An interview by
, curator and curator
Many artists from the contemporary scene attempt to establish effective synergies between Technology and Art : but most of them just uses cutting edge techniques to explore concepts : what instead marks out Byron Rich ' s approach is an incessant investigation about the inner nature of the variety of medium he probes , to unveil the impact of techno-sphere on identity . Rich ' s multimedia installations reject any conventional classification and could be considered an interface between the ever growing unstable categories of reality and fiction : we are particularly pleased to introduce our readers to his stimulating production .
Hello Byron and welcome to ART Habens . To start this interview , would you like to tell us something about your background ? You have a solid formal training and after your studies in New Media , you nurtured your education with a MFA of Emerging Practices that you received about two years ago from the University of Buffalo . How have these experiences influenced your evolution as an artist ? And in particular , since you currently hold the position of Assistant Professor at the Allegheny College , I would like to ask how does teaching informs the way you nowadays relate yourself to art making : have you ever happened to draw inspiration from the idea of your students ?
Sure . I was born in Calgary , Alberta , in western Canada . I grew up there , spending much of my youth riding my bike in the foothills in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains . It was a pretty idyllic childhood actually . My parents are fairly free-spirited , and there weren ’ t a ton of restrictions on me as long as I was home by dinner . I was free to just be immersed in this beautiful landscape . The city itself has a weird paradox about it .
Byron Rich
There are vast parks with massive Douglas Firs , then wild grasslands juxtaposed against the contemporary office towers that spring up out of seemingly nowhere . I think that juxtaposition was more important than I really could comprehend as a child . In retrospect I always grappled with the idea of reconciling a vast unknowable wild world with the strict geometry and formalism that humanity likes to impart on it .
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