After my first encounter with photographer Chase Jarvis, the night before he began his Artist-in-Residence stint at the Ace Hotel with his “Dasein” exhibit, I was instantly taken. Not only an incredibly talented artist, Jarvis brings a breath of fresh air to what can sometimes appear to be a rather stuffy medium:` the world of fine art.
Spend even just a few minutes with Jarvis and his passions are suddenly your passions. Even over the phone, I can tell how excited Jarvis is about his latest project, the 50|50|50 a charity art benefit in collaboration with Polaroid taking place during New York Fashion Week.
Along side artists like James Franco, Nate Lowman and Alex Pardee, Jarvis has created a one-of-a-kind piece using Polaroid film which will be auctioned off to raise funds for Free Arts NYC, an incredible organization that provide art programs to children who would otherwise go without.
On a high from the success of the benefit, I catch up with Jarvis to talk his view on art, celebrity and the ways of the digital world.
TITLE: Jarvis, Chase
In one sentence, what made you get involved in this project?
50|50|50 is a great opportunity to connect — personally and thematically — with artists I admire from so many different backgrounds, genres and points of view, all in an effort to raise money for Free Arts NYC.
How do you feel about your work being shown along side artists who are better known for their celebrity in fields other than art?
Framing art shows around art pedigrees alone is shortsighted and unnecessarily pretentious. There are guys like James Franco, for example, who — sure he’s in Spider Man — but he is an interesting artist in several different media/methods in his own right. The fact that he’s popular actor doesn’t make me want to hang next to him any less… In fact, I think he’s got a solo show for his photography and video somewhere in NYC right now. So using Franco as an example, I really LIKE the inclusion into the project. Fancy people, people right in the sweet spot, and new and emerging artists in the same show; to me, that is representative of a new era of creativity, a new openness — hopefully to the benefit of us all.
TITLE: Myla, Dabs
As an artist, person and citizen of the world, what motivates you?
Personal, creative, evolution. Innovation. The democratization of creativity.
The world of ‘Fine Art’ is complex, how do you feel the digital world plays into this?
The interaction of the digital art world with the physical art world is going to ADD to the already complex world of ‘Fine Art’. It’s not going to get any clearer or any less fuzzy, only more. And who are we to draw boundaries?
TITLE: Pecis, Hilary
Good last question, what are “boundaries” to you?
At the moment the only boundaries are conceptual and technological; as we start knocking down those barriers — and we KNOW they’ll fall — what’s there not to be excited about. Except for the few, precious folks holding onto the past, this emerging digital ‘fine art’ world should and WILL be about opportunity social and creative revolution. People who fear digital art’s impact on all this should probably get inline behind the people who feared digital photography, acrylic paint, and computers.
For more information visit www.polaroid.com/en/505050.
