Nayland Blake, Visiting Artist Lecture 2017

In this lengthy lecture, interdisciplinary artist Nayland Blake gives a comprehensive view of their artistic practice, showing over 200 slides of their work. Touching on themes of identity politics, sexuality, social practice, and collaboration, Blake consistently asks themselves what are the things in their life that they are not letting into the work, and what happens when they allow external forces to become a part of their life and work. Blake also talks about design language in their practice, whether it is with BDSM or sculpture, and how for them, working with objects has given them the ability to express a rhetoric of functionalism. Blake then tells the participants the importance of giving themselves constant art assignments and having a daily drawing practice as a way to always think through ideas.