Just Make Art
A conversation about making art and the artist's journey with Ty Nathan Clark and Nathan Terborg, two artists trying to navigate the art world, just like you.
In each episode, the duo chooses a quote from a known artist and uses it as a springboard for discussion.
Through their conversations, Ty and Nathan explore the deeper meaning of the quote and how it can be applied to the artists studio practice. They share their own personal stories and struggles as artists, and offer practical advice and tips for overcoming obstacles and achieving artistic success.
Whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting out, "Just Make Art" provides valuable insights and inspiration to help you navigate the creative process and bring your artistic vision to life. With their engaging and conversational style, Ty and Nathan create a welcoming space for listeners to explore their own artistic passions and learn from two artists working hard to navigate the art world.
Just Make Art
Making Art from Forgotten Materials | Minnesota to Germany | Artist Nathan Terborg.
Imagine the thrill of witnessing your art travel across oceans for a debut in Europe. Join Nathan Terborg he recounts the exhilarating journey of his solo exhibition at Gallerie Benjamin Eck in Munich and the captivating artist talk with curator Domenico de Cirico. This episode promises an insider's look into the logistics of moving over 1,300 pounds of art, the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi that fuels his worldview, and the concept of Weltanschauung that shapes his artistic vision. With Domenico's engaging questions, they traverse the landscape of impermanence and decay, finding beauty in the overlooked and forgotten materials Nathan incorporates into his works.
Listeners will gain insight into his creative processes as Nathan shares how artists like Kiefer, Burri, and Bradford have profoundly influenced his work with discarded materials. This isn't just about art; it's a narrative of transformation and resilience. From a personal journey from addiction to recovery, they explore parallels between personal growth and artistic creation. This conversation is a heartfelt appreciation of the power of creativity to renew perspectives and give new life to forgotten materials, turning them into compelling stories of renewal. A special thanks goes to Benjamin Eck for this incredible opportunity, Domenico de Chirico for the thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, Chris Fay for doing the videography at the event, and everyone who supported and attended the exhibition.
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Hey there, welcome to another episode of Just Make Art. My name is Nathan Terborg and I'm your solo host for today's episode. Really just an intro, because we're going to hold on. I'm not actually solo, sorry, buddy. I am here with my creative director, leo the dog. He will likely not say much, but if he does, I will most certainly put the mic on him, all right? So today's episode, we're actually going to share an artist talk that was recorded at the opening of my solo exhibition at Gallery Benjamin Eck in Munich just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1:I've talked about this in the pod in a few previous episodes as I've been preparing and getting ready for it the last few months and, if you're curious, you can see actually a full walkthrough of the show itself. That we did on IG Live. It's still on our Just Make Art Instagram page. That we did with Ty and Benjamin. What's up, bud? Nothing. Okay, leo is going to remain silent.
Speaker 1:So the recording that I'm about to share is actually an interview with Domenico DiCirico, who is a fantastic curator from Milan, and this is actually one of two interviews that we're going to be sharing. The next one will be the following week. That's a separate sit down that I did with Benjamin the following day, but I want to share a few quick thank yous before we jump in. First of all, to Benjamin, just for the opportunity. This is my first time showing in Europe and it was incredible. It was everything that I hoped it would be, and then some.
Speaker 1:I had a lot of challenges and a lot of questions as far as how it was all going to turn out, not the least of which was shipping. What ended up being? What was it? 670 kilos, about 1,300, 1,400 pounds worth of art in a single crate across the ocean. Everything arrived safely and I especially want to thank him for allowing me to finish the feature piece, which is a triptych. In fact, it's the one that we're sitting in front of, if you're watching the video of this on uh on YouTube.
Speaker 1:I also want to thank Domenico for the thoughtful and thought provoking questions. He is tremendous at what he does. He's an absolute professional and also just a really just quality and just lovely human being. I really enjoy getting a chance to uh, to spend time with him and get to know him before and after the show. I also want to thank everybody who attended the opening. Domenico's questions really got me thinking and probably ended up sharing a little bit more than I had anticipated, but had some really cool conversations with everybody who was there, both before and after the talk. It was just a really, really, really fun event after the talk and was just a really, really, really fun event. So, lastly, I just want to thank Chris Fay, who did both the video and audio for this interview. We'll share the socials for all of the above if you want to go check out their work and give them a follow as well. With that, here's the interview.
Speaker 2:Hello guys, welcome to the opening show of Nathan Turburg Laugh for Patterns. So today my words are kind of small and short because we have prepared something special for you and support from someone I respect and share quite a few since years is Domenico Littierico. He's here for a talk with Nathan Turberg. I want to give the word to these guys because it's much more interesting to have the deep insights of the artists and of the professionals that is doing this job for years.
Speaker 2:Give it a big hand for these guys and the next 20 minutes are yours.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thanks, benjamin, for inviting us and for having us here with you, and professional respect is mutual, so we have mutually decided to give this contribution by making this. I prepared this questionnaire for Nathan just to give to us the possibility to discover his practice in this alternative way, which is basically this conversation between the two of us. So just thinking that we were basically making this exhibition in Germany, I went back to some of my interests, and one of them is philosophy, and I wanted to ask this question, which is the first one to Nathan, and it's the German word Weltanschauung is slowly translated into worldview, but its meaning is deeper and more nuanced.
Speaker 3:It refers to a particular philosophy or set of beliefs that shapes how a person or a group understands and interprets the world, including values, culture, aesthetics and how one perceives existence. The world itself is a compound of veld worlds and anschauung view, perception or outlook. Welt world and Anschauung view, perception or outlook. So it literally means worldview or world perception. It often combines the idea of a comprehensive, overarching perspective or ideology that influences someone's thoughts and actions. In light of all of this, what's your belt and shawl, nathan, and is there any close connection with your artistic practice?
Speaker 1:I think that my practice is connected to my worldview.
Speaker 1:The way that I see the world specifically is I believe that there is beauty in everything is.
Speaker 1:I believe that there is beauty in everything, that every material and, by extension, experience, even and sometimes especially the most challenging ones and difficult ones, have the most potential for growth. Forgotten ones, yes, and so that speaks to the materiality of when I am in the world, walking around. I find most of the beauty in things that are falling apart, that are degrading. One of the aesthetic philosophies that I really appreciate I'm by no means a scholar on it, but it's that of the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which really speaks to the beauty of impermanence, finding beauty in the small, delicate things that would otherwise go unnoticed, and so a big part of what I'm trying to do with my work, everything here is made from found material, so things that I have found while walking around with my dog, things that I find sometimes in the dumpster, things that I have developed relationships with different manufacturers or people in industry that produce a lot of the same type of waste, and my goal is to hopefully shine a light and highlight the beauty that I see in all things.
Speaker 3:The second one is it is clear that, in terms of artistic references, there are three cornerstones that resonate in your artistic practice Alberto Burri, anselm Kiefer and Mark Bradford and that's funny because actually I'm Italian as Alberto Burri, anselm Kiefer is German, as the gallery owner, benjamin, and Mark Bradford is from USA, as you are, so this is not made on purpose, and so the question is what have you absorbed from each one of them?
Speaker 1:Let me start with Burry, because I think that he described himself as a polymaterialist, that he described himself as a polymaterialist and when I first heard that, when I first read that it makes complete sense when you study his work, when you look at his practice. There's not a lot of video available of him making work, but there's some, and I think I've found most of it so far. But it was for him just what I believe is a kinship in terms of just an insatiable curiosity of what can be done with material, how material can be transformed from the ordinary, from the mundane, from things that would otherwise be ignored, dismissed or discarded, and trying to boil it down to its essential nature. And trying to boil it down to its essential nature. For Kiefer, I think that Be careful.
Speaker 1:I know, you know I'm not nervous at all, except for when I talk about. So, when you were introduced to the conversation, when I was talking to Benjamin, it's very special for me to be able to be here, to be showing work, you know, in Kiefer's home country, to have you be involved as a curator, as a countryman of Burry, I think that for Kiefer I just it's hard, for it's much more difficult for me to put into words. I think that for him what I love and appreciate is that nothing is off limits. And if you, when you look at the broad spectrum of, of his body of work, there's such, you know, such diversity, such from, you know from, I mean from the dresses to the lead airplane, to you know, obviously, his, his, you know, work on wall. It's in the scale, I would say is something that I aspire to. You know, when you watch, you know, the documentary, the videos, you see just the grand scale of his space. I aspire to one day have a studio that requires a bike to get from one point to another. We'll see if I can get there at some point.
Speaker 1:But for Bradford, for my countrymen, I would say that I was at the Broad in Los Angeles last year and I got a chance to see a couple of his large-scale pieces, and Helter Skelter is probably my favorite piece of his.
Speaker 1:It's part of the permanent collection there, but what I love about standing in front of a Bradford piece is that even something that's of a magnificent scale the size of this wall or bigger, it is perfect from far away and it's perfect from up close.
Speaker 1:There is something in every square inch that if you were to crop it and set it aside on its own, it tells its own part of the story.
Speaker 1:From a practical standpoint, what I really have applied in my own work is the process of reducing, of building up layers and reducing them down. There's something magical that happens when different materials are put together, when they get to know each other, and then when they're removed, and so this piece in particular, this section specifically, was a product of building up layers and then reducing them tearing it away, cutting, carving, burning. I want to thank Benjamin for giving me the space and the grace to do all this here. This looked very different when it arrived and I told him that I had just a couple of little changes to do, and since then I've spent probably 50 hours here, right here, finishing this and removing and exposing the layers that I had built up in my home studio and would you say that eventually, what you got from Burri, for example, is the use, also metaphorically speaking, of the fire, then from Burri perhaps it could be the color palettes, and from Bradford?
Speaker 1:metaphorically speaking, also the idea of the scars. I think one thing that Bradford and Burry have in common specifically is that that I've applied in my work is that most of the color that they used was inherent in the material or a product of the process. And that's true, for I don't. I use some white paint a little bit, but everything else, all of the color and the tones, are a product of the material and the process. And that to me, like if my aim is to get to the essential nature of what something could become, that to me is which is unexpected, yes.
Speaker 3:So next question is according to your artist statements, you have declared that you like mixing and combining different materials in a way that still looks and feels like they were meant to be together. What is your definition of together, or, in other words, ensemble?
Speaker 1:I think that my definition would be for material to appear more organic than it really is, more organic than it really is. When you walk in the natural world, when we're out in nature, everything looks like it belongs together because it grew together, because it came together on its own without any Harmoniously. Yes, there it is, yes, that. And so when it comes to the work, I think that there's something about combining different materials that otherwise never would have interacted with one another. I cannot imagine a situation in life where coffee filters and feed bags and billboard tarps would ever have a reason to get together and billboard tarps would ever have a reason to get together. So in trying different combinations of different materials, I learn which ones get along and which ones don't, and they both produce different and sometimes interesting results. So a long answer to a short question would be I want for the, the work, the finished work, to look like it grew together in nature.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Moreover, you are clearly defined as an abstract artist who works with discarded materials to breathe new life into wood, metal and industrial waste. Ultimately, capturing the beauty is in unexpected layers and reminding us of the uniqueness of these forgotten materials. With every piece, it seems that you have the marvellous ability to tell a story of resilience, renewal and the power of creativity to transform lives and perspectives. Where does all of this come from, and what is the core that triggers such needs and what are your perspectives?
Speaker 1:My belief is that scars have a specific type of beauty, that experiences, whether it be personal or process, produce a type of patina, a type of beauty, a type of interest that wouldn't exist any other way. I think that really all of my work is fundamentally about transformation. Without going too deep into my story, I will share that.
Speaker 1:A big part of my life and my worldview comes from being a recovering addict and having almost lost my life to drugs and having now been in recovery and sober for over 20 years and being very involved in that process with other people think that, for me, finding the beauty in the ugliest experiences and the power that those have to not just get us to where we were, but better. My favorite people are the ones who have been through some shit, people that have, you know. I don't know anyone's story here, really, but I know that everyone here has been, has had pain, has had loss, has had trauma, has had experiences that we never would choose to go through. But because we went through them, because we came out the other side, we're better for it, and so that's my personal view, my personal experience and what I try to communicate through my work experience and what I try to communicate through my work.
Speaker 3:Getting back to the perspectives, do you believe?
Speaker 1:that your personal ones intersect with your professionals. Well, I should begin by answering that with saying that I don't feel like a professional, in that I don't have any real interest in mastery, and what I mean by that is, I think that if I have any gift, it's that of curiosity and just an insatiable hunger for experience and knowledge. And just what could that be? What could we make? So I'm always, you know, we walked back from the hotel and I was like look at this plywood. No, look at it as though we were in a museum, right, and that, to me, is really informed. You know my perspective.
Speaker 1:So I approach everything that I do, whether it's personally or professionally, I try to approach it with a beginner's mind of how would I think about this, how would I look about this if I didn't know anything? Because from that place, everything's possible. When I approach things, when we approach things as a professional, I know what I'm doing. Things narrow real quickly, you know. The list of possibilities gets much, much shorter, and so, for me, the way I approach my work is the same way that I approach my life.
Speaker 3:Okay, in one of our conversations, the importance of music in your life came up. How does this need for musicality manifest in your artwork? Is it perhaps related to time? And finally, is time in your artistic practice more rhythmic or fluid?
Speaker 1:I mean the goal, I think for I'm sure I know there's some artists here the goal is to always find a place of flow, to find a place of fluidity where everything is a consequence of what came before it.
Speaker 1:One thing that I find myself saying to myself, which I talk to myself a lot in the studio, is everything leads to the next thing, meaning that there are no mistakes.
Speaker 1:My work I learned recently, realized recently is really a product of me anguish and pain that I experienced if I didn't get the hand just right or if I didn't get the ear just perfect, and so my process and the way I want to approach things is that everything is a natural consequence of what came before. So even when and it happens often in the studio something doesn't go right, it could be something else. Everything that I've figured out and learned is a product of something going wrong or differently than I thought it would, and so I think a lot about, from a rhythm standpoint. Not so much can I control what happens in the studio, I'm just seeking out how can I create the right conditions that will lead to something else. Even if it's not this thing and often it isn't right I think a lot about everything that I do is not for the piece that's in front of me, it's for the practice holistically, and what it will lead to in the future.
Speaker 3:Okay, and did you ever think about? It's like there's a difference, no, between living and existing? Did you ever think?
Speaker 1:about it. Yeah, Now you got me really thinking how deep do you want to go? I mean, that's a heavy question. I think about you know, we all have a certain amount of time. You know, and I think a lot about you know, when I'm working. What if this was the last thing I ever got a chance to make? Yes, and not in a morose or morbid way, but in a sort of you know, lamenta mori, you know, stoic, remember your death, and it's coming for all of us at some point. So I think a lot about the idea of not saving anything. There was a time when I would like save my good ideas for the best time and I just stopped doing that because I don't we don't know when the best time, you know, is going to be. So I really try to pour everything that I have into everything that I'm doing, and I have found that that has been the best way to accelerate my progression. The thing I'm most excited about is what's next? Always yes, yeah, While still trying to be where my feet are planted.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, and last question is, at least from my side, is finally. So, based on what criteria did you build this exhibition?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I kind of already spoke to that. I think, really transformation. Really, I wanted to try and tell the story of all of the materials that I've used and I think that certainly my favorite materials are represented. You know, in some of these works I can connect the dots between different pieces. There's a lot of different things that appear, sometimes very small, sometimes more obvious in different things. But to the title of the show, it really has been both a love letter to layers but also my attempt to tell the story. I want to give material a voice. I want to give something that's been discarded, that's been set aside, that would be ignored, that would be trash, and I want to try and give material a voice. I want to give something that's been discarded, that's been set aside, that would be ignored, that would be trash, and I want to try and give it a voice. I want to try to say, hey, look at this, this too has beauty, and so I think that's what I try to do. Yes, thank you, nathan. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
