Welcome to Dot Editions “Artist Spotlight” series, where we’ll be interviewing one artist a month and sharing a little about them with you. The team of artists at Dot Editions have collaborated to bring you a monthly celebration highlighting local artists we’ve had the pleasure of working with through the studio. By these artists sharing a bit about themselves we hope to inspire the artist community to keep pursuing their dreams.

Artist: David A. Biesel

Medium: Film Photography & Videography

Experience: I’ve been shooting film photography and making videos since 1998

1-Q: Where are you from? And how did you end up in Asheville,NC?

A: Born and raised in Wausau, WI. Lived in Milwaukee for 3.5 years, lived in Montana for 11 years, Moved to Asheville in September of 2020 because my partner was offered a Post Doc position here.

2-Q: How long have you been part of the Dot Editions team?

A: I've been here for about 1.5 years now after leaving the textile industry and realizing I needed a career change.

3-Q: Out of all the mediums you practice, which one do you enjoy the most and why?

A: It’s always been a mix of everything. From still images, to time lapse work, and video. My goal is always to have everything be in house, so making my own music has been a part of my experience as well. At the end of the day I consider it all to be different forms of documentary work and story telling. Throw in a little music, stand up comedy, skateboarding, trail running, rock climbing, life’s a blast.

4-Q: Whose work has influenced you the most?

A: The only influence in the beginning was skateboarding. That’s what started this life long journey into artistic expression. I never saw much of a difference between what I saw in magazines and skate videos and what me and my friends were doing. They were just better at it, but that doesn’t really change anything about the experience.

More recently I would consider Fred Herzog and Vivian Maier to be inspirations in my photography. Fred created his largest body of work before anyone really knew who he was and Vivian was never even known as a photographer, so their styles were never swayed by others opinions or critique much, if at all. I’ve stayed intentionally ignorant about learning too much about the photography world at large. I don’t want the influence. Naivete can be an incredible benefit to the creative process.

In my video & narrative story telling, Kerouac & Bourdain are people I look up to. Kerouac in his years before he went sour and Bourdain in his whole career, they both worked really hard to see the world from their own perspective, with appropriate judgment of those with, and compassion and respect for those without.

5-Q: What do you listen to when you’re out shooting or editing? Do you have any podcasts or playlists to share with us?

A: Sound tracks are important, I have continuously growing playlists for most activities. Though, as an introvert I tend to enjoy the sound of activities and try not to compromise the experience with music. Whether trail running or walking around Asheville at night shooting photos, I prefer to be in my head and aware of my surroundings. Things can get spicy quick if you don’t pay attention and stay aware.

That being said, I’ll share my Spotify Playlist that’s for night photo walks, and one of my all time favorite podcast episodes That I relisten to at least once a year, it’s an interview with a guy who fell 100ft off a cliff after a miscommunication with his climbing partner.

Links:

6-Q: What’s your best advice on how to not procrastinate and get rid of creative blocks ?

A: It’s counter intuitive, but constraints are the easiest way to get rid of creative blocks. There’s nothing worse than having nothing but options, so you need to create a situation where you have choices. The fewer the better. The creative mind can be the strongest when forced into limitations.

Procrastination can be a tricky thing. Sometimes the thing holding you back is actually needing more processing time on what you’re creating. I’ll lose motivation, or feel lost on what to do next with a video edit sometimes and walk away from it. Then 2 weeks later I’ll be thinking about it and get inspired with what feels like absolute clarity of what to do next. If I would have forced myself to keep working on it, I believe I would have just worked myself further from making it as strong of a piece as I’m capable.

Other times I’ll be looking at the whole project and be overwhelmed with the scope of it. That’s when I need to remember how to eat an elephant, one bite at a time. I’ll think of a small task on the project that I can take care of, like I just need to import the photos and place them in the time line. Next thing you know, I’ve been editing for 3 hours. Knowing the difference between those two scenarios is about trusting the processes. Don’t judge it, just trust it.

7-Q: What does your studio space currently look like? Show us a photo! Tell us what you're working on, if you’d like to share.

A: I constantly daydream about my work space being an absolute reflection of the song Everything in its Right Place by Radiohead, but it’s honestly more like Sailing the Seas of Cheese by Primus.

8-Q: What is one thing that most people don't know about you?

A: I feel like I’m an open book, but I used to be a pretty quiet kid. I was denied a lot of opportunities when I was young and my dad chose not to be in my life. Those things could have all been detrimental, and in ways they were, but I’ve never let any of that stop me from pursuing my goals. I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am today and I didn’t do any of it alone, the debt I owe to so many is a part of what holds me back from being more, let's say profitable, as an artist. When money gets involved, things get weird for me. I’d be much happier if I could just make art and give it all away.

9-Q: What advice can you give to artists that are just starting their creative careers? What can they do to gain confidence and get their work out there?

A: The beginning of an artist's journey is the greatest time to be truly creative and bold. You don’t know any of the rules, so you break them and take away what you like from them. You don’t have any criticism from other artists, so you don’t fear your expression. You have a drive forward to create, but no idea what that should look like, so you just create from a pure mindset. If you’re in the beginning of your journey and these concepts make you anxious, you’re leading yourself in a creative path to fulfill someone else’s vision and not your own, and that sounds like a really sad existence to me.

This concept was taught to me by the great Carl Bogner from the Peck School of the Arts in Milwaukee. That advice is one of the greatest creative gifts I’ve ever been given. As far as confidence in getting your work out there, ask a lot of questions and get into rooms where you’re the dumbest person. Being the dumbest person in the room means you have the most knowledge to gain. There are no gate keepers, just people who won't help you.

10-Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: In 10 years I hope to be continuing down the path I’m on now, which involves building my youtube community on my channel Getting Negative (relax, it’s a film pun), producing photography that I hope to show in an exhibit, and mentoring young artists and helping them express themselves through video work. I want to continue my professional career while always paying forward the opportunities that have helped me in my career. I strive to be a part of the rising tide that lifts all ships. Come on in, the water’s fine. (clinky noise of 2 glasses)