When I listen to David Lang’s Just over and over, I am puzzled at how it works on me and why I seek it. There are chords, bars, within that song that resonate deeply within me. I have my moment of anticipation and desire, then waves of pleasure while listening. Art is filled with those moments and questions: how do I describe the smell of earth before the rain, the difference in air pressure and temperature as I move through a space, how a building’s symmetry reminds me of my mother… When millions of people pay to go to museums and galleries, waiting in lines and filling large empty spaces, viewing inanimate objects on walls, there is no obvious transactional exchange. There is no financial gain, no concrete exchange (e.g., money for food or clothing). But clearly desire is afoot and there is an expectation that art will “work”, becoming active agents that will transform us to see things differently, or more clearly, or maybe we will experience a heightened resonant frequency.
Regarding influences, I’ve been deeply impacted by key concepts within the self-reflexive art movement: leaving the visible traces of the artist’s process within the piece, engaging the viewer to ask questions about the work, and ask questions about art - concepts that reoccur throughout my work.
About
Susan Salinger has worked for more than 40 years as an artist, dancer, choreographer, and professional photographer. Her artwork, choreography, and installations have been exhibited and performed across the United States in museums, galleries, and performance art theaters such as MoMA P.S. 1, The Downtown Whitney Museum, and The Kitchen. After several years working as a photography assistant for Horst P. Horst and Sheila Metzner, she went on to open her own studio. Her photography clientele included Ferragamo, Cartier, J. Mendel, Bergdorf Goodman, and Takashimaya. Using a scanning electron microscope, Susan's ant portraits of extreme close-up imagery can be equated to both alien forms and our everyday, functional, living experiences. Susan went to Pratt Institute as a paining major, got her BA at The Juilliard School in NYC, and a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology. She is currently working on video / sculpture installations and a video/ photographic collaboration with the artist Carl George. She has received The Society of Publication Designers Award for Photography, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, a NYSCA fellowship, an Emily Harvey Foundation Residency in Venice, and The Desert House Residency in Joshua Tree.
During the pandemic, she created the29.art, as an experiment in power structures: a digital platform for self-identified women working in the arts - filmmakers, writers, poets, performance artists, gallery owners, painters, sculptors, dancers, auction house experts, and philanthropists - to present their work, proposals, ideas about the art- making process. An important component of the site is to create a network/ community of artists who support each other’s work by sharing information, studio opportunities, gallery spaces, collaborations, creating panel discussions, finding greater representation, funding, and equity in pay.