Recently I’ve been living at Tenjinyama Art Residency in Sapporo, in the North of Japan, Hokkaido.
Coming from Taipei, the transition was immediate; the heat and humidity of Taipei contrasted with what can only be described as ‘wintery conditions’. It became apparent from my wanderings around Sapporo that the Winter serves as a Skiing Destination. What I didn’t expect, however, was how cold it was as late as June, with snow still showing on the peaks of Mount Asahidake.
The Residency has a good mixture of local and international artists. As well as a Korean visual artist and painter, there are two writers, an Australian Printmaker and a charismatic Mexican painter & photographer whose trade is Architecture.
Following the success of my article on Italian Street Artist Vincenzo, I wanted to follow a similar approach to understanding the artists of Tenjinyama, their work and their unique life story.
This is where Austin comes in. A writer who hails from Upstate New York, his story is a meandering one – but ultimately very enlightening. He has a wisdom which is rare to find at such a young age. His main passions are writing and break-dancing. For the latter, he has real respect for the philosophy of Hip-Hop which permeates the act – the act of expression, the fluidity of movement and the courageous ‘battles’, where groups of dancers will try to outcompete each other.
Marriage and having kids, those are recurring, archetypal beats that recur throughout history over and over again for a reason. Its part of a story, and I think, if you don’t do that, maybe your story doesn’t develop to the fullest
Austin, on the meaning of Family
After our sit down and chat, at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, we went to a break-dance competition, which I attended under the guise of an amateur photographer; completely in awe at the talent around me – all kinds of dancers, many of which had truly honed their style – and secretly wishing I could dance and jump into it. The atmosphere is highly infectious; the music is loud and in your face, the DJs sit behind their booth’s with an air of nonchalant indifference, and the swarm of people dancing is just everywhere.
At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to dance. But in honesty I was too scared to jump into the act, since I had no experience or schooling in this tradition.
I will, at some point in the future, get up a post about that event, with plenty of photography.
Anyway, back to the conversation with Austin.
This conversation was longer than Vincenzo’s, as we only covered some of the questions in person. That’s ok – just a sign we had a lot to talk about; we were able to find a deeper tonality to the questions. Luckily, he had promptly written out his answers to the questions before we met.
So for the latter questions, I’ve written it up from the answers he sent me in writing. Austin’s answers are best read in a slightly deep, drawling US accent. The depth of his voice gives the answers further richness.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
“That is a question I was reluctant to answer, because it’s sort of like I feel you should be about your relationship to God and your religion, which is that it’s something you have to protect. When you let it out there, people can fuck with it (laughter).
“I know what I like, so much. Because some things in life I truly value. I feel I have been lucky enough to be happy, in a certain way. And I’m secure enough to know what it is, that I don’t need to share it around – Hey don’t you like this too? You should – I don’t feel like trying to convert people to my thing.
It’s good enough for me, and I want to keep it for myself, and its going to be different for everybody else tooWhat or who is the greatest love of your life?
Is there a contrasting view of happiness though? Where if you’re out there spreading your happiness about, you can add value to other people?
“Sure. Absolutely. I just mean, when you’re treating happiness like an ideology you need to spread, or… that’s the thing with a lot of religions, people feel they can’t believe unless they get other people to believe too.
Luckily enough, I’ve found things which make me happy, that I don’t need other people to believe them. It’s good enough for me, and I’d rather keep it to myself
I know what I like, so much. It’s good enough for me, and I want to keep it for myself. It’s going to be different for everybody else too
Austin – on Happiness
Is some of that you’re creative practise, you’re writing for example?
“100%, yes. If I’ve written well and danced well then I will be at ease for that day.
It’s not necessarily happiness, but it will set me at ease. On an existential level. I’ve done what I need to do. But happiness is something else right?
I mean you know what it is for you right? ( I deliberate on this)
(At this point I go on a general ramble about meaning verses happiness, and which one is more important. Perhaps challenging activities are more meaningful in the long-run. I offer this as an opinion to Austin)
“Yes, in a general sense, you have to do something in life that you respect yourself for doing. And it doesn’t matter if you succeed or not. You have to give it a try. I know what I respect myself for doing. I’m gonna try my damn best. And then everything else should come after that
As an Artist, what is your definition of success? How do we objectify that? Is it how many people come to our exhibitions, how many people read our work? If we get published?
I don’t expect to attain any success at all. I go into it with no presupposition of having success. Maybe I did at one point, but it’s long gone.
It’s more like a religious thing for me. Trying to get closer to God doing art. That’s its own reward. You don’t need any validation from anyone for that. But of course I do, I want that. Part of it, is that I want to effect people
What’s your greatest fear?
Confusion. Misinterpreting what is happening and/or being misinterpreted. I honestly don’t think anyone deliberately tries to cause harm.
Even if we discuss Hitler. He believed absolutely that he was doing more good than harm. I think he is a product of profound confusion. Which everyone could be susceptible to that, unfortunately
Do you think as Artists, we are more susceptible to that?
We are. But the more dangerous position is to be certain. To not be open-minded. Being dogmatically certain about something. It’s hubristic to assume you are right about something. The more dithering and uncertain you are, the more likely you will be a peaceful person
What do you most dislike about yourself?
My tendency to turn negative or deconstructive or critical. Maybe I’ll ask is this the right path. If you’re a conscious being, you have to have a story. To make sense of what you’re doing. If things get contradictory you can be thrown in a tizzy.
If I feel frustrated as an artist, and am not achieving my goals, I’ll probably get negative & then start shitting on other people. Tearing things down. I hate that I do that. I only ever want to be constructive.
I think this goes for everyone, but when you can’t be constructive, you neurotically turn to destruction. Which is nearly always self-destruction
When you can’t be constructive, you neurotically turn to destruction
Austin on the frustrated-artist syndrome
I don’t believe in that way of thinking about it. The ideal of a perfect blank slate is not only impossible but very destructive too.
The better way to think of it is; you can never have a blank slate, but you can paint over the top of what exists. You don’t need to erase that shit. It’s always recycled shit you feed off
Have you ever been going down a negative trajectory, and you realised this isn’t healthy, and I need to change something here?
Happens all the time to be honest. I deal with it by shutting the fuck up and going away. I don’t want anything to come out of my mouth unless its not fucking nice, or at the very least constructive. There’s almost no situation where speaking can add. Silence is the best answer for everything. But I do like to talk however, it can be helpful. I’ve considered taking a vow of silence. Since all I want to do is write.
If I couldn’t talk at all, and I tried to channel that energy into my work, it could go two ways. It could be great, but it could drive me nuts.
The worst thing is just to blab and not think before you talk.
If you start saying negative things, then just shut up. Deal with your own shit first
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Closed-mindedness and humourlessness.
Humourlessness is a type of closed-mindedness, because I consider humour ‘play’. And I don’t think you can engage in any conversation where you really come to some solid objective knowledge. Its impossible to reach that.
The best you can hope for in a conversation is just to play. You’re creating something with another person. It’s fun.
Comedians are artists. They get to the truth, much more aesthetically and clearly than a logical person.
To me a comedian is like a Jedi knight of culture. Because they go right to the edge of what is acceptable. Humour has given me so much energy in writing. Its made me like writing more. I can be funny, dance around and go to the edge.
If you bait and switch, if you start off funny, you can hit people with some poignant shit. If they’ve let their guard down you know?
That’s a new strategy I’ve been using
How do you get humour into fiction writing?
I don’t know. You’d have to read my stuff. I know that it’s fun to me. Fun to write. It’s playful.
It’s all the shit you don’t normally see in fiction because it takes itself too seriously.
Get a bit go Seinfeld bullshit into your writing. Going towards the unglamorous side of life that is funny. Most people want to highlight the dignified or epiphanal moments of life. You can sprinkle that in there, but most of life is unglamorous shit.
Comedy is fearlessly saying all the shit everyone else is afraid to say”
Austin on Comedians
Fearlessness and telling the truth. Its 100% necessary for good writing. 100% necessary.
You’ve got to be personal about all your own shit
What is your greatest extravagance?
A dope pair of sneakers
What is your current state of mind?
Productive. I’ve dabbled in writing for a long time, not really willing to do what I had to in order to do it well and consistently.
But after awhile that no longer sufficed; I came to realize that writing had become so fundamental to my sense of meaning and purpose that not doing it well simply wasn’t an option. So now I’ve reached this place where I want it (I need it) so badly that I’m willing to really break myself down and recreate myself around it…
This means cultivating discipline and good habits, but it also means cultivating things like adventurousness and self-awareness. Everything necessary to creating good art
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Success
On what occasion do you lie?
A rhetorical lie (the type of lie you tell when your bull-shitting, or for a laugh) can be very powerful. If you present something as a joke, the truth behind it shines through. At its best it can assert the way things really aught to (sic) be
A rhetorical lie can be very powerful. If you present something as a joke, the truth behind it shines through. At its best it can assert the way things really aught to be
Austin on when it’s acceptable to lie
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
The busted blood vessels on my eyelids are quite unsightly. Too much writing, and crying over girls
Which living person do you most despise?
I don’t think I’ve experienced that feeling for awhile. I have in the past. But time blunts all that and you just hope those people have grown – in the ways you yourself once sorely needed
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Being capable and knowing their limitations
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Being capable and knowing their limitations
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
If i knew i’d probably stamp them out
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
See my answer to Question 1
When and where were you happiest?
See my answer to Question 1
Which talent would you most like to have?
Writing and dancing
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I had a large aquiline nose and whatever frame aids gymnasts in doing flares
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
There is no greater feeling in the world than when something I’ve written causes someone to feel something. The times I’ve made people feel
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
I don’t want to come back
Where would you most like to live?
Baltimore is sort of nice
What is your most treasured possession?
I’m sort of dependent on my phone unfortunately. But the speaker I use when dancing is also a simple but crucial source of my happiness
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
That moment of despair you sometimes encounter when succumbing to the thought that you’ve failed in life and your existence will be lost in the river of anonymity into which everyone else who has ever lived has passed. Which it will
There is no greater feeling in the world than when something I’ve written causes someone to feel something. The times I’ve made people feel
Austin on the power of writing
What is your favourite occupation?
Any sort of manual trade; pigeon-keeper, tombstone engraver
What is your most marked characteristic?
My utter lack of any distinctive features. I’m tall?
What do you most value in your friends?
Tolerance of me
Who are your favourite writers?
Camus, Zola, Celine
Who is your hero of fiction?
Don Quixote
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Simone Weil
Who are your heroes in real life?
Many people I’ve met in the course of life
What are your favorite names?
My b-boy name, MAKESHIFT
What is it that you most dislike?
People who are fragile whilst being intolerant; people who have adamant demands of the world, despite not having actually seen any of it, and despite having yet even to be acquainted with themselves
What is your greatest regret?
Unanswered
How would you like to die?
Old. Surprise me…
What is your motto?
I’d rather be crazy than stupid, but I’d much rather be stupid than an asshole
I’d rather be crazy than stupid, but I’d much rather be stupid than an asshole
Austin on how to live
Thank you Austin.
An Englishman in Hanoi 