art crush gush: Laurel Nakadate

     Okay, it's more than that. Laurel Nakadate has been a hero of mine for a few years now. I got to meet her briefly when her film "Stay The Same Never Change" premiered in Toronto last fall. I told her she was my favourite and she thanked me for coming, told me she liked my hair and gave me some good life advice. I got to see her show Only The Lonely in NY this spring and was so nervous upon entering that I almost barfed on the steps of MoMA PS1. I can't really explain it except that I was terrified she had found a way to say everything I could ever want to express, leaving me with nothing to do or attempt, ever. Crazy I know, but I knew no matter what happened within those huge white walls things would be different by closing time. I spent the whole day absorbing her work and couldn't see anything else that week, but I survived. I felt like I'd been kicked in the face by a cowboy boot and had said "YES!" in my head so many times throughout the afternoon that the word temporarily lost meaning, however I left feeling more inspired than defeated. 
     Anyway, I just read this from an interview the artist did for The Rumpus in 2009 and it's currently touching me in all the right places, so I thought I'd share...


"The amazing thing is that we live our lives with the hope that things will go right, that things will happen. And all along the way, we’re inspired by the unknown and the unnameable. The minute you can fully describe something it’s gone. The most amazing moments are when something horrible is about to happen or has just happened. The iceberg falling into the ocean. That aching moment. You can see the pieces, you can see how they fit together, but you can’t put them back together. Also, I’m drawn to moments of ambiguity, when things could go right or they could go wrong. I’m interested in discomfort. Discomfort is a place where we’re still close enough to comfort to understand our unhappiness. Most of the things we desire are things that can destroy us."

-L. Nakadate

I think I need a cigarette.
P.S. If you know what's good for you and happen to be in Montreal on September 21st, "The Wolf Knife" makes it's Canadian premiere at Pop Montreal and you should go see it.


xxo