“Uncontrollable Misinterpretations”: An Interview with Adán De La Garza

Adán and I first met in Toronto in 2014 when Nothing to See Here (a collaborative art project with Christina Battle) presented two curated programs, namely, Loud!!!, a program of moving image works in which the sound component of the work is prioritized, and Denver ≥ Denver, a screening of Denver-based artists. Was Come Steal My Art (2009), an exhibition where you invited people to come and attempt to steal your artwork, your first “real” performance? If you include labour (or my student loans), I didn’t break even; however, that exhibition showed me the potential of performance. In your performance video Arbitrary Self Improvement (2014), you attempt to develop a set of skills that have no practical purpose in everyday life.