Amongst Friends..

There has always been this talk amongst my friends about what we consider Art?That age old question.I've been a firm believer that art comes in many forms and meduims.Take writing for instance. I feel strongly that writing is an artform. Words are just as poweful if not more powerful then images. They can alter moods,engage people, simple words can inspire or even start wars. Words uttered can change your life. I am the worst writer I know.I think visually and have a hard time conveying those thoughts into words.I am most envious of those who write, whether it be books, songs, letters or even emails.Writing is truly an artform and that is why I wanted to have David Fulton answer my questions. to me he is an artist.I've known David for years and have loved everything he has ever written (all those that he's shown me at least) I know I'll be first in line buying his books,even that one about Depeche Mode (good gawd,why!).Also Dave and I have he same infliction, the one that makes us smell books whenever we are in a book store.


Do you have a collection?
Comic books count?

Where is your favorite place to create?
Creation occurs before anything gets written. So I would say in the shower or during a good hike.

What is your favorite building?
Hollyhock House by F L Wright.

If you could have invented anything ,what would it have been/or be?
Compassion gun.

Name three things you would like to do before you die?
1) Write a novel, 2) Visit the Fjords, 3) Learn to surf

What do you need to create art?
Plastic arts: time and space; Writing: just time

What's your favorite piece of art hanging in your house right now?
Still fond of a plastic, abstract double-cross I made some years back. Mostly because it was inspired by Robert Motherwell, who is in my all-time top five.

Do you collaborate with others?
Sorta. But they didn't know it. I have made a series of collages using various comic strips (Peanuts, Blondie, etc.). I've been told it is all quite illegal.

Do you work on more then one piece at a time?
Writing, yes. It is the best way to prevent writer's block. Everything else, not really. Usually if I am doing something painterly or in a collage, I crank it out as quickly as possible before the little art Nazi in my head tells me I suck.

Do you share your work with others before it is finished?
Writing, yes. Workshopping a part of the process. Plastic art stuff is pretty much just for me.

Do you listen to music while you're working? If so what?
Never when writing. Must have quiet. But with plastic arts, I listen to a variety of things - Mercury Rev was a favorite for awhile. Cabaret Voltaire. Ride. Radiohead. Stuff with layers.

If you could be commissioned by anyone who would it be and what would you create for them?
I would like the State Librarian of California to appoint me State Laureat and commish me to travel the State to collect authentic California poetry.

If you could commission anyone to do art for you, who would it be?
Giacommeti, if he were alive. Otherwise, probably Motherwell. But also perhaps a friend. They probably need the money.

How do you know when something is finished?
Nothing is ever finished. It can just be overdone.

what or who influences your work?
Frank Lloyd Wright, WC Williams, Wallace Stevens, Walt Whitman, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Samuel Beckett, PJ Harvey, heavy rain, a good shower, a well-made film.

If you could curate a group exhibition of any artists since the dawn of time, who would you include and why?
A solo show of Anonymous. That guy really did a lot of work but I have yet to see a good solo show of his work. That, or something with glass artists throughout history.

What is your favorite museum, gallery, place to see art and why?
I love the Tate in London, the MOMA in SF, and the D'Orsay in Paris. It is hard to be bored at these gallaries as there is always something new behind the corner. I do love the Getty as a place but their perm collection is drop-dead dull. Honorable mention should go to the many start-up galleries that come and go so frequently in the State. I've seen some fantastic stuff over the years.

What has been the most unique thing you've used to create art with? An iron (as in, the device you use to iron clothes with).

What do you wish your art tasted like?
I always smell books for some reason and the best ones, scent-wise, are the ones that smell a bit like bread-dough mixed with oregano. I hope whatever book of poetry for fiction comes out of me sort of tastes this way... like a pizza parlor at dawn. Plastic-art-wise, I sometimes get a mad desire for a crunchy, sweetened-corn cereal when I work. Of course, if I had a chance to work with clay, I would want it to taste like fudge because the imp of the perverse wants me to shove that stuff in my mouth.