CAITLIN & MISHA
Caitlin & Misha create artworks that play with culturally relevant, yet sometimes utopic examples of sharing communities, livable ecologies, and the transmutation of waste. They employ drawing, design, and sculptural techniques within a contemporary framework of interactive media and participatory installation. Learn more here >
What kind of process went into organizing βEcology of Worriesβ? What were some of your biggest considerations with this project?
Ecology of Worries has evolved out of a series of projects which began when we started collecting worries following the 2016 election. There were a lot of considerations about how to make the critters appear simultaneously comfortable and awkward and what kind of voice to give them, about how to employ machine learning, and how to be considerate and respectful of people's very real worries.
How did your relationship with art and artistic expression begin?
Itβs hard to pinpoint an exact moment, but cultural institutions, museums, public art entities, artist communities/friends have always played a key role in exposing us to new work and inspirations.
How did you arrive at the Brookline Arts Center? What sparks your interest in our organization?
Weβve lived in the Boston area since 2016, saw one of the BACβs open calls and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to work with and customize our work for a community minded organization! We were excited to do a workshop and collect worries to make a new critter generated using childrenβs worries.
What are three things that you would want the BAC community to know about you?
We find inspiration in naturally occurring systems such as rhizomatic networks of mycelium, the microbiome ecology, and emergent pink noise. Weβre interested in collecting and filtering data as a means of storytelling. We hope to create opportunities for shared experiences, such as sweating, meditating, humming, jumping, and worrying together.
If you had to sum up a message/lesson behind your recent work in one sentence, what would it be?
We hope that our work poses opportunities for reflection (as opposed to a single message/lesson). What could this ecology of worries reveal about us and our individual and shared anxieties?
What is βARTβ to you?
A meaningful way to explore, respond to, and inform culture.
What has been the most challenging part of your journey as an artist? And what has been the most rewarding?
There are often challenges in making experimental ideas accessible, but the creative problem solving and opportunities to work with and get feedback from others is one of the most rewarding aspects. So those go hand in hand. In this culture there are also many financial challenges for artists.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring artist?
Trust yourself! And find communities that give you both constructive criticism and support:)
When youβre not at the BAC, where can people find you?
Teaching and UMass Lowell, adventuring with our daughter, going to exhibitions and happenings.
