Seven answers on 7Q (also known as the FAQs of life.)				Interviewed by Tom Mangan Jon Sarkin, artist, man transformed Online presence here. GQ profile here (reading this first will be a big help.)		AUTHORS Michael Fuchs Elizabeth Hilts Paul Riddell Gary Rivlin Jim Motavalli Barbara Shafferman Jules Siegel Keith Snyder ARTISTS/POETS/ PHILOSOPHERS Jon C. Allen Will Baker Mike Leung Jon Sarkin COOL SITE KEEPERS Mike Cash Scott O'Neal Colf Godfrey Daniels Cliff Davis, DDS Tammy Hocking Wes Modes Frank Rogan DIARISTS Ralph Becker J. D. Bruns Linda DeVault Mike Reed Moira Richardson Jessamyn West FILMMAKERS Ben Kufrin Dean Mermell JOURNALISTS Bernie Mary Cooley-Jones Lindsay Crysler Jamie Dupree M.O.A.T.M.A.I. David Moll Robert Niles John Orr Steven Ovadia Pierce Presley Mack Reed Rip Rense Curtis Ross Neal Ross John Scalzi Catherine Seipp David Sheets Dwight Silverman Matt Welch MOVIE MAVENS MaryAnn Johanson Brian Koller HUMORISTS Debbie Farmer Mike Jasper Madeleine Begun Kane Patrick Keller Bob Sassone Valerie Sprague Ken Swarmer Ian Wolff SOLDIERS Maj. Jon Anderson, USAF TEACHERS John Warner TECHIES Chris Adamson Mike Gunderloy Michael Ivey Greg Knauss Floyd Maxwell Ellen McDonough Mike Pingleton Wayne Thume John Worth TEENS Gary Baum Marty Beckerman UNDECLARED Bev Gibbs Beth Reid WEBLOGGERS Jason Kottke Jish Mukerji
ONE				You and your art have been described as out of control and yet everything you do requires some sort of control -- creation itself is a controlling act. So my question is, can you describe what is happening in your head at the intersection of chaos and control? This is a great question, as it gets to the essence of the creative act for me. The following analogy comes to my mind to describe what my head is like: Let's say you have a piece of paper which is half white and the other half black. The white side represents control, and the black, chaos. From far away, the delineation between the light and dark side seems absolutely discrete and separate. But if you examine the paper closely, with a magnifying glass, for example, the border twixt black/white isn't an even an even line the way it appeared from far away. It is, upon close exam, a jagged, uneven line. In fact, you might see "islands" of black completely surrounded by white close to the completely black field, and vice versa. Upon further magnification (under a microscope, for example), you obviously see more. Depending if you use an "analog" microscope or a "digital" microscope (I'm making these up for purposes of analogy - there probably aren't such devices), the border would either, in the case of an ANALOG microscope, appear gray, or, in the case of a DIGITAL device, look black OR white. THIS BORDER IS MY HEAD. So, I've described what my "creative head" looks like, but NOT what is happening inside my head. Using the DIGITAL (vs. analog) description of reality, at this intersection of chaos and control, I have no choice of choosing black (chaos) or white (control). It is a completely random and chance act which I come up with. They are totally at equilibrium and beyond my conscious will. The whole idea of chaos vs. control in this "field" is meaningless. So, ultimately and regrettably, is any description of the mechanics inside my head.
TWO				What were your earliest clues -- specific sights, sounds, smells, thoughts and so forth -- that the nature of your perception had somehow changed dramatically? Another GREAT question, Tom. My earliest clues weren't CLUES in he conventional sense; they were more like being dissolved in some alien solvent where EVERYTHING had been transformed in a radical paradigmatical manner, and that metamorphosis was so wholly complete, so totally cataclysmic, that I had no awareness whatsoever of the change. I'm talking about being in a semi-comatose daze from my stroke (in early August of ’89) until approximately September. Analogy: When a fish is in water, he has no awareness of being in water. I was that fish. In retrospect, Tom, I see that "fish-in-water" period as one of preparation for clues in a more conventional sense. I mean, let's say you are a detective investigating a crime. Even before you gather clues, you intuit the whole "gestalt" of the scene. I guess I was in that "pre-clue gestalt/intuition" place. Then, as I recovered my conscious awareness, just about everything clued me into just how much I'd been altered. I'll choose not to give you specific examples, because this will elevate those examples as somehow more important than others. If you are unsatisfied with this response, you can see www.aphrodigitaliac.com/sarkin for several specific instances of the change I endured. In conclusion, I see this perceptual change as integral to my art.
THREE				What part of the "old you" survived the metamorphosis? Man, you REALLY know how to ask questions! You really are getting down to my ESSENCE with your inquiries! Here, because of this question's parameters, I will only discuss what is left of my "old" self post-stroke, not what new stuff has come out of it. And, Tom, thinking about it, nothing new has resulted from my stroke, it's merely been a process of stripping away certain aspects of my old self and the "new" (really DORMANT) stuff rushing in to fill the void. ("Nature abhors a vacuum." -Anon.) But the question is not about what stuff I LOST, but what SURVIVED. Tom, to be perfectly frank, although this is probably not what you were looking for, I still have a mustache, although this is now joined by a beard. This is all I can come up with presently.
FOUR				As an artist, what do you find appealing about the Internet and what do you find unappealing about it? I don't relate to the INTERNET as an artist, but more as a PERSON. I guess for me the two are indistinguishable, so any discrimination's moot. APPEALING: Communicating with folks like you (for example, Gary Baum), doing "vanity searches," being able to use images I've scanned as e-mail attachments, communicating with contacts instantaneously, surfing the Web, sending out mass mailings. UNAPPEALING: I'm a complete techno-idiot. Need I expand? Also, spam, and having access to incredibly degrading pictures of women on the Web. Again, do I need to draw a picture? Also, people feeling they have some right to say things to me via e-mail that they would never say to my face.
FIVE				You mentioned somewhere that you dislike computer art. What's wrong with it? I find it stifles my creativity. That's not to say it's universally bad; it just is not MY cup of art.
SIX				What's the most obvious thing about you that's most often misunderstood? That I'm kidding when people think I'm serious due to my deadpan comic delivery and my sick sense of humor.
SEVEN				Think of something you believe in -- something that comes easily, and naturally. It's something most people are real uncertain about and it seems silly to you that they're so uncertain. I have an abnormally low fear of death. Statistically, that means that most people experience a greater degree of anxiety surrounding dying than I. I'm certain that my relative immunity concerning fear of my mortality stems from the fact that I endured a near-death episode with my stroke back in ’89. This experience has been a shaman-like one for me - I feel it's made me privy to insights which most folks have not. To quote the end of AMERICAN BEAUTY, "You probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but you will."
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