RYAN MACDONALD
currently lives and works in Amherst, MA
1. What are 5 descriptive words that you would use to explain your current work?
Contradictory, raffish, hysterical (like on the inside), strange, forthright.
2. What do you think your role is in society?
This question drives me nuts. I often find myself feeling guilty for having so much fun when there are so many other helpful things I could be doing. When it comes down to it however, it is simply what I do. I believe if a person throws everything he’s got, as meticulously as he can into all that he does, he is performing an invaluable task. I’d say the same thing if I were a grocery store clerk or a porn star.
3. In your current work and explorations, what idea or concept remains to be a mystery that you seek to answer, develop, or understand through your or your observer's discovery of your work?
Every few years, no, every few months I get completely lost with what I am doing. There is, without a doubt, an underlying foundation to everything, kind of a leaky raft made of warped 2x4s. But with each attempt, whether it is a wax landscape or a PowerPoint video story, the concepts are undergoing a continuous transformation. Essentially I believe that the inherent mysteries are not solvable. Instead through discovery we (myself and the viewer) find further avenues to explore.
4. How often, if ever, do you accomplish your ideal, or come close to it?
Never. It is too big.
5. What do you think will happen on December 21, 2012?
I will develop a sudden craving for Sunkist Orange Soda. I will put on my pants and walk as quickly as I can to the local Stop and Shop. I will purchase and drink the Orange Soda right there at the counter while the clerk, so obviously thirsty, looks.
