I don’t know when I first heard about ARTCRANK, but I expect it was some combination of friends in the Minnesota artist/bike communities and Twitter (those “people you should follow” suggestions may actually work). I have spent the last couple of years following the Flickr feed and ogling all of the cool posters from other cities. At one point a couple of years ago, I even emailed show creator Charles to see if there was anything I could do, to get a show in Austin. So a couple of months ago, when show producer Kate emailed me to talk about her upcoming scouting mission for Austin’s first Artcrank, I was beyond excited. Charles and Kate were gracious enough to answer a couple of questions leading up to Friday’s show, about their experiences with the bikes and posters.
Set aside Friday evening to come out to Pine Street Station starting at 6pm.
Where did ARTCRANK come from, how did this all get started?
Charles: I started the show in 2007 in Minneapolis, at least in part as an antidote to my day job. I was working at an advertising agency, and almost all of the guys I rode bikes with were designers at my company or somewhere else in town. When we weren’t riding, we bitched about our jobs. I wanted to create an event that combined two of the things I really loved: bikes and design. Hence, ARTCRANK. I’d never done an art show before and had no idea how to put one together, which I guess has been kind of an asset. I figured we’d do one show, throw a good party and that’d be it. No one’s more surprised than me to see the idea take off in the way that it has.
What are your official roles with ARTCRANK?
Charles: Officially, I’m the Creative Director and Curator for all of our live shows. I’ve been trying with varying degrees of success to focus more on working with artists, developing new markets like Austin, and working with our sponsors. But as Kate will tell you, it’s kind of hard to keep me from getting involved in, well, everything.
Kate: I produce the shows, meaning I source and then take many pieces of chaos and make it into orderly, pretty chaos for the public to enjoy in all of our US cities.
How has the process for putting on these shows changed since you first started?
Not too much, honestly. I mean, we’ve gotten smarter about how to put on a successful event. We’ve learned a lot from doing the show in different parts of the country, and we try as much as possible to learn from — and not repeat — our mistakes. But the basic structure and process is pretty much the same as what we started with: Put together a talented group of local artists, have them make posters about what bikes mean to them, and throw a great party where people can come in to look at them and take them home.
Over the last five years, you have done so many shows. Do you have a favorite poster from all of these years?
The Goddess by Jennifer Parks, from Portland 2011
I fall in love with posters at least ten times at every show. But I think the first poster that made me realize how cool the idea of ARTCRANK could be is probably Adam Turman’s poster from our first-ever show in 2007.
This is Austin’s first ARTCRANK. What was finally the tipping point that allowed this event to go forward? For all those other cities that are interesting in hosting an event what do they need to do to get the ball rolling.
I think we’ve always seen Austin as a place we needed to go. It’s certainly not for lack of interest or effort that it’s taken us this long to get here. But the truth of the matter is that we’re a very small, very lean organization. Putting on a show represents a huge commitment of time and money for us, and we’ve kind of hit the ceiling in terms of the number of shows we can support. We’re going to do nine shows this year, and for the time being, that’s all we can handle.
Are there any dream locations you would like to have an ARTCRANK?
Dozens. The places that come immediately to mind are Amsterdam, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Paris, Moscow, Prague, Auckland, Sydney, Johannesburg…
Anywhere warm
Many people who have heard of ARTCRANK must think your job is the best job in the world, what are the less sexy parts of the job?
First of all, it is a dream job. I get to travel around the country, occasionally overseas, and hang out with people who love bikes and art. That doesn’t suck. I love what I do. But the people who say “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” are high. If you hang out with us when we’re on the road, you’ll see right away that it’s no vacation. We work our asses off to make it look easy.
The worst part is turning artists away. It’s a great problem, but a very hard one. After that, the state we are in at the end of the shows! Smelly, spent, hungry. It’s a miracle people want us to come back! This show is seriously hard work.
Are volunteers needed for the event?
We won’t ever turn help away! If you are interested in helping out, shoot Kate an email or tweet her @cleverkate
Are there any artists you would like to work with for a show?
You know, one of the best parts of doing this is being introduced to artists that I otherwise never would’ve heard of. That said, I think we could have a lot of fun with Shepard Fairey.
Word Association for each city that has hosted a show. (One word per city)
Minneapolis Magical - Original
Austin Welcoming - Jitters
Bend Snowy - Beer
Denver Guttural - Becoming
Des Moines Majestic - Upstart
Vegas (Interbike) Hard – Loud
London Breathtaking – Dream
Portland Perfect – Family
San Francisco BIG – Welcome
St. Louis Charles – Home
What is your first bike related memory?
Riding my red tricycle in my parents’ driveway in Minneapolis
Learning to ride on a tiny red bike with a silver-flake seat, solid rubber tires and no brakes. Then, building a jump for it.
Many thanks to Charles and Kate for taking time to sit down and answer a few question. There will be selling ARTCRANK glasses at the show for $5.00 each, and the beer (donated by Widmer Brothers Brewing) will be free to everyone with a glass. All proceeds from the glassware will go to LIVESTRONG. A majority of poster sales go to support the local artist that made the poster, so come out and support local artist and LIVESTRONG. If you miss the event on Friday night, fear not, posters will be on display at Mellow Johnny’s for about a month, but I would suggest coming to the party on Friday night.
0 Comments on “ARTCRANK”
Leave a Comment