Artist Profile: D. Young
May 15, 2008 by Cyndi Lavin
Filed under Artist Profiles, Beading, Designing, Jewelry Business Tips, Mixed Media, Recycled Art, Wearable Art
Artist: D. Young
Business name: Obvious Front
Location: living room, Rock Island, IL
Website:
Obvious Front etsy shop
How do you describe the delightful robots that you make?
This is 21st Century Folk Art, like a cornhusk doll only made from electronics. There’s some humor in the mix, some dada, Luddite sabatoge. Kids like them.
What is your creative process like?
The creative process? Oh my wife would love to answer that one. There’s a lot of junk involved. Every old TV is robot in kit form. Right now the kitchen table is my spot, but I move around.
There’s a workbench in the basement, no ambiance, went through a period down there where I’d play the Smashing Pumpkins 33 1/3 single and crank out a robot. About 20 minutes.
That condensed design/build process gives back some quick gratification and keeps me motivated. I’ll even leave a piece 2/3 done just sitting on the table so it’s easy to say “ok, got a few minutes between stops, this is easy.”
I’ve been making these robots since the mid 80’s.
For years it was just five pieces a year for family and friends. Finally decided to see if there was a market for them and migrated into the simplest design in order to produce enough to sell at an affordable price. Keeping these robots inexpensive enough that a kid can get one is important. If they can visit a gallery and be checking everything out and actually leave with a real live piece of art, that can set them up for a lifetime of appreciating the creative process.
Accessibility is also an important issue. The old (pre-internet) Mailart network contributed to my reproducible mindset. Putting the robots together in groups of three or seven invites sharing.
What advice do you have for others who would like to make things professionally?
Finding the right way to market is a learning process. Moving from hobby to buisness has been clumsy for me. Packaging and promotion are as important as the product. Yeah, I’d like to just crank up the music, ticka-ticka out a few robots and all, but that’s not how a successful business works and I’ve got to pay attention.
Keeping the paperwork straight is a must. I’m lucky to have my smart wife helping. She’s the brains of the outfit. I’ll fix her a rum and Coke when she gets home and we’ll watch the Cub game. The only advice I have right now is to move Soriano out of the leadoff spot. He strikes out too much. Theriot would get on base more.
Doing a demo
There’s a couple other artists and designers with connections to the Quad Cities who do stuff like this. Circuit Fish designs makes these awesome little koi made from milk cartons to give out to kids who can’t afford art and to be put out as street art to invite people to look around at their community. There was also another guy who was creating miniature paintings for cheap at the farmer’s market recently.
Thank you for the information, Alex! What Circuit Fish is doing sounds like a lovely way to involve the next generation