JC Jones in an Interview for AthensHasArt!
(Recommendation: click on the Chopin link and listen while you read.)
(Recommendation: click on the Chopin link and listen while you read.)
We met for tea in Athens, GA, and this
happened:
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| JC Jones. Athens, GA. 2013. |
JCJ: OK
AHA!: What 5 nouns would you use to describe yourself?
JCJ: Being, Earth,
Vibrations, Movement, Electricity
AHA!: 5 verbs that define your life up
until now
JCJ: Learn, Eat, Read, Sing, Love
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AHA!: What’s the most important thing you would do with $100M?
JCJ: I would research a new technology that would put ideas directly into people's minds.
AHA!: What kinds of ideas?
JCJ: I don't know, exactly, I'll have to hire a marketing agency
with whatever money is left.
AHA!: Things
you would want with you on a desert island --
Pick 3 of each: Books – Necessary Items – People
JCJ: One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, The Bible, Collected Works of
William Shakespeare -- Piano, Boat, Sunscreen, --
Nikola Tesla, Frédéric Chopin, and Andy Morris.
AHA!: You have been selected to be a
founder of the new utopia – why?
JCJ: Because I see
beauty in everything! No…I must have been randomly selected.
AHA!: What did you want to be when you
were little? And, what did you do to be that?
JCJ: I wanted to
be an artist. I loved to draw pictures and to take things apart and reorganize
them for new purposes. – I drew a lot and assembled contraptions.
AHA!: What can’t you do yet? (This
implies an aspiration and a plan to do something.)
JCJ: Sight read
(music).
| AHA!: What works have you produced as an artist?
JCJ: Lots of pottery, functional pottery, lots of drawings, watercolors, musical recordings, mosaics, tile installations, sculptures, poetry, short stories and the like.
|
AHA!: Which
of your works have given you the most personal satisfaction? Why?
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| Imperial Scream Machine. JC Jones. 2013. |
JCJ: Currently, my favorite work is the series I just completed of collaged decals on china
plates. I found making them very engaging. It is satisfying to develop new techniques for working
with such ancient materials.
AHA!: What people, whom you have known, have significantly influenced your art?
JCJ: : I had the chance to work very closely with Michael Lucero
while I was in graduate school at UGA. He's a very colorful man, and he really
inspired me to reach beyond what
is conventional in my medium.
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| Mother and Child. JC Jones. 2013. |
AHA!: What training and experience has
helped you most to becoming an artist?
JCJ: I took a lot
of school. That helped as far as being exposed to like-minded people and having
access to a variety of tools and materials. Learning to play instruments and
playing music in bands has also been very helpful to me because it helps to
keep my creative mind sharp and healthy.
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| Down in Dixie. JC Jones. 2013. |
JCJ: People inspire me. We are all so capable and interesting and
complex. And each one of us is completely unique in detail. Beyond that, the culture we all create
together and the ideas that are sacrosanct to our culture interest me and can
be a good place for me to start making something.
AHA!: What percentage of the ideas you
have for works come to fruition?
JCJ: Now? Nearly 100%. I guess I make most everything I think about.
With this mode that I'm working in, the collaged decals, I make most of the
images that I want to make. I was thinking about making images of tractors, but
that hasn't happened yet. I started working on figures instead. In the past,
maybe 10% because I was looking for a way to make what I liked or what felt
natural. I am more focused now.
AHA!: Describe your mood and
surroundings when the best ideas for making art come to you.
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| Last Summer's Gift. JC Jones. 2013. |
AHA!: Describe
your mood and surroundings when you are producing art.
JCJ: My studio is
mildly chaotic. There is usually a video that I have seen before playing on the
computer. Probably Murder, She Wrote or Star
Trek, I’ve seen all the Star Treks at least three
times. Sometimes I need a diversion. You know the part of your brain that’s
always talking to you? I try to give it a distraction. And also, when I’m
working, if I get frustrated, I’ll stop and go clean my house or bang on the
piano. Good things don't usually
happen when I am fighting with the work.
AHA!: Complete this sentence: As I get older, I find that I am more…..
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| Slave Ship Mutiny. JC Jones. 2013. |
AHA!: What do you like most about
yourself?
JCJ: Probably just
the fact that I’m alive. That’s what I like best about everybody I like.
AHA!: How would you like to be
remembered?
JCJ:
Electronically.
AHA!: We’re all going to die one day.
What would be your preferred form of death?
JCJ: It wouldn’t
really matter but I hope that somebody who loves me was there to see me out the
door. I guess nobody really wants to die alone.
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| An Equitable Building. JC Jones. 2013 |
JCJ: I like people
who are comfortable with themselves, and who are genuine. Interacting with some
people can be too much like watching TV. I like people who are able to think
for themselves, and I am attracted to people who are committed to developing
their talents.
AHA!: The best word to describe you is:
JCJ: Being
AHA!: Thank
you letting me feature you for the inaugural AthensHasArt! interview.
JCJ: It has been my pleasure. Thank you for
the attention! Now if you don't mind, please give me five nouns to describe yourself!
AHA!: Thinker,
Writer, Wonderer, Philosopher, Skeptic
See more pictures and
information about works by JC
Jones at http://cargocollective.com/jaseyjones.
by NEM
