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LBC CenterStage

Tom Walker
Vigilante constituents rally for a new kind of politician
by Lee Adams

CenterStage Artist Tom Walker is a long Beach artist with an eye directed at "testing the boundaries of gallery walls." Primarily working in metal sculpture, he is also well versed at performance art, the kind that inspires viewers to become interactive co-conspirators to that creative process. Oh, yeah, and he's also seeking a write-in candidacy for the First District City Council on March 27.

One might view this seemingly illogical pursuit (illogical for your average artist, anyway) as, perhaps, another kind of performance piece; one that will illicit controversy and conversation on both sides of the fence, artists and politicians. Perhaps this is merely a confrontational exercise designed to weigh the distance between personal perception and truth. Nah. When you talk to this guy for more than five minutes, you understand completely why he would pull a political stunt like this. He loves this city.

From working with youth programs to constantly tilling a dry, barren wasteland of committees and associations, his involvement with the community is expansive, sincere, and of-the-moment. The Public Arts projects he has in the works include downtown bike racks, bus stop shelters, and something he calls "tree protectors" that will soon appear along Alamitos Blvd., highlighting the history of that stretch of road. He has actually received PCA funding and anyone who can do that surely deserves votes.

Walker graciously sat down with LBC recently to give us a peek at the artistry in his head, his home, and his community. As an active member of the prolific Xenophile Collective , he continues to push the boundaries and explore new territory with those who share his confrontational, egalitarian vision.

And, in case you're interested in what a Xenophile is, you just have to break down the word. The root, "Xeno." Describes that which is considered strange, foreign or different. The suffix, "phile," would suggest an aficionado or at least one who embraces a concept completely. So, we can deduce that a Xenophile is somebody who embraces that which is strange and different. Tom Walker does.

LBC: I know you do quite a bit of performance art but metal sculpture is the primary art form you work in, right?

Walker: Yeah, I would say it's metal sculpture.

LBC: You've said that your desire as an artist is to communicate and, in an attempt to do that, you've performed and produced a lot of unique and unusual artistic experiments. You call this Vigilante Art. Is that something you coined or is this an established art movement?

Walker: Well, I like the word 'vigilante' maybe more so than 'guerrilla.' They're both loaded words but I like what's loaded about 'vigilante' more than 'guerrilla.' It's basically Guerrilla Art. Social Sculpture is one of the other handles of this kind of movement.

LBC: Is there perhaps something more implied in Vigilante Art than there is in other kinds of artistic expression? Something more confrontational? This is not all together about the art but rather what you're doing with the art, right? Where the art is going and how it's getting there.

Walker: Exactly. One of the greatest examples, that kind of got me really intrigued at the beginning of my process in exploring and experimenting with Vigilante Art, was an artist [in the Midwest] who was living in a warehouse. In his neighborhood [it was] very run-down, lot of gangs, lot of double-locked doors, everyone was very fearful, high crime rate. No one had any real feeling for their own community. This artist started leaving his door open while he was working in his shop. Eventually, the kids from the neighborhood started to come in and, where normally these kids would be met with fear, violence and distrust, he embraced them. Had them help him with projects, his projects as well as their own.

LBC: Kind of showed them what art was about.

Walker: Right. And in the neighborhood, which was a warehouse district, there was a shit-load of trash all around, palettes especially. In my neighborhood, I notice that there are just piles and piles of these wooden palettes everywhere and that's what he notices as well. So he started taking these palettes home and making these Adirondack chairs out of them. The kids helped him build them, paint them. Made them look great. Now this was all from the palettes, this was all free material. Then they took those chairs and put two on every front yard of every house on his block. In doing so, the people in these houses started coming out and sitting in the chairs. Got to know their neighbors where they hadn't known any of them before. Within a very short amount of time, the crime had gone way down because the kids were occupied helping the artist. And there came out of this a real sense of community. It was amazing how quickly everything turned around.

LBC: And that was, in essence, the birth of Vigilante Art.

Walker: Yeah.

LBC: So, the movement came out of that.

Walker: Well, my experimenting with it came out of that. Same as Social Sculpture where you place an installation or sculpture in an abandoned lot which, in turn, brings focus to the fact that it is an abandoned lot and that it can be used for something. Another movement is Vigilante Gardening. That's where there's a plot of land, and somebody starts planting something in, tending to it. That kicks ass. I think everywhere you look you need to see beauty. So, if you put a garden in an empty lot, that's just the epitome of that. Most especially because it's a growing, living thing. And the randomness that comes from it, I mean, when I do my work at home, it's pretty much going to stay like it is for centuries: Metal, solid, unwavering. But a growing garden, that takes over.

LBC: Maybe other people who see it might help keep it up.

Walker: Exactly.

LBC: There's a lot of other terminology that you use to describe your work. Outsider Art, Lowbrow Art, Underground Art, Maverick Art. Are these different conceptually from Vigilante Art?

Walker: I think they're different in very subtle ways. I'm not an art historian or an art scholar, outside my own head, but the terms are convenient for me. Lowbrow art is kind of, it's what you see happening a lot in Los Feliz Village. La Luz de Jesus is a tremendous gallery that features Lowbrow Art.

LBC: But it doesn't necessarily affect the community in a proactive or interactive way. Right? Is that the difference, more or less?

Walker: Umm, yeah, well, you know I think that there can be a lot of overlap. I think you can do Lowbrow Art and have it be Vigilante Art. And again, these terms, just because they make sense in my head, perhaps I'm misusing them. I don't want to imply that they are finite, static things because they're all very amoebic, umbrella shaped things.

LBC: In 1999 you were part of a non-sanctioned vigilante public art installation called "Here." Tell me how that came down and how the community appreciated or didn't appreciate that.

Walker: Okay. There's an arts group in Long Beach called Xenophile Collective , and we are just a collection of artists who… well, just do cool stuff.

LBC: But nothing that is commissioned or asked for. You just go out into the community and…

Walker: Yeah. The group started with a project called "100 Urns." There were six artists each painting four life-draw models, naked models, on a stage. The artists were positioned around them, there was music playing. Once an artist had finished his or her drawing, painting, sketch, whatever, they would go put it on an assembly line. It was like a clothesline that went along the wall. Then their work would go up for auction with a $15 dollar minimum bid. If it didn't sell, they were required to come up and destroy it. Then they would take the ripped up pieces or the stomped on work, or however they chose to destroy it, and put it in an urn or a… uh… burning vessel… What do they call it…

LBC: I'm happy with burning vessel.

Walker: (Laugh) It was this great metal incinerator.

LBC: Like a trash can fire.

Walker: Exactly. And ashes were created from the art. The ashes were then put in an actual urn, and those were the art remains. Really, it was amazingly poetic.

LBC: When people know that something is going to be destroyed, they're quicker to put a value on it, probably.

Walker: And I fell victim to that as well. Luckily, I restricted myself to how much I had to spend because they were all extraordinary artists. And the underlying message was that every single step of the way was part of the process of creation and destruction. You burned art but you created ashes. Even drawing a pencil line, you were destroying the pencil, slowly, by creating that line.

LBC: So, are we going to do this annually?

Walker: No. After that, we, the Xenophile Collective , moved on to "Here."

LBC: Tell me about that.

Walker: First, we created 300 pieces of art that we then curated out on the streets of the East Village, downtown. We attached the pieces to anything we could, public property, private property.

LBC: Without permission?

Walker: Without any prior permission, any public approval. It was all hung on foam core so it wasn't dangerous to that which we were hanging it on. You might think the images were dangerous but foam core is safe. A safe material to hang your dangerous images on.

LBC: How did that go over?

Walker: You know, enough people knew about it, and we had informed them, so there were people there and it was very well received. Part of that whole idea was that there are a lot of things you can interpret by saying "here." Like, here, finally the artists have arrived. Here we are. You wanted art? Here is art. What are you going to do with it now? This was really extraordinary art and much of it was taken down or, I should say adopted, as quickly as it went up.

LBC: By the people who's property you hung the art on?

Walker: Yeah. By the people "there," if you will.

LBC: Were the pieces purchased?

Walker: No. No money was exchanged. But it was wonderful how much stuff was donated to the collective, from all the foam core to the wire require to hang the work.

LBC: So, is that going to happen again? These are such brilliant ideas and it seems that they come and go like singular beautiful moments and then…

Walker: Well, I think it can be argued either way, the "once is enough" mentality or the "one time only" kind of thing. I think with any one of these things you have to be careful of burnout. That's something that every great collective has experienced.

LBC: Try to keep things fresh for yourselves as well as the public.

Walker: Another process entailed a friend and I taking my truck up to Signal Hill and just picking up a bunch of trash, stuff people throw away. Not candy wrappers but, you know, stuff that industries throw away. And we took it to Bixby Park, Bluff Park down there between Cherry and Juanipero on Ocean, and we dumped it and just created art right there on the spot. That was a wonderful thing because people would come by and ask about what was going on. The police would go by and they didn't stop us. We had a drum circle going at the same time making music and we just created these great art things. Then we left it there for the neighborhood to enjoy or do with it what they would.

LBC: Did you check back in with it?

Walker: We got some reports back that the very next day and there were two great pictures in the newspaper. We had created this great trash spider with wrapper tubes.

LBC: Shipping tubes?

Walker: Yeah, shipping tubes. It had eight legs, probably 16', 20' long. It was hanging in a tree and in the first picture there was a father with his two young children playing around this spider. Then in the next picture, he was carrying it home with him.

LBC: The kids wanted it!

Walker: They wanted it real bad.

LBC: That's adorable.

Walker: It really was. And I did have a friend in the neighborhood who had a problem with us leaving the stuff there in the park. It was trash and with any of these projects you have to listen to the response of the people involved.

LBC: Because if somebody didn't take to the process, they might harm the artist's work. But what I hear you saying over and over again is that that's part of the process. Artists know that going into Vigilante Art. They understand the ramifications.

Walker: Yes. We consider that we could even get arrested for this kind of thing so we try to figure out as many of the legal ramifications as possible going in. One of the things that intrigues me about this is that we're allowing people who would not normally go into museums to see and experience art. It might be pompous to call your work art, especially with something like Trash Art, but we call it that anyway.

LBC: No one can stop you.

Walker: There are so many opinions about what art is, like, it needs to be in a gallery to be art or an artist needs to die before his art can be valued, you know? Personally, I think there is a lot of stuff out there that you see daily that is art, though it might not be regarded as such. And that's a big part of this process, as well. This is your street. Do with it what you want. We just happen to want to put up art. So, what do you want to do about it? And I don't mean that in a necessarily confrontational way because, personally, I don't see myself as a confrontational person. I like to pose questions.

LBC: You do talk about keeping your work interactive. And that's what you're doing with these projects, sort of home-delivering this work into peoples lives who would not have been aware of it otherwise. And now an extension of that art is what those people choose to do with it. So, the work doesn't end with the completion of each piece but rather with the interaction of the people you're sharing it with.

Walker: That's exactly it.

LBC: So you try to create a dialogue with the work, a dialogue between the artist and the audience and maybe the art itself.

Walker: Yeah. The word dialogue is all encompassing so it doesn't have to be between two people…

LBC: It can be a one-sided conversation.

Walker: I think, for me, dialogue is exactly opposite in that, that there are no sides. I think dialogue is an egoless process. I think that when the ego disappears between two people, between a person and an object, between whatever, then there's a… singular movement, uh… I'm blowing it on this one.

LBC: Hey, you're a visual artist, man. It's okay.

Walker: But I'm really trying to get this point across.

LBC: Well, let's try this. I've heard you say that in the creative process, the ego is shut off. How do you mean that?

Walker: I think that art, music, any kind of art is, even with our best efforts, very egocentric. It's our desire to communicate.

LBC: I'm interested in hearing, or maybe I want to learn from you, how one gets past that point and have it be something more pure, more organic.

Walker: Creativity and the creative process may be two separate entities. So, when I say that the action of creativity for me, (I'll throw in that caveat because frankly, we could all be wrong) and I only notice this afterwards, I find that my mind opens.

LBC: After you finish a project?

Walker: Yeah. And there have been many moments when I felt, I know this is hippy talk but, at one with the universe. And I think it's noticed afterwards because afterwards the ego comes back in.

LBC: During the process, the artist becomes a channel. You're actually channeling something.

Walker: That's creativity. Energy is flowing. I think creating art, especially the way I do it with other people, there are egos. But the cool thing is that you see the ego clearly. I know I do. It raises its head and says, "No, why don't we do it this way." Then I step back and consider, "You know what? I wonder what would happen if I pull back a little and observe that urge and then see if it has to go." Often things need to be guided in the creative process and other times, just as many times, when you pull back, things work out for the best that way. You know what I mean?

LBC: Yes, I do.

Walker: I mean, being in a band, creating music together, that's the same kind of process, isn't it?

LBC: (Laugh) I was never any good at it. Wrote the music by myself. I want to learn from you, brother.

Walker: It's a tremendous challenge. But for me it comes down to communication. Now, I'm not saying I don't dig working on my own shit, by myself. But there's a tremendous challenge there and that's what I want to do.

LBC: You work with other groups occasionally, other than the Xenophile Collective, right? You've worked with the Bong Leach and Incubator Collective.

Walker: Yeah, I did one project with Incubator. I really wish those folks would come together again. That was a tremendous experience. We did a project called "Safehouse."

LBC: Tell me.

Walker: The concept was awesome. This was a house curated by rooms like there was a front porch with front porch art on it and a bathroom with art that represented a bathroom like mosaic tiles and such, a dressing room that held textile art. A library filled with literature and a front room with art on every wall. And there were some great bands that played throughout the day in the den. It was a big hit.

LBC: Big turn-out?

Walker: Probably over 1,000 people. It was great. And that's really what Bong Leach was about, as well. Bong Leach used to throw these great parties that were music-based if you were in to music and art based if you were in to art. So when you put it together, people who would normally go see art got to hear some great music and those who came for the music got to see the art.

LBC: You do a lot of Performance Art. Of course, it sounds like everything you do has some element of that in it but you do quite a bit of classic, literal performance pieces, as well. And that's atypical for an artist who primarily works in metal sculpture, isn't it? Is that an extension of Vigilante Art?

Walker: Yes, it is. I think that it provides me with very quick results. You know if I work on a sculpture there are many steps to the process but with performance art, you get immediate feedback and that's kind of cool.

LBC: Good and bad feedback.

Walker: Right, and bring it on.

LBC: So, if you're looking for "interactive," Performance Art is the way to go.

Walker: Exactly. Don't you work quite a bit on stage?

LBC: Well, I did when I was in a band. I'm not sure that I'd call that Performance Art. Though I was pretty good at dealing with hecklers. That can be pretty interactive. But I've never painted myself silver and wandered through the F&M Bank.

Walker: (Laugh) That's Performance art. There are so many great projects to get involved with. As busy as I am, I haven't been able to say no to one so far. There so much going on in this city, so much energy, so many artistic opportunities.

LBC: Regarding artistic opportunities, I think it's important to talk about the fact that you're running for City Council on a write-in vote, March 27. Not just any artist would be so inclined but I think once people talk to you for a bit it comes clear that your passion and desires to improve the city is a good reason to attempt to get a foothold in that aspect of your community, that machinery.

Walker: Good. Thanks.

LBC: Because everything you do seems designed to make the community a better place.

Walker: To make the world a better place.

LBC: When I was driving over here for the interview, I was weighing the possibility that this run for Council may well be another kind of performance art on your part. Like, "How far can I push this envelope?" I suppose I was wrong because you're so sincere. Not that Performance Art is insincere but this is a different reason to coat-and-tie it, if you will. I wonder what I'm saying. Just what the hell are you trying to accomplish by running for office, Tom?

Walker: I don't think you're completely wrong. I think there's a part of me that's milking it for all the hoots and giggles I can. I ran into a friend the other day and he grabbed my arm and pulled me close and said, "I heard that you're running for City Council. Are you serious?" He was convinced that I was going to say no, that it was a performance piece and that I was just doing it for laughs. But, you know, there are federal laws prohibiting such things so I'm clearly not doing that.

LBC: Certainly not.

Walker: But I'm as serious about it as I am about anything else that I do.

LBC: Well, that's a very malleable answer.

Walker: I'm as serious as anyone out there. I know the issues. I have the knowledge to do the job. I have the ability to do the job.

LBC: You're certainly hooked up. I mean, everybody in town must know you.

Walker: I've sat on a number of committees for the area, Central Planning Committee, East Village Association, West End Community Association. I'm on several boards and task forces. I can do the job. The only problem is that the only issue I'll talk about is art.

LBC: And that may severely limit your ability to be elected.

CenterStage Artist Walker: But it's my belief that art is what makes a city great. It transforms depressed areas to thriving areas. If you go through an area that's depressed, blighted, untended, unadopted, you'll notice the difference between that and an area where there is a lot of art because people feel a stewardship with their environment if it's beautiful. And that's the difference. In a very simplistic way, that which is beautiful is adopted, embraced. Our sidewalks are cracked. Our alleys are worse. But give people a reason to care about their sidewalks and their sidewalks will change. They'll go to council meetings. They'll make it happen. I know it. I've seen it. That's what happens when you give people a reason to love their environment. That's why art is so important, to Long Beach, to the world.

View Tom Walker's LBC page and events

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