FESTIVAL VISUAL ART LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL
S E E E D I N B U R G H A R T F E S T I V A L . C O M F O R M O R E
I N F O
ART Beat
DAVID MICHALEK
What was the i rst exhibition you went to see? The i rst two contemporary art exhibitions that I went to see were at the Los Angeles MOCA. The i rst works we saw upon entering the museum were very large and impressive paintings by Anselm Keifer. But it was the video/ sound installation, nestled into its own darkened room, that would have a lasting effect on me: ‘Room for Saint John of the Cross’, by Bill Viola. What was your i rst paid job as an artist? I was always the class ‘artist’, and beginning in about the second grade, I took to drawing portraits of my fellow classmates in exchange for things of theirs that I wanted, like a Farrah Fawcett notebook or baseball cards.
What kind of music do you listen to while you’re working? All kinds. It depends on what I am doing and what my mood is. What are the best things about opening nights? Seeing my work for the i rst time as an audience member changes the way I relate to it in important ways.
Do you read reviews of your work? Not obsessively.
Which living artist should be better known than they currently are? One of my early mentors is the Los Angeles-based artist, John Malpede. John directs, performs and engineers multi-event arts projects that have theatrical, installation, public-art and education components. To this day, I think of him as one of the greatest artists that I have known. What has been your career highlight to date? I don’t like the idea of thinking about what I do as a career marked by glaring, substantial moments. I prefer to think of it as a vocation, and where the highlights can be found in certain small corners or slivers of daily practice.
What is your favourite work of art? I don’t have a favourite.
What advice would you give to your younger self? Trust your own instincts. ■ David Michalek: Figure Studies & Slow Dancing, Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 3 Aug–27 Sep, free.
2–9 Aug 2012 THE LIST 81
✽ HITLIST NVA’S SPEED OF LIGHT Dramatic spectacle of light and colour in Holyrood Park created by NVA and a host of amateur runners. ■ Arthur’s Seat, Holyrood Park, 473 2000, 9 Aug–1 Sep (not 13 & 14, 20 & 21, 28). Guided walking groups meet every 15 minutes between 9.15pm–11pm, £24 (£18).
Dieter Roth: Diaries Collection of diaries from the late renowned Iceland-based painter, sculptor and printmaker. Reviewed next issue. Fruitmarket Gallery, 225 2383, until 14 Oct, free. Van Gogh to Kandinsky Major exhibition charting the movement from representation towards abstraction in the late 19th century. See review, page 85. National Galleries of Scotland, 624 6200, until 14 Oct, £10 (£7).
Ian Hamilton Finlay: Twilight Remembers Exhibition of sculpture and audio visual installation by the late Scottish artist. Reviewed next issue. Ingleby Gallery, 556 4441, until 27 Oct, free.
Callum Innes: The Regent Bridge New installation from the Edinburgh-based artist, which l oods the underside of the Regent Bridge with light. See feature, page 82. Calton Road, under Waterloo Place, until 2 Sep, free.
Susan Philipsz: Timeline City- wide art festival sound installation, specially commissioned from Turner Prize winner Susan Philipsz in response to Edinburgh’s One O’Clock Gun. See feature, page 82. Various venues, until 2 Sep, daily 1pm, free.
Roderick Buchanan: Legacy Film Carolee Schneemann New and archive
installation exploring both sides of the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the prism of two Glasgow marching bands. See review, page 85. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 624 6200, until 16 Sep, free. video installation and photographic work exploring gender, sexuality and the body from the inl uential American artist Schneemann. See preview, page 83. Summerhall, 560 1590, 2 Aug–27 Sep, free.