Olaf Breuning


My studio and me. I've had this place for a few months, and I am very happy about it. For most of my career, I worked at home. I didn't know then how much better it was to work dressed in real clothes rather than pajamas. The works in this photograph are made out of found objects from Chinatown. They're part of a body of work entitled Chinatown Objects. Like Man Ray in old times, I go to a store (Pearl River), buy something already existing, and add other objects to it. The fact that all the materials are "Made in China" seems normal these days, but, as an artist who always tries to be timeless in time, I find them perfect contemporary materials to work with. I take what I get and that is what I get.

You can't really see me in the photo. I'm sitting in the dark storage room. The photographer did a very good job of hiding me.... I like that photo. Really, I do, no joke....