The Santa Cruz artist who helped bring the Cadillac Ranch to life answers our questions.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a media artist, filmmaker, and Professor Emeritus in Film & Digital Media at UCSC
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing that?
Very funny question!
What do you do in your free time?
I do not play golf, actually I like to work in the garden.
What brought you to Santa Cruz?
I came as Associate Professor in Theater Arts (film concentration) in 1988. Previously I had taught at UC San Diego in the Visual Arts Department.
What’s your favorite street?
Seabright Ave. When I first lived in Santa Cruz it was in a cottage at the beach end of Seabright. At the other end of Seabright is (and was) the Rio Theater, making it the quintessential Santa Cruz street in my book.
Name something you’re excited about.
I’m excited that climate change has, in a sense, vindicated the environmental movement. We could see 40 years ago that life in the U.S. was out of balance with nature.
Name a pet peeve.
Another funny question.
What are you reading?
Country Driving by Peter Hessler. It’s about the furious changes happening in China as more and more people buy cars and start driving.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in the last three years?
I’ve been studying China as we enter the Chinese Century, it’s complicated.
Secret star crush?
I brought Nic Cage to UCSC a few years ago and hosted him as he visited two film classes. Subsequently I try to see all his films, but it seems impossible.
