WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
Cory Arcangel
on borrowing
musician’s
strategies, humor
and
his Arcangel
Surfware line.
Photography by
David Brandon Geeting
In conversation with
Hans Ulrich Obrist
26
27
WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
SUMMER 2014
C O RY A R C A N G E L
This is my second conversation with Cory Arcangel (the first was at
the Wired conference where Cory was presenting as a game inventor).
This time around, the occasion for our talk was the launch of his new
brand, Arcangel Surfware, which will sell everything from zines to
iPad cases. It’s a project inscribed in a long history of artists inventing
new market strategies and pioneering their own brands, DIY and otherwise. It’s a dynamic history that continues to evolve, particularly in
the generation of artists that grew up with, and around, the Internet
(Simon Castets and I co-founded 89plus as a platform for this same
set). As Arcangel’s Surfware brand continues to evolve, the terms of
democratic art dissemination and alternative marketing will certainly
blend in interesting ways.
Hans Ulrich Obrist: This conversation is not
going to be about a normal art show.
relationships to branding. Sarah Lucas and
Tracey Emin did a legendary DIY in London
in the 90s, for instance. How you explore
these different circuits of dissemination? Do
you see your project as being connected
to this kind of tradition of artist shop and
the unlimited object?
Cory Arcangel: Right. I’m launching a new line
of merchandise that’s called Arcangel Surfware.
It’s not exactly happening at a normal art location, either. It’s unfolding over the course of one
day — May 17th — in a Holiday Inn conference room
in Chinatown.
CA: Artist’s shops are absolutely an influence. When
I first moved to New York, Keith Haring’s shop — the
Pop Shop — was still around. Though in a lot of ways
I am appropriating musician’s strategies more than
anything else. The company that I’m working with on
the project is called Bravado; they’re the merchandise arm of Universal Music. They do merchandise
for, like, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. They also
help musicians start their own lifestyle brands. Lil
Wayne, for instance, does his own line of skater
wear with them. I wanted to do a line centered on
my own interest: surfing the Internet. I’m the first
artist that they are working with. It is an experiment
on both ends.
HUO: Can you describe the line?
CA: It’s all different things: magazines, records,
t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, iPhone covers, iPad
covers, magazines, bed linens and a vinyl record of
new piano compositions that I wrote. It’s designed
for people who surf their computers in bed all day,
like me.
HUO: Gilbert and George often refer to
this idea of art for all. Your merchandising
idea strikes me as similar; it creates platforms and support structures that make
your work accessible and easier to disseminate. It’s a different kind of market from
the rarefied limited edition art object. Do
you envisage your project this way?
HUO: That musical influence makes sense;
you studied at the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music.
CA: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve always borrowed strategies from musicians, including how I present myself
online. Rather than have a straight portfolio on a
website, I have running news and social network
links, as might a band.
CA: Well, my first substantial experiences as an
artist — in the late 90s and early 00s — were just pulling things from online. True blue net.art was my first
medium. This idea, that anybody could see the work,
formed my identity as an artist.
HUO: Simon Castets and I are doing this
research for 89plus, a long-term, international, multi-platform research project that
HUO: There’s a long tradition artists
doing shops, and creating interesting
28
29
WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
SUMMER 2014
C O RY A R C A N G E L
maps the generation of artists born in ‘89
and after. These are the children of the
Internet; their realities are not fixed and
singular but parallel and expansive. In my
generation, one had to be an original artist
or a curator or musician, etc. Now these
roles coexist. That is something that you’ve
pioneered quite early, in the late 90s. In
‘98 you were part of a programming collective and an original artist.
an inventory of your code? Are they visual
rearrangements, or are they artist books?
CA: The first section of each fanzine — which is titled
The Source — is just the computer source code for
one of my works, completely straight. In the back
of each are footnotes, which are my own words or
images. The product ends up being a combination
between an artist book and a computer manual. I
think in the end there’ll be about thirty of them.
And eventually I’ll put them all together and make
one big book of it all. And I’m doing it all in-house
in this 1970s computer typesetting language called
TeX, which is a command line computer typesetting
language. It’s mainly used for military or research
papers.
CA: I came to art backwards, you know? I have a
certain set of interests that have been relatively
stable since I was a teenager, like music, composition,
humor, whatever. And when I kind of was coming
of age as a creative person in the world in my mid20s, I had to kind of take stock of all those things.
HUO: And you have also mentioned the
idea of doing sitcoms. How do you get on
with that?
HUO: Are you interested in exploring
another kind of economy outside of art?
How, if at all, is that interest informed by
your past work?
CA: I’m looking to do webisodes more than sitcoms.
I started one called Solitaire Weekly; it’s a weekly
web show where I just screen-captured somebody
playing computer solitaire. And I did that for fiftytwo consecutive weeks, starting in 2012 and ending
in 2013. The work doesn’t really have a center, which
is what I like about it. I like to get to a point where
every work that I do is completely far apart from the
previous work — in terms of its medium, its distribution strategy, the history it references. I just want
to kind of blow it all apart.
CA: Yes. About ten years ago I had a web store
on my website that I ran myself. I’d go to the post
office once a week, sell records and silkscreens.
I’ve always wanted to reengage with that fan base,
outside of the art economy. You know, I’ve spent
fifteen years making quite a bit of digital work; it’s
kind of crushing me in a weird way. I feel like maybe
I can’t go on making that kind of work. What I need
to do is I need to properly archive that work and
spread it around the globe so I can move on to
something else.
HUO: Are you developing your new
brand with this project or is it a parody
on branding?
HUO: Will there be a catalog of these
objects then? Or is it all online?
CA: It’ll be online too. The website will launch on
the same day as the shop, and it will be a catalog
and you’ll be able to buy them all, or any one you
want. Bravado, the company behind all this, will
ship them out. It’s not an accident — I always want
my work to be accessible. I always think of “Good
Vibrations” by the Beach Boys; Brian Wilson is a
really good example of somebody who was able
to slip insanely radical ideas into pop songs. “Good
Vibrations” has, towards the end, a couple seconds
of just total silence in the middle of the song, which
is just crazy. The silence in “Good Vibrations” represents the same kind of idea. It is possible, but
very tricky. He is one of America’s greatest living
composers, and an inspiration here.
CA: Arcangel Surfware a big experiment. Part of the
goal is to really create a brand, the same way that
Lil Wayne would. I used to read these interviews
with hip hop guys talking about starting their clothing companies; it seemed so abstract to me. Now
that I’m two and a half years into the process, I’ve
learned a lot and it’s informing all the way that I see
everything. So, it’s quite serious. It’s not a parody
of a brand. I’m trying to do a real thing.
HUO: As part of the brand you’re going to
make fanzines that feature your programming codes. Can you describe how these
are going to operate? Are they going to be
30
31
WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
SUMMER 2014
C O RY A R C A N G E L
HUO: You mentioned earlier that comedy
also strikes you as experimental and
accessible.
I have a work where I just throw some Tic Tacs under
the front seat of a luxury automobile. I think that
might be the quietest work that I’m most proud of.
CA: I recently saw the comedian Zach Galifianakis
perform live. I’ve never seen anything that wild and
that funny. It made my head spin off. The edges of
comedy can be so absurd and yet so immediately
accessible. It is such a physical thing.
32
HUO: That’s beautiful. Is it documented?
CA: I do have a picture, under the front seat of a
Mercedes.
HUO: I’m now going to commence the part
of the interview where I ask you a series
of short questions. What is your biggest
work and what is your smallest work?
HUO: And the website is interesting also
because it’s not that you entered the art
world as a visual artist, then developed
the website to promote or show your work.
You went the other way around.
CA: My biggest work is probably my personal website, which is certainly my longest running artwork.
And my smallest work...just off the top of my head,
CA: My website is still very important to me. I’m
always changing it because I constantly changing
how I want to project myself.
33
WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
HUO: Dan Graham once said we can only
understand an artist, if you also understand,
or know what kind of music he or she is
listening to. What kind of music you are
listening to at the moment?
SUMMER 2014
C O RY A R C A N G E L
a distant relative of mine, as well as his father Allan
D’Arcangelo, who was also a really great artist.
Both have been inspirations. And yes, I do have
pseudonyms.
HUO: Could you tell me one?
CA: I’ve been spending a lot of time in Norway
recently, so I’ve been listening to this Norwegian
pop star named Truls. Also, I’m listening to Poison,
the late 80s glam rock band from LA, and Robert
Ashley because he’s been in everybody’s minds
lately, since he passed.
CA: I’m not so sure if they should be public.
HUO: Rainer Maria Rilke wrote this lovely
little book that is advice to a young poet.
What would in 2014 be your advice to a
young artist who reads our interview? An
art student, perhaps?
HUO: Yeah he’s in my book, The Brief
History of Sound. It’s all my composer
interviews, Xenakis and Stockhausen and
Robert Ashley.
CA: Probably not to read the interview.
HUO: Right. There could not be a better
conclusion.
CA: When I saw Perfect Lives in college, I couldn’t
understand how one person could dream it up. It’s
just so overwhelming.
HUO: What is your new work created today
or yesterday?
CA: Yesterday I decided that on my artist CV I
would add my skills, like my computer skills. I listed
Microsoft Word and all the different computer programs I know. I also listed what television shows
I’ve been watching lately. So I think that’s my most
recent artwork: a very quiet intervention into my
own CV.
HUO: What is a project that you haven’t
dared do?
CA: One of these days I’d love to be able to make
a great painting. I’ve tried painting many times, but
I’ve never been able to do it.
HUO: There have been a lot of discussions
about your name. Is it your given name?
There is a long tradition of Avant Garde
artists using pseudonyms. You’ve said it
comes from the Italian name D’Arcangelo.
That is also the name of a conceptual artist,
Christopher D’Arcangelo, interestingly
enough, from the 70s. Is he a relative?
An inspiration?
CA: Yes, it is my real name, and the family name does
come from D’Arcangelo. And, yeah, Christopher is
34
35
WA X I S S U E 5
I — RESPONSE
36
SUMMER 2014
C O RY A R C A N G E L
37