Interview
What inspired you to become an artist and when did you start taking art seriously?
I had no choice; art chose me. I'm self-taught. I had my first major public exhibition of oil paintings at Rockefeller Plaza when I was 12. Except for a brief hiatus from 16 to 18 years old due to sex, drugs, and rock & roll, I've been a visual artist since I was 6.
Which artists or art movements have most influenced your style and work?
All art forms combined are more influential than any one. I am an evolving product of billions of influences.
Could you walk us through the creative process you go through when creating a new piece?
I always start with concepts. For me, painting is a constant process of surprising myself, whereas photography or sculpture is a more rigorous and demanding process of realizing an idea.
Is there a particular theme or message you want to convey in your work?
While my various bodies of work are symbolic and minimalist, they all address universally fundamental aspects of life, energy, and matter. I am inspired by spheres of influence, chance, emergent complexity, and becoming, where the only constant is constant change.
What has been the biggest challenge on your artistic journey so far, and how did you deal with it?
Unique challenges are constant and welcome. Learning by doing and self-criticism are encouraged.
Are there any techniques and materials that you prefer?
Since my work is concept-driven, any material, medium, or process that best aligns with my concepts is the best.
Mastering many different skills enriches my palette, and I have often been able to invent new techniques and tools to realize my conceptual ideas - such as "Interactive Granite".
Is there a particular place where you prefer to work?
In my thoughts all over the world.
Where do you see yourself and your art in the next five years?
Evolving, expanding, surprising itself as always.
Do you have a "philosophy" that guides your creative expression?
Lose your mind so you can find something. Trust in influence instead of control.
What advice would you give to young artists who are just starting out?
Never become an artist for the money or fame... :) But seriously: Don't be afraid to push yourself beyond your creative or intellectual comfort zone. In other words: Don't get stuck.
David Fried "Stemmers"
The interlocking spheres and the multifaceted internal structures of the "Stemmers" evoke a variety of phenomena and processes from nature and urban space. Although their form is clearly based on general laws of economics and self-organization, such as those found in adaptive bubble formation, there is also a deliberate association with organic cell clusters.
Focusing on the most fundamental form of autonomy—the membrane: both a boundary and a communicator between a self and its environment—David Fried formulates here an abstract representation of the origin of life, whether natural or constructed. Its forms appear in a not yet fully differentiated but fertile stage—like a Venus of Willendorf at conception—full of potential, ready for chance, influence, and self-determination.
In Fried’s mirror polished stainless steel versions, we see the environment and ourselves reflected in the faceted surfaces, absorbed 360° by the sculpture. Its appearance is integrated with–and largely defined by its environment, hinting that one‘s sense of identity is a complex development of ‘nature and nurture’.
David Fried "Ways of Words"
Fried's photographic series "Way of Words" is a series of long-exposure images, or 'motiongrams,' of his sound-stimulated "SOS" sculptures, which respond and move in real time to the artist's spoken words. They document both the initial stationary constellations and the lively actions of the interactive spheres that ensue when the artist speaks selected quotations to them. Just as information informs matter, each motiongram contains the heard message, resulting in a kind of calligraphic symbol. The actual quotation for each image is the subtitle.
The "Self-Organizing Still Life" sculptures consist of solid spheres set in motion by ambient noise on a given flat object. The audible sound is shaped live into waves that silently set each of the spheres in motion. The resulting actions of the individual spheres and their interactions with each other are indeterminate. They rearrange themselves in ever-changing patterns of an elegantly flowing choreography.
Some kiss, some spin on their own, others race toward each other head-on, then meet in a gentle embrace, or they evade each other, often changing the path and fate of the other without physical contact, as each sphere is capable of sensing each other. He is able to give each of the massive, handcrafted spheres an individual character that allows them to react and behave differently to live sounds. Just as two people dance differently to the same music, the spheres interact in a unique and vibrant choreography, directly initiated by their environment. When an acoustic signal is no longer perceived, the spheres come to rest in ever-changing constellations. (Still life)
By simultaneously influencing and tracking the spheres' movements, our attention is increasingly drawn to the nonlinear dynamic relationships unfolding between them, shifting the focus from the individual objects themselves to a highly subjective view of a larger picture. Fried's interactive sculptures create a complex live visual experience and are compelling in their symbolically provocative simplicity, prompting viewers to develop new perspectives on relationships, life, and the universe of thought.