Jaq Dutch: America’s Beautiful Aerosol Angel

My fellow creativist, Jaq Dutch, can be defined as an anomaly of sorts. The twenty-something Californian is truly meant to be loved and not understood. Her eclectic artwork is an extension of imagination through perspiration and can be found pouring out of her evil mind all over the City of Angeles. A true Aerosol Angel, Jaq — the Self-Employed Superstar sits down with The Well Versed to bring to your attention America’s incessant need for celebrity, what her top five Smoker’s Classics, and who musically you should be looking out for out of the Wild, Wild West Coast.

The Well Versed: As an artist how do you see America’s incessant need for celebrity affecting one’s creativity?

Jaq Dutch: In a small way the opinion of a celebrity can be beneficial and shine light on the art. But when it becomes a high demand due to all of the attention then that’s when the creativity is sort of forced. What is true these days is that almost anything can be deemed “art” — it just depends on how you look at it. What does that mean for those who view entertainment as an artform? I have to say that something like reality television isn’t art, it’s a gimmick. That kind of “creativity” is pathetic. However, it doesn’t happen to everyone, someone like Amber Portwood is one of the few to earn a lot of money for being a national mess. Those earnings will dwindle and like every reality “star” — the fame will dim.

TWV: 2011 is already an interesting year. What are your thoughts about the wacky weather to all those birds falling out of the sky?

JD: The apocalypse [laughs]. Seriously though, I don’t know what the 100,000 dead fish and 5,000 dead birds mean. I like to research possible reasons for this happenstance, but this one is a little too weird. I just hope that the 2012 premonition isn’t real. I’m pretty sure that there’s an explanation for it though. Apparently it snows every other year here in Lancaster and reaches as far as Santa Clara, but it’s never reached the city, so I guess snow in California is not that weird. If I could do five things before the apocalypse hit I’d:

1. Commandeer an RV and travel because Jack Kerouac inspired me to do so.
2. Sing on Broadway in New York. This has been a secret passion of mine since I was very young… I can’t sing, though.
3. Skydive.
4. Borrow money from friends.
5. Spend time with family.

TWV: The last time we talked you said that you were not a fan of Andy Warhol. Yet, so many people are in love with his contributions to the Arts. Why you no love, Mr. Warhol?

JD: Andy Warhol is a great American print artist. Yes, he paved the way for marketing art by mass production, but in my opinion, he exploited art. He used his celebrity to make anything he touched be deemed “art”. His films aren’t artistic or creative to me; they are boring and even he admits he had no skill in filmmaking. His paintings/prints are duplicated products which earned him his fame due to the fact that no one was doing that at the time — which is another reason why he’s an exploiter more than artist. In the end, this proves that anything can be viewed as art. I would take my 15 minutes of fame and use it to build a cultural arts center where children can come after school and be themselves while learning all the aspects and lessons of art. Even if I never became famous, I’d visit schools worldwide teaching art classes, and mentoring children along the way.

TWV: A lot of hoopla has been created about the N-word being taken out of Mark Twain’s literary classic — Huckleberry Finn. What are your thoughts about this? Is art sacrificing itself to be politically correct?

JD: I hated reading that book! I was the only black girl in class while reading it. The fun reading game “popcorn” wasn’t so fun. Personally, I didn’t really like the book, but I guess it’s a classic and taking the N-word out of the novel doesn’t help the children understand how degrading the N-word is and how it was used originally. By erasing history, we sweep issues under the rug, allowing our children to become ignorant. This country has become too politically correct and so concerned with saving their own asses that it has become borderline psychotic. The Americans are just as bad as everyone else these days and trying to distract themselves from greater problems like the war in Afghanistan or the Haiti disaster with things like passing marijuana laws. I’m all for smokin’ an L, but there are bigger issues in the world today, people! When I say this country, I mean the people that run it behind-the-scenes, like the government and mass companies.

TWV: Speaking of L’s — you’re an advocate of 420, correct? I want to know what are your current top five flavorful songs to play while getting lifted?

JD: I’d have to say:

1. Led Zeppelin, “Dazed and Confused”
2. Arcade Fire, “The Wake”
3. Kendrick Lamar, “Ignorance Is Bliss”
4. Curren$y, “Flying Iron”
5. The Beatles, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”

TWV: Folks are just now catching on to Kendrick and his style — what are your thoughts on the Compton commando?

JD: I first heard him back in December 2009 when I was a stage manager for an event. He performed “Bitch I Do This” and that $#!* is catchy. I downloaded Overly Dedicated and I play it often. I like him lyrically. He has an ear for music. Dr. Dre throwing him an alley-oop is a major look. I hope that he goes far in his career. Some other Cali-inspired acts that folks should keep an eye out on are U-N-I, Skeme, Dom Kennedy, New Kingdom, Diz Gibran, Pac Div, J. Davey — just to name a few. Doesn’t necessarily mean I like all of them though [laughs].

Wanna know more about Jaq Dutch? Check here out on Twitter and here!

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