21 Questions With... Joe Scanlan
DIRECTOR OF VISUAL ARTS AT THE LEWIS CENTER DIGS HEAVY METAL, MATH JOKES, AND NOT LEWIS LIBRARY
Name: Joe ScanlanWhat's the best meal you've eaten in Princeton? Baked halibut with asparagus and roasted potatoes. It was prepared by Sandy Tait and Professor Hal Foster in honor of Fritz Haeg and Will Allen, two radical gardeners who gave visiting artist lectures at the Lewis Center. What's your top vacation destination?Wellfleet, Cape CodWhat is your greatest guilty pleasure? There are so many! I'll name the first three that come to mind: Heavy metal, Benny Hill, sausage (any kind)In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?I look at how people think it would be a good idea to make an artwork, and talk about whether it is a good approach or not, and whether that matters, and what effect it might have on its meaning.What's the best sculpture on campus?It was a sixteen-foot tall silhouette of Michael Jackson, but I think it no longer exists.What are your favorite ways to relax?Building furniture, language games, reading box scores, gardeningDo you know all the words to Old Nassau?Not a single oneWhat's your drink?Rye manhattan, stirred (not shaken)Who's your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?I'm a big fan of Hal Foster, it still kind of amazes me that we hang out together now, because I read all his books when I was a student.What makes you cry?The Great Plains.When's bedtime?11:45.What makes you laugh?Jokes like, What did the zero say to the eight?"Nice belt."What's your favorite art museum?The Kunsthistorisches in Vienna.What makes someone a Princetonian?A keen sense of humor.Favorite movie?The Lady Eve.Where do you do your best thinking?In transit.What's the ugliest building on campus?The Lewis/Gehry Library. But then I haven't seen Butler College yet.Best place on campus?The faculty meeting room in Nassau Hall.What songs are playing on repeat this week?"Jane Says," by Jane's Addiction; "Sidewalks of the City," by Lucinda Williams; "Geek U.S.A.," by the Smashing Pumpkins; "Once in a Lifetime," by Talking Heads; and "Heroes," by David Bowie.Last movie you saw?Paris Is Burning.In ten years I will be...Delighted with how things have turned out.(inspired by NYMag.com’s Daily Intel blog)