Interview and Photos by Kevin Russell Poole
I sat down with Taylor Edelle Stuart this week for a post-morning-meditation chat about art and capitalism and the abolition of the capitalistic industries of art! Taylor is one of those people you can’t help but be obsessed with. From her style to her presence to her art, she is the most effortlessly interesting person you’ll ever meet. I just want to make all the art with her, and after reading this interview, you’ll probably feel the same! The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Kevin Russell Poole: Hello Taylor! Thanks so much for joining me today.
Taylor Edelle Stuart: Hi Kev!
Kevin: How do you identify as an artist?
Taylor: I identify as a director for both film and theater with a focus on integrating those two mediums.
Kevin: That's a gorgeously constructed answer.
Taylor: I have tried so hard to get that down to as few words as possible.
Kevin: It’s so precise and it brings in your projection work without having to say “I am a director and a projection designer.”
Taylor: Right, because I work outside of the medium of theatre so often, in installation art and in music and things like that, a lot of people don't know what a projection designer necessarily is or does, so I've taken it out of my anti-medium specificity answer about myself . But for theatrical purposes, yes, that is often my title.
Kevin: I love that you’ve found such a specific niche that can translate to so many mediums!
Taylor: Thank you!
Kevin: How did you find your way to those forms?
Taylor: I think I was one of those people that knew I wanted to create things, but the tools in which I used to create were never super important to me. I started off like you, as a dancer. I don't know about you, but I feel like starting out in dance has fed so much of what I do in such a big way. There’s a commitment to rhythm and movement in everything I do, and I think that I got into theatre because of rhythm and movement and exploration and creation, and then I found all of those things in film as well. It doesn't feel very useful to me to be specific about my medium. Whatever creative mode best serves a story or a feeling, I'll go with. Who knows, maybe one day down the line I'll end up being a pottery artist or a baker who’s exploring those things.
Kevin: I love that everything will always go back to rhythm and movement.
Taylor: I think so! And storytelling. You know how so many people’s Instagram bios are like “Storyteller” when they're a medium nonspecific artist? Which, like, fair! (laughs)
Kevin: (laughs) Oh, yeah.
Taylor: But, yes those are two things that I always come back to.
Kevin: Your answers feel so prepared! You talk about your art so eloquently.
Taylor: That's so kind of you to say because I feel like I'm an esoteric mess or an imposter when I do it. There's no in between.
Kevin: It's great! Okay so, are there any artists that you are obsessed with right now?
Taylor: God, I am so glad you asked this question! I’m obsessed with this filmmaker called Zia Anger. I think you would really, really like her actually. She’s done a few shorts, one called My Last Film which is this pointed indictment of the indie film industry and the institution of the moving image and it’s absolutely incredible. She's also directed a bunch of music videos for, like, Mitski and Angel Olsen. But, my favorite thing she's done was a live performance film called My First Film where you got this internet link that gave you access to her computer screen, and then she would scrub through parts of the first feature that she ever made and in a little notes tab, she would type about why it failed, how the institution of film failed her, how she got in her own way. It was also, like, this magical exploration of what the future of cinema could be if we adopt a sort of radical imagination. I just find her work so fucking weird and fascinating and honest. I love her rebel spirit of like, “I hate this place but I love making stuff,” which I resonate with fully.
Kevin: I’m so glad you said that because it brings me to my next question: what would you most like to change about commercial theater?
Taylor: WOAH this is my favorite question! I'm definitely an abolitionist in this realm! I think that the institutions that have mutated this medium into a very, very capitalistic process should probably just slowly die. Maybe not even slowly die, I think it's to the point where they should burn rather quickly.
Kevin: They’re kind of burning right now.
Taylor: Yeah they are! Like so many gate-keepy and exploitative institutions have had their day of reckoning, which makes me so happy inside. It's really not about “seat at the table” mentality anymore, it’s about burning the fucking table to the ground. Then the people who were not at the table to begin with will build new tables.
Kevin: So when I say “what needs to change?” you say “everything!”
Taylor: Yeah, I just say let's start over!
Kevin: I love it! Okay what's the best theatrical production you have been a part of?
Taylor: I did this immersive theatre piece at an art gallery in Long Island City called The Plaxall Gallery, and it was written and performed by Tana Sirois and Maria Swisher—who are really fucking awesome—and I directed the video elements. It was this personal exploration of the mind and the multiverse. I really got to experiment aesthetically. We ended up creating probably 60 minutes of video content, so at the end of the day it was like a full-ass experimental film. It was one of the first times in my New York theater experience that I felt like I could really throw spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck and get really dreamy with things, as opposed to being under harsh deadlines and just designing video to fit someone else's vision of having stock images in the background of their play.... so I had a great time!
Kevin: That sounds amazing; I would have loved to see it! Okay, what do you miss most about live theater?
Taylor: Oh God.
Kevin: Let’s get sad!
Taylor: Yeah, so sad. It’s kind of a feeling. I really just miss—not even the performance aspect—I miss being in "the room" with creative people. I've been doing The Artist’s Way. I feel like every artist is doing The Artist’s Way because we all feel a little stuck or confused. The other day the book asked, “what do you love doing?” and I think the second thing I wrote was “rehearsal rooms.” I just miss that wandering sort of wonder of being in a room with people and having a problem and needing to solve it. That's what I miss the most, I think.
Kevin: Yeah, that really is the best.
Taylor: I know! It’s been so wonderful doing the programming with B&E because that has really scratched a similar itch for me, but I just want to be in a room with you!
Kevin: It’s just not the same! Zoom rooms are not rooms.
Taylor: There's nothing like it. This is a little tangential, but The Artist’s Way has also taught me that creativity is such a fucking spiritual and holy practice, and that so much of what is spiritual and holy is what we do and experience with other people. It’s just really hard not to have that! We should be sacred with it, and I think that artists will be a lot more sacred with their practices and with each other when all of this is said and done.
Kevin: I hope so.
Taylor: I sure hope so too! And capitalism will fall and we will all be happy. The end!
Kevin: The end! Or just the beginning!
Taylor: (laughs) I love that?
Kevin: Oh no. (laughs) So, what kinds of projects are you looking to work on in the future?
Taylor: Ooh that’s interesting. I went through this phase right before the pandemic where I was taking lot of work I didn’t actually want to do just because I thought “this theatre is a good name” and “this person is a good person to know” and blah blah blah, and then I would be doing scripts that I didn't necessarily love... and no hard feelings to those people, we’ve all done things like that. But I really just want to be choosey! My mom always says this thing—it's a quote from someone else—but she says “I’m successful because of the things I said ‘no’ to, not things I said ‘yes’ to.” I think I wanna focus on working on scripts that speak to me, with people that I really want to work with! Not people that I feel will help me get to somewhere I'm not even sure I really want to go. I don't want to be a clown for capitalism in that way. How many times do I have to yell about capitalism in this interview? (laughs) But also, a lot of my work has been integrating film into theatrical spaces, so now I want to find a way to integrate theatre into filmic spaces so the two can be a little more even-handed in what I do. So in the interim before we get back to live theatre, I’m writing a movie that's almost done.
Kevin: Oh my god!
Taylor: Yeah, I know, it's taken me like 3 years, but I think it will be done this weekend. At least the first draft.
Kevin: That’s amazing!
Taylor: Thank you! Yeah, so I'd love to get on a film set.
Kevin: And you just filmed something, right?
Taylor: Yeah! I'm doing a series of short films called Boy Shorts that my friend Molly Brown has written, and is starring in. We're in post for one we shot in December, and I’m going to direct the next two. At its surface, it’s an account of dating in New York, but it really ends up thematically being about compulsive heterosexuality and it ends in the beautiful blossoming of the main character coming out, which is really fun. It’s one of those pieces where we’re queering spaces that would otherwise not be queer, which I love to do!
Kevin: Amazing!
Taylor: I’ve been thinking about putting in my hobbies on my website or my resume “queering spaces.”
Kevin: I’m going to be mad if you don't.
Taylor: It’s so dumb!
Kevin: We’re gonna link your website at the bottom of this interview and if people don't see it, they’re gonna be pissed.
Taylor: They’re gonna be like, “Taylor doesn’t really like to queer spaces.”
Kevin: Taylor is straight!
Taylor: Oh god.
Kevin: Sorry, sorry I didn’t mean that.
Taylor: Take it back!
Kevin: I really take it back. Okay, I feel like we already talked about this, but what are you working on next?
Taylor: I’m really excited about this movie! It’s the first thing I've ever been like, “I wrote this thing.” I had a really hard time accepting my voice as a writer for many, many years and then I realized that it was too painful to do anything other than exactly what I want to do with my art. So finding a way to shoot that and make that happen is the next step. I’m also designing for PEA Fest! I’m really excited to figure out how we can enhance digital theatre and bring these plays to life. I think that's really it. I’ve been working on a lot of puzzles too; I really like puzzles.
Kevin: What do you mean “that’s it”? You described a lot of very cool projects.
Taylor: And then the next two episodes of the short!
Kevin: Taylor, this was so lovely! I really appreciate that you talked about burning down capitalism and the institutions of art before I even asked about it because I knew I wanted to hear you talk about it.
Taylor: Thanks, man. I truly wake up every day like “is capitalism over yet? What am I going to do to upend it today?” (laughs)
Kevin: Anybody who follows you on any social media already knows that you feel this way.
Taylor: (laughs) Thanks!
Kevin: That is your brand! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this.
Taylor: Thank you! Love you! Bye!