Thomas Rutigliano
Thomas Rutigliano (Salem, MA) is a photographer, videographer and a scholar obtaining their Masters in Library and Information Science at Simmons College. Rutigliano captures a world that is devoid of physical entities yet presents a landscape that remains littered with humanities marks on the Earth. Through the use of double exposure, in both photography and video, the absent presence of physical bodies draw us closer to a ghost floating through our vast world. Filled with lush vegetation, voluminous streams of water, and undoubtedly wounded by the implants of civilization's infrastructure. We become onlookers, a fly on the wall, allowing us to see our physical footprint we will inevitably leave behind. Rutigliano states that he looks to “...unravel and understand how to navigate the winding hills and blurred lines that lay within the hearts and minds of our memories in the past, present and future…”. What is apparent, is the past, present and future, function as one exact moment in time. By stopping our successive understanding of time we are allowed to rest for what can become eternity. For example in the short video, Rain: Beyond the Heart, Rutigliano, places us floating above a river while also planting us in a graveyard. We simultaneously see the flourishing life of nature and the grim ending to a life once lived; we have a presence both in the living and in the dead. The viewer is caught in a space within, not in-between, where purgatory becomes a non-linear chronology of life within the winding hills. In this space we are able to see every potential future; both with us and without.In Conversation with Thomas Rutigliano: “It is the history of you; nature is ingrained within and outside of us.”
Thomas Rutigliano, thank you for your submission to our exhibition, Grassroots. I am glad to have you also on board to sit down (at your computer or on your phone) to complete an online interview with Easthaus. Let's get started!
Easthaus:
Thomas Rutigliano:
I want to start by entering into your life a little, to get a glimpse of your life and practice as an artist. It would be great to hear you speak on your creative practice a little. You are in a graduate program for historical studies, correct? This seems pretty hand-in-hand with your photography/film work wouldn't you say? What does a successful day look like for you? How do you approach a new project or artwork? Where do you start? Where do you know when to end?
EH:
Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. So excited to be showing my work in lovely Portland, Maine in your beautiful gallery.
My creative process can change day to day but it always starts when something catches my senses. If I see something interesting or ethereal I must photograph it. Same with audio. I usually work with expired 35mm film for my photography and really anything for video. Everything always comes together when I get the film back or my videos in editing software. I’m able to create my own worlds and environments and when it’s perfect or imperfect then it is down and ready to be shown.
In my graduate program, I am studying Library Science with a minor in archival studies. This is so important to me because I want all media to be accessible to anyone without a paywall or restrictions while also making sure things do not become lost to time.
TR:
In your work you present, there is a striking absence of people, except from the residue of their involvement. Yet there is something still very human and raw about your work that I am drawn to, I am able to place a figure in the space you are creating. It starts to become both about our presence and our absence in your work. What do you think this offers to your work to your viewer? Are you calling us towards our history or our time on this planet? I would be curious who you feel is in your artistic family tree? Who do you find yourself in dialogue with?
EH:
These are representations and explorations of our lives as human beings. I want my audience to project their experiences and complex lives onto my work and explore themselves. It is the history of you and how nature is ingrained within and outside of us.
TR:
EH:
Being a creative individual comes in many forms, styles and pursuits; would you mind telling us what your overall philosophy about art is? What keeps bringing you back to the studio? What do you feel is your role as an artist in this greater societal grassroot movement we are living though?
Being a creative individual is a way of life. Art should be for community and humanity, not profit and fame. Art will always keep calling us back no matter how many creative dry spells we have. Artists have many roles on this planet.
TR:
I wrote about the ways in which I feel that your work fits the conversation around this exhibition; speaking on how imperative it is to hold close ties to grassroot movements. I totally respond to your ending statement of “navigates the winding hills and blurred lines that lay within the hearts and minds of our memories in the past, present and future.” How do you think this navigation, that is sometimes unknowing, is crucial to a grassroots movement? What are some of the ways that you notice how this bottom-up position has come up in your practice?
EH:
This navigation is about grounding yourself in the past, present and future in our surroundings. We are living beings just like the nature around us. To quote two of my favorite movie directors “If we opened up a human there would be beaches” (Agnes Varda) and “The power of cinema (art) isn’t in the explainable but in the strange and inexplicable” (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
TR:
I find it always interesting to see what artists have pinned up on their walls; deadlines, to-do lists, art inspiration/mood boards, ect. It says a lot about how the artist's mind works and how they connect the dots and how it all feeds into the work. Do you have any images from the studio you would like to share with us? What do you have up on your walls currently?
EH:
My studio is my car, room and basement of my apartment. (Very affordable) My to-do list is a small notebook scattered somewhere on the chair (bedside table) in my room. I hold myself accountable so I can color in the little circles when I complete a task. My art inspirations are all around me in my room with the thousands of blu rays and photobooks I have and yet to dive into.
TR:
EH:
Tommy, thank you for your time contributing to the conversation for the exhibition, Grassroots, which is on view from January 30th through February 28th here at Easthaus. For a closing dialogue on this interview we welcome you to plug any ongoing projects, events, upcoming thoughts, inspirational quotes; anything that you would like to share with the Easthaus and greater art community we are fostering.
Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity and to my fellow artists out there keep creating no matter what. You make an impact <3
TR: