Studio Visit: Mike Treffehn

Ok ladies and gentlemen, another studio visit, its been a while, people are getting busy/very stressed and so studio visits will much more infrequent than they have been. Last day of spring break today, that means non stop MFA thesis shows and lots of art to make. So Mike is a first year sculpture guy, most widely recognized by his bright clothing among us drab art kids. He is always wearing florescent colors and very nice hats. So here comes Mike...


What are you working on?

I just finished a big set-ish installation in my studio that I was working on for a lot time -- thinking about, and then finally building. Drywall is hard, especially if you've a) never done it and b) got zilch for time. Right now I'm in sort of an in-between stage, thinking about what direction to go in next, and trying to plan ahead, too.

What are you excited about right now?

Things being boring. I've been really into it as an idea for a long time, but it's really resurfaced with a vengeance as of late. I mean unboring boring, not real boring. Basically, I've been listening to a lot of really minimal techno, and also a lot of funk (specifically Ricardo Villalobos for the former and James Brown for the latter). I'm really into the idea of something being really repetitive and unchanging with slight modal changes that end up making it really interesting and worthwhile. Like how James Brown can have a song that's ten minutes long and only has two chords. The tough part is now trying to figure out how to translate that to a physical/visual practice.

Favorite Vegetable?

It's tough, because I'm vegan so I've got a lot, but I'd have to say that it's tough to beat a really, really good fresh bell pepper -- there's just something so tremendously gratifying about biting into one.

Set, featuring Mike and Jenna:

Sound dictionary with participants Jess Perlitz and Dan Bruce:

Video Still: