Angela Washko would love a party with hundreds of red lanterns (just don't throw them away)

Name: Angela Washko

Age: 24

Hometown: Reading, PA

Job description: Installation/video/peformance artist; curator; Artist-in-Resident and Residency Coordinator at Flux Factory; Artist Assistant to Mike Bonanno of The Yes Men; musician; scrappy odd-job finder; occasional bartender; art teacher at Arts Center for the Capital Region 

Bio: Curator of "Expert Oddities: Show and Tell" an experimental lecture series, produced and performed in Washko's PR; a video about athletic competitiveness; former Outreach Coordinator and Artist-in-Residence at Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside; graduate of Temple University's Tyler School of Art (Honors Program) with a BFA in Studio Art (painting/drawing/sculpture); former collegiate athlete

Upcoming projects: Curating and performing in “Diaristic Indulgences” (Feb. 19th), an exhibition at Flux Factory with Hannah Heilman, Anne Hirsch, Georges Negri, Sunita Prasad, Nathaniel Sullivan, Alison Ward, and Chester Zecca; "Expert Oddities" (Mar. 19th); performing at Syracuse University (Mar. 2011); six-week residency in Manchester at The Mill (May 2011); permanent exhibition at Bronxworks (curated by Brendan Coyle and Amanda Curtis)

Select links: "Nocturnalist: Fixations in Abundance" (NY Times); "Fondly" performance at Flux Factory's "Self-Destructing Art Show" (vimeo); Interview about Washko's PR with PBS/WMHT's TvFilm program; Saatchi Online Artist: Angela Washko; "The 15 Best Student Artists (Temple News), Blog, Official site

Describe your current state of mind.

Frazzled but optimistic. I went from having a lot of random jobs to having a lot of interviews, all at once.

What kind of odd jobs have you had?

Sometimes I bar tend. I do interior construction, house cleaning, house sitting, and cat watching.

Tell me about “Expert Oddities”, your recent event at Flux Factory, in which people spoke about their weird obsessions and collections.

This is the first event that I planned in New York City. When you're doing things in Troy, NY, everyone comes out. And that's pretty much the extent of it because that's the one event that's happening in a month.

I thought it would get the normal Flux crowd. Time Out NY called and were like, "We're putting a thing up." There were over 100 people there.

There was a write-up in the New York Times. I'm speaking to the Huffington Post tomorrow. I got a call from a show on the Discovery Channel called "Oddities."

The reception was positive. The resident artists got to see that you have the opportunity there to just go for it, to get a crowd, and generate a lot of excitement.

That's awesome. Congratulations.

How are you adjusting to the success of your event?

I didn't expect to capture and edit footage so fast. I'm having some bad luck with my computer crashing and scheduling interviews. It's definitely an adjustment.

Though I've never had to taken on so much as a press person. And I'm really psyched.

How did the idea come about?

I was doing an artist residency in Troy, NY at the Contemporary Artists Center in Woodside. Troy is this small town but there's this high population of artists because of RPI. Which attracts electronic and performance artists.

I was meeting all of these amazing people with knowledge in strangely, specific things: Pagan ministers; people who have really researched the sex life of Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball player; strange collections. And I really appreciated learning about all of their crazy shit.

I was trying to figure out a way to share those people. At first, I was like, Oh, I should curate an exhibition with images of all of their stuff. And then I was like, Maybe I should just let them talk about their stuff. That's how that started.

Describe the array of candidates.

Anne Hirsch: She's a performance/internet artist and she got on to this reality TV show. She created this guide to reality TV. I thought that was something that people are currently interested in.

Peter Edwards: He's a circuit bender and electronic artist from Troy. He has a workshop called Casper Electronics in Troy. It's this crazy workshop full of stuff.

Phil Buehler emailed me. He was like, "I'm the biggest collector of major zipper in the world." And I was like, "What's Major Zipper?" He was like, "Well..." and he sent me all of these images and descriptions. Apparently, he was this mascot from the Conwar Corporation, which doesn't exist anymore. And he'd seen this factory everyday on his commute. He became obsessed with collecting all this stuff from it. He actually bought the trademark when it became available again. And now he owns the Conmar trademark.

Michelle Levy is obsessed with FBI Special Agent, Dale Cooper, from Twin Peaks, and has this well thought out PowerPoint presentation.

Ranjit Bhatnagar collects his dog whiskers.

Steven Brower, who runs an aerospace company.

The criteria is it's either collecting super specific things that almost nobody could think to collect it. Or, just being an expert that's really unusual.

How many candidates made the cut?

I took 12 out of 30 or so. Because of the success of the first one, I'm going to do it again and include people that weren't in the first one.

Most of the reason why people weren't in the first one was because they applied really late or [we] ran out of room.

What brought you to New York?

After college, I made a plan: Brooklyn in three years, man. I'm going to go out there and have an art career. It didn't take me three years, which is awesome. I applied for a residency at Flux Factory and got it.

I was at the residency in Troy and then I did a residency at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. I went back to Troy because they offered me the position of Residency Outreach Coordinator, and a long-term residency. I was still applying for stuff and then I found out I had gotten into Flux.

I [told Flux], "I'll come for a month." I was planning on going back to work on stuff. And they were like, "You should come for longer than that." So I was like, "Okay, two months." At one point I called them back and was like, "Hey, how do you feel about me coming for nine months?" And they were like, "Why don't you just come for a year?"

And I intend to stay around. 

What were you like as a kid?

I've always had a tendency to try to do everything. I was in the marching band. I played the tuba, the sousaphone, the baritone horn, and the alto-sax. At the same time, I was playing field hockey, basketball, track, and soccer. I was in student council and chorus. Most things you can do as an extracurricular I was doing. And then I still continued to spread my interests all over the place.

Would you say you're good at juggling a lot of things?

I wouldn't say that I'm good at it, but I do it.

I make a lot of lists. They're usually on the backs of whatever is around.

What's your concept of happiness?

When I was working at the residency in Troy, every time there were new residents coming in. Someone would ask a question and everyone would answer it, as an icebreaker. This one used to come up all the time.

I feel like I'm really drawn to people who have something to share, who don't always have a format or a way to share what they have.

I feel happiest when I am dancing, when I am feeling "productive", and not scrambling in weird ways for cash - Utopia!

The idea of "giving back" to the communities I am involved in, or appreciate, makes
me quite happy. 

What's the most difficult thing you've ever had to do?

I had to quit cross country running in college.  I was massively overworked to the point of collapse. I [attended] Tyler School of Art (of Temple University) and was taking more credits than I needed to, working a job, and commuting to Temple every day for cross country practice.  On weekends, when I needed to be working on my projects to school I was traveling all over the U.S. for my cross country meets. I barely slept and oftentimes ran more than 12 miles a day.  It was especially hard to quit because as a freshman I was the team's MVP and nominated for Athlete of the Year at Temple University, a Division 1 school (something my father, who had been a collegiate athlete as well, was very proud of).  I literally collapsed at practice from exhaustion and realized that I had to choose more of a focus; I had been spreading myself too thin.

Is that where the Washko's PR video, with the psycho coach, came from?

The first video piece that I ever did was largely about a field hockey coach I had in high school.

But it's also about the general competitiveness of athletics.

How did you like playing field hockey?

I wanted to be a fighter with a weird interest in being an assassin, stuff like that as a kid. When I was in fourth grade, I wanted to be an ice hockey player. But my family couldn't afford the ice skates. And it's not exactly the most accepted sport for women.

I started doing intramural field hockey in elementary school until junior high, when it became a sport that you could play. In high school, I got to go to state [competitions]. I went to the national tournament in California one year.

My mom had never been on a plane and she was really excited for me. Field hockey was awesome. Coach wasn’t so great though. [laughs]

What are some misconceptions about yourself?

I was really shy growing up. I think when people get to know me, they realize that I'm reserved. if you saw me out at Flux Factory, doing my performances or on my videos, you wouldn't necessarily think that.

I was a super-nerd in elementary, junior, and high schools; I love reading.

One of the things that got me into drawing was looking at the illustrations from Final Fantasy 2 and 3 at my neighbors' houses.

What is overrated?

Expensive things in general.

I think fancy restaurants are overrated. I don’t get to go to them very often, except on dates.

Retract that. Only on dates.

I like home-cooked meals.

What’s underrated?

Hugging.  Or maybe that doesn't count. Maybe everybody likes hugs. I can be kind of tense. I'm no good at relaxing. But it’s nice to feel connected.

What is art?

I like art that asks a question but doesn’t answer a question, and raises an awareness that I didn’t have before, without telling me, This is how I should think about this.

I think art is art if somebody makes it and calls it that. I don't think that an analysis of quality needs to be made to establish something simply as art. If it intends to be, I think it is so.

What’s your philosophy on love?

Love’s tricky.

I think love is really listening. One of my biggest pet peeves with someone is when you’re having a conversation with someone and they’re clearly waiting for their turn to talk.

I love reliability, thoughtfulness, enthusiasm and follow-through. These are things that I try to bring to relationships I am in, and appreciate in others. I think there is something incredibly powerful about reciprocated appreciation, realizing you're as valuable to someone else as they are to you.

Love as an object or thing- hard to talk about for me.  I can't even watch intimate scenes in a film or on television. I turn away. Love and intimacy can be different,

but I am extremely sensitive to this topic.

What are your thoughts on loneliness?

I think I struggle with loneliness because I’m always surrounding myself with people and I’m still always feeling a little bit lonely. It’s tough, especially right now, being the organizer of so many things. There is always an endless pile of stuff to be doing - applying for stuff; making stuff; getting grants; planning exhibitions; getting materials; going to meetings, etc. In addition to that, on any given night there are many art-oriented events that I want to (arguably, should be) going to. Somewhere in there it becomes hard to set aside time for people, so you start incorporating the people you love into the things you are doing. But I feel like I have less one-on-one time with the people I care about in New York because of this pace. I like the pace though. That’s the story of New York, constantly working and never stopping.

I’m getting off track but something was really useful for me my first month moving to New York. I had a performance that I needed to prepare for and I wanted to immerse myself in all of the different communities. But I had stuff to do. I was always conflicted and every night I had to work, I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m never going out!” My friend Lucas, who runs the Silent Barn, was like, “Hey, man. Just be where you are.”

At first I was like, “What a hippie thing to say.” But it’s so true. There’s always going to be stuff going on somewhere and there’s always going to be someone calling. I feel like people aren’t engaged with what they’re doing as much. They’re so distracted. But I think there’s something to be said about being there, about being fully invested in what you’re doing. 

How would you spend your money if you were wealthy versus on a budget?

I think I would spend a very similar amount to what I spend now. I still recycle.

At Flux Factory we have the opportunity to go to Materials for the Arts for a project.

I don’t need a ton of stuff. I’m usually traveling or haven’t lived in one set place for a while. So it’s hard to accumulate a lot of stuff. It’d be awesome to have things like a camera. But it’s nice that you can make contacts at universities. I use their camera and I make props for their movie [in exchange].

I pay rent.

I would like to go to the dentist more frequently.

I don’t think wealth would change very much about me.

What qualities do you admire most and least in people?

My favorite quality, especially in any prospective mates, is being able to fix stuff. Or, being able to take initiative: “Oh, this thing is messed up? I’m going to fix it.”

Not so favorite qualities: people that are out to dinner or having a really intense conversation and then they pull out their cell phone.

Does that happen to you a lot?

Yeah, it happens a lot. My sister’s like that. She’s like, “Oh, I haven’t seen my family in six months. Hold on. Blah blah blah.”

Hold on. No! You can do that later! You live in this town!

Other qualities I don’t like: People that are so set in their ways that they can’t get over things. You make plans and then something changes and they can’t overcome that. I get frustrated with that.

Bad listeners.

Do you say anything to people when they pull out their cell phones?

I’m like, "Hey, stop that."

And do they listen?

It depends. I had a long-time friend who I went to school with at Tyler. He’s this awesome artist. We’ve always had parallel lives [and have] always been helping each other out in some ways.

A few months ago, he called me and he’s like, “Angie, I came up with this plan.”

“What’s your plan?”

“If I put all the effort I put into making art into making money, I’d have so much money. And then later I can make art.”

“I guess. Okay!”

And that’s what he’s doing and he’s really doing it. He came to visit me a few days ago. He came in with a Bluetooth on his ear.

I was like, “Hey, what’s going on? Are you just going to have that on the whole time?”

He’s like, “Yeah. I’m very important.”

“You came all the way here to talk to me and you’re just going to…”

“Yeah.”

And then he answered a call.

“No. You can’t do that.”

“Why not? I don’t get it. I’m very important.”

My dad didn’t have a cell phone until a year ago. And he works on roofs and he runs his company. Contractors could never contact him but he never wanted to feel like he always had to answer to people at any time.

If you could have more of something, what would it be?

The easy answer is money.

That's kind of ironic, considering that anti-consumerism is a prevalent theme in your work.

Being the person who hates money needs money.

Patience.  I am always moving and looking forward and preparing - I get frustrated a little easily, sometimes.  I am often flustered.

If you can imagine a world where there's an alternative to money (or none at all), what would it look like?

Well, maybe my imagination is not that great. I can't realistically envision a world without money, at the moment.  But I can envision a world where people can at least understand the idea of "bartering services in exchange for rent" or a world with less waste and more resourcefulness....and celebration of resource/skill exchange!

I bartered for rent for an administrative job once and it was very hard for some people to understand.

My friend Sam Sowyrda is totally amazing, he tours with the Dan Deacon Ensemble and is a vibraphone player and composer. He often talks about the ordeal of having to explain how he lives in the world "without making or spending money." It's just so frustrating to me to see how much stuff is made to be thrown away.  I love the idea of installing hundreds of red paper

lanterns into a space for an awesome party, complete with artists and performers, in completely transformed factory spaces, but it drives me crazy that all of those lanterns get thrown away at the end of the day.

I can see a world without such excessive inequality. And that would just mean a society with less emphasis on the accumulation of wealth. Maybe that would mean how advertising is presented, less glamorizing of excess. I could see that and I think that would have a positive effect on the quality of living.