Get Out of There

I am an Artist: Scott Allen – Kansas

If I had to label him, although after you read the interview you will realize labels aren’t his thing, I would say Scott Allen is a contemporary impressionist.  Aesthetically his work falls into the graffic/painterly realm, but his demeanor and concept are very much in line with the Impressionists.  Scott is interested in showing the world what it right outside it’s front door.  No need to search for fanciness, art, awesomeness; just breath and take in each moment.

Scott Allen is fresh.  His art is too.

It sort of chose me I guess. My father is an architect. When I was young, he would bring home the old rolls of building plans. I would flip them over and make up my own stories. I never had coloring books growing up, I just had these huge, blank sheets of paper. My parents were very hands off and let me do whatever I wanted creatively. I still thank them for that approach to this day. Fast forward to now and I’m still doing it. I always have blank paper or my sketchbook with me….hoarding ideas, images etc. I have this thing in me that makes me draw and make stuff. If I don’t do it, I get real cranky and itchy.

Its everywhere. During a concert I was working at in college ?uestlove, the drummer for the Roots, said this to the crowd before he walked off stage at the end of the show. He was referencing music, but I think it applies to sources of inspiration and I wholeheartedly subscribe to it. He said “Its all out there…you just gotta go get it”.

To get down to more specifics, I draw a lot from everyday life. It comes from constantly being aware and having a keen eye for something interesting to pop up. It could be some random graffiti on the side of a building, it could be watching someone who is a master at their craft do their thing, it could be a piece of music or something like the way a man looks at his wife.

I am lucky to have a good group of friends and an even better wife. The people I surround myself with are sources of inspiration. Even though all of them are not artists, designers, musicians or DJs they all offer something that I can use.

Funny you should ask this…my day gig is as a designer. I have a BFA in Painting and now work as a Multimedia Designer. Design and art are very close cousins, but I do think they have some very distinct and important differences. I try to keep them as separate approaches.

To me art is about emotion and has a very introspective aspect to it. Its the solitary artist doing what they do, removed from opinions and influences during the process of making art.

Design is about rules, clients and feedback. As a designer you are tasked with interpreting someone’s vision through your skill set. If you design something trying to anticipate what people will like, what will be consider a success and what will sell… you are doing your job.

Take the same approach to a painting and you end up with a flat piece that is just an exercise in technique.

I try not to be “that guy” but sometimes I can be. Let me explain a bit further… I think there is a lot of stuff going on right now that gets tagged with the moniker of “Art” that really isn’t. The definition of art is elusive. That being said, I tend to take an old school, traditionalist stance on what is art. And in some ways my viewpoint is a tad contradictory. For example, a farmer who messes around with acrylics on found pieces of wood over a few beers in his basement may be unintentionally putting out incredible work. That is art.

Some hipster attempting to be clever by filling up construction tubes with mint chocolate ice cream and having it melt all over the floor during the gallery opening is not art in my mind.

I found this to be an interesting phrase that I have a suspicion may have been written to intentional ruffle some feathers. “it’s time to batten down the hatches and ignore the storm of protest because without organizations such as BP the arts might simply cease to exist.” Art is bigger than any corporation or group of individuals. People have been making art long before the 1st corporation came into existence and will continue to make art regardless of what the future landscape looks like

I think this falls on the shoulders of the artist to make his/her own decision and stick with it. This gets really touchy because it is a decision that is of a very personal nature. What you find offensive or deem as “causing harm” to society may not bother the next person in line.

What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Kansas ?

I think the role of the artist is to act as a mirror sometimes and to remind us to slow down at others. I think the artist is there to highlight things that people may either pass by or tune out. As digital and fast forward as society is becoming, hopefully the artists can be the ones to remind us to slow down, take a look and cherish those little “moments in time”.

Hopefully I continue to grow and progress both as a person and as an artist. Even as I approach 40 I am still trying to “unlearn” some of lessons that are inherently part of going through Art School. A Professor who I have a great deal of respect for hit it on the head when he said “You’ll spend the rest of your life unlearning everything you learned in school. Wow, how right he was.

I want to put out stuff that moves people. Not necessarily in that rage against the world sense….more in a sense that when my stuff on display, it causes people to stop and spend sometime with my piece. If it makes them laugh, cry or just reflect, I feel like that’s a measure of success.

When it’s good, it’s amazing and really does have power. I think 10% of all art is amazing. It’s the finding that 10% that makes this ride we are on a fun one. I think sometimes art gets bogged down in the galleries, the politics and just plain trying too hard. It gets stuck in the world of “Does this match my couch”. It gets stuck in the overly wordy artists statement about the deeper meaning of mint chocolate chip ice cream. It gets stuck in the world of “Well, where else have you shown your work”? It gets stuck in the limited time offer, call now to secure your limited edition print.

On the flip side, it has a purity and a grandness to it and will break free from all these limitations.

Art, at its core, is a beautiful element of human life that really, honestly does not have a good way to explain it. You’ll know it when you see it