May 08, 2012 1:21PM
Interview: Jordan Sullivan
The artist tells us his Roadsongs show is "mostly about being lost and stoned and sort of broken-up."
Born in Texas and raised in Ohio, Michigan and Indonesia, you might call Jordan Sullivan a travelling man. His current exhibition, Roadsongs, at Clic Gallery in New York, details his metaphorical and physical wandering through places at once foreign and familiar. Capturing transient moments between the sublime and the mundane, Jordan's work uses prose, Polaroids and expired 35mm film. He also made a book with Pamela Love called The Ghost Country to go along with the show. We caught up with Jordan to talk road trips.
Lucy Jones: Can you tell us a little bit about your Roadsongs show and accompanying book?
Jordan Sullivan: It's mostly about being lost and stoned and sort of broken-up. It's also about missing everything and being stuck, whether you're stuck on the road or in your hometown. All the pictures are landscapes shot mostly on highways and in deserts and in big empty spaces around New Mexico, California and Texas. There's text and short stories written on all the images. The book is something I handmade right before the show. I hand-stitched it and glued these feathers to the covers. It has all the stories and pictures from the exhibition in it.
What what are the five essential songs you listen to when you're on the road?
'Flying Shoes' — Townes Van Zandt
'Blues Run The Game' — Jackson C. Frank
'Kiss Another Day Goodbye' — David Kauffman
'Sway' — Rolling Stones
'My Hometown' — Bruce Springsteen
Most of the images are shot on Polaroid and expired film, why do you use these mediums?
They lend themselves to accidents, and usually the worse something looks the more I like it.
What was the last thing you took a photo of?
My friend while he was taking his clothes off at the bar on his birthday the other night.
Where do you call 'home'?
Wherever my family is.
Where will you be going on your next adventure?
Somewhere cold and empty.
Roadsongs is on at Clic until May 13, and Jordan's next show Natural History opens on May 17 at New York's Underline Gallery.
Introduction: Jerico Mandybur
Interview: Lucy Jones
