Artist Dave Hebb’s installation at MSSU

bus stop, reykjavík, 1998/2001

Dave Hebb is a visual artist, whose work "revolves around themes of natural and man-made cycles and the relationship between self and environment." He currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and teaches at the North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN. He is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed him to build an installation in Iceland. He has also been involved in various group and one-man shows. He is the featured artist his month at MSSU's Spiva Gallery in Joplin. I recently met with him in an online interview to discuss his upcoming show. The following is an excerpt from that talk.

Youngblood: So... I guess we can start

Hebb: shoot.

Hebb: I'm just gonna cut and paste random text from an online encyclopedia for answers. I hope that's ok.

Youngblood: ha, ha ...I noticed some of your drawings have that "comic" feel.

Hebb: Well, I'm more of a cynic than a comic

Youngblood: Do comics influence your work?

Hebb: I guess so, they used to more in the past than they do now.
My recent work is a little more "serious" as I "mature."

Youngblood: What other artist do you look to, if any?

Hebb: so many...Robert Gober, Philip Guston, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Sarah Sze, etc. Every day someone new. Things are changing so fast, that you can no longer really evaluate new work but at the same time... everything comes in through a barrage of images, just like mass media, and it all kind of blends together

Youngblood: Does art, therefore lose some of its momentum, or force/impact?

Hebb: I suppose that's a good way of looking at it...it's like the more you see, the less there is to look at. Which of course... leads us to create "less is more" minimalist ideas, but that of course leads into a whole other realm of paradox.

Youngblood: So, taking that in mind, do we need a new way of looking at art, or is it now the function/responsibility of art to force itself to be recognized.... which is suggested (perhaps) by the size of some of it?

Hebb: Well that's a question that I believe all artists are wrestling with on at least some basic level, some more than others.
So, as I was sort of saying...I find myself questioning my role as an artist, the meaning and (in)significance of my work, and the whole point of making art as a worthwhile endeavor on a daily basis. In some ways, those questions are what drive me to create the work that I do.

Youngblood: interesting...how do you think that role has changed over the course of the modern art era?

Hebb: It seems that art has always been a mirror to the society and culture that produces and shapes it.
So in the era of post-modernism, or post-post-modernism, I think that the constant barrage of images, signs, symbols and overwhelming glut of communication in general has both rendered all things meaningless and endlessly symbolically meaningful. I find myself constantly jumping back and forth between trying desperately to make sense out of the simplest things around me, and ignoring 99% of the most important events in the world. whew! And sometimes the two collide... and that's when I create something worth looking at for more than a minute.

Youngblood: You talk about man and his environment in your bio...are you (would you say) an environmental artist of sorts?

Hebb: I suppose that the environment is the most recurring theme in my work. A lot of that has to do with how I view the world around me. These days I' m looking more often at my most immediate environment, as in a contemporary Western hemisphere interior.... I find myself looking at that as the REAL environment, and trying to somehow reconcile that with the ENVIRONMENT as a whole. In other words, I am in a room, filled with a complex network of systems and resources that in turn are connected to a much larger network of systems and infrastructure that provide me with a living "environment". Then I try to understand how my living environment is connected...or disconnected to the so-called natural environment. So I suppose on some deeper level I am an "environmental" artist, but that doesn't mean I live in a tree or anything.

Youngblood: got you (laugh), anyway...these "environments" you create seem to at least border on macabre, if not confrontational and disturbing. They could be viewed as a microcosm of cold (intellectual) detachment? Is this accurate and what effect do you think it achieves? The work "Life cycle" springs to mind...

Hebb: Oh, have to rethink. Well, I created that piece 6 years ago, which is like an eternity these days, but many of the ideas that generated it are still with me...I guess my reactions to the man-made environment are still somewhat horrific, but less dramatic and grotesque these days, and more coldly scientific and, in my mind, even more horrific. I see... this "cold intellectual detachment," as you put it, as ultimately more disturbing and frightening than the demonic and macabre portrayals in my earlier work. I guess I'm just trying to come to terms with my own horror. And I suppose that I'm really just trying to put that horror out there for others to see as my work, but more importantly to see in there own day-to-day environments.

Youngblood: I find it interesting that you deal with the grotesqueness of man, and perhaps his inhumanity, or at least carelessness (environmentally, etc.) with sculptural forms and drawings that possess such grace.... bizarre and ugly elements in your work seem to be crafted in such a way as to have a quiet rhythm, that does suggest, perhaps, the polished work of an intellectual mind. It is a peculiar contrast does this seem accurate at all, and if so what do you make of it?

Hebb: Grace? I've been accused of a lot of things before, but never grace...

Youngblood: let me be the first.

Hebb: However, I think I understand where you're going...I do seem to romanticize rust and give decay an almost loving touch, and that is somewhat intentional.

Youngblood: Maybe the refined quality (like the smoothness in the lines within your drawings) attempts to contain man's grotesqueness yet make a show of it also; I am reminded of the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Remember those?

Hebb: Certainly, and there is something to be said for a carefully and beautifully drawn pile of vomit and goo. But that inherent contradiction in a well-rendered turd can only take you so far, which is why I find myself more obsessed with electrical conduit and duct pipes these days. I still...haven't reconciled the shiny newness of galvanization with the beautiful patina of oxidation, but I'm working on it.

Youngblood: What can you tell us about the work to be installed at Southern?

Hebb: Well, I have to finish it first, but...recently my work has moved more towards really analyzing the here and now of our current period of technology. I'm forcing myself to look at the idea of growth and recontextualize it as decay, and try to understand where one starts and the other ends. I...am also delving back into the idea of site and relating to the gallery itself as an environment. I have done several site-specific works before, but they were mostly outdoors. Now...I'm beginning to see that there is always a connection between the interior space and the outside world, although it's often hidden or only implied. For instance, who really thinks about where the electricity comes from when they plug something in to the wall? Mostly I'm just growing mold on top of circuit boards and calling it art.

Youngblood: A situation that is only exacerbated by the advance of technology, which seems to promote the idea of "out of sight-out of mind"

Hebb: I think you're right about the out of sight/mind comment. Hopefully, if nothing else, my work will inspire people to consider the source of the most mundane and ordinary necessities of everyday life. Where does my poop go when I flush the toilet? Where does my water come from that I drink?

Youngblood: A final question: some who view your work might just think you're a freak with too much time on his hands. How would you respond to this? Is it worth a response?

Hebb: I never have enough time. I work a full time job as a teacher, take care of a family (of dogs) and still have to spend every waking moment contemplating my art if not actually working on creating it. As far a being a freak goes... if I'm a freak, then the normal people who create "healthy forests" by cutting down trees are positively insane.

Youngblood: Well, thank you for your time. It's been a pleasure. I really appreciate it, and look forward to seeing your work. With all luck, this article will help generate turnout for your show.

Hebb: or protests... which would be fine as well.


Dave Hebb's recent work can be viewed at the MSSU Spiva Gallery during the following hours: Mon.-Sat., 9am-5pm.You can also visit his website, http://www.davehebb.com/