Charlie Krafft is the guy who makes the porcelain guns. And plates and vases out of human cremains ("Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Delft").
He's the one whose contribution to last year's Bumbershoot show, Softly Threatening, was a layered wedding cake decorated in Nazi symbols. (The bakery that did it pleaded anonymity. At the show, a guy spit on it and ran.)
Has it gotten harder over the years to piss people off? Hell yes, Krafft says. So he has to work harder. His latest reward for his efforts is the $15,000 Neddy Fellowship in ceramics (Whiting Tennis won for painting).
No interview with Krafft could possibly be dull. He recounts his days negotiating with Slovenian arms dealers, talks about the state of the Mystic Sons of Morris Graves (a Northwest art "brotherhood" that once held a legendary Chihuly-smashing and that's still gathering members—check out who the newest and most famous are on this podcast), and describes what happens when he breaks into a shack on the side of the road in Skagit Valley. Krafft also explains why he's a "bad" gallery artist.
Do listen.
Charlie Krafft's Sal Mineo Bunny, on display with several of Krafft's other works at the Tacoma Art Museum.
