Welcome to the Bunker Questionnaire, a series in which we ask Bunker Projects residents and exhibiting artists a few questions based on Marcel Proust’s famous Proust Questionnaire, a survey that purported to reveal a person’s true nature. We hope their answers and the accompanying photos allow you to get to know them and their work a little bit more.
Finn Dugan (b. 2000) lives in Pittsburgh, PA and is an artist who explores the ideological and material residue of technology as it intersects through processes of accumulation, erosion, and repair. Recent exhibitions include Romance (Pittsburgh, PA), the Tomayko Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA) Plexus Projects (Brooklyn, NY), the Mid-America College Artists Association, and Sculpture X. He has been awarded residencies at ChaNorth (Pine Plains, NY), Popps Packing (Detroit, MI), and Brew House Arts (Pittsburgh, PA). Dugan is pursuing an MFA in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University this upcoming fall.
Describe yourself in three words
“Thinker and doer”
Describe yourself Who are your favorite artists/the ones who’ve influenced you most?
“So so many but I always seem to come back to Paul Thek and Yuji Agematsu.”
What is your idea of happiness?
“I’m not sure— happiness seems to be repositioned by a lot of factors these days. I find more value in learning or open-mindedness as gateway for life-fulfillment.”
What’s your favorite studio ritual or habit?
The studio is a container for me to break down my self. Like mud, I like to slip into it, let it get all muddy, and allow things to crystallize or dry over time.
Where do you go or what do you do when you need inspiration to recharge
I love cooking. It can be as complex and simple and at the end of the day you are taking care of yourself and others. I like to run as a way of getting out of my head and into my body. And I love to read as a way of redirecting the circulation of my thoughts.
What’s the next goal or milestone you are working toward in your practice?
I’m working on consistency as a form of responding to self-doubt.
What’s the best creative advice you’ve received?
Like artists, there’s so many. I’d never be able to be where I am at without the support of others and those beyond my years who believed in me. It’s different for everyone but for me I look to trust my instinct.
What draws you to do artist residencies?
I think about time and place as a container; there’s a beginning and end and all the other things in between. I love the durational nature and what it brings to how I approach my studio.
If you’d like to support Bunker Projects’ mission to provide a safe, equitable space for emerging artists to develop their practice and create new works for exhibition, please consider making a one-time or recurring donation here. We are so grateful for your generosity.
