An interview with co-founders Cindy Croot and Joy Katz
How did the two of you meet?
We were introduced by a mutual friend, Ken Rus Schmoll, a theatre director in New York. Both of us had recently moved to Pittsburgh. He thought we should have a drink.
What was the impetus behind Ifyoureallyloveme?
We wanted to form a collective that could fold in other artists—any kind of artist, writer, designer, composer—as needed, on a project by project basis. We wanted to make room for other people, other imaginations and kinds of expertise, to make projects happen. We knew we wanted this porous collective of people to be socially engaged. We wanted a rubric for art and performance pieces that would have a relationship to our communities and to some question we have about the larger world.
What do you consider your medium of art-making?
Ifyoureallyloveme pulls from any medium and potentially any artistic discipline, because it comprises not only our skills, but also the skills and imaginations of collaborators.
Why a collective?
The more people potentially involved in a project, the fewer the artistic constraints of the project. It's liberating and inspiring to think, ' Hm, this idea: we need a dance element, ' and then invite a choreographer to collaborate.
What other artists inspire you?
Multidisciplinary, socially engaged artists and projects. Black Lives Matter. Adrian Piper's Funk Lesson. The Red Ball Project. Rick Lowe's Project Row Houses in Houston. Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. The choreography of Mark Morris, the choreography of Staycee Pearl. Lenka Clayton's Mysterious Letters. Occupy Wall Street. The Yes Men. SubRosa. Myriad artists and activists are models for us.
Why Pittsburgh?
Joy was working on poems about race and whiteness, trying to find out where whiteness issues from and what constitutes it in any moment, and having a hard time with the poems. Cindy was flying around the world directing plays, and feeling unhinged from her community. Both of us had an impulse to make something completely different, in real time, and to engage more deeply with both art-making and social justice in our city. We want to make art that affects and is affected by our home.
Where does your name come from?
The Stevie Wonder song. As we were working out the details of our first collaboration, One Large, the song happened to be playing and wouldn't let go.
We were introduced by a mutual friend, Ken Rus Schmoll, a theatre director in New York. Both of us had recently moved to Pittsburgh. He thought we should have a drink.
What was the impetus behind Ifyoureallyloveme?
We wanted to form a collective that could fold in other artists—any kind of artist, writer, designer, composer—as needed, on a project by project basis. We wanted to make room for other people, other imaginations and kinds of expertise, to make projects happen. We knew we wanted this porous collective of people to be socially engaged. We wanted a rubric for art and performance pieces that would have a relationship to our communities and to some question we have about the larger world.
What do you consider your medium of art-making?
Ifyoureallyloveme pulls from any medium and potentially any artistic discipline, because it comprises not only our skills, but also the skills and imaginations of collaborators.
Why a collective?
The more people potentially involved in a project, the fewer the artistic constraints of the project. It's liberating and inspiring to think, ' Hm, this idea: we need a dance element, ' and then invite a choreographer to collaborate.
What other artists inspire you?
Multidisciplinary, socially engaged artists and projects. Black Lives Matter. Adrian Piper's Funk Lesson. The Red Ball Project. Rick Lowe's Project Row Houses in Houston. Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. The choreography of Mark Morris, the choreography of Staycee Pearl. Lenka Clayton's Mysterious Letters. Occupy Wall Street. The Yes Men. SubRosa. Myriad artists and activists are models for us.
Why Pittsburgh?
Joy was working on poems about race and whiteness, trying to find out where whiteness issues from and what constitutes it in any moment, and having a hard time with the poems. Cindy was flying around the world directing plays, and feeling unhinged from her community. Both of us had an impulse to make something completely different, in real time, and to engage more deeply with both art-making and social justice in our city. We want to make art that affects and is affected by our home.
Where does your name come from?
The Stevie Wonder song. As we were working out the details of our first collaboration, One Large, the song happened to be playing and wouldn't let go.
