Peripheral ARTeries
Trystan Mackendrick
an interview with
Trystan Mackendrick Hello Trystan, welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?
I think that Art is a very general and subjective concept for most people, often based on technique and aesthetic. But for me it’s a matter of contribution, in that the artwork must give something to the viewer that did not exist before. It needs to have a function. This does not mean that the piece needs to be beautiful, or that the artist needs to be proficient in their craft, only that the piece is capable of creating an experience for someone. If the artwork can inspire, can make a person think, question their ideas, give the viewer a new way of seeing the world or incite an emotion, then by my definition, it is indeed a work of Art.
I am by no means an art historian, but it seems to me that the last sixty years or so have created more pieces of art that fit my definition than any other period thus far. The religious and iconic portraits of the past have given way to abstract and socio-political pieces, ever-expanding mediums, challenges to what constitutes the nature of art and more profoundly, the norms of our society. I have a great appreciation for the profound skill and dedication that went into the work of the Old Masters, but I have always found viewing modern art to be a far more exhilarating experience.
Trystan Mackenrick with a nearly unusable vintage Minolta, taking nonsensical snapshots of anything that caught my fancy. And honestly, I never once thought I would do anything with it. Until one day, years later, while pursuing an associates degree in architecture, I signed up for a photography course.
It was there in the darkroom, that I met Sandra Johansen, who was in charge of the lab at the time. If I know anything about making photographs, I owe it to her, as she was the most amazing printer I have ever met. In fact, I continued to audit classes after I graduated, just so I could continue working with her.
Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there particular experiences that impacted on the way you produce your artworks? By the way, I would like to ask your point about formal training... I sometimes happen to wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity...
But the philosophy of the professors, of the school in general, was beyond stifling. The focus was on traditional, conservative and my Cassandraphotography, Hanks
My pursuit of photography started many years ago 26