Artist’s Corner: Q&A with Steven Lang

Steven Lang doesn’t shy away from art in any form. He’s done painstaking collages, drawings, paintings, and now he’s working on blurring the lines of the definition of photography. When he’s not creating visual art, you can find him working at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts or working on his novel, Pigeonhole.  

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: When did you first start making art?

Steven Lang: Well, in a manner of speaking, I guess I started when I was younger than I can remember. I was always into materials. One of the earliest stories: my dad was painting the deck in the summer and left it and left the lid off the paint. I got into it and painted myself red. It didn’t come off for a few days. I’ve always been into paint and color.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Did you grow up in the area?

Steven Lang: In West St. Paul. They could use a Patch over there probably. I moved to Minneapolis when I was 18 and stayed here since. It’s one of those things–it’s a seductively easy place to live, aside from the weather, but in terms of being an artist it’s hard to survive or impossible to survive unless you’re a commercial artist. There’s not enough people buying local art. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: How have you dealt with that challenge?

Steven Lang: I haven’t really dealt with it. I’ve acknowledged it, that’s all. Having to have a full time job while being an artist is how I’ve dealt with that. I cut back on that because I wanted to focus on [art] as much as possible. I work at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I do have an income from art, just not something I can live on. It’s really not fair to the area either. The population base compared to New York and Los Angeles–they’re so much bigger.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: What do you do at the MIA?

Steven Lang: Visitor services–so you’d see me maybe at one of the front desks or back at the membership office. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: You paint, draw, photograph, collage. What is your favorite medium?

Steven Lang: Well, it’s hard to say. It’s usually not what I’m doing at the time, which could be a sign of something, but right now oddly it is. I’m doing these scans–I have a small scanner and I’ve been putting things like food on it and it’s been pretty effective. I’ve been doing big prints now of food. It was kind of a quick progression that happened lately. Working at the gallery, I got to take a tour of the Alec Soth exhibit with Alec Soth. My initial response to his work was that it looked easy and I felt a little bit weird about saying that. And that’s exactly what he said in the tour, “You know, photography is pretty easy; any one of you in this room could do this.” I talked to him after and said that’s how I felt. The hard part of photography is editing–what are you going to print and show and how are you going to get yourself in the situation [to photograph]. Not every single image is going to turn out to be great, but as soon as I got done with that tour, I went home and started exploring stuff. I have a camera on my phone that’s actually pretty nice so I just started working with it. It wasn’t like, ‘Okay, I want to do what Alec Soth does.’ First of all, I don’t have the $10,000 camera to do it. I wanted to get a camera and auctioned off one of my paintings to buy it, but then I started doing these scans so I haven’t even had a chance to get out and use it. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: So, what about the camera?

Steven Lang: I don’t know. I wanted to do a trip to Wisconsin and do a project. I think I might bring the scanner with me now and try to do both. I think it would be bad for me to follow someone else’s model; if I am doing this type of work I should continue it. But it’s a great camera. My old camera I thought was fine and now it seems like a toy. It will be useful for other things too. One thing that Alec Soth was talking about, with his pictures, the thing that’s most interesting is not what he’s photographing or where he is, but the space between. If he goes to Columbia, the space between him and what he’s photographing is bigger; the space between becomes where the art is. I kind of wanted to think about that space and get rid of it, just eliminate it–no distance between the subject matter and the camera. That’s what affected putting the food on the scanner. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Another art form you regularly work in is collage. Can you describe your collage process?

Steven Lang: There’s some similarities in that the collages are very detailed and I’m focusing on the way light hits them. I’m using pins–sewing pins. The work kind of came from working at the MIA and specifically in the St. John’s Bible exhibit. I wasn’t really interested in it and I’m still not, but they were using all the old techniques. The way the ink sits on the vellum, the ink has this dimension. It just struck me the way they were so detailed, the minutia of it. I thought about how to bring that into my work. At first I thought about thumbtacks. I realized not only would that be incredibly difficult to do physically but also to find a space. Finally I thought about pins–it was everything I needed. I went on a more or less five year run doing these collages. I suppose I’ve done about 100, I’m not even sure. It’s kind of wound down; I just can’t physically do it anymore. It’s been too physically painful. I’m doing one more because my landlord commissioned one. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: How do you keep your sanity when you’re working with that level of detail?

Steven Lang: That part isn’t necessarily easy, but it suits me better. I can imagine what the calligraphers go through. In terms of the mentality of it, it’s in my nature to sit there and focus like that. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Who are some artists who inspire you?

Steven Lang: Meeting Alec made a big difference–the way I perceived his work and let it influence me. One of my favorite artists is Mona Hatoum. She does a lot of sculptural work and some video work and its pretty political. She’s definitely got a feminist geo-political perspective. Her work is so finely tuned. There’s a photographer named Thomas Fletchner who did a book called Snow and I just love it. It’s very, very sparse–a landscape of snow. It’s pretty abstract, although you can kind of see the landscape. He’s another person who’s working on how you can see small movement or small gestures bring together a big piece.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Outside of other artists, where do you find inspiration? 

Steven Lang: I don’t know. I don’t really think I need inspiration. I feel like I have to do it; I don’t feel a need for inspiration. It’s harder to find the time than it is to find inspiration. I could do it all day, every day without it being an issue in terms of inspiration. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: You never get creative block?

Steven Lang: No. Part of it is possibly because the pieces I create take so long. But even with these scans, they take about an hour and it’s done. I still feel I could do eight of those a day every day and see where it goes. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: You maintain a website, a blog and a Facebook page. How has social media helped you as a working artist?

Steven Lang: I work the social media stuff pretty extensively, but I enjoy it so I didn’t consider it an additional project. Andy Sturdevant suggested that I come to his show at Bryant Lake Bowl–he does a show there once a month; he invites artists, performers, writers. He said, “Considering your social media presence, you’d be a good fit for the show.” I was surprised because I didn’t consider myself as having a social media presence. I enjoy putting all that stuff out there, particularly at the museum, interacting with those people, getting a feel for what people are interested in. 

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: What’s next for Steven Lang?

Steven Lang: Well, a couple things. I’m getting those scans printed right now. I’m really excited to get them. I don’t know exactly what will happen when I do. That’s the main thing in terms of visual art. I’m going to try to get a show or shows. I’m also working on a writing project. I started writing a novel a long time ago. I submitted it for a couple grants recently, did get to the final round, and resubmitted it recently. I really don’t know where that’s going to go. I haven’t published a lot of writing. I got a short story published in a Milkweed Editions in 2009. My idea for the novel, one of the main kind of themes or part of the plot is there’s a suicide in it and the character who commits suicide continues to play a role in the novel. And while I’m working on the novel I want to work on a little chapbook and have artists who have been touched by suicide submit little biographies.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Any advice for aspiring artists?

Steven Lang: Definitely. If you are in college, which you probably are if you’re an aspiring artist, get a double major. Don’t even consider an art major without a second practical major. That’s the best advice I never got. I got a lot of training in art and it was very worthwhile and I have a college degree that’s basically useless in the market.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: So, you didn’t double major?

Steven Lang: No. It was a nightmare. But I was selling art while I was still in school–the first painting I put up sold, so I thought, ‘I’ll become a working artist.’ At the time, I was considering a math major and if I had a math major and an art major I could have gotten a job–not that I would have necessarily enjoyed it, but you’re going to work regardless. Why make 15 dollars an hour when you can make 30 dollars an hour? Some professors find themselves in the enviable position of having that sanctuary in which to work and be able to mentor people...There should have been a little bit more professional mentoring or just some realistic perspective on what’s going to happen after you graduate and they never talked about it. You don’t want to lose track of trying to be an artist, taking a job that’s 50 or 60 hours a week, but it’s good to find a balance.

Southwest Minneapolis Patch: Looking back, would you have gotten that math major? 

Steven Lang: I don’t know if it would be math, but something practical. Instead, I got out of college and worked at a parking ramp and then worked at an art services company and I was really at a loss. So yeah, I guess I would do it differently. Even if it’s graphic design or commercial art, at least you have a skill.