On finding inspiration from your inner tween, NDA-worthy events and “ass-in-chair” time.
In Conversation With Bianca Dunn, Artist and Collage Night Organizer
Bianca organizes collage events in NYC from start to finish; from booking the talent, the space as well as facilitating and hosting the night with fresh prompts and buckets of collage materials she has collected.
When she’s not throwing collage nights, she is doing collage, of course, as well as other illustration projects, mostly for biology research journals (she used to work in microbiology research). In her free time she loves going out dancing, hearing new music, moving my body through yoga or running, reading, writing, going to the movies, being silly with her people, and staring blankly into the clear blue sky.
The next collage night is January 7th at Trans-Pecos, It’s vision board night- come through to visualize visualize and manifest your goals for the year!
Follow her on insta @biancadunn.studio
🎨 On listening to your inner Tween
If I really think about it, I’ve been throwing events since I was tween (craft nights with friends…student government…camp counselor…lol), but more officially, throwing collage nights in NYC since 2022. My collage night was heavily inspired by two mentors: Simon Levenson, an amazing fine artist who draws, paints, and puts on figure drawing classes in NYC, and Stephen Byram, an incredible designer and collage artist whose collage class I took through SVA Continuing Education. They both taught me how to be organized, create a class structure, center artmaking, and get creative, analytical, and weird. I also want to shout out the Scribbles art events thrown by Taia and Franki, who are dear friends of mine that are also paving the way with cool art-focused events.
🙊 On NDA-worthy Events
I went to David Choe’s “Choe Show” event in this abandoned office building in LA in 2017 which was mind-blowing and super inspiring for me as an artist. There was a whole application to attend the show, there were all these guidelines/rules, and I even signed an NDA. The show had a lot to do with processing trauma; there were different rooms, exercises, actors, scenes, music, art, and so much more. It gave me exposure to experiencing art in a nontraditional, interactive way.
🍑 On Ass In Chair Time
If you’re an artist of any kind, you spend a lot of time alone. As my friend and poet Mara Beneway says, you must have “ass in chair” time. Which can make you feel cuckoo. So you have to make sure you get outside, socialize, and cleanse the brain. Collage night definitely helps me get outside of myself, and I can see how it benefits others in the same way. Group artmaking will never replace individual artmaking (I can for sure focus better alone), but it really opens your mind to see how others approach a prompt and how they create art. I get a high from seeing each person’s way of being creative, especially when it’s a friend that I know but have never seen how they visually express themselves. I just love being together making art in a shared space and I’ll keep doing it as long as I can!
🖼️ Is It Collage?
Well… one way of mine that I think is clever, is a game I play on Instagram stories called “Is It Collage?” I post photos of things that I’ve seen on the street that are interesting little predicaments and I include a poll asking, “Is It Collage?” The viewer answers “yes” or “no” depending totally on their opinion of what collage is. It’s promotional but mostly just a fun game I made up that challenges people to think about the definition of collage vs. assemblage vs. sculpture vs. mixed media vs. random trash vs. art in general. And maybe it’ll get people to start seeing art in their everyday life, and then maybe come channel that in a collage night!
🍑🍑 On Getting Asses in Chairs
Make it accessible! Do sliding scale ticket prices so people can adjust based on their financial situation. Make it low pressure and open-minded and welcoming. Make people feel seen and heard.