Interview with Sculpture Faculty Christian Tedeschi

by Christen Sperry-Garica

Christen Sperry-Garcia: Tell me about your background.
Christian Tedeschi: I come from a family of six, 3 brothers and 1 sister. We grew up in the South Jersey (Camden) and Philly area. My whole family still lives in Jersey. I went to Catholic school up until eighth grade when I got kicked out, finished up 8th grade in a public school, went back to Catholic school for 9th grade, got kicked-out, went to boarding school for 10th and 11th grade, got kicked out again, and finished my 12th grade year at a public high school. My brother owned a record store in Jersey and I worked for him from age 13-20.

CSG: How did you become interested in art?
CT: Because I got into so much trouble in school and at home, they would put me in a “room” by myself, I chose to pass the time drawing, which meant I had a lot of time to draw. Then, all I wanted to do was be suspended so I could draw. I liked being left alone and making stuff. After high school, I took classes at a clay studio and at Camden County Community College. I knew I wanted to work with clay, and straddled sculpture and ceramics. It was there that I learned the efficient work ethic of a potter. I also learned how to cast bronze and make molds. Up until this time, I wasn’t aware that one could make a career out of art and go to school for it. It was through these experiences that I learned you could. So, I told my parents that I wanted to go to school to be an artist. They were very thrilled that I was focused on something AND it kept me out of trouble. Soon after, I applied to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

CSG: What was your undergraduate experience like?
CT: I started out at the University of Arts in Philadelphia talking classes in both the music and the art department. I was also a drummer in a band, so I played drums in the music department. I also made drums and other instruments out of clay. One day, my professor asked me if I could sculpt the feeling of music out of clay. When he presented me with that challenge, I was so interested in it that I stopped playing in the music department, and pursued clay and sculpture.

CSG: Did you continue right on to graduate school after getting your Bachelor’s Degree?
CT: No, I took a year off and worked at Pearl Art Store in Philly where I met Kukuli Velarde, a Peruvian ceramicist and sculptor. She asked me to be her studio assistant. I spent the next year in her studio building and casting figures. She is an amazing person.

CSG: Tell me about your graduate school experience.
CT: I knew that I wanted to further my work and get out of Philly, so I applied to Cranbrook and got in. There I studied with Ceramic Artist Tony Hepburn, an amazing person. He was a very perceptive person, and taught me to really think about my work. I continued to work in ceramics and sculpture.

CSG: What were your goals after finishing grad school?
CT: I really didn’t have any goals other than I wanted to keep working. I saw all of the other grads applying anywhere and everywhere to teach. I remember thinking “I have a studio, why waste time applying to places”? In my last days at Cranbrook, I got a call from someone at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit who had seen my work and asked me to apply as adjunct. I ended up teaching there for 4 ½ years. It was an amazing experience. It was so exciting to see people leave school and continue to work and further develop the same ideas.

CSG: What other things were you up to besides teaching?
CT: I started up a collective called Telegraph. It’s a group of artists, based in Detroit. We show our work nationally and internationally. We’re all sculptors but our work is very different.

CSG: Can you tell me more about Object Orange and its origins?
CT: Around 2004, I started working in abandoned buildings in Detroit. I spent my time exploring and playing in these abandoned spaces. They offered so much potential and material to work with. I then got connected with these graffiti artists, and we had a show in Milan. I ended up being more of a lookout for the cops, since there was not much space I could work with. I saw graffiti as self-advertisement and was not interested in that. I asked myself, “What could I do for the city to make a public mark that stuck- that was not ego-centric?” Living in Detroit, I saw beautiful areas and areas where poor kids lived among abandoned, burned down houses. This was a symbol of defeat, abandon, and neglect that bred crime. I decided to ask two friends in Detroit if they would collaborate and paint abandoned houses gold. Gold ended up being too expensive so, we chose “Tiggerific Orange,” a paint that represented “caution.” After we painted our first home, to our surprise, the city tore it down. They thought they were destroying someone’s art but they were really completing it. In painting these houses we engaged in a dialogue with the city. All together, we have painted about 15 houses, half of which the city has torn down. The residents in the areas of our painted houses loved it, as they had been trying to get the city to tear down the houses for 20 years. Since I have moved, the three guys left have painted one or two houses, and have moved on to other things that I am not as happy with using Object Orange’s name.

CSG: What is your teaching philosophy?
CT: I want to encourage students to find their own “hand” and trust in their own vision so they can make honest, yet relevant work. It is a privilege for me to be a part of the journey. When I see them out of school and still making work, I get really excited because it’s not an easy road, and they do it because they have to. I want my students to become engaged members of the art community.

CSG: What is your overall impression of the LA area?
CT: It is taking me a while to grasp the enormity of it. I am used to smaller places, like going from New York to Philly to Jersey in one day. A car is an extension of my body here. People come here to be somebody, and that’s intense. I like the amount of sculpture in LA. All of my heroes came from here. I was told as an undergrad to go to LA. I like the people here and its expansiveness. It’s an exciting place to go exploring.

Published 02/11/2007