“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
In our brief sojourn, often there is much to say and little time. Equally, the most profound statements may be those that deliver their message with an economy of phrasing rather than falling into the trap of excess verbiage. Say what it is you mean to say without relying on preface or unnecessary explanation. A short story can contain within it more power than volume upon volume.
Selina Trepp spoke to us from Chicago in mid-October. The last year was meant to be a busy one for Trepp, but of course, like all of us, things changed and she found herself with a tremendous amount of productive studio time. In addition to her art, Trepp taught remotely while juggling to responsibilities of parenthood during a pandemic with her partner. Her project Woven is a five-minute collaborative animation consisting of “visual music” that was very much pandemic-driven. The project was commissioned by the city of Chicago to be projected on the two and a half acre side of the Merchandise Mart building. To hear more about this work and other aspects of Selina Trepp’s practice, listen to the complete interview.
Robert Schirmer spoke to us from Brooklyn in mid-October. He tells us that in 2021 he found himself “mounting the horse again” after difficult years in 2019 and 2020 in terms of writing. A self-described “wildly inefficient writer,” Schirmer tends to work on multiple projects at a time. Presently he is working on four novels as well as a handful of short stories. In terms of process, Schirmer has a long generative period and will frequently switch between projects, something that he has learned to stop fighting and simply let happen. To hear more about his work and his process of writing, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:
Choose your words carefully and consider whether some can be left unsaid.
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. When we spoke to Selina Trepp she was reading The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century by Amia Srinivasan. To learn more about the work of Robert Schirmer, click here.
Deadlines:
Prospect Art invites visual artists requiring financial assistance to finish new work to apply for a $500 mini-grant. These grants are given twice per year to individuals or artists’ collectives and are intended to support projects at any stage. For more information and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for this cycle applications is January 15.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius. His book, Making it in the Art World, is available now with bonus content here.