. On display are familiar stories illustrated by artists such as Jim Dine and Slavador Dali; visual art made from books such as Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Pulp), 1999, a negative plaster cast of a bookshelf; and books that go beyond one’s traditional understanding of the narrative arch. In fact, many of the books in Text/Messages invite people to “read” through images, texture and implied meaning more than actual text.

One thing shared by each artist in Text/Messages is a love and respect for books and the power books have to unleash one’s imagination and expand one’s realm of knowledge. In a way, Text/Messages advocates for literacy, or at least puts the wish out in the world that books can (and should) be for everyone.

Today, the Louis Braille Bicentennial – Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin is being introduced.

The new Braille coin

Louis Braille, like the artists in Text/Messages, understood the important role books play in human development and fulfillment and thus created a system for making the personal and independent act of reading accessible to people without vision through the raised lettering of the Braille alphabet.

Despite Braille’s tremendous intentions, the National Federation for the Blind states, “… in America, only 10 percent of blind children are learning Braille! Yet, studies show that of the blind people who are employed, better than 80 percent of them read and write Braille fluently. Literacy is the key to opening the minds of our young people. Independent reading is true independence of the mind.”

In the spirit of Text/Messages and Louis Braille, let’s all celebrate the beauty and opportunity text can unleash by supporting literacy efforts in the broadest sense.

To learn more about the “Braille Readers Are Leaders” Literacy Campaign visit http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Braille_Initiative.asp.

Over the past years I have had difficulties getting teen artists to produce quality writing about their work. Many times a printed artist statement and biography written by a teen artist doesn’t give much insight to how they developed the work, what inspires them, or what they are trying to convey through their art. Although a print piece is valuable in terms of permanence, for teen programs, Art on Call has been the perfect companion to the traditional written artist statement. As mentioned in a previous post, Art on Call can be interesting way of bringing artists voices into galleries, cinema, and theater.

Check out some of the Art on Call artist statements that we produced for last year’s multidisciplinary teen art show 20 Under 20 and the 13 Most Beautiful Young Artists performance (Warning: shameless plug – check it out tomorrow night!).

I would love to hear about technologies that educators are using to bring young artists voices into exhibition spaces. Educators, do you have any success stories? Visitors, are these info devices helpful to you? Do you use these devices?

Young artist at work

I had a funny conversation recently with an artist. Upon learning that I have kids and make art she remarked, “Oh — I have two grown children, and I think they really suffered as children because I was an artist.” I am not quite sure what to do with that bit of information: abandon all art-making quick, in an effort to spare my still-young kids? Or keep working, but brace myself for that future day when they announce I’ve ruined their lives?

My theory has always been that an art-household can be a great place for kids, but I do often feel guilty about the time and money that go into my art. So this artist’s comment, and the inescapable “difficult economic times”, really made me think twice.  Does my artmaking foster a creative household or is it just a selfish, expensive hobby?  I decided I wanted a larger sample size. I asked a bunch of artist-parent-friends to share their impressions of making art as parents (or what it had been like for them growing up with artist-parents). I also got the chance to talk with Todd Deutsch, a photographer and parent of three boys on his experiences making art in — and about — his very busy home.

Over the next week or two, I’ll post the responses.

Remember the Teletubbies-Britain’s most iconic TV show for kids to come out of the late 90s? Much to my surprise and amusement, it turns out that Gary Stevens, a British conceptual artist performing in the Walker’s upcoming show, ‘Ape’, was once a writer and consultant for the popular children’s program! He was kind enough to share his accounts of life in Teletubby land. Thanks Gary, and big hug to you!

Be sure to catch Gary Stevens, along with Julian Maynard Smith (Station House Opera) and Wendy Houstoun (Forced Entertainment), in one of three performances of ‘Ape’, co-presented with Bryant Lake Bowl, Red Eye, and Open Eye Figure Theatre.

How and when did you begin working for the Teletubbies program?

I had been working for Ragdoll, the company that produced the Teletubbies, for some time. Ann Wood, the producer had seen me in a performance called ‘If the Cap Fits’, where I put on more and more jackets and trousers until I looked like a giant onion. I could have planted the Teletubby seed, who knows. I introduced Andrew Davenport [co-creator of Teletubbies] to the company through some pilots and experiments that I conducted. Andrew became a puppeteer with them before conceiving and writing the Teletubbies. So, I was there at the beginning (1997) and before the beginning as a consultant. I sang the theme tune and did some of the voice-over work.

Language and slapstick humor are a common thread between your own work and the Teletubbies program. Words and actions endlessly recur in scenes like Tinky Winky searching for Po in a game of hide and seek, just as the characters in your show ‘Ape’ (see video clip here) vie for control in a continual game of repeat-the-speak, both resulting in pure comedy.

In ‘Ape’ there is an agreement game. They seem to be having a conversation but they are building on what has previously been said. They do not have any opinions or ideas of their own. They do not know who they are, so they try to get along by doing the safest thing, which is to agree. They play with nuanced copies. They do not own their speech; there is a hint of Tourette’s syndrome. The Teletubbies enjoy speech and the sound of words. Andrew originally studied Phonetics and Linguistics at University College London. There is something childlike about both kinds of behaviour, but there is something alien about both as well.

What influenced your own interests in language and comedy? Did you grow up in a humorous family?

Yes. I hardly said or did anything straight as a child. In fact, I would get into trouble for assuming that everyone knew that I was joking. Quite often, they did not.

Teletubbies nurtures a young child’s ability to develop cognitively and make those early connections to talking, listening, and moving through use of repetition, large movements, bright colors, and a deliberately slow pace. I’m curious to know, how much research went into producing each episode?

There was from the outset a repertoire of phrases. They had their own language. Lots of research went into the initial idea that could be drawn on for each episode. It is harder than you think to write for the Teletubbies. I was inclined to introduce some anarchic element that would be ironed out in committee. Ann Wood and Andrew were the people that inhabited the world of the Teletubbies.

You and Andrew Davenport, worked together years before the series began in a project of yours called ‘Animal‘. What is this show about and what were your roles? Was this the first time you two met? Do you continue to collaborate?

I saw Andrew at the ICA in London performing in a show with Kate France. It must have been about 1988 or 89. I asked them both to work on ‘Animal’ with me. It was a complex show but basically there was some doubt about the humanity of the performer’s behaviour. Andrew was obedient and got very upset if anyone left the stage and waited in a state of agitation for the person to return, only to floor them in an embrace in his excitement and enthusiasm. He did not literarily behave like a dog, but there was something distinctly dog-like about the general behaviour. I also worked with him on another show called ‘Name‘, which involved three performers running around playing far more characters, young, old, male and female. We have not seen much of each other since then.

Are there any episodes you’re particularly proud of?

The whole project was a brave thing for the company to take on. It was an enormous investment and risk. Nothing quite that big had been attempted in children’s television. Everyone hoped it would be successful of course, but no one anticipated how popular it would become. So there is no individual programme that distinguishes itself for me; it is the concept and conviction that makes me proud of Andrew and Ann. I had very little to do with it.

Which character-Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, or Po is your favorite? Why?

I think Laa-Laa is my favourite. I don’t know why, perhaps it is because she is yellow.

Each of them has a special personal belonging they identify with: Tinky Winky a red bag, Dipsy a tall hat, Laa-Laa an orange ball, and Po, a blue scooter. What would you say is your most treasured object?

I think it has to be my iPhone, I am ashamed to say, although I carry a bag around with me all the time, which is brown and very manly.

Many adults not familiar with Teletubbies might find it brain-numbingly slow, super repetitive, and well, just bizarre. Roaming the pastoral Teletubby Land, these psychedelically-colored, baby-talking space people love technology and one another, and spend most of their time playing games and giving hugs. In your opinion, why was Teletubbies such a successful phenomenon in children’s television?

I don’t know why it was so successful. I was interested in the idea of lingering on a scene or image so that a child could have time for their thoughts, rather than be led by a fast paced narrative. Coming from a visual arts background, the norm is a still image: photography and painting. Animation and narrative is something to contend with. Someone made a similar complaint about a video installation of mine called, ‘Slow Life’, where everyone moves very slowly in real time. I tried to explain to them that although it was slow for a film, it was fast for a painting. If children are going to watch television then it is better for the child to be creative in response to it. The programme aspired to function as a toy.

Not everyone embraced the Teletubbies, including the late Jerry Falwell and Polish politician, Ewa Sowińska who were convinced Tinky Winky was promoting homosexuality to children based on the fact that he carried a handbag. How did you and the creators of the show react to such accusations?

The Teletubbies do not have a strong sense of a self-image. They are indeterminate. Tinky Winky does not have a sophisticated understanding of the social, cultural and sexual connotations of the bag. I think he likes it because it is shiny and red.

In case you haven’t see the show, don’t worry all 365 episodes will be aired for years to come all over the world (on PBS in the U.S.). Here’s a taste: