I was browsing on the old forum at The Crafts Report www.craftsreport.com and found an old post of mine.
My spot on WMUR-TV Channel 9's "New Hampshire Chronicles" had just appeared. I was so excited to share the news!
You can see the video clip on my home page http://www.luannudell.com/ or click here to watch it now: http://www.luannudell.com/movies/chronicle.mov
Someone on the forum, a glassblower, was getting ready for a TV interview in HER studio, and asked if I had any advice.
I shared these thoughts. I think they've held up well over time.
My post read:
Hmmmm.....well, in hindsight, I should have worn long sleeves (even though it was July & HOT.) I don't like my elbows!
This may sound so obvious, but if you do jewelry or accessories, wear your work. And keep your clothing to something flattering & artsy, but something you are completely comfortable and at ease in. (Not the time for daringly cut necklines and floppy straps!)
(Someone had suggested she have a glass of wine to relax her.)
Re: wine....hmmmm, I don't need it to bend someone's ear (ha!) but that's entirely up to you! Er...don't you work with an open flame?
It's true, mistakes will be edited out. The total interview was well over two hours long. The finished segment is less than 6 minutes!!! That's a LOT of editing. (And there are STILL a few awkward spots that make me cringe. I console myself with the idea that no one but me notices them--much.)
I've always been comfortable talking about my work, so that was no problem.
Do you have time to watch their segments on other artists, to get a feel for the questions you will be asked? Most of these will be obvious: What do you do? How do you do it? What tools do you use? How did you learn how to do it? What is your studio like?
(The biggie--WHY do you do what you do?--we'll get to in a minute.)
If they are coming to your studio, I would advise thinking through the steps you want to show, and setting them up beforehand.
I'd gone through the process of thinking stuff like that out when I wrote my book, and also when we did the photo shoot for the book. So I was all set up when the interviewer/camera guy came.
I had a little workstation set up for each production step, and items ready to go for each station. He was amazed--we were able to move quickly from step to step, with no time wasted in between. It also helped me stay calm, focused, and feeling like I was on top of things.
(The other artist creates glass flowers, and worries that she would be asked why she makes orchids. She had no answer, other than that she likes them...And why do people want to know, anyway??)
Re: The "why" questions, as in "hy do you do orchids?" Yes, that is the most important question at all. It's not to be blown off lightly.
I'd gently suggest thinking through this on your own anyway, because I'm sure they WILL ask this--if not this time, then some other time.
HINT: The "why" of your work is your ultimate artist statement. So it's worth the work of thinking it through!
It took me a long time to get to the heart of why I make the artwork I do--I think the first time I thought about it, I spent an entire day sitting, thinking & writing in my studio, really examining my emotional response. It was hard, harder than I thought to get really honest and in touch with why I do what I do.
But that effort has paid for itself over and over again. I think that comes through clearly in the video clip, that assuredness that my work has meaning and depth for ME, and that I'm able to share that connection with others.
I now listen carefully to how artists talk about their work, & I've noticed people can sound intellectual--they have a sort of academic, studious, intelligent answer for why they do what they do.
Or they can sound natural--they are just the salt of the earth and they work like little beavers because they just "like to", that's all. I think that works with some people.
But the most honest and resounding responses always come from the people who admit their emotional connection to the work they do.
I remember attending a gallery talk at an exhibit. I listened to a 2D artist talk about her digital photography based on imagery inspired by an island of ancient Greece.
It sounded very academic & dry and formal. Every one was nodding thoughtfully, but I just didn't get it. I kept asking her, "Why THIS island? Why THIS time period?" She was a little defensive at first, until I made it clear I was genuinely interested in where this all came from, and what it meant to her.
And finally she stepped forward (even her entire body language changed, becoming more dynamic and expressive) and her voice became alive as she explained that it appears on THIS island, at THIS time in history, women were important, revered, honored and respected. They could be a full participant in their society.
And she wished it could be like that today, too, she wished it could be like that everywhere in the world. She spoke with power, the power of her artistic self.
And we heard her.
Everyone in the audience reacted to that--they suddenly heard her passion about this subject, understood what it meant to her, and began to look at the work differently. These images now spoke to us of a deep yearning on the part of women, all women, to be heard, to be valued, to be "allowed".
She said afterwards she was grateful I'd "pushed", because she'd never really fully explored that emotional side to her work. She felt it wasn't "academically sound"--but that it made her feel alive and enriched and empowered as she talked about it.
It amazed even HER.
A long story to say a very single thing--try to envision one sympathetic listener who really cares about what you are doing and is truly interested and inspired by what you do.
Connect to that imaginary listener. You will be truly yourself. You will have fun.
And believe me, your words will come alive for your audience.
P.S. In hindsight, I can see on the video that I DIDN'T really answer the "why" question clearly. I am STILL struggling with it.
Or rather, I now see that answering the "why" question is a process. An ongoing process, as subject to introspection and change as our very art is.
I know now it's a little about the horses. There IS a yearning for that perfect freedom.
But it's also about the things we all carry in our hearts, the things all humans and all living things carry. It's something about our spirit selves--what forces us to rise above all the things that would pull us down in life. To fiercely cling to hope and joy no matter what is thrown at us. To believe that we matter, long, long after we are gone from here.
Because life is so precious. And you don't want to waste a MINUTE of it feeling that it's not.
