#not chicago specifically. but a lot of other local government related stuff

[rorykillmore]

just out of curiousity (u can answer this whenever) what do u think ur characters would do on denny 2.0 ?

lucille might go settle down in victorian london because ultimately, there’s just some things about that kind of environment she prefers more, although that said i think she’d be a surprisingly... modernized presence there. there are a lot of elements of modern life she’s gotten attached to and won’t feel like abandoning; in fact, i think she’ll even keep her modern style of dress. this also gives her the opportunity to get involved in some more supernatural stuff, which she’s always been more inclined towards. so who knows what might come of that! just when she thought she might be free of all that silent hill-esque bullshit,

siobhan is probably gonna stick to living in the southwest because that’s just become home to her, at this point. she’s not giving up her saloon. but her role as a bounty hunter will probably mean she gets to travel a lot -- and it’d be cool to use this opportunity to give the denny guardians a like, specific cause to tackle maybe?? i’ll talk to fate and giz at some point but maybe we can have them get involved in the situation in the southwest where all the Mounting Outlaw Tension is, because then they have to choose between doing the Right Thing and... using the opportunity to take a shot at the mld, who rocket and siobhan at least have always hated. idk. maybe at some point they can also get stranded in our potential Prehistoric Location because i feel like that would really give raptor red the chance to shine. and maybe have siobhan and rocket have to rely on her a little more?

actually... it depends on my muse level for her but. if i want to do a bigger plot with siobhan she’s a good candidate for “gets captured by the organization and loses her powers”, because lifting the curse is! something she’s been trying to do the whole time she’s been on denny! but having it happen in this way would be really... hard and complicated for her and maybe allow her for some kind of arc where she decides she wants to get her powers back on her own terms, to keep being a guardian and keep doing good.

sara will be interesting because. well i guess it depends on what we decide but as things stands now i don’t really think it makes sense for “time travel” to be a feasible thing on New Denny, at least not outside a set period of time (like seasons? idk). so that’ll be a HUGE adjustment for not just her, but for all the denny legends. compared to what they’re used to, they’re very tied down. i think she at least will still stay on the waverider and travel around because she’s just... not built to settle down anywhere. maybe she and the legends will revert to more traditional (if setting-specific) vigilante work? because they have experience dealing with Historical Threats. and the organization itself definitely seems like something that would be on their radar.

my cats are honestly gonna be a pretty boring answer for this because i don’t think they would like. have much interest or even an entire capacity to understand what’s happening in the outside world, and are content to stay in the southwest and do their thing. so their plot stuff probably won’t change that much, barring like... nightcloud perhaps retreating to the outside world for a little while after tigerclanplot.

dolores will, unless something pretty major changes, probably be staying in beacon heights still. although i think... depending on what we ultimately end up going with for it, there’s a high possibility that she’d be interested in the Futuristic Location and establishing a bit of pull there. god imagine if there are like, any kind of robotic elements in play in whatever setting we choose. dolores stages ANOTHER revolution,

but yeah some of her plot stuff would probably depend on that... she’s also a tentative candidate for like? rifter government stuff if we set that up?? though if she got involved with that she could also be a source of conflict for it because her stances on certain things might be pretty intense, so it’d be interesting to see what happened with that.

sophie-anne is gonna go stay in chicago, i like, instantly decided. she’d LOVE it. it’s the 1920′s!! much less boring than the present >__>,

yeah but she’s probably just gonna move her club over there, although it might take on a slightly more... subtle exterior. in true speakeasy style (but also because like... it’d be a lot less safe in that setting to be so openly ‘yeah nonhumans are great!’). honestly she probably runs the risk of having a very complicated relationship with the local organized crime --

actually if i want to give sophie the opportunity to do something... more actively shady, maybe she could deal vampire blood to them?? and in exchange they don’t fuck with her or her club, but she also turns a blind eye to them going after and abducting other rifters.... hmm....

camille is gonna stay in metropolis. she’s not about this wacky stuff,

but actually giz and i were throwing around ideas and we thought the interesting thing about this plot/settings shift is that... these individual locations are, by their nature, just more isolated from one another than what denny’s used to. they all have their own things going on, their own separate cultures and communities. and that makes information and communication more important than ever. so i’ve already been weighing ideas for the daily planet becoming this more... overarching news station that tries to keep people in touch and connected and informed and just, taking on a more active role in general, which could be really interesting?? maybe they’ll work more closely with the mld, which gives me the opportunity to plot more camille/felix stuff and that’s never a bad thing. 

regardless it like... gives camille cause to travel a lot (which is cool because i think a lot of my characters in this context might be more interested in staying in one or a couple of locations) and just get involved in a lot of potentially unconventional stuff and i’m really here for that! she should get herself, like... a travel buddy.

sly actually might be free roaming it for awhile, although... i really want to get someone involved in the Pirate Stuff if we do that. and he seems like a great candidate for it. he was actually a pirate for a little while in the third game and he was kind of great at it. taking after henriette! it might also give him the opportunity to do some broader plot stuff i’ve been searching for for him, like... he could get involved in combating/stealing from the organization-employed pirates of the era, or maybe if we do the thing where the cure for whatever the experiments do is hidden somewhere around here and sly finds out about it he could be a kind of like... guide for people who are looking for it?? who wants to go sailing with sly

more importantly, who wants to join sly’s pirate crew,

susie... i’ve actually not entirely decided what i’m gonna do with susie yet. mostly because there’s a lot of shady stuff going on that she’d have overt knowledge of, but i... don’t know how much she’d want to get involved? maybe i could do stuff with like. her giving people she’s friendly with more subtle nudges towards The Truth. or maybe if someone wants to do a “my character loses their memories” plot and needs an eventual fix for it, i could offer susie for that. idk.

she might settle in our 70s/80s european location because lbr that’s just home for her. maybe this’ll spur her into opening up a dance academy or something like she’s been thinking of?

cordelia is probably gonna get moved over to st. denis (or a little ways outside of it) if that’s our new orleans standin. which... makes for some interesting conflict becaaause i’m not sure the people around there would be as... you know... accepting of witches as people in modern day new orleans are. it’s gonna put her more on the defensive and potentially create some more conflict between the coven and the public which... could definitely be interesting

and she’d be very agitated by the idea of the organization and them catching and experimenting on people too so, she may be one of my characters who gets more involved in that. she’s also, apart from dolores, another candidate for Potential Government Stuff because she’s already in a position of authority and i just feel like she’d naturally be very good at something like that. makes for more accessible plotting with her, too

alana is still gonna be involved with mld stuff of course which means... well! her schedule might get a lot busier with all the mld is dealing with. but also that she might get to work with a more diverse array of characters if the mld expands their ranks. 

i think she’ll definitely be involved with organization-related stuff to some extent, if... indirectly, at first. because the mld, of course, is going to be dealing with all these emerging threats. actually as a profiler, maybe alana can be one of the people who start connecting the dots re: how a lot of these things are connected?? it really depends on how some of this stuff plays out but...

what else she’ll get involved in, i’m not sure because i still wanna potentially do things like the murder mystery plot with her, so she might be more subplot designated... idk! we’ll see!!

and then villanelle. well. once she starts to accumulate a fair amount of money on denny (which... probably won’t take her too long, given her, well, specific talents), villanelle is probably going to go live it up in 70s/80s europe too. especially if we settle on paris. she’d LOVE that. 

but also... fate and i have been talking about plots for her and fox, and we’ve been tossing around an idea where... they both get picked up by the same employer (she’s an assassin, he’s a mercenary, there’s plenty of overlap) and then things start to get increasingly skeevy and fox starts to question it a lot while! villanelle doesn’t care! because why would she? and that creates a lot of conflict and tension between them and ultimately maybe fox at least gets through to her in the context of “don’t let these people use you”. its an enemies-to-friends(?) plot, basically, but my point being prior to this we were just gonna revert to using some random npcs or something but now... if fate’s game, having fox and villanelle accidentally end up working for the organization that’s targeting all these rifters could be hugely interesting, i think

there’s a lot of potential there

#thanks tony!! #honestly im still thinking a lot of this stuff through but #im p excited about the ideas i Do have #cuts dennys lvad wire #fizzlep0p

[doodledialogue]

Interview series - What after B.Arch? #14

Interviewee: Ar. Gaurav Goel Post-graduation: Master in Digital Architecture and Tectonics | University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

What prompted you to take up this particular program? What about the school/program appealed to you?

During My Architecture graduation in India, I was always inspired by the new face of international architecture. I was always curious about how modern architecture is being shaped today and what technologies architects are using for architectural design research in their studios. It was evident that training in technology for new architectural thinking cannot be avoided for the future discourse of Architectural practice. So, with all these curiosities I listed out universities that aligned my research interests in Architecture. Eventually, the University of Nottingham offered an intensive program for M.Arch in Architecture Technology (Title Currently modified to Masters in Digital Architecture and Tectonics), which aligned to my interests for higher education in Architecture. The course content, faculty, University ranking for research output, its campus, previous work from student’s handbook and international competitions appealed to me in selecting this program. Nottingham University also offered a chance for a scholarship to students from Commonwealth countries, which was a sigh of relief from expensive education tuition fee in England.  

When did you take up Masters?

I took a break for two years after my bachelor’s in India because sometimes the Academic specialisation we aspire to gain does not work in an architectural ecosystem present in our country due to various constraints. Therefore, it was a wise decision to analyse current design trends and the need for specific knowledge required in the domain of current Architecture in India. The break from academics also provided me with some time to travel and reflect on my experience of architecture acquired over the years. During this time, I interned with an architectural firm handling Airport and University designs for Indian government. I was also handling some independent architectural projects to gain insights into the challenges of working as an independent Architect in India. Along with this, I used this time to attend a summer school with Architectural Association London and learned their novel computational techniques for producing new architectural spaces. That was a huge influence on my Masters in Architecture. Due to the reasons stated above, I would recommend all future students to take a break from academics before masters unless you get some exceptional opportunity right after your graduation.

When did you start with the application process considering the time for application, scholarship/bursary deadlines, etc.?

I started the application process around 6 months before. It was a long process because I wanted to apply for scholarship also. I did not want to rush and therefore I arranged recommendation letters, prepared an exclusive portfolio, wrote an essay for the scholarship with much time and attention. It also allows the university to assess your work better if you apply early to these programs.  

What preparation did you do before starting Masters?

Getting into a higher university abroad can be pretty daunting. I was paranoid about a lot of stuff related to academics, different culture and place. For academics, I studied the course content beforehand and did some reading to acquire a glimpse of the topics I was about to study. But in Architecture its more about the studio exercises, so I tried to explore how design studios and architectural discourse works in England. Many online resources, student videos, and previous student architectural projects helped me clear out my doubts. Other than this, social media groups from the university, some seniors from the course and university student support prepared me in advance to deal with the cultural shock. The first induction week at Nottingham University was amazing. There were student mentors who showed us around, along with some conferences and lectures about working at Nottingham University. I made some of the best friends that week. I would strongly recommend attending induction week before any masters as it will act as a catalyst to adjust you into a new environment and engrain you into the student fabric of a particular university.

Did you have to give any entrance tests? How did you plan for them?

Yes, I appeared for an IELTS exam scoring a 7.5 to make my visa application stronger. But at Nottingham University I was not required to appear for a Language proficiency test because I scored above 90 per cent Marks in English for my CBSE 12th-grade exam in India.

How long was your program?

Masters in Digital Architecture and tectonics at Nottingham University is an intensive 1-year program including 3 months of dedicated research writing of about 30000 words. This program starts in September every year and finishes after 12 months. After the course duration, University runs student competitions and organise a year-end show that is attended by experts in Architecture from England. This is the best time to showcase your work and catch the eye of an architect aligning your interest. There were not many direct job opportunities through university, but those year-end shows helped me to grab some job offers from current architects who saw my work.

Did you have post-masters plans in mind when you took up masters? Or did you go with the flow?

I was very clear about my future plans after Architectural masters. I wanted to come back to my country after completing my research and contribute to the academic and real architecture domain of the Indian market. India is progressing nation and specific clients and organisations want to experiment and invest in modern architecture. Therefore, I have a keen interest to practise Architecture in India using local resources and my specialised skills.    

Did you have to apply for a visa?

My visa process was very smooth. I applied it myself with the help of the Embassy website. All documents required were listed on the website clearly along with the procedure. After my CAS letter the visa process took around a month and I was granted a student visa for a year along with an additional 6 months of post-study work in the UK.

How was the experience at the school?

Architecture department of Nottingham University is a highly respected institution in the UK. It has one of the best research output and infrastructures along with state-of-the-art labs with 3D printing, vacuum forming, CNC machines, Digital 3d scanners and carpentry tools. I had an intensely immersive and international experience at this University. By international I mean there were students from every nationality and they brought in their cultural views into design studios along with expert international mentors. Other than this for the first time in my life I studied architectural research methods, which opened my eyes towards researching in Architectural field in a planned fashion. It was a big surprise for me to learn that there is so much that could be researched and written about Architecture. There was a strong culture of collaboration for inter-departmental research. For example, if we are designing a building façade, we can involve the mechanical department for its physical development and details. That helped us in understanding architecture as a collaborative process, which is vital to practise in the current realm.

Moreover, there was a planned schedule of the program that we followed the whole year. At the start of the course we knew the exact date when we will have our last lecture and submission, a crisp academic plan like that provided us with a clear path of studies. University also provided lectures by an industry leader on current developments in the latest building trends. It provided an exposure that was difficult to gain elsewhere. Along with this, they had field trips which were great in understanding realities of complex forms and their fabrication pedagogy to instil our interest in computational design.  Finally, a big opportunity I got was to involve myself in clubs and knowing likeminded people from around the world. I was a member of Architects society, gliding and kayaking club. I used to attend architect socials, fly gliders every month for our training along with kayaking lessons from experts. These clubs helped me to enhance my experience at the university. Overall my experience at school of architecture was very rewarding and fruitful in terms of knowledge and skills I gained during my academic discourse.    

Tell us more about the mentors.

Mentors at Nottingham University are very professional in terms of mentoring students. It was exciting to know about their research and work in the field of architecture. Every mentor was very responsive on emails and I never faced problems meeting with them. They were very supporting and always open for informal discussions too. Some of the professors used to invite students for dinners also at their house. Moreover, Professors always used their industry contacts to introduce us to experts with our research interests.

Eventually, all my professors had an impact on my learning as an architect but few of them motivated me personally. I was very influenced by the work and guidance of Dr John Chilton who is an expert in shell structures and has written many international publications on this subject. Along with this Dr. Paolo Beccarelli who is a leading expert on fabric and tensile structures influenced me to research my master’s dissertation on tensile structures. I was also inspired by the research work and knowledge of Dr Philip Olfield who was the mentor of Tall Buildings studio. He is currently an active member of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).  Lastly, I would like to mention my studio mentor Tom Bennett who is an expert in computational design. He was part of the design team for winning proposal of UK pavilion for Milan expo 2015. He was seminal in introducing me to computational design and programming. Currently, he works with a collaborative design practice called Studio Bark in East London.  

What kind of support system did your institute/university have in place for international students considering a different learning environment from that of Bachelors?

International students at university are supported by the International student office at Nottingham University. They are dedicated to helping you deal with the new environment, emotional concerns along with academic hurdles you face during your studies at the university.

Were you involved in research projects/competitions while studying?

Yes, during our course we participated in national conferences, research projects of our faculty members and architectural design competitions. Along with my Mexican colleague, I won an Architectural award from Benoy Architects London for our project “UK Pavilion- Milan expo 2015”. This project was displayed at the end of the year show along with RIBA exhibition in England.

Could you tell us in brief about your dissertation?

My masters concluded with my dissertation research under Dr John Chilton and Dr Paolo Beccarelli. It was titled "INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR CONCEPT DESIGN OF TENSILE MEMBRANES IN ARCHITECTURE: A COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL MODELLING PROCESS”. This research was awarded merit marks along with appreciation from the industry. Through this research, I investigated how form active structures are being designed using computational power in the current era.

Tell us about the process.

I had a discussion with my supervisor while we were on a field trip to Milan. Our informal discussion helped me understand my topic and methodology that I needed to write a dissertation. Along with formal supervisor meetings, the University of Nottingham organised workshops to demonstrate how to write academic research. These workshops were highly professional and helped me in writing quality research.

We had a clear time table defined from the start of the research. There was a fixed number of times we were supposed to report our progress to the supervisors, but they were always available on mail to answer any queries. My initial meetings with my supervisor were long and intense as they laid the foundation of my research. I used to mail the work before meetings and my supervisor examined and gave his feedback during the office discussions.  

There were several challenges during the research. The main challenge was time. In just 4 months we had to write 30000 words for our dissertation. Along with this my first-hand exposure to academic research posed me a problem of setting research goals. It was very tough to organise a vast amount of reading data and experiments into functional research that imparts a meaning to the profession. One of the other challenges was reading, while in India I never read a lot. But during dissertation library was a second home and they had all the academic resources available in the world to support our research material at the Library in Nottingham University.

We had a final presentation before final dissertation writing to include expert feedback into our research. That was followed by intense weeks of writing and submitting our dissertation to the university department as per the deadlines.

How did you manage the finances?

For my masters, I had a scholarship for 50 per cent of tuition fees. Rest of the expenses of academics and living were covered with the help of my parents. A restricted amount of travelling, self-cooking and budget accommodations were some of the things that helped me to cut down my expenses.

Did you volunteer/work part-time job/intern while studying?

No.

How did you choose your accommodation? Did you have to commute to reach lecture halls?

I took an off-campus accommodation at the university. It allowed me some flexibility in terms of living. It was a large house shared by other students with common amenities. It was nearby university and cheaper than university accommodation.

Did you travel while/after studying?

Yes, during studies, we travelled to many cities as part of architectural field trips in the UK. I covered many British towns along with a Europe trip with international student travel society. All my travel was motivated by curiosity to witness architecture and experience new places. During my travel, I visited some of the architectural marvels in Europe and the UK.

Are there any notable incidents/ anecdotes from post-grad studies that you wish to share?

There are many incidents to share, but one particular I would like to mention. When I started my course at university during initial lectures, I was very participative in studio and interactive with faculty members. So, one evening after my lecture one of my Latin and Chinese friend asked me how come you speak such good English, does India have such a good education in English. I was amazed by the imagery of India in their mind and I laughed and said that in India most of us learn English from kindergarten itself. I told them to read about India and its current development. It is no longer a land of snake charmers only.

How do you think doing a master’s degree helped you?

My master’s degree enriched my career in multiple perspectives. The first and most important thing I gained from my masters was an international exposure in the field of design. It gave me multiple skills to be a part of an international community of design professionals. I presented my designs among a group of international design jurors and participated in design competitions. It gave me courage and confidence as a professional to practise architecture anywhere around the world. Another aspect of international university was learning to work in a team with people from different ideologies and culture. I learned how to embrace these ideas and keep your mind open towards novel thinking, which is vital in the Architectural profession. Due to my masters, I gained the ability to think critically and holistically about architecture. I learned how to discuss and debate ideas academically in intensive studio exercises with experts, how to navigate existing research and most importantly how to research your own ideas using the existing academic resources. At Nottingham university, I was constantly challenged in terms of my ability as an architect and they always guided me professionally to overcome those challenges without spoon feeding. In all, it was worth pursuing masters at the university of Nottingham to explore and equip myself with skills that are helping me in my career as an Architect.  

Did the city/country you studied in play a major role during your postgraduate study?

Nottingham as a town is full of history and enriching past in terms of architecture. During my time at Nottingham university, I had a chance to experience this town as a resident. And due to this, I had a significant impact on my design education. I became more sensitive to history, context and climate while designing buildings. Also, public spaces and urban infrastructure is very impressive in England. It gave me an insight into how the quality of urban architecture can influence a citizen’s experience within an urban community. Eventually, I tried to incorporate all these learning into my designs while PG.  

Could you please tell us about your current work and future plans?

After returning from the UK my research interest in computational design lead to the creation of an educational blog called PARAMETRIC CURIOSITY. Over the course of years, it has become a community of people from all around the world to witness and talk about computational trends in architecture and design industry. Our current Facebook blog has more than 4600 followers who are engaged in an active community of architects and engineers interested in computational and digital architecture. Eventually, I launched Studio Parametric Curiosity India inspired from my blog’s success, it is an Architectural practice headed by me. We are Involved in developing a sensible urban built fabric by designing multiple architectural projects ranging from residences, commercial, recreational architecture and interiors in Delhi and NCR. Our recent projects include a ceiling Installation in Kenya, a sustainable eco-house in Delhi, a Hotel in Lansdowne along with other building projects. Most of our work stresses upon User functionality, architectural sustainability and integration of computational techniques during the design process.

What message would you like to give to students/professionals planning to take up your program in your school?

For all the prospective students who want to pursue higher education in Architecture, I would like to advise for deep self-introspection for the reason of higher education. Eventually, decide your passion and interest in the current architectural profession to specialise in. Thereafter, find a university that has most research output, facilities and association with experts in the field you want to pursue a master. University is all about soaking the best academics available in the field you want to specialise. One should assess their opportunities carefully and analyse the impact of their education in the future architectural practice.    

Looking back, was there anything you would have done differently?

International university education is appealing. New places, people and academic environment all fills you with great spirit and zeal. I would like to warn students to not get carried away from all the new changes that come in your life as a student. Remember your main goal of education and take your academics seriously. All the universities abroad are very serious with quality and timely submission of your assignments along with your performance. Make sure you take full support of university facilities and faculty to get across your academic challenges.

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE:

Ar. Gaurav Goel holds a master's degree in architecture from the University of Nottingham, and a master's diploma in parametric design from Spain. He is a gold medallist in B.Arch. from Amity University. Goel founded Parametric Curiosity in 2016, an architecture studio and a social media blog for sharing digital explorations in the field of parametric design. Besides, he has attended many international workshops such as Summer School with Architectural Association - London and Master in Parametric Design at Control Mad - Spain to learn nuances of algorithmic design processes. Goel’s research interests lie in form finding, temporary and permanent pavilion installations, form optimisation, digital fabrication with CNC, 3D printing, architectural façades and other geometrical explorations using computational tools such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper 3D.  His studio's latest projects include a ceiling installation in Kenya, a hotel in Lansdowne, a holiday home in Uttarakhand and a sustainable eco houses in Delhi and Gurgaon.

You can reach him at their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channel called Parametric Curiosity. For more details about his work and him as a professional visit his LinkedIn account.

#Architecture #architect #architecturestudents #postgraduation #higherstudies #mastersdegree #the united kingdom #nottingham #universityofnottingham #whatafterbarch

[ripstocking]

Austin: A native of Chicago, Michael Smith emerged in New York in the late ‘70s, performing in both non-profit art spaces like The Kitchen and Artists Space, and in small nightclubs and cabarets. Smith is one of the first artists not to be afraid to confront the forms of television entertainment. His entire production revolves around Mike, his alter ego, the protagonist of performances, videos and installations that replicate the generic interiors of sitcoms.

Mike is the average American: clumsy, enterprising, motivated by the desire to succeed and excited by the taste for business. Smith shapes an aesthetics of failure, perhaps animated by the feeling of inadequacy towards TV that the artist confesses he felt as a child. Indeed, like all good comedians, the ability to make the audience laugh is to stage a farce in which the distinction between the fictional character and the real actor is never clear.

In his career, Smith has collaborated with other artists including Mike Kelley, Joshua White and William Wegman. His work has been presented and exhibited in galleries, theatres, universities, clubs, on television and in museums such as MoMA, the Metropolitan and the Whitney in New York, Le Consortium, Dijon, and the Kunstverein, Munich. He has taught at Columbia University and Yale and is currently a Professor at the University of Austin, Texas, where he spends most of his time in a small house full of rainbows.

How did you start collecting rainbows and why?

I needed a little hope in my life, not to mention a little colour in my home.

It started as kind of a fluke, a kitschy sort of gesture. Then I got into it. Friends started giving me rainbows. Not too long after, I learned that if you bring rainbows into your life, unicorns will follow.

You live between Brooklyn, where you also have a studio, and Austin, where you are a professor at the University of Texas. Which of the two places do you prefer?

To be honest, no matter where I am, it always seems like I am in my underwear in front of the computer. The reason I moved to Austin was because of my job. Much of my time there revolves around teaching and recovering from travelling, since I am on a plane every two weeks. When school is not in session, I go back to NYC, the place where most of my old friends and family live. I’ve lived there for 35 years, so it feels like my home.

Can you list all the places you’ve lived in?

I grew up in Chicago and lived there until I was 17. Then I went to college in Colorado and was there until I was 19. For the next five years I was between Colorado, NYC and Chicago. When I finished my studies in Colorado and earned my undergraduate degree, I knew that I was not ready to go back to NYC and moved back to Chicago to work for my father in his real estate business. That lasted four months and I made a lateral move to delivering pizzas and trying to figure out what to do next in the studio after realising I was no longer a painter. In 1976 I moved to NYC, and eventually to Brooklyn. Oh, and in 1997 I lived in Los Angeles for about six months when I was teaching at various art schools around the city.

What about the homes you’ve lived in? Do you have a favourite?

I lived in an office building in Chicago after college. Two other friends and I rented the entire second floor for $100 a month. There were about 10 offices and two bathrooms connected by a 120-foot-long hallway. Lots of windows and each of us paid only $35 a month. Oh, the good old days.

Do you you use to carry objects and furniture with you when you move, or do you find new stuff every time you settle in a new place?

It all depends on how far I’m moving, but for the most part, other than a mattress and some knick-knacks, I eventually get new stuff.

Currently, my favourite TV show is Storage Wars, a reality show where a group of people meet in front of storage units whose tenants have stopped paying the rent, and start bidding to win what’s inside without even seeing it. Are you familiar with that? Do you agree with me that storage has become a symbol of American culture?

I like that show a lot too. What fascinates me is how the people immediately calculate the value of their purchases, as if inventorying translates into immediate cash. It is really wishful, deluded thinking. As for becoming a symbol of American culture, I’m not so sure I see that, but I do think it is indicative of a precarious economic situation that the US and much of the world is experiencing these days.

Am I right in saying that the objects that people normally put in storage units play a major role in your artistic production?

Much of my work has been developed from and built out of discarded objects. Many of the props I use were things I collected. I cannot and do not try to assume what these things meant for others and try to figure out what they mean for me. Storage, however, plays a large role in my life; what to do with all the boxes of crap with the details for my immersive installations.

How did performance help you, through stand-up comedy, to question TV in the first place?

TV helped me to question performance art more than performance art helped me to question TV. I do not question TV. I accept that it exists, even though I may not like the majority of the content I see broadcasted or cablecasted. Stand-up comedy provided an interesting and totally different model to work off, rather than the serious performance art model in vogue around the art world back in the mid-‘70s. Also, stand-up allowed me to consider and accept non-sequiturs as a way to connect widely unrelated ideas.

‘Mike’ is a fake persona you’ve been using in most of your artworks. Is he your alter ego or, as you said in a conversation with Mike Kelley, a ‘vehicle’ for you, ‘an empty shell?’

Mike is a convenient vehicle that I still use today. It seems like we are getting old together. Much of my work is self-reflexive, like much of the television and art of my generation, and what better way to underline this idea than to use a persona that goes by the same name as yourself?

Please tell me the five adjectives that best describe Mike.

Hopeful, slow, innocent, oblivious and trusting.

You emerged in New York in the late ‘70s. Other artists started to question mass media and TV in those same years. I am thinking of Richard Prince, Jack Goldstein, Barbara Kruger and especially Dara Birnbaum. How different was your research in comparison with that of the Pictures Generation?

A big difference is that I made original television programs. They borrowed, copied, re-presented and repurposed old TV. I did this too, but primarily by using the formats and structures from old, well-worn and familiar TV genres.

TV was present in your work since the beginning, even when you were performing. In Down in the Rec Room (1979), at Artists Space, you tune in some TV programs within a reconstruction of a generic American domestic setting. How did you select them?

I think it was the embarrassment quotient of those shows that originally drew me to them, but also, their pop look and feel of each.

The documentation of that performance has been mounted as a narrative video. Has video helped you to add something to the performance?

It was the first video of a performance I reworked and re-purposed and also the video that allowed me to go further and produce Secret Horror. Video in general has allowed me to experience the limits of performance.

Secret Horror (1980) is constructed as a sitcom, like many other of your following videos. Mike has a nightmare in which some ghosts force him to take a TV quiz introduced by a voice-over saying ‘We moved his entire living room down to the studio’. Is that just a nightmare or is this what happens when we watch TV, that our living room becomes a TV studio?

It is set up as a dream and in relation to the story, it most likely telegraphs the idea that TV is a kind of opiate. But when writing a piece, a dream is a convenient device to move a story forward and to connect unrelated images and ideas.

A major role in Secret Horror is played by the grid, which is a planimetric model of how American cities and homes are built, but it is also symbolic of how lives are organised into preconceived structures. Is my interpretation too conceptual?

No, I thought of this, but it was also a very literal translation of experiencing my local bank renovate and convert a beautiful, old vaulted ceiling bank building into a bland, drop-ceiling office space.

What specific TV interiors mostly influenced the interiors where Mike lives?

‘50s and ‘60s American sitcom sets.

In 1983 you worked around the idea of the shelter, with a video, Mike Builds a Shelter, and an installation, Government Approved Home Fallout Shelter and Snack Bar. To me, it looks like another experiment on interiors, an exploration of what we need at home to be happy without going outside.

Happy? I think the shelter is more about feeling secure. If security means happiness, I agree with you.

Then you did Go For it, Mike (1984), with Mark Fisher, one of your most entertaining videos. It’s the story of a ‘regular guy’ from a small town who becomes first the most popular guy in the school and later a successful entrepreneur, which is also the story of the American dream, from the Far West to the Ford. What role have cinema and TV played in shaping this dream?

It is an understatement to say that cinema and TV have played a role in shaping the American dream. When I made Go For It, Mike, President Reagan was about to run his ‘Morning in America’ campaign ads, political advertisements showing bankrupt Americana images of the western range, the rugged individualist, family religion and the flag, together promoting a message that talked about simpler times in America.

The video Mike (1987) begins in black and white with Mike looking at the camera and saying: ‘It seemed to be another regular day, but a voice kept telling me: ‘this is going to be the first day of the rest of your life’’. Who’s voice is that?

It was my voice. I would have preferred to hire a professional voice-over person, but I never got it together. I wanted a voice that gave a feeling of authority and disengagement, kind of an omnipotent voice. I later learned that in voice-over terminology it is called the voice of God.

How much do you think what we see in TV influences the way we build our identity, both in private and in public?

I do not have a clue how much or little it influences our identities. However, as for me, when I was a young child, it succeeded in giving me a feeling of inadequacy. For others I hope it has sent a more positive message.

Mike’s clothes reflect the generic taste he has for furniture and decoration. Can we talk about the interiors in Mike’s videos as a living uniform?

Generic and bland, mixed with the homey and some splashes of colour, is what I hope to bring to the Mike mise-en-scène.

Do you think art should be entertaining?

It depends what you think entertaining means. I think art engages its audience on various levels. If it also means entertaining an audience, then sure: why not entertain? To say that a mandatory goal of art is to entertain… I do not think I agree with that.

In a conversation with Dan Graham for Artforum in 2004, you talk about Eric Bogosian and Laurie Anderson as ‘two artists who successfully made the transition’ from art to mass media. Have you ever been interested in doing the same?

Yes, I was very interested in trying to cross over at a particular time during my career. I figured if I am doing comedy, why not see how it worked in front of a more general audience. In the mid ‘80s to the early ‘90s I co-produced two variety shows, Mike’s Talent Show and Mike’s Big TV Show, at very mainstream NY nightclubs. I had a manager, an agent and my own cable special on Cinemax. In 1991-1992, I developed in workshops a children’s show called Mike’s Kiddie Show. It went nowhere. I realised I was not interested in producing TV for children, but was more interested in doing juvenile shows for adults. From 1992 to 1996, I did puppet shows with Doug Skinner called Doug and Mike’s Adult Entertainment. I thought it was the funniest material I’ve done over the years and thought for sure we would be able to find a larger audience but potty humour stopped us from moving more into the mainstream. South Park and Beavis and Butthead came around a little later and successfully explored and developed that niche. By the way, the video Mike was produced for Saturday Night Live.

Among the people you’ve collaborated with, a special place is occupied by Joshua White, known for his legendary Joshua Light Show, an environmental light show that used to accompany live psychedelic concerts in the late ‘60s and is still touring the world. When did your collaboration begin and how does he contribute to your work?

Our collaboration began in 1992 when he directed the Doug and Mike puppet shows. We first met a few years earlier, when he saw one of my variety shows in a club and offered his services on future projects. Later I got the idea for Mus-co (1997), after hearing his stories and experience as a famous light show artist. For many of our collaborations Joshua designed the installations, but he was also very involved with developing the concepts, directing all the videos and capturing a look and feel that was totally convincing, not to mention very successful. Our last project was Mike’s World in 2007.

A Voyage of Growth and Discovery (2009) is a video/installation/performance project that you and Mike Kelley presented at the Sculpture Center, New York. It features videos of you, dressed as a baby, wandering through the desert at the Burning Man Festival. What did you guys find there?

We were looking for a very colourful and active backdrop for the baby, a character who for the most part does very little. The baby basically wandered through the festival looking for distraction and/or something to put in his mouth.

Did you think about the way you presented that work in sculptural terms?

Mike [Kelley] was responsible for designing the installation. I was more responsible for producing the videotape at the festival. Mike did not go and that was probably a good thing. He was not the best traveller. For the installation, we used video on multiple screens to recreate the atmosphere and intensity of the original festival. We wanted it to be immersive for the viewer.

People use to refer to your work as parody. However, most of it doesn’t necessarily look critical. Isn’t it more as if you’re trying to understand how that mechanism of media entertainment works?

I use parody and also satire. At times I hope to reveal the mechanism of media but it depends on the project. All in all, I hope my work operates on various levels and the viewer is able to engage in one way or another.

I think your work is more relevant than ever today, in the age of digital media and the Internet. Indeed, your research was never just about TV, but about the way we use fictional narratives to create our identity, which is something people are still doing online, now that they have the means to create their own entertainment.

Thank you.