Fables & Folktales | An Interview with AJ Fosik | The Drama

AJ Fosik feels most comfortable when surrounded by wood, shoe polish, some house paint, and a hatchet. However, don’t be alarmed, Fosik’s intentions are purely artistic. The 29-year-old Detroit native, who crafts sculptures and paintings that can be best described as folk art meets fantasy, creates raw but salient work that represents—in a somewhat surrealistic manner—the way in which people go about living their lives. Between gallery shows, wandering the continental United States, and listening to old Woody Guthrie tunes, the talented Mr. Fosik took a moment to chat with The Drama about life, art, and the radioactive buildings of downtown Detroit.

What initially attracted you to art? Did you experience one of those "Holy fuck, I could do this for the rest of my life" type moments, or was it a gradual progression?

I don't know about the initial attraction but I'm still waiting for that ‘Holy Fuck’ moment. It's more often a ‘tell myself over and over that all the sacrifices are worth it and I'm struggling for something I believe in and convince myself that no matter how low it gets I'm doing the right thing’ moment.

I understand you're originally from Detroit Rock City but now hang your hat in Brooklyn. With that said, which city do you prefer and why?

Detroit is a pretty amazing place, it’s hard to beat. A lot of Detroit is just frozen exactly the way it was 40 years ago when the bottom fell out—there are entire high rise buildings right in the center of downtown Detroit that are completely empty. You can walk right up to the top of a thirty story penthouse that was just left to rot, it’s incredible. You do have to be semi-careful in Detroit though; I found out a favorite building of mine was condemned due to radiation contamination. Apparently there use to be a watch manufacturer in this place and whatever the material was that they used to use to illuminate the hands and numbers on watch faces was apparently quite radioactive and this company had just been dumping tons of the stuff in the basement. Aside from the industrial hazards though, there aren’t too many places left in the country with the kind of character that Detroit has.

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As far as Brooklyn, currently I’m on a hiatus. Right now I’m residing in the Rocky Mountains and before that I spent a year in southern California. It’s pretty much inevitable that I’ll end up back on the east coast but I’m going to try and pack a few more zip codes in before I get sucked back into the Brooklyn vortex.

How would you describe your work to a blind man?

I [would] say: ‘Hey, I got a thousand pieces of wood here, are you gonna help me or just stand there?’ He walks over and I have him hold some. He tries to back up. I say: ‘Don’t back up there’s sharp shit everywhere.’ So he just stands there. I tell him to sit on a couple of cans of paint. He does.

‘What are you making?’ he asks. ‘Fighters,’ I say. ‘What for?’ he asks. That is the wrong question I think to myself but don’t say anything except ask him for some [more] of the wood. I glue pieces on. A face forms. I tell him so and he nods approvingly.

‘Everything needs a face,’ he says. I hand him all the teeth I’ve carved. He fingers them. ‘Is the mouth open?’ he asks. I tell him yes. He sits for hours not asking me anything just listening to me rustle around with the wood and glue. When I’m done I tell him, ‘I’m done.’ I put what I’ve made on his lap. ‘Is it human?’ he asks. ‘Don’t worry, at least half,’ I assure him.

I like this blind man, he’s laid back yet inquisitive, helpful but not too overbearing. I sort of want to take him out to dinner. Anyway, you say to this guy that the piece you’ve created is “at least half” human. Do you strive to create work that reflects life, or is there another motive at work?

You can have other motives, but it all ends up representing the way we go about living this here life. What kind of representation you want to make is a good question along with what tools you’ll pick for the job.

You work in several mediums but primarily sculpture and painting. How did you decide what medium would best suit your ideas?

Sometimes fleshing things out dimensionally is the only way my ideas feel complete, saws and adhesives and stains often feel much more authentic to me.

Those who don't appreciate art often play down its importance in society. What do you see as art's role in today's ever-changing world?

Who are these art naysayers? Where are they holed up? Are they armed? My role has not changed. I’ll be in the basement with wood and shoe polish. Wood and shoe polish, house paint, a hatchet, pages from a lost book.

If you could sit down and chat with one of your personal heroes, living or dead, who would it be and why?

It would be very weird to chat with a dead personal hero. But in a good weird way, like a macabre salad tossed lightly with rotting carcass. I don’t know if I could narrow it down to one, who can choose these things. There’s far too many choices and I know that’s supposed to be appealing but it’s also overwhelming. I’m dancing round your question. I guess I don’t know—Maybe Woody Guthrie; maybe Dock Boggs. Why? Not sure. But I don’t think there’d be much in the way of chatting.

Hmm, not much chatting. I’m intrigued. What would be happening then?

Liquor flowing. Banjos going. Moon glowing. Wind a’ blowing. Holy Rollin.

Do you believe an artist must make money from his or her work to be considered an artist?

Of course not—maybe some of the best artists never saw a penny from any of it in their lifetimes. Making some scratch from your art may make your life easier, but it probably doesn’t (or it shouldn’t) have anything to do with being an artist. Does anyone answer yes to this question?

I wouldn’t know, you’re the first person I’ve ever asked this question to. I wonder then, do you think hungry artists produce better work than say, artsy-fartsy established types living the cushy life?

It’s hard for me to say as I have never had the good fortune to make art from an artsy-fartsy, established position. It seems to me there is something to be said for hunger as a motivational factor but having the resources available to really be able to explore ideas would be nice. I often feel that my ideas are hindered by a lack of resources [such as] tools and supplies

American society has become increasingly dependent on visual language. Do you believe we're getting stupider or more advanced?

I don’t know if it’s about society getting stupider or more advanced. It may have something to do with the evolution of a different kind of language. Signs [and] logos [are] becoming more important than what they represent, copies are better than originals; illusions are preferred to realities and all that. You could argue that it’s universalizing but I don’t agree. I think it more has to do with values. And what we prefer to value is an appearance of something rather than the essence of it—this is all more astutely written [about] by Guy Debord.

Let's discuss your working habits. Are you a workaholic or have you figured out a way to balance work and free time fairly well?

I think if I could ingest twice as many stimulants and three times as many depressants, I’d be able to work at maximum capacity. Unfortunately, I no longer live close enough to the Mexican border for that to be a reality. So, for the time being, I tend to work in waves of extreme mania and then suffer through long droughts.

When and where was your first exhibition and what was that experience like?

Like so many, too many, up-and-comers, I had been putting my junk out in the streets for a while before it was deemed appropriate to bring inside. The relationship between those two settings has been discussed ad nauseam, so I’ll leave that alone. But primarily in the beginning it was me and Mr. Rot Gut, he’s a good guy to cut your teeth with.

Wait, who’s Mr. Rot Gut? Or are we talking about alcohol? And, I assume you’re referring to ‘street art’—the term everyone loves to hate?

Rot Gut is an actual person and Gut Rot is cheap alcohol. Both have been equally indispensable to me. The first is a trusted accomplice and one of the few people putting up worthwhile ‘street art.’ The latter is a trusted fiend who has taught unforgettable lessons to my innards.

What projects are you currently working on?

I just finished replacing the serpentine belt on my truck. I’d also like to learn to dance like Sting in Quadrophenia but that probably will never come to fruition.

On a more personal and somewhat intrusive note, do you have any bad habits—you know, shit that grosses people out?

I like to cut off the top of my skull and tip it to all the lovely ladies.

Any closing words for the folks at home?

I’m really not much for closings or finales, there tends to be too much of that already.