Interview with Laura Kinneberg

1. When did you first consider yourself an artist?
I consider myself something between an artist and a designer. I don't know when...it's always been important for me to make things.
2. Can you describe your work in one word? (Two if you really have to)
printlike
3. What is the role of process in your work? Is it important to its content and/or meaning?
Very important. I like unpacking and dismantling processes and thinking about the bits and pieces. Language is one way I get at it, translating terms to get to pared-down meanings. For instance, a stencil is something that blocks/unblocks in screenprinting. But, you can more easily translate the idea of block/unblock to another process. Whereas a stencil seems more grounded in screenprinting. Language can loosen things up.
4. What artists influence you?
Anni Albers and how she wrote about material-as-metaphor and struggling with obstinate materials. (materials should inform the shape of the work. Obstinate materials make you a better craftsman.) I also like really pared down work, and artists who also seem to rely on language and/or literal experiences and forms, like Donald Judd, Richard Long, Sol Lewitt, Josef Albers, Piero Manzoni, Richard Serra, Eve Hesse, Mel Bochner, Callum innes, Ad Reinhardt.
5. Why did you want to be an artist in residence at Pyramid Atlantic?
So many fun pieces of equipment and the freedom to come and go. There's a lot of activity in this shared studio that is refreshing to me.
6. Have you ever worked on a collaborative piece? If so, can you describe the experience and the resulting work?
My final project in grad school was a collaborate installation event called CMYK Day (documented on my website LauraKinneberg.com). It was the largest project I've ever undertaken and involved planned and unplanned components. Basically I wanted participants to learn about cmyk printing without using standard tools but by using surrogate tools-- colored gravel stood for ink, steel hand tools for squeegees, a parking lot was the substrate. It was really interesting to put my ideas into other people's hands and then have it all open up and change and linger after we'd all gone home.
7. How do you evaluate the success of a work of art?
My most successful works are the ones with which I struggle the most. It's true for me that I learn the most from mistakes. If it's someone else's work, then I gauge success on how their intentions line up with what I see, the strength of the ideas, craft, innovation, and, frankly, if it's something that interests me.
8. Do you have any mantras you live by when working in the studio?
Measure twice, proof five times, remix that color that doesn't seem quite right, cut once, double check a couple times. Not the most inspirational stuff, but if i'm not focusing, I usually waste a lot of time and material.
9. What do you hope to achieve during your time at Pyramid Atlantic?
Finish a handful of editions and perhaps one installation, a good head start on new material, and meet some new people.