AR:
Would you agree that art has always been a pioneer in society?

JH:
America as a whole is pretty much the least supportive culture in the world overall in terms of the arts. This country has a mythology based on the “pioneer” but in terms of the cliche’s “up from the bootstraps” “he made it from nothing” etc ……. The pioneer revered in America often is revered for making it and becoming a figure of power, financial means and cult of personality. The arts have much less funding. We are a young culture also and this is surely part of the problem.

AR:
Does art come from unsolicited/voluntary production?

JH:
Yes. Some call it the “extra gear” like on a bicycle. To not create is often an existential conundrum for many that I know (and for me). It almost can be seen as a compulsion to question, digest, reconfigure and for discourse and to share.

AR:
How would you define the chances and needs of art in the social society you live in? Would you say that art comes from the need to produce art?

JH:
Sure. But what is that need, that itch? Hard to answer as the answer is composed of personal constellations across the spectrum based on who you ask.

AR:
What is important to you in your art production? What are you aspiring to/striving for in/with your art production?

JH:
Hmmm…. Community and Autonomy (as odd as that may sound) are extremely important to me. I first planned and studied to be a scientist, then a writer, then a graphic designer, then an artist, and theorist. There were many figures along the way that were discouraging and that emphasized the maxim ” do one thing and do it well” to the point where I felt deeply alien in many ways and in many circles. It was hard to keep going with so many voices saying that hybridity equaled dilettante or just nothing of substance. The community that I have now through the new media and locative media world ( mostly online) and a bit in the regular art world have a community of like minded and kind souls that inspire me deeply and buoy me in ways that make it seem like the nice people and the multi-talented can help and support each other with kindness and mutual support.

I aspire to keep challenging myself, to always be learning, searching, working more and more with the similarities and nuances of science and art, art and technology, hybridity and unified works and how experimental can also be rich in ways of content and subtext in ways seen by some as the pantheon of the “traditional”.

AR:
In which field of art production are you active?

JH:
Locative Media, Locative Narrative, New Media, Sound Art, Text Art, Photography

AR:
Are you an individual artist or member of an art producing collective/initiative/organisation?

JH:
I am an individual artist but I’m considered part of a collective based on our past work in Locative Media.