While the picture may visually feel calming and quiet, taking the photo wasn’t so quiet. Cars raced down the highway with an almost rhythmic hum as the tires ripped across the pavement. The headlights burst down the street illuminating the night, but the dim tail lights offered a gentle red glow. Each car had its own story and agenda of where they were headed on this particular night, but this long exposure photograph blurs each car into one great and seemingly insignificant stream. Viewers of the road are incapable of knowing each car’s story, and now in the photo, incapable of even distinguishing one car from the next as they race away.

Shane Kolstad Portfolio

When and how did I stumble upon these things? What do I “relate” to in them?

Patti Smith’s Horses record - I stumbled upon this album sometime in my early high school years after discovering CBGB and many of the artists who started there. I’d also heard that this album was one of the important precursors to punk rock. I came across the actual record in a Barnes and Noble. I Hadn’t yet listened to it but it intrigued me. Once I got it home and listened to it, it was just an amazing experience. It is such an incredible and creative album. I tend to throw it on quite often but especially when i'm working on a project or am in a creative slump.

Eraserhead, directed by David Lynch - One of my all time favorite movies. I’ll attempt to not ramble on for too long about this movie. It was the first really strange, surreal, or abstract movie I had ever seen. I didn’t know that a movie could do or be anything like that until I watched it. It has been very influential to me in many different ways.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs - I had an English teacher in high school who had recommended this book to me and I looked everywhere for it. The school library didn’t have it, I didn’t understand why until after I did read it. The public library did not have a copy either and when they tried to order it from another library it either never came or they never called me when it did arrive like they said they would. After a while I gave in and decided to just listen to the audiobook without having an actual tangible copy. This worked out just fine and I don't think it dampened the reading experience much. Much later I did find and buy a paper copy to re-read. Its a very re-readable and enjoyable funky book. It showed me that writing, or art, or anything doesn’t need to be completely coherent to be enjoyable.

The streets at night around MCAD - Recently, to clear my head or when I'm trying to think of new ideas, something that has been beneficial to me is just walking around near campus at night. The roads and sidewalks dimly lit by yellow tinged street lamps are very calming and quiet. It makes it very easy to just wander at night and think with a clear head.

Little Bass Lake - Before living in Minneapolis and having the escape of being able to wander the streets at night, one of my favorite places was Little Bass Lake. The lake was about a 2 minute walk from my friend's house and we would go there and hang out all the time. Swim and mess around, think of ideas for potential movies we would want to make someday, or just sit on the dock or picnic table and talk for hours. This small lake was almost always perfectly still and serene, a perfect place to just hang out.

What is relevant to my appreciation of these images, objects, clips, etc.
Do they tell stories?
All of these images have a specially personal connection to me, but anyone else viewing the images would have different interpretations and reactions to them. I'm sure other people may enjoy all of these things as well but as a collection they all mean something to me as a whole. Each of the five objects are reflections of relevant artist discoveries or places of importance for me that have all served as sources of inspiration and influence. I tend to be drawn to and have an appreciation for art that is unique, sorta odd or experimental in some sense, vastly different from a majority of other art from its time, just kind of weird in general. Of the things I took pictures of, Eraserhead, Naked Lunch, and Patti Smith’s Horse check of almost everything on that list. I find myself returning to these things over and over. They are consistently entertaining and inspiring. Despite the numerous repeat returns to these pieces, I always seem to find something in them that I hadn't noticed before, which to me is another reason for the appeal. As for the 2 locations, the streets around campus and Little Bass lake in Bemidji, I have an appreciation for these places because they have worked for me as calming head clearing work spaces. Whether it's hanging out with friends or I'm alone, and just walking around the lake or up and down Nicolette, both have helped me to come up with some ideas for projects and potential projects.

How have these images served my growth as an artist?
Each of these images have served as major influences and helped grow my appreciation for art. Some may have more directly influenced my personal style than others, but there's something from each of them that's in there somewhere. One of the things that I enjoyed and took away from reading Naked Lunch is that art can be messy and still wonderful. Something doesn't have to feel totally complete, or tidy, or even totally make sense all the time for it to still be a complete and valid work of art. The rough edges and not totally conclusive incompleteness is, in my opinion, part of what makes it so interesting and alluring. It makes me a little more comfortable with wanting to make things that didn't always feel totally finished or have a conclusive story but still work because of the style or because it evokes some sort of emotion. I really enjoy movies or stories or anything that leaves you with more questions than answers and also leaves you wanting more of it. Similarly, one of the best things about the movie Eraserhead is watching it with people who’ve never seen it before. There is always a long discussion afterwards about possible interpretations of every single thing in the movie. Despite being in black and white, not all aspects of the story are black and white. Different viewers can take away completely different things from it. I really love the ambiguity in the movie. Another thing that I am drawn to that has influenced my style is the grainy black and white film look. A movie being shot in black and white also adds a surreal quality to it that I really enjoy. Part of the reason I think I am drawn to the black and white style is because I'm a little color blind. I either want a bright color pallet that really pops or don’t bother with color at all. I think that everything we see and experience in the world, whether it’s artwork or just regular everyday life, has some sort of influence on our perception of the world. Anything can influence and change our artistic styles, but some things just have more push than others.

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