Interview With Jim Blashfield

Interview with Jim Blashfield

Jim Blashfield is a local artist who works primarily with video, and animation. He made a name for himself by making interesting stop-motion animation music videos for artists in the late 80’s early 90’s. His first music video was for the popular band “Talking Heads”, and another he is well known for is Michael Jackson’s “Leave Me Alone”. These works use cut outs and combine things that he says, “normally wouldn’t go together” to create something aesthetically confusing and intriguing.

In Blashfield’s more recent work, he combines his knowledge of animation, and video art with sculpture and installation. His piece “Conveyor” is a series of screens meant to simulate windows, located at the Port of Portland. Throughout the month the small screens will vary in image ranging from a log balancing calmly on a rock, to a rocky storm out at sea. The 20-day cycle is meant to give the people who are near it every day, something different to enjoy in hopes that they will not grow tired of the commissioned piece. He describes it as an “aquarium of sound” and says, “it’s not something to look at, it’s something to be around” He enjoys creating mainly for the sake of creation.

“I sort of taught myself, I took a few film classes, but for the most part taught myself.”

“…I try to make it for both my audience and myself. Definitely with public art projects, they’re made with money that goes into building projects, and you can imagine doing something kind of bland, and censoring yourself. Thinking I won’t get away with that, or that’s too esoteric, or I know not everybody is interested in the subtleties of art, so maybe I should make it more obvious. Which I think is natural, because you do want them to be glad they asked you to do it. So I want both something interesting to make and think about and something to enhance the viewer’s experience.”

In reference to the music videos, “In almost everything that I do, that people hire me to do, I’m trying to make something that suit the purpose for which I’m asked to do it, but also has an unexpected aspect so that people don’t get exactly what they’d expect, and is fascinating to me. I think that’s what’s important, when you make public art, you make it for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is so you’ll get some money so you can live, and if you just spend the whole time satisfying people it wouldn’t be very satisfying. And I don’t think the artist would be doing their job if they were merely doing what was expected. Maybe on a certain level there’s a level of commercial art that’s what you’re supposed to do, but maybe that’s not even art, maybe that’s something else. So that’s what I try to do.”

He was kind enough to show me many of his past projects and current works in progress, he discussed the element of “play” being very important.

“It’s helpful to sometimes do things for reason’s you’re not clear why…dare to be dumb …I like combining the dark and the absurd. I think that they aren’t supposed to work together, I do it again and again. Extracting the unfamiliar from the familiar.”

He is very aesthetically driven, in a sense that when he speaks of his work he doesn’t speak too much of concept like we’re used to in the educational environment, but he talks more about creating the unexpected for the viewer. “To be laughing when you should be afraid, or the other way around. Music, video, image, these are my tools, and I like to play with them, and see what you can do.”

Jim Blashfield is an easy person to speak with. We left making promises to meet up and talk again. He loaned me DVDs of his films and said if I ever needed anything to ask without hesitation. He made me feel comfortable with the idea of just putting myself out there in the world of art and music to see what comes from it. He encourages artists to make things for the sake of making them, and to be ok with that. I admire him and his work, and I hope we can speak again.

“Dare to be dumb.” I hope that I can.