Surfing the Meta Web: A Conversation with Bay Hill

Bay, tell us where you’re originally from and where you’re currently based. 

Tough question, haha! Born on planet earth as they call it, popped out the womb in Seattle WA, grew up in Wisconsin from 1-17. Second childhood in San Francisco, CA where I am currently based

What’s your studio practice look like right now?

It's a conglomerate of shifting locations, aka it's all over the place! I have a studio in the Dogpatch district of SF where I mostly oil paint and make janky sculptures. I have relied on school in the past for ceramics, printmaking and sculpture studios. I'm really into instillations at the moment and am always finding bits and pieces, various objects on the street that I collect over time then piece together and activate whenever I have a space and or place to put them in. At the moment its about 90% outside the studio thinking, writing, collecting, observing and generally fucking off and 10% “working” aka playing in the studio.

Tell us about the title of your recent show and the works in your recent show, “The Ancient Internet,” at Swim Gallery in SF. 

It's a concept I have been working with conceptually since 2014. It's a comment on reality, how I perceive it. It’s about the times we live in now transitioning from a “natural” world to a more “artificial” one through the means of new technologies, especially the internet, globalization, the ancient knowledge of indiginous cultures, the unexplainable phenomena of life and evolution. I am trying to show that we live in a unique transitional time for planet earth going from a natural to artificial environment and reality… 

In “The Ancient Internet,” there is a theme of webs: the interweb, spider webs, information webs, invisible energy webs, and metaphysical webbing. Can you tell us about this theme? 

Yeah, I am trying to visually show the energy patterns in the universe, whether they be made by spiders or supercomputers, there is a unifying thread through it all, a universal sameness at the base level if you will. It’s the patterns and symbols in all these various materials and mediums I'm interested in. The web is a powerful all encompassing metaphor and actuality. Analogous to Indra's net, the ancient Hindu concept of the cosmos being composed of an infinite amount of jewels (like atoms of physics) where each jewel/atom is reflected in the other, so the big is reflected in the small and vise versa, an all in one, one in all kind of concept. It's all webbed up, interconnected if you will. In you is the whole universe and you are simultaneously a part of the whole universe.

What references to ancient culture did you use or think about when creating work for this show?

The Incas, the pyramids of Egypt, ancient Greek art, the symbol of Jesus and the story of Adam and Eve, Buddhism, abstract expressionism (hehe!)

In some ways, contemporary technology is intentionally blocked from interacting with your paintings and drawings in this show -- for example, the iPhones used in your installations are shown as being broken or without network signal. What role does the contemporary internet / contemporary tech play in the themes of your work? 

I'm more or less pointing out how contemporary tech is an illusion, a fictitious reality, a black mirror, a step away from the truth of real “authentic” experience. Showing how our world more than ever is built up by tech but it is analogous to a “house of cards.” It's a flimsy structure that is on an unstable foundation. It is an abstraction of reality.  It has no solid ground in the real nature that surrounds us and is us. 

As an artist who creates with many mediums, I’m curious how you started out. How long have you been making art and which medium was the one you started off creating with?

I guess I started out playing. Playing with objects, building snow forts, drawing, coloring. Kids are the best visual and performance artists I must say. Painting since 4th grade. Also skateboarding greatly shaped how I saw the world. Also poetry. Also graffiti. Painting and writing have been the backbone of my practice. I think that we are all making art no matter what we do and I have liked working with different mediums to keep it fresh and exciting.

What formal art training do you have and how has that influenced your work now?

Mostly just CCSF classes off and on for years. It has influenced my work by taking classes and trying mediums I may have missed out on. Studying art history also has influenced my work. Good professors as well that are practicing artists, knowledgeable and inspiring people help out a lot. 

Tell us more about your other recent show with Adobe books :)

It's a continuation of concepts and imagery I have been working with for some time, kind of a 2.0 to “The Ancient Internet.” The running title for the show is “Never Now.” I am excited because Adobe has been one of my favorite book stores and haunts for many years now so I am quite honored to get to do a solo show there :)

When do you feel most inspired? 

When I'm in love with the world around me, at peace with myself and not overthinking anything. I could be at home, up at night not being able to sleep, on an airplane traveling abroad, skating down the street, jumping in the ocean… etc, you never know when it is going to hit, that’s why I always have a pen and notebook on me to write down the inspiration!

Interview and photos by Katie Pilgrim