Interview With Artist Mike Leavitt
American Contemporary Artist Talks About Art and Life
Mar 10, 2009
It is difficult to define what exactly Leavitt does. His extreme boredom for "normal" art has resulted in a number of nonpareil projects displayed around the world. Leavitt works through Intuition Kitchen Productions, of which he is CEO and sole employee. His work ranges from action figures made of polymer clay, to paintings on pennies and cardboard shoes. He also did a number of art pieces inspired by Barack Obama; the proceeds of sales were used to fund Obama's campaign. Suite101 sat down and had a talk with Leavitt, asking him about his work.
Q: What is your purpose in this world?
My purpose is to build and create beautiful things with my hands. Ideally this is also geared towards helping people. I believe the latter is the one common purpose we all share, despite any differences in our passions and talents.
Q: How do you choose your subjects? Do you make a point to be controversial or different?
I do make it a point to be different, only as a matter of business. Why would anyone want to buy my work if it's the same as someone else's? My angle on marketing is to fill a niche no one else is already occupying. I do not, however, make it a point to be controversial. Unlike many artists, my creative process involves political negotiating, not necessarily with other people, but a sense of diplomacy I consider internally. It's often a part of my 'diplomatic' thoughts that I avoid certain subjects to specifically not offend someone. This is especially tricky since I also passionately address relevant, timely, and important subjects.
For example, the Obama art I started doing in late 2006 was risky, perhaps controversial to some. With a little luck and a ride on a larger political wave, the risk of the potential controversy has now paid dividends for my work. Mostly I make political considerations when doing realistic work- representing the breadth of humanity and the diversity of the planet. This takes tons of consideration, weighing a massive array of options. I only have two hands and limited time on this planet, so it's mostly deciding what I can't do. I generally have the opposite of writer's block... so many good ideas and original concepts that it's a separate project just to decide which ideas to execute.
Q: What do you know about your fans? Do you think you appeal to a certain audience?
Right now I don't have enough of a following to categorize my "fans". There might be more people that follow my work than I'm aware of. Since I don't sell too many prints and cheap editions, I don't have an enormous volume of buyers. From what I can tell, most people who follow my work are generally young, artsy themselves, and more often recently from outside the U.S.—Italy, Netherlands, Japan, etc.
Q: Have you thought of exhibiting in Asia?
Japan is my highest priority to show next. I went once in 1997 and loved the place. So I look forward to spending more time there, and I know business would be great for me. Honestly, the only the reason it's going slow is because I haven't developed enough contacts and leads with folks in Tokyo. I need to start pulling any strings I can.
Q: What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?
I'm aiming to do more large scale and public sculpture, perhaps even playgrounds for both adults and kids. Ideally I'd build a Art Theme Park. I'm planning to show and travel more abroad. As slow as it's going, at some point I'll subsidize my work with a mass-production of some sort. I also plan to teach more often. It's tiring and takes away from my art, but it also comes very naturally to me, and grounds me spiritually.
Q: What do you do when you're not making things?
I play with my dog, watch movies, follow basketball, and try to hang out with friends whenever possible.
Leavitt will have a solo exhibition at the Fuse Gallery in New York from March 21 to April 18 . Read more about the exhibition: Cardboard Shoes Debut in New York
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