Fritz is really one of the coolest people on the planet.  I was lucky to have him as a teacher and to partake in the Calarts garden experiment – both incredibly rewarding experiences.  He is really a one of a kind guy – an innovative thinker, compassionate, organized and so very stylish.  He has inspired many a dialogue and has sparked the hearts of so many.  I am gushing, but seriously – check out all of his links after the interview.  Okay okay, without further ado… FRITZ HAEG!

1.  Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your current obsessions. I am living in Rome this year and rediscovering my love of living in another language, inhabiting my Italian persona. I lived in Venice, and later Tuscany, for a few years in my early 20’s during which time I became fixated on honing my spoken language skills to the point where I could seamlessly enter into Italian life, culture and society (and even pass for an Italian?!). Upon landing at Fiumicino airport four months ago I got into a taxi and spent the 30 minute ride talking non-stop to make sure I could still speak and get my mouth used to making those Italian sounds again.

I am interested in the part of language that is alive. In the spoken word, beyond the fixed system of grammar and vocabulary, is a rich universe of performative communication involving pronunciation, accent, dialect, gesture, slang, figure of speech and infinite subtlety that can not be understood academically. In leaving my language behind, I have a deeper appreciation when I return to it, especially vital for the large part of my work that involves public speaking and writing. And I now see that my early interest in language presaged later similarly living and social interests such as gardens and wildlife, dance and movement, salons and educational environments.

I am treating my year in Rome as a year ‘off,’ suspending new projects and getting by without a cellular. I am giving myself this open space to see where it takes me. I am becoming more interested in the quotidian – privileging the activities of daily life – and less interested in ‘projects,’ which is leading me to wonder if I might find some future path where any remaining divisions between my life and work begin to fall apart. Traveling for much of the past four years I am starting to long for the opposite extreme of stability, stasis, settling, and the sort of life and work that would grow out of that.

As a step in that direction I am using my studio and terrace (which happens to be one of the highest points in Rome) as a stage for various personal experiments in group activity and urban homesteading such as daily open yoga sessions with live music, kitchen gardening in scavenged empty containers, and worm composting. As Spring approaches this will expand, perhaps into bee-keeping, bat houses, laundry lines…

Other current obsessions include hearty pots of homemade minestrone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Roman art space L’Attico in the ‘60’s & ‘70’s, hippie medieval Italian hill villages, baroque anything, beets, and my new bicycle.

2.  If you were stuck in a moment, which would you choose? I think that would be my ultimate nightmare. For better or worse I’m always ready for the next thing no matter how great the moment.

3.  What is the first memory that comes to mind? I was walking down the back alley towards our house at dusk and caught the smell of the dinner my mom was preparing as I approached the kitchen window.

4.  What would be a dream come true? To live in a rural village with lots of friends surrounded by animals and gardens – where we can pursue our work alone or together while enjoying the pleasures of a wild life in a miniature city.

5.  What is something you learned recently that you would like to share with our readers? The most significant periods, turning points in life and work, can seem to be very “unproductive” at the time.

(Image Credit : Maura Biava / Fritz Haeg working in the American Academy in Rome kitchen gardens, October 27th, 2010)

Thank you so very much Fritz!

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