PROVOCATIVE SELF-PORTAITS AND FLICKR PROTEST PROPAGANDA - PHOTOG INTERVIEW: KRISTI BOGEL
9-10-08 POST KEYWORDS: kristi bogel, flickr, provocative, photo, photographer, portrait, self portrait, propaganda, protest, fuck art, anti art, art, interview, cojo art juggernaut, artsucks.com, cojo
With a gritty-beauty, photographer Kristi Bogel's photo "FUCK ART" is right up our alley for the inaugural ART SUCKS FLICKR PROPAGANDA featured artist.
This month I had the lucky fortune to interview the twenty-year-young Saint Louis photog known in the Flickr community as e|[d]|ge. She has been making internet waves with nearly half a million image views since '07. Kristi's provocative sometimes moody, sometimes sexy, self portrait explorations are punctuated by her accompanying blog notes that fill in the gaps where the images leave off.
COJO: "What inspired Fuck Art (A Must Read)?"
KRISTI: "There were two things, the first was for a year someone had continually mimicked my images I would put on Flickr. A day after I would put mine up, this person would put practically the same image up and call it their own. Second, I had spent hours on a project for my Design II class. I walked into class with a two foot by five foot piece. I had spray painted, molded down clay, added textures and God knows what else, and some (art) kid comes in with clear water bottles filled with colored water. He gets a better grade than me. Go figure."
COJO: "Plagiarism sucks. As for getting the lower grade on the project, maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but I've never had a client or patron ask to see my art school report cards. Was the copycat making exact replicas of your work?"
KRISTI: "I see nothing wrong with seeing something and replicating it, but try to make it better in the process. It is a different story when the copier just takes what you have, except with them as the model, and slaps it online and says they had such a good idea and it just came to them- especially when you know they look at your stream. Some might call it flattering; I call it a slap in the face."
COJO: "Yeah, I'm cool if someone is inspired by my work, but if they trace it line by line I'd have to rent a monkey just so I can throw shit on them and blame it on the monkey. Do you think all contemporary art sucks?"
KRISTI: "Not all of it. Tom Friedman is my favorite contemporary artist- how he puts all that intricate work into many of his pieces, like sticking together thousands of toothpicks- I just do not have the patience. What I do not like, is when an artist places two chairs on top each other, and shines a green light on and it says how it represents how they felt in the womb. That is just weird to me. Some call it minimalist art, I call it junk."
COJO: "Yeah prenatal furniture art sucks. You refer to 'art kids' and your detest for them in some of your photo descriptions. Is there an 'art kid mold' that you are seeing a lot of aspiring art and photography students falling into?"
KRISTI: "I would absolutely say there is an 'art kid mold.' With my personal experience, I have found there are two types.
The first type is arrogant and prestigious individuals who walk around acting like their work is 'the shit' and everyone should like it. If you do not like it, there is something wrong with you.
The second type is the kids who create art and just think it sucks and want everyone else to say they like it, just so she (the art kid) can mope and cry about how she personally hates it. It sucks because it is really annoying to be around.
On the same note, I also met some really fun and awesome people that really know what they are talking about and were a please to be around. You can say I am glad to call them friends."
COJO: "You seem to like yourself, your body, form, image- making yourself the model. Do you get any flack from flickr viewers for choosing yourself as the subject matter for the majority of your work?"
KRISTI: "Sure, I have had people call me cocky, arrogant and a lot more things. I like what I do, I love what I do - and if someone I do not know wants to take time out of their day to call me a slut, fake and ugly, then that is their choice. . . I cannot control what they type. I usually tell them, “thanks for your time, it was well wasted.” Not to be mean, but just to let them know that if their intent was to aggravate me, they failed. I would not put myself out there if I was not comfortable with the way I look."
COJO: "You seem to like shots that are more provocative?"
KRISTI: "It stirs and provokes the mind to see things that are not considered cute and adorable. I like to look at something and think, 'man, that is gross, but in such a beautiful way.' Art should move you, make you think. As far as I am concerned, close up flower shots and pictures of kids playing do not make me think. I want to see bone structures, I want to see flesh, I want to see veins in eyes and teeth-pure tension. Sometimes grit and guts are the most wonderful art out there."
COJO: "Do you think you are finding your artistic voice by flipping lens back on yourself?"
KRISTI: "It helps to focus the lens on myself because I know exactly what I want out of the image because at that time I know what I am feeling. A model could not convey the mood I want when I have such a personal feeling to get across. It would not be genuine."
COJO: "Do you make better art when you are angry or in some kind of emotional state?"
KRISTI: "I do. I have tried taking shots when I have been neutral and just having a day, not a good day or a bad day, just a day. It does not turn out. If there is no emotion in me, there is no emotion in the shot, self-portrait or not."
COJO: "What makes a shot successful to you?"
KRISTI: "The composition has to show tension. There has to be balance. It has to be clear and insightful. It has to show the viewer a place or a feeling. It cannot just be a picture of a tree, there has to be a reason showing why the tree is the subject. It has to have a defining factor."
COJO: "I love your black and white shots, you really get that gritty mixing with the sexy."
KRISTI: "I have gone through phases. When I first started, I was all into black and white- I liked the dramatic feel and edginess to the shot. I then went to colored somewhat vintage images, a more soft approach. It really depends on my mood and what feeling I want the image to portray. Overall, I would say I am still a black and white fan at heart."
COJO: "You write a few paragraphs with each photo, a kind of mini blog partially about the image and partially about what you did that day and your emotional state. I love how it adds an extra dimension to your work. "
KRISTI:"It helps me write down my day and let some feelings out that I had not had the chance to share with anyone."
COJO: "I've got to mention the 'Woody' series because it's such a departure from your self portrait work. Seems every freshman at art school buys one of those annoying wooden posable dolls (myself included) and they just end up collecting dust, you've actually put that little fuck to work."
KRISTI: "I first bought it because it was cute, haha. I knew I was never going to use Woody for figure drawing. I had noticed other people on Flickr taking pictures with Woody as the subject, so I gave it a go. Like I said, if you want to replicate, fine, but make it better, make it your own."
COJO: "You sure have a large Flickr following."
KRISTI: "I am closing in on 500,000 views on Flickr, but I could not tell you how many of the same people have kept looking every day. I have had quite a number of regulars that I keep in contact with."
COJO: "Have you ever ventured into Commercial photography?"
KRISTI: "I prefer the Fine Art side. I just find it more interesting and compelling. Commercial Photography can still be just as wonderful - I am just not that interested in selling dresses or watches. I did at first want to get into Photojournalism when I first got into photography. That was short lived."
COJO: "Would you like to express to any Art Sucks readers who have never seen your work before?"
KRISTI: "I would like to tell them thanks for reading and hearing what I have to say and that I hope they take a look at my work. Every view counts. Also, and that I am sorry if they have stacked a chair on top another and shined a light on it- I really did not mean to offend. :)"
View Kristi Bogel's FLICKR PHOTO STREAM
Are you a photog who posts on flickr? Upload photos either from your computer or directly from flickr and maybe next month Cojo can be interviewing you. . .
