A brief interview with 2016 Open Studio Tour Artist: Sara Dittrich
Can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do in your studio?
I often take a multimedia approach, using sculptural objects, musical performance, video, and interactive electronic technologies to investigate the dynamic acts of listening, communicating and moving. Most recently though I’ve been obsessed with using doll push molds to create hundreds of tiny ears and feet out of clay. I find the repetitive process of using these molds very meditative. Philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s text, “Rhythmanalysis”, has inspired this latest body of work as he writes, “He listens—and first to his body; he learns rhythm from it, in order consequently to appreciate external rhythms. His body serves him as a metronome.” In Lefebvre’s text he further explains how the body is the first point of analysis when it comes to interpreting the myriad of rhythms that surround us (e.g. social, cultural, musical, biological, environmental). I use devices such as repetition, absurdity, and collaboration to filter in the physical rhythms and movements of the body created by the accumulation of footsteps, breaths, and heartbeats. These tools work together to place the viewer in the here and now, and create spaces to “just be”.
Artwork by Sara Dittrich
The entrance to the parking lot of the studio building is marked by black barrels. Once you turn into the lot, you will see a concrete ramp on your right. The entrance door to the studios is at the top of the ramp. You can park at the top of the ramp or at the bottom of it.