Los Angeles, 31, Self-taught, www.bryanschnelle.com

Probably very poorly. I’m not much of a writer. I would much prefer to show someone my work and let it speak for itself, let them come up with their own meaning based on their own personal experience with the work. There’s a lot more power in that. But basically I’m just observing and reacting to what I see going on around me and in our society. Observing values and ideals and trying to create a realistic and honest visual document. And I love the idea of using something that is so empty and meaningless to create a work of art that is relevant and meaningful. I still use paint when I need to, but with the kind of ideas I’m exploring it seems a lot more honest and direct to use the images that we’re bombarded with daily as drawing/painting tools, the very things that are telling us what’s normal and not normal, what’s beautiful and not beautiful, what’s desirable and not desirable, what life is supposed to be. A kind of amalgamation of form and content.

In no particular order: Ingmar Bergman, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Philip Glass, Michael C. Ruppert, John Baldessari, peak oil documentaries, Decasia: The State of Decay (A film by Bill Morrison), Chris Johanson, various types of Metal, Charlie Sheen’s recent vernacular.

Both. Simultaneously.

Well at the moment I still have a day job, so I sometimes get a little something done at night during the week but mostly it’s just Saturdays and Sundays. That’s when the magic happens. But I usually get a tremendous amount of work done in that short time. I have a really strong/insane/obsessive work ethic. As for music, at the moment I’ve been really into the new Mogwai. Or sometimes I’ll listen to a mogwai or Philip Glass Pandora station and see what it comes up with. I’m also really into metal. Early Slayer is always fun. And country is good sometimes too, some Waylon or Cash. I don’t know, I have a deep appreciation for a lot of different types of music, it really just depends on how I’ve been feeling. I go through phases.

http://buryingstrangers.blogspot.com/

I look at a lot of magazines. Occasionally I’ll see something that really strikes me for whatever reason, something that will work on its own, as a separate work on paper, tear it out and set it aside. But usually I’m working on something big or elaborate, so I’m just scanning various magazines looking for what I need at that particular time. If I’m working on a large-scale painting I’ll find all of the pages that I’m going to need and work on getting those ready first. Then comes the fun part (building, stretching, priming, painting, gluing…) A large scale collage painting is such an undertaking that I have to have a solid idea before I even begin. That’s why it’s good to work on the small works on magazine pages in between the big stuff; they’re so quick that they allow for a certain freedom of experimentation. I need that balance. I get really bored if I start to feel like I’m repeating myself. I need constant progression.

Sharpie, white-out, exacto knife, mostly stuff you can find in any rite aid or office supply store. Unless I’m working on a painting. Then of course there’s canvas, gesso, paint, gel medium, all that good stuff.

Right now I’m extremely excited about a large-scale installation piece I’m working on and should be done with by the end of the year. It’s made from 743 pages from various magazines and will be about 412 square feet in size. Definitely my most ambitious project to date.

Take care of my family, travel, buy a cabin in the woods and work.

The criterion collection.

To be completely honest, my workspace. I know that’s a total career-obsessed, art nerd answer, but I fucking love my workspace. I’ve been fortunate enough to find one of the last semi-reasonably priced lofts in Los Angeles and I’m trying to use my time there wisely.

If you haven’t seen the film Collapse you should.

In July I’m showing a body of work titled Fear & Consumption at Phone Booth Gallery, and I’m currently working on a couple other bodies of work as well, one titled Apocageddon, and the other titled Orgasmatron. I’m also working on a book project which I plan on publishing in early 2012.

www.bryanschnelle.com