Made in Chicago: The Post Family

By Jess D'Amico in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 15, 2008 9:09PM

Photo by Sam Rosen from The Post Family

Artists have a reputation of being snobbish, standoffish and altogether pretentious loners. Some are glad to claim that title while others, like the members of The Post Family are out to prove it wrong. The troupe of mostly paper-goods artists share a loft space and website where they collaborate and hawk their wares. They also encourage anyone to say "hello." In their own words:

"We enjoy letterpressing, screenprinting, playing music, designing websites, laughing at the expense of each other, debating politics and even drinking some PBR (they tend to sponsor our gatherings but we weren't paid to say that, yet). "

Hailing from all over the US (except Chicago born and bred Sam Rosen), we sat the boys down to talk about commercial art, marine biology, and Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers.

Chicagoist: How do you make your art stand out from everything else out there?

Alex Fuller: It's less about making my work stand out and more about putting together an interesting concept. Hopefully the execution is unique. If not, oh well. I enjoy the process most.
Sam Rosen: I have a hard time being completely unique. There are so many artists and so many experiments out there. I try to find stuff that really interests me and just play with it.
Rod Hunting: I just do things that I like, art that I would like to see, and if other people like it, then that’s great.
Chad Kouri: I think that we focus on trying to inform the people that would be interested in our work rather than thinking about how we can stand out.
Scott Thomas: You just look through your own eyes.
David Sieren: Its all about the passion behind and belief in what you are doing. Your audiences will know if you are pandering to them to make a buck.

C: Where do you want to go with your art? Where do you see yourself in five years?

AF: I am more interested in the journey that comes from art making. I have no idea what I will be making in five years. I might just be writing jingles.
SR: During the day I work on such commercial work that I really hope in five years I don’t have to worry about money. I can explore different projects I have in my notebooks, take more photos, travel more.
RH: Keep doing it and hopefully make a better living with it. In five years I hope to be drawing and printing much more.
CK: In five years I see myself helping other people figuring out what they want to do in five years. I really enjoy informing the masses about art and indirectly helping people find a direction.
DS: I guess I could see this manifesting itself in a more robust self-run commercial studio. I’d love to not have to rely on someone else for my dependable day-job.

C: How did you start making stuff?

AF: I started drawing and designing video game interfaces. I would build these mini arcades of paper prototypes. I was a crafty lad.
SR: Mom = Painter, Dad = Director. Been making art since I was in the crib. It’s in my blood.
RH: I’ve always drawn and painted as long as I can remember.
CK: The earliest memory I have of making stuff is making a ramp to jump off on my crappy mountain bike when I was 8. I haven't stopped since.
ST: Drawing floorplans in my notebook that just resembled my own house with big swimming pools and big rooms for baseball cards.
DS: I’ve always carried a sketchbook and Bic pen around with me as long as I can remember — even during the period in my life when I thought I’d become a marine biologist.

C: Why is the sky blue?

SR: The sky isn’t really blue. It’s every color in the spectrum and the absence of blue. How bout them apples?
RH: The sky is gray right now‚ next question.
CK: Because god's robe is blue.
DS: If it were any other color, it would look like a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper scene. No one wants that.

C: What does your process look like?

AF: A white pony leaping over a pyramid.
SR: I spend a lot of time exploring and screwing around (not procrastinating). The more time I mess around with something the better the end product.
RH: I find something that I like, draw it, print it.
CK: !^&%(#@(&^#@(!^%@#*&... yeah... thats about right.
ST: If question asked == process echo. Something like that they probably won’t understand.
DS: Lots of thoughts, scribbles and fragments scrawled across various scraps of paper, which often lead nowhere. Then every once in awhile, one of those ideas resonates with me and I follow it through.

C: Tell us a secret. . .

AF: I am writing these answers in TextEdit and not Word.
SR: Scott from the Family designed the Obama site. That’s pretty bad-ass- yet no one seems to know. I guess that isn’t a secret. Also, we're not really brothers.
RH: I stole G.I. Joes from Wal-Mart when I was 9.
CK: It was me who finished my roommates' butter and didn't buy more.
DS: I deserved to have that chair thrown at me, but the poison ivy threat went a bit to far.

C: What's the Chicago art scene look like?

AF: The Chicago art scene looks like a little cuddly polar bear cub.
SR: The Post Family is my Chicago art scene. So, I would say pretty handsome and dressed like a hipster.
RH: A bunch of hipsters standing around drinking Pabst?
CK: Slowly but surely, the art scene here is getting the respect it deserves. The people that are sticking around are getting together with like-minded people and really doing some cool stuff.
ST: Of course it’s a little cuddly polar bear. These other guys have no idea.
DS: Great talent, passion and work ethic minus the extreme pretension one can experience within certain scenes on the Coasts. There really is something to a Mid-West ethic, no matter how much of a melting pot ours in particular is.

C: Where do you see that culture going?

AF: Seriously, there are very joyous and supportive people making art here. Dang crafty too. I think it will keep growing and become even more collaborative. If anyone has an idea and wants to make stuff with us, just holler.
SR: No major newspaper, magazine, website would of ever heard of us if it wasn’t for the Interweb and it’s connecting ability. People always have made cool shit, now it just doesn’t take someone with a ton of resources to get the word out. Thus, the cool stuff floats to the top (sometimes).
RH: More Pabst drinking?
CK: I can't really think about that... it hurts my brain.
ST: Out the door.
DS: I like Sam’s point. A physical community will always be an incredibly important element to an artist’s existence. However, the internet has created the Über artist-colony, which plays its own integral role in defining how individuals develop and grow.

C: Any advice for nascent artists?

AF: Who said I was nascent?
SR: Start small, one step at a time. Figure out what you want to do, figure out the first thing you have to do to make it happen. Then do it. Then figure out the next thing. Then do it.
RH: Squids are the new owls.
CK: I have no idea what that means.
ST: Just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential: the nascent space industry.
DS: Procrastination can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Now that Lost is back on, its up to you to decide how the scale is tipping.

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