Our minds quickly begin to troubleshoot as we look at Micah Ganske‘s paintings of decaying superstructures. As a “conceptual figurative” artist, his paintings carry a lot of responsibility to communicate with a viewer. The work is cautionary – depicting our aspiration for technology in unfortunate antiquity. The work is also visionary. Ganske is a laterally thinking optimist who provides a point of entry into an important conversation about rekindling our relationship to the natural environment. I catch up with Micah to chat about some of the themes driving “Tomorrow Land”, his first solo exhibition at RH Gallery.

Jeffrey Pena: I checked out your podcast with Throat Art and appreciate the honest insight into your process. The process is even more transparent in videos that you publish with major works. The videos also reveal a commendable work ethic… Thank you for that dedication.

Micah Ganske: Thank you Jeffrey! I really believe that art needs to become as open as possible. The general public distrusts fine art because they don’t feel like the motives of artists are always trustworthy. When it comes down to it, I make art about things that I want people to be excited and interested in, and in order for them to get interested they need to understand why I do what I do. The videos were the easiest way to do that.

JP: Your “Tomorrow Land” paintings are about ‘casualties of technology’. Depicted are abandoned, toxic or decaying sites across the United States. In your Michigan Central station painting there is a small house depicted that is being used as an art installation by a collective that critiques similar issues regarding neglect of the site. I visited last Spring. Catie Newell had a beautiful installation reconstructing a part of the house with charred wood.

MG: That’s a really cool project and something really should be done with Michigan Central because it’s a beautiful and cultural landmark. I haven’t been to Detroit yet. Eventually I would like to go on a cross-country road trip where I rent a Winnebago and visit all these abandoned sites. There are also a ton of abandoned sites that I couldn’t get aerial data for that I would like to photograph. Maybe there’s a grant that I can apply for– I need to do more research.

Thanks for this video Michael, Happy New Anus to you too.

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Violinist Arianna Warsaw Fan, and cellist Meta Weiss collaborate with costume and set designer Caitlyn Ward and director Roderick Hill to create a music video of “The Handel Halvorsen Passacaglia.” Above is the video created after a successful Kickstarter campaign where the group raised over 14k dollars in funding from supporters online. (Kickstarter Project)
 

 
Arianna shares, “The classical music industry is changing. As a violinist who’s about to leave the safety of Juilliard and enter the real world, I’m slightly concerned for my well-being; there are more truly exceptional musicians competing for careers and jobs than ever before. But as a lover of classical music, I’m frightened. Our audiences and our funding are shrinking, and as other forms of entertainment evolve to become more and more accessible, classical music is falling behind. But our product–our music–is as amazing as ever. And so not only are we (Meta, Rod, Caitlin, and I) unwilling to accept the possibility that classical music audiences might continue to shrink — we feel strongly that, in this age of internet and media, our audiences should actually be growing. Despite its traditional (and often archaic) image, classical music is relevant to all of us, and we are convinced that exposure is all it really needs in order to thrive.”

If you missed it, I chatted with Arianna about the project in July. (Interview here.) In this interview Arianna speaks about the role of the performer, making classical music accessible, and engaging a new audience.