Rahne Alexander

Rahne Alexander

Interviewed by Kevin Nguyen

October 2020

Kevin: First question, what has inspired you to strive towards multiple forms of art?

Rahne: I have a lot of interests, and I think it really comes down to trying to find the best way to convey an idea. I have explored a lot of things: I work in music, I work in video, I work in performance and I work in text. I’ve started to make object art as well. And, I feel like it’s when inspiration strikes, that’s when I’ll try to implement it. So really, I think at this point in my career if I have an idea, I see if it can function as a song, function in performance, should I make a video piece about it? It’s really tailoring to what I feel that I’d have a say of in the moment to the medium that I’m working in at the time.

Kevin: I really respect the varieties of art forms that you have. How you can express certain feelings or discussions through said art form. My intentions aren’t completely the same as for my major is Animation, but I do want to do illustration. It may not be a lot, but I feel like I can start from there and slowly go up.

Rahne: Absolutely. One of the things I run into is running the risk of looking like a deletant or you know, a jack of all trades kind of artist. So, I’m not just specializing at animation, painting or these kinds of things. But you know, I’ve followed my muse so I’d have to do that more than I do looking for other ways to respond in the world. I don’t think there’s a better way, but more of a path that fits you as an artist.

Kevin: I really admire that. Now, for the second question. Does the experience you’ve gained in multiple projects give you an idea to go towards different kinds of art?

Rahne: Yeah. You know, I feel like a lot of my projects inform one another. I made a lot of collage videos, but I also have music along with bands. I made a collage video which was basically a supercut of people in movies saying: “Let’s get out of here!” For a time, this was the most used phrase in all of cinema according to the Guiness Book of World Records and so I want to put that to the test, seeing what it’s like on how many movies say “Let’s get out of here!” I wasn’t really looking to do anything comprehensive, but I found several hundred movies in which I made a film compiling all of these “Let’s get out of here!” It was fun and accessible by getting out there to touch a broad base. I’m with my band and something sparked, saying that I should write a song called: "Let’s get out of here!" And elaborate on it from where I am. So if I didn’t make the movie, I probably wouldn’t have written the song which ended up being a set closer for my band for years. It’s a nice circumstance in which you can speak with discipline.

One of the things I say a lot is that I’m a writer. Artistic discipline is what I really learned when I was a child. I learned how to write a poem, I learned how to write a story, doing it efficiently, learned how to work within the rules and break those rules. There is always an early aspect to the work that I do. Leading me to think, "How does that function within making an abstract collage video? How does that function within writing a song? How does this function in making a soft sculpture?" These sorts of things. There are always words that are at the base of it. I think it is a matter of being open to that kind of exploration. I’m also willing to try a thing and let it fail, because it doesn’t always work you know? It's a learning process for me as an artist always.

Kevin: Ah, thank you. For the third question. What do you believe is the most important value to your work?

Rahne: That’s interesting because I feel like it can change over time. Art is communication, so I feel like I’ve got all of these ideas in my head. I feel as that I’m misunderstood a lot. But I think that a lot of people will know what I’m talking about. It’s a common thing about work. Communicating like we know each other or what we’re talking about. If we advance this more about high concepts or political concepts, we might start speaking a little bit past each other. If I say I’m interested in the way gender theory functions. What I think of gender theory is very different than what you’d think of. If you were to think of it in a certain way, I might not be able to communicate with you in the way that I’d like to. So I think the most important piece is to be more understood as I would like to be. Art is hard to do that. I want to make my work accessible and I’m not really interested in making something austere, gargantuan art that is making others in awe of it. I want people to be able to engage and if they’re able to see themselves in it. Seeing something if it’s familiar to them so that they can get a foothold at the end of it. That’s one of my goals, wanting to be able to bridge those gaps to speak to audiences. I want people to approach art the way that I want to approach art.

Kevin: Ah, got it. Next question. For the message that you’re trying to convey in your work, do you believe that you’ve given people a clear idea of what it is? Referring to storytelling, performance, etc.? It’s more of a follow-up question getting into detail or what you’ve mentioned before.

Rahne: Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. There are some moments that I’m horribly misunderstood and I really can’t do anything necessarily about that. I think the other thing is that you cannot really be in control of resonance with people. Getting back to my music performance, I got a band now that is active and is recording. This band is called Santa Labrata and we’re continuing as a band even when the quarantine is happening. I also have another band that is called The Degenerettes in which I have been with for more than a decade. We don’t function anymore, but we still have a thousand plus listeners a month on Spotify. The definition of popular changes over time, and I’m happy that people see the work that I do. But I think the best thing that I can do is make work that feels authentic to me. I’m not going to put anything out there in the world that I don’t feel anything good about, and if I’m pleased with it as in I can listen to a song I made over and over again, that’s all that matters to me.

Kevin: That’s understandable. I know that interpretation is open to many and I know I may differ from many peoples’ views so I won’t align with the artist’s intentions but I see where it’s going. I know it’s out of the artist’s control on their intentions creating the piece saying if it’s this and that or having a description of said piece but I understand how they won’t initially interpret the piece as they’re trying to find a way that allows it to relate to them first.

Rahne: It’s helpful to think about the way you approach it. If you’re an artist, think about the way you approach other people’s art. It’s easy to have a disconnect but I’m making work, I know what I’m doing, but why isn’t the world recognizing my brilliance? The art world especially is full of the stories of people who died in poverty, like Van Gogh. Selling nothing in his lifetime, but we know who he is now. It’s really a matter of considering what are benchmarks of success? I don’t want to be brassing about Capitalism or anything this entire time, but I think we have a capitalist structure that’s been layered on our world which makes us think that unless we’re doing Damian Hurst level successes, we’re failures as an artist. But that’s not true, being a working artist is actually a beautiful thing. It’d be nice if there are more of us that can do multiple takes to make a living without suffering so much.

Kevin: I understand how you feel about that. Next question, were there any controversies regarding the messages that you were trying to communicate? And if so, were they resolved for these people to understand?

Rahne: I haven’t had to battle out anything like that over social media or anything. There wasn’t a scenario like that at all. If somebody's got something terrible to say about me or my work, then that’s fine. I’m not going to argue with them because I’m not going to change their mind. Quite frankly, I do enough, telling myself that I’m a bad artist so that I don’t need to listen to anybody else for the most part. I don’t really have a bunch of stories about retaining that kind of controversy, but I will say that there have been times when people have exhibited my work and have not really communicated to their audiences about what’s going on. Since I’m a trans-artist, I deal with transgender topics in a lot of work. Not exclusively, but for a while. About a decade ago, I made a collage film called: “Equal plus Opposite.” My goal for making this movie was to create a collage of moments from cinema where people are reacting to trans people. This was a concern for a long time, but this is what I wanted my film to touch upon. Jokes, lashing out, violence, then back to jokes. That’s the arc of the film. At a trans-commune in Tennessee, my friend aired my film without preparing anybody. It ended up looking like a collection of abuse. And so, all of these people got really mad. My friend ended up apologizing and said if you heard from anyone because you made this, be prepared. No one came back and accused me of doing anything of the sort, but whatever. But I do feel as that people were traumatized by it. Like, they’re not going to want to engage with my art. It makes me sad, but what are you going to do? Again, you can't control with how people perceive your art if it ended up controversial, but you know that you’re going to ruffle some feathers.

Kevin: I’m happy that things didn’t go as far as you’d think but it’s good to hear. Next question, where there an instance about someone trying to change your views? Possibly giving you a new perspective on a certain topic?

Rahne: I feel that all the time. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve been making art my life as a trans-person well over 20 years and the landscape has changed, my political agenda as well. As it’s always been just being a face in front of people so that they can see and hear these things. There aren’t as many challenges to me now as it used to be. Back when I started, there weren’t many trans artists that were out there and visible. but now there’s more. The cultural knowledge has expanded so much especially in the last decade. There’s not one way of being trans any longer. There are multiple layers that exist so I think there used to be more challenges because of the idea of trans, it was the ground I was battling on. But now it’s more of a battle of what kind of trans person are you. These challenges come from within the community just as much as they do outside. I don’t do any critiques that disrespects personhood so if it seems as something is there with no communication, I’m not going to continue or argue around it. If you seem open to learn, then the conversation about would continue. Not to necessarily make you think like I do in the end, but to allow you to agree to disagree.

Kevin: That is perfectly understandable. I understand how people bring it back and forth, but it would depend on the subject and how far it’s willing to go because in the end, it’s either going to be a pointless argument or something that could be resolved together. It depends on the views and how it would apply to said topic.

Rahne: Yeah, I don’t want to fight with somebody just to fight with them. I have art to make and if I can fight with somebody to make my work better and to make my understanding better, absolutely. I’m not a perfect person, nobody is and that’s the whole goal of it. I’m on a mission to self-correct and have bad ideas you know? There are so many bad ideas that can be had and doing them is good.

Kevin: Next question, when reaching out to certain topics such as transgender discussions, rape culture, and etc. How would you get your message across generally?

Rahne: This would come down to the form at that time you know? I’ve done a lot of panels, artists talks, and things like that you know? Those tend to be the places in which I think that I’m able to talk more about issues. Such as “The Degenerates” for example. The goal is to write silly and accessible art songs that had strong theory behind them. We wrote a song called: “Philosopher Queen”. It’s really a critique of academic feminism. Some people respond to the content of the song, but it’s not the primary thing that I’m talking about when performing that song. The lyrics were clear and my variation behind it as well. It’s what I have to say about the problematics of academic feminism as a person who has engaged in a lot of it and still does. I want my work to address politics and come to some conclusion. Maybe even help make strategies for the next one. It’s hard to think in abstract terms, but I think ultimately when it comes to my art, it depends on the moment. If I got something to say, I have to look for the most effective way to say it.

Kevin: Are there other artists out there that you’ve inspired or ones you’re inspired by?

Rahne: I’m sure that there are artists that I’ve inspired and I’ve worked with really cool people. Feeding off each other such as Jack Pinger from the band Manors Manor, the band, Quarters' Satelec, it’s a social sphere of Baltimore bands. I feel like we all work together and inspire each other, sharing stages all the time. For content, it’s not much but it’s good to see the exchange happening. I continue to make discoveries and I’m writing a thesis right now, so all of these names have something that I can talk about. I’m inspired by the community, looking at what other people do and see if I have something to say. Being open to new influences is a huge part of what I want to be doing. I’m glad to always find new people to be inspired by and I’m not just sticking with one thing. I let my muse and art thrive.

Kevin: For me, my main focus is to learn overall. Absorbing whatever others are helping me with in order to allow me to progress as an artist.

Rahne: Yeah, not knowing how to do a thing can be daunting. But just because I haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t pursue it. Learning and trying to stretch yourself as an artist is crucial and something that sticks with you.

Kevin: I agree. As an artist, I aim to have a variety so that I won’t be known for this one thing, but be known for others just in case someone needs it but I do not want to put it out there because that would be a different case on how I’m an animator, illustrator and so on. But if I said animator and if someone asks me for an illustration job, that would be an opportunity to say that I can also illustrate. People can say that this guy may be an animator, but he has more variety than he leads on to be.

Do you think that you have a progress of change whenever you’ve finished a project that you’ve been working on?

Rahne: Yeah, definitely. It’s always hard to finish a project. You can always tweak it, and that's why deadlines are so good. In that way, I love deadlines. The best analogy to me is using it in music and song writing. I found that when I’m working on a song, it can always grow and change until I can record it. Once I do, that’s when the format of that song changes. Having to repeat that performance on stage, I don’t have to sound exactly like that recording, but like more or less and that’s what people are there for. Wanting to deliver that same kind of energy, the same phrasing, these kinds of things. Especially working with a band, you’d want it to be coherent right? But if you’re working it out, you can always add new parts, always changing things around all the time. What I've noticed is that once I record an album, all lot of times, that's when new songs start cropping up. If I’m still working trying to get an album done, it’s hard for me to write new songs. Even if I get a fragment here, It’d be a good idea that would just go onto the pile of possible projects. Some of those seeds grow and become some songs themselves, but sometimes they’d get stuck and throw you into limbo until they’re ready to come into fruition. I think that the same thing applies to a video I might do, or a performance I might create until I really put a pin in it and say “this thing is a done piece” and I’m not going to work on this any longer. The challenge is always figuring it out when it’s done. Is this thing doing what I think is that I wanted to do? You’re an artist too, so I’m sure you’d have folders as well that ask if these ideas are good as well you know? Having something ready for others to critique on and seeing if I can improve it any further. So yeah, I feel like once a piece is done, you can assess. What did I learn from it? What did I learn about my process? I feel like it’s all about the process. Letting yourself go with that process helps with the next set of things you’re going to do.

Kevin: Understandable, I do feel that way about when it comes to creating something myself, then I’d have to go through the trial and error of how said project is going to work out. I do completely agree with the use of deadlines. To me, it’s a way of testing myself on how much I can do in said time and so forth. They help because if I were to do a big project, then I want to see how far I can go with it. Alright, this is the last question. Is there an initial message that you want the people to understand when you discuss about your work?

Rahne: I don’t think that there is necessarily a singular message, I think that it’s really going to depend on the work in the moment. If I had to sow everything down, you can come to art as a self-trained artist and develop your voice. Find your level of success, starting from if you believe in yourself, you can do it. There is an aspect to what I’m saying, but I think that managing your goals and desires along with focusing on why you’re making art is having a place with so much strength. I want to be able to make art and not die, I want to be able to eat, live out in a relatively comfortable house, I want to be able to feed my cat, and I want to do it all by making art. It’s a bit of a challenge, because how do you make a living doing art? That's the big question and there are some forms which are very much commercialized so that you can. You can be a professional animator that works for a studio, or be someone else trying to put out a pitch you know? I know that we’re doing this thing at a corporate level, but here’s this idea to add. One of things that I’d had to deal with in the last two years is that I’ve focused a lot of my energy on being a performance artist and a musician. These are really hard areas to make a living as an artist. Largely because, you’re not making an object usually that can get sold to a museum or a collector, but it’s a bit harder to do that right? But when making objects and selling them for set prices, it becomes a series of questions. Do I want to do that? Do I want to be an artist that’s able to sell a piece of art to someone else? Making that piece belong to them. Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it’s absolutely not.

Kevin: It does confuse me in some way on if the patron were to purchase your art, would they just be purchasing the physical piece itself or a plaque that says this is the piece and so on.

Rahne: That would depend, because there is licensing and there are objects. Like if the Baltimore Museum of Art is selling off a Warhol, and if I go off and buy it, that Warhol is mine. The said value is mine, but that’s how you’d initially get it. I can do whatever I want with the object and it’d set the question of how would it settle the value of your work or labor? This is the struggle of being in a capitalist system, the stock market values go up and down all the time, but why is it? Why are these stocks these prices and it makes no sense. Being at the whims of a lot of cultural conditions having these prices to be set. Like if I bought a Warhol for two million dollars and it lost value in time, would I care about the value of the Warhol or the piece itself? This all comes down to you as an artist. Valuing the time and the labor and what you want to see from it.

Kevin: Thank you very much for your time! It was very nice to hear from your perspective as an artist.

Rahne: No problem! It's been fun!

To learn more about Rahne, visit her website: https://www.rahne.com/