Yumiko Sakuma is a writer who contributes to Japanese magazines. She is also a co-founder of a recently launched digital magazine Periscope (http://wearetheperiscope.com/) which is set to release its iPad edition this fall.
How did you first get interested in contemporary art?
I first got interested in contemporary art when I realized that my friends were making art. Before, I had this false notion that art was for people who were rich and bored.
What kind of art coverage do you do?
I interview all kinds of people. Partly because I didn’t have any formal art education and partly because I’m obsessed with people. My approach to interviewing artists is pretty much the same as interviewing musicians or designers or even people on the street. I like it when artists speak of universal things that everybody can understand without knowing about art.
I do love talking to artists about their work and most recently, I got to interview Yayoi Kusama which was pretty exciting. She was one of the most intense people I have ever interviewed.
Do you live with any contemporary art at home?
Art that I have is mostly by friends or friends’ friends. I have David Aron, Gregory Ito, R. Nicholas Kuszyk, this awesome chair Joshua Nathanson made, a bunch ofprints by photographer friends.
An upcoming exhibition you are excited to see?
It is hard for me to get excited about things without actually seeing them with my own eyes.
Artist quote or words to live by?
“Every line means something” Basquiat
