Artist Profile: Tim Tate

Tim Tate is a gay artist who co-founded the Washington Glass School. He’s a third-generation Washingtonian who has begun to shift from glass to the realm of new media, and he will be speaking at the Smithsonian American Art Museum tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

The New Gay: Have you always worked in glass?

Tim Tate: I have worked in glass for most of my adult life. It’s a difficult medium to master, taking as long as 10 years. Over the last year, however, my work has shifted into self-contained video installations. This puts me squarely in the "new media" category, which opens up many new possibilities.

Saying that, it is also a massive amount of work. Glass is incredibly expensive, dangerous and unforgiving. Plus sudden popularity creates huge problems — production, transport, personal travel, and most importantly, not losing the freshness and creativity.


TNG: What are some of the ideas and themes that your work engages with?

TT: Being HIV+ for 24 years, my central theme for many, many years was healing while gaining power through adversity. It took the form of blown glass reliquaries. I seem to have left that behind with the advent of the videos — that's probably because the video allows me such a broader facet to play off of. My themes are much more inclusive now, identifiable with anyone.



TNG: Who are some of your artistic inspirations?

TT: Certainly many glass artists that only other glass artists might know, but also, because of my videos, many directors — Peter Greenaway, the Brothers Quay, for example. I would sit for hours as a kid, consuming as many movies as I could watch.


TNG: How long does it take to make a typical piece?

TT: There are so many components to each of my pieces that I am working on 10 at any given time. I blow the main glass structure, I use a lost wax method to cast the top piece (very time consuming), I wire the electronics and shoot all the videos myself. These pieces represent a huge number of man hours, not in just the completion of each piece, but in the 15 years of experience it took to comprehend each medium.

TNG: What do you see down the road artistically?

TT: Most of my future work will focus on video and other new media.

TNG: How do you think your sexuality influences your work?

TT: I'm lucky, I'm what would be termed a post-Stonewall gay. I came out and while much more difficult than it is now, there was still a support system in place. Thank God for the Gay Student Alliance at the University of Maryland. Prior to Stonewall much of "gay” art consisted of sensitive pencil drawings of male nudes, etc. I believe the reason for this is because it was so forbidden for male artist of the time to focus on male forms and females to focus on female studies. That oppression led to a lot of sensual and sexually charged imagery, usually drawn or painted.

But today, in what i call the "Post-Pedro Gay" times (this means younger people who came out after Pedro Zamora did on the MTV show "The Real World") there isn’t the continual bombardment of oppression. Quite the opposite. The mainstream media shifted their images of gay people to those that fit into society, rather than those that stood out. This I am sure is what the "New Gay" must be all about. More of a "Queer" sensibility and the ability to straddle numerous definitions of sexuality and identity.

The themes that gay artists use today have less to do with repression, and much more to do with adoption and raising a family, transgender issues, building a political base, serving in the military, living with HIV. These are much more current issues for us today.


TNG: Do you have a favorite art spot/event in DC?

TT: I currently love taking my laptop and grabbing a bite to eat at Busboys and Poets. And I will always love the Smithsonian American Art Museum.


TNG: Do you have a favorite gay spot/event?

TT: I will always love the Miss Adams Morgan day celebration.