The Bruce end table by Jacob Anderson, which he traded Tinsley for one of her Hug paintings.
[cont.] TT: Can you talk more about your trade with Kiki? JA: That’s an interesting one because I haven’t even picked the piece yet. I know what I want, but I haven’t talked to her about it. I want that piece with the light behind it. So if it’s not sold and she’s okay with me making her something else rather large, that is the one I want. I always have an idea in my mind of what is a fair trade. I’m pretty good about knowing what things are worth and not undercutting someone. I don’t think I’ve ever done it and I don’t think I ever will. So with that one, since I’m doing very little work to the slab that I’m trading, I assume I would make her a table as well if she needs it. TT: So it will be at her discretion? JA: Yeah, and it makes things easier when something is already priced. But a lot of the time, people want to make something new. If I’m making them something, they want to make something in return, so there’s no price on that. It’s just like, let’s agree on what feels good and equally awesome for both of us. If someone thinks really hard on a piece, I want to put my heart into their piece of furniture too. It’s a fun exchange. The other thing is that you have to ask people is, are you okay with doing a trade for this thing? Sometimes people want cash for certain items. Especially if they’ve put money into it. An untitled work on paper by Addison Adams. (Photo: Charles Schwab) TT: Has there ever been an exchange where it wasn’t enjoyable? JA: No, not yet. TT: How many pieces have you traded for? JA: Probably 30. TT: Do you show them all at one time at your home? JA: No, I have a few pieces I want to put into our Utility Services studio in Midtown once it opens. That is going to be a really heavily curated space because my brain work is really cluttered. So I need space that has only extremely inspirational pieces. I have only two chairs in there and a few other things and everything else is going away. But the art I’ll put in there is going to be art you can lose yourself in as opposed to what I want in the house. At home there are more fun things that I can enjoy the memory of or the thought of. The other pieces at Utility Services are going to be mainly for my brain to chill out. I’m really specific about where I design. I don’t know if it’s just me having a cluttered brain or not, but I can’t design in public places or coffee shops. I suck at doing it in my shop because it’s dirty. So, it has to be a clean, clinical area. I’m very German about the way I design. A painting by Pastiche Lumumba, also on loan from Mercer West, hangs in Anderson’s sound studio. TT: So Utility Services will be another gallery space in some sense. JA: Totally. TT: What are your goals with your collecting practice? Do you have any, or is it organic? JA: It’s organic. I like to shift things around a lot. And that’s furniture, art, or anything in the house, or even the house itself. I know that I’ll be bringing in newer work, but I think it will still all stay up. I don’t plan on putting things in storage. I want to keep my walls filled with happy little situations that work together. I have a son who’s 9. He gets all the good art. I love silly and fun things so he gets a lot of friends’ stuff that’s really fun and silly. My friend Alex McClesky painted me, my son, and my cat Jack surfing. A freakin’ adorable oil painting. So I want to give my son stuff so that he can have art as well. And he’s an artist. His art is like one of my favorites, of course. Not just because I’m his dad, but his art is definitely badass. Alex McClesky painted this family portrait of Anderson, his son, and cat surfing. (Photo: Charles Schwab) TT: Do you think about whether he’ll enjoy a piece when you collect art? JA: Yeah, our house is a fun spot to have groups of people over and to have warm vibes. So a lot of the art reflects that too. Collecting my friends’ art is a way of having their vibes in the room at all times. It makes the room feel even more fun and full of more people. TT: Do you share your collection with the public? JA: I really haven’t and I don’t really know how to do that. Which is funny because, like with the piece I have of yours, I almost wanted to keep it only for that moment when you walk in the house and didn’t want the moment to be on Instagram. I love friends coming over and seeing it and I love them pokin’ their noses upwards like they’re looking at something in a gallery and it’s on my walls. From left to right, an Elvis as Bowie bust painted by Anderson and a 3D printed sculpture by artist Kris Pilcher. TT: So you want to keep it within friends and family to enjoy? JA: Yeah, but I would love to do a little bit of a rogue opening some day. Take out all the furniture. You can usually throw things like that together and make it fun. But selling art, that’s another story. I don’t know how I would go about doing that. TT: Would you want to do that? JA: I don’t want to sell the work I have collected. But if we had a show, I’d put your piece up, and then you could bring one that you want to sell as well. That would be interesting: to make money for friends as well as show their stuff. TT: Do you have any future plans for your collection? JA: I sure do. I want more light sculptures. I make light sculptures, but I don’t want any of mine. I want more sculptures in general. Definitely more light. More experimentation from friends. I really would love that. Them stretching their boundaries and then making me stretch mine by making something that’s outside my norm. That shit’s fun. Tori Tinsley is an artist living in Atlanta. She is a 2016-2017 Walthall Fellow and her exhibition “Echolalia,” presented by Twin Radius, opens at CenterForm on February 4. Tinsley is represented by 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace in Gold Coast, Australia.
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