Meet C. H. Engelhardt

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful C. H. Engelhardt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

C. H., so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from hearing my friends’ laughter as we sit around the table eating a meal that all of us prepared together, the nights we watch movies at each others’ apartments in our own version of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the days we spend hiking together trying to identify the mushroom species we come across. It comes from hearing my dad play the organ at church as my mom accompanies him with her singing, watching my younger brothers play brass instruments in the same calm way that my grandfather used to, and going to see my cousins’ metal band at music festivals. It comes from watching springtails jumping on the soil, stopping to see ants on the pavements carry away small crumbs of fudge, and finding cicada molts dappling the sides of trees in the summertime. My optimism comes from remembering all of the small moments I have shared with others, and it also comes from knowing that I will always carry those moments with me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My work utilizes a wide variety of mediums ranging from performance pieces showcasing found sounds to stop motion animations assembled through scanography, and through all of my work I question the specific interactions that I have with places I am involved with, and how those interactions can shape other people’s perceptions of those places. The most exciting part of my work is getting to actively share these interactions and discoveries with others. As an example, in February 2021 I had the opportunity to create a performance piece for the Joseph V. Canzani Center in conjunction with Michael Mercil’s Some thing(s). The performance piece was titled Entrance/Exit, and it consisted of several volunteers from the Columbus College Art & Design community continuously opening and closing every door on the first floor of the building for half an hour. The piece was created to bring attention to a common architectural interaction, opening and closing a door, and to showcase the mixtures of sounds that are produced by that interaction. For many people involved, it was their first time being able to engage with sound art. The most exciting part of the piece was seeing everyone’s different interactions and discoveries that occurred with the doors that they were assigned to. Some people tore their doors open and allowed them to close slowly, some opened theirs in sync with one another, and others only partially opened their doors before slamming them shut. In a similar vein to this piece, recently I have been creating experimental music scores inspired by the work of John Cage, and these scores act as journals documenting various experiences that I have in my daily life. Many of these scores will be shared soon on my Bluesky profile, @engelhardtart.bsky.social.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three skills that have impacted my journey the most are question forming, productive play, and active observation. Good questions help you to define what your work is, what your work does, and who your work is for. Questions can start with more broad aspects of what you wish to accomplish through a piece of art, and they can become more and more specific as you narrow your focus on your work. Productive play and active observation are how you can answer many of these questions and continuously form new ones. You can use productive play by having a space where you can explore, make mistakes, and let your ideas freely morph. That space can be anything that works for you from a sketchbook to your bedroom. In that space, take your questions and, well, play with them! As you make new discoveries through productive play, active observation allows you to remember these discoveries and form new questions based on them. Your observations, like your questions, can start out as being more broad then shift to having a more specific focus on the various aspects of your work. As you develop these skills, remember to be open minded and curious throughout your process.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have many people in my life who have helped and supported me in more ways than I can begin to count, and I would like to individually list four people who have helped me more than I will ever be able to properly put into words. The first two people are my mom and my dad. Both of my parents are musicians, and listening to them play the organ and sing together when I was young inspired my interest in the musical arts, which later helped lead to my interest in the visual arts. For my whole life my parents have encouraged my creativity and provided me with support through every challenge that I have faced. The third person is family friend Sandy Kessler-Kaminski. Sandy is my best friend’s mom, and she has been like a second mom to me. When I showed an interest in visual art, she encouraged me to apply to the Columbus College of Art & Design, where I graduated from this year. Sandy has always helped me to push my art further, and whether I need help on a project or someone to give me life advice she is always there. The last person I want to mention here is Michael Kellner, a professor and friend I met during my first year of college in 2020. Michael and I quickly found out that we have very similar tastes in music, and we also found out that we have very similar ways of approaching both art and life. Throughout college, Michael helped me to take my work in directions I never thought possible. No idea was ever out of bounds.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://engelhardt-art.com/
• Other: Bluesky: engelhardtart.bsky.social

  Bandcamp: https://chengelhardt.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits

All images created by C. H. Engelhardt