Chris Martin

New York artist

interview by BILL POWERS
studio portrait BY MAGNUS UNNAR

Chris Martin in Front of his pinting Untitled, 2014, acrylic, glitter, and collage on canvas

 

BILL POWERS — Some of your paintings have T.A.Z. written across the bottom. What does that stand for?
CHRIS MARTIN — T.A.Z. is this great book of anarchist diatribes by Hakim Bey (aka Peter Lamborn Wilson). The letters are an acronym for Temporary Autonomous Zone. The message is freedom; that in the midst of empire, you have to hunker down and find these little pirate utopias where you can express yourself. He’s also in favor of laziness and getting off the clock, get- ting away from the system.

BILL POWERS — On occasion you use vinyl LPs as mate- rial in your paintings or collaged images of musicians. It made me think of the Dan Graham video, “Rock…