pt. 2: Interview
A Garden or A Grave - duo exhibition with Ellen Rutt
Brett Flanigan

Showing through March 14th, 2020

818 N. Spring St. #202
Los Angeles, CA 90012
info@part2gallery.com

Brett Flanigan (b. 1986, Great Falls, MT) approaches the work in this series by reflecting on a specific place or experience, and responding to this meditation by laying down a framework of color and composition that portrays the feeling of each. Utilizing this substructure, he continues his exploration of systems through pattern, probability, logic or repetition. These systems are a way for the artist to navigate a series of informed decisions that result in unpredictable outcomes. Flanigan holds a degree in Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He works primarily in painting and sculpture. His work has been exhibited throughout the US, as well as internationally. Flanigan has also completed a number of public artworks, including a mural at the Lilley Museum at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a large scale public sculpture in downtown Oakland. Flanigan lives and works in Oakland, CA.

-pt. 2:

Pt. 2: -What has it been like putting this show together with Ellen [Rutt]? Does working collaboratively on a theme change the way you approach your individual work?

Brett Flanigan - When Ellen and I first started talking about doing a show together and were sharing ideas about what we had been thinking about in our painting, we discovered that we had both been thinking about a lot of the same things, and in particular about how the idea of “place" was shaping our work. I don’t think we were so much working collaboratively on a theme but rather emphasizing the aspects of our individual practices that were already overlapping.

-You describe your process in almost mathematical terms, creating self-defined “systems” to explore “through pattern, probability, logic or repetition”. Do you think that your background in biology has contributed to this process? In what ways (if any) does your art practice engage with your scientific interests? Yea, definitely. Science is pretty abstract for the most part, a lot of the time you are dealing with things that can’t be visually observed, so you have to figure out a process to extract information in other ways. It isn’t at all a conscious decision, but this type of thinking is how I operate best, so I approach art this way too. I never have an image in mind that I strive to create, but I usually have some conditions in mind that I think might lead to an interesting result. It is an approach that is conceptually similar to the scientific method; I create a hypothesis and then test it. I was recently talking about how I love making mistakes in a painting because they often lead to something that is useful or interesting, either in the way the mistake looks, or the steps you have to go though to make it work or to cover it. Someone recently pointed out to me that this approach mirrors the process of evolution, where a genetic mutation will lead to a trait that is beneficial to the fecundity of a species.

-When you set out to begin a painting do you follow a plan or do you work more intuitively? Can you tell us more specifically about your process? It is a combination of the two. Like I said previously, I never have an image in my mind that I set out to create. Sometimes I will have a restriction or a rule that I want to use from the start, but normally I start with no plan. I like building up energy on the surface with intuitive mark making, pouring, throwing, splattering, wiping, scraping, etc, and trying to find something unexpected that I can expand on. (In this set of paintings, this step is combined with a specific memory of an experience in nature where I can apply the colors, feelings, energy, etc of a specific place.) From there, I will develop some kind of a system where I can logically expand on what I find interesting. This back and forth can be repeated, using the same system or a variety of systems until I get to a result that feels right.

-In this series you use a combination of brightly colored oil paint, acrylic, and collage on canvas, paper and jute. Do you think that your medium serves the finished work in ways that other materials may not? Do you select materials based on your concept or does your choice of materials drive the process/finished work. Strangely enough, the process drives the material choice and then the materials drive the process again. I normally begin with a very straightforward set up, acrylic on canvas, applied as flat as possible. I care a lot about the surface texture, so sometimes I will switch to oil if I feel like a certain part of the painting needs a thicker application for whatever reason. Once this switch happens, there is no turning back, so the rest of the moves must be made in oil. As far as the works on paper, and the painting on jute, those are actually byproducts of other paintings, either used to wipe off excess paint or to apply paint in a certain texture. I try not to have any studio waste, so I save all of my scraps and try to incorporate them into other works through college or sewing.

-Where is your studio? How does your physical space affect the way you work (if at all)? I have had a studio in downtown Oakland for the past 6 years. I am lucky enough to have lots of natural light, and just enough space to spread out a bit. It’s messy and the floor and walls are caked with years of spilled paint, and I like it that way. I think having a space where anything goes is important to allowing freedom in the work. I am also affected by the space though the other people who share the building, there is a solid community of artists and musicians there who are consistently inspiring.

-What do you like to listen to in the studio? I actually work in silence a lot, mainly because I am too caught up in what I am doing to realize the music stopped. I listen to a lot of music made in the 70’s. Mixtapes from friends. Podcasts. Jazz. Phillip Glass. Memphis rap. Sludge metal.

-How has your work changed over the course of your career thus far? Do you find your approach or process different than it once was? Every time I make a painting, I learn something that I can apply to future work. So I would say my work changes every time I make something new. That being said, I think that my core outlook on process has generally been the same since I started showing work seriously. I’m trying to find a balance between chance and logic.

-Are there other concepts you want to explore further down the line? New processes/materials? I always want to stay open to new ideas, but I try not to think that far in advance. I just want to do what feels right day by day. After completing a body of work it does feel good to try something totally different for a while though. Representational painting, sculpture and writing are a few explorations that sound fun to me right now.

-What do you do when you’re not in the studio? I try to go into nature as much as possible.

-Favorite wikipedia wormhole? Last year I went pretty deep in a wikipedia wormhole about Conway’s “Game of Life”, a cellular automaton that expands indefinitely depending on its initial state. I ended up finding a lot of comparisons to the way I approach painting and I ended up titling my last solo show “Zero Player Game” as a reference to this.

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Interview - Brett Flanigan