TJ Norris


TJ Norris is an American interdisciplinary artist known for his urban, conceptual photography and installation projects. Hailing from New England, Norris is also a celebrated curator and freelance writer based in Texas.

Early life and education

Norris was born in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of longshoreman Kenneth C. Whiting and chef Phyllis M. Whiting. Making visual art from found objects and materials was evident as early as age six, and developed into elementary school where he would win his first student awards. The paternal side of Norris' family are Irish and his maternal side is Canadian, more specifically Newfoundland, also originating from Ireland. At an early age Norris worked various odd jobs from an insurance claims clerk, security services and purchasing agent. Between the late 1990s and 2000s he put his thoughts into writing as a journalist for such publications as ARTnews, Signal to Noise, Resident Advisor, Paris Transatlantic, Art Ltd. and Willamette Week among others.
Norris was educated in Catholic schools from pre-school through high school. In recent years he has referred to himself as a polytheist and a feminist. He studied at Massachusetts College of Art with influential American photographers Abelardo Morell and Laura McPhee and at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design.

Work

Since 1990 Norris' studio practice is multidisciplinary, a hybrid of photography, installation, video and sculpture. His first one-man show was held at the Boston Center for the Arts at age 25 in 1990. His work has been primarily based on the urban environment, bridging philosophy and concept. His work has been referred to as dystopian, lo-tech and sterile, engaging postmodern issues of loss, surveillance culture, parallel universe, racism, ego, phobia, and death. Some of Norris' greatest influences have been rumored to be disparate figures in the world of the arts and sciences including J.G. Ballard, Roald Dahl, Emmanuel Levinas and Marcel Duchamp.
His work has been shown in the Americas as well as internationally in Italy, the UK, Belgium, and is in the collections of the Fuller Museum of Art, Museo de la Ciudad, Vanhaerents Art Collection, Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts as well as numerous private collections. His work has been featured in Photographer's Forum, Art Ltd, Leonardo , Shades of Grey Magazine and Silvershotz, among others. Norris' most recent works were featured in the 10th Northwest Biennial at the Tacoma Art Museum and at the Center on Contemporary Art. He has developed several collaborations with sound artists and composers such as Scanner, Asmus Tietchens, Leif Elggren and Christian Renou among others. These collaborations led to many critical observations about the intersection between sound and visual art. His work has been cited to be influenced by Experimental music and Post-punk, though he has simply referred to himself as a Minimalist.

Toneshift and Go Figure News

In 2010 Norris developed Toneshift.net as an online archive of his critical writing on experimental/electronic music. Then in 2018 the online magazine was resurrected with a growing team of contributors which eventually led to a weekly podcast format. The site includes critical reviews and interviews of genre-defying sound-based work, for which Norris acts as Publisher.
In 2014 Norris founded and published Go Figure News as a resource for adult collectors of art toys produced by indie toymakers. The popular online magazine boasted a sizable international social media following in its third year of publication. Now defunct, the site presented interviews, reviews and features on artists including Luke Chueh, Jason Freeny, Frank Kozik, and Sket One. Brands such as Kidrobot, Medicom and several others were regularly featured in a daily format. The primary focus of the magazine was to illustrate the scope of the independent designer toy scene and those creating limited edition 3D works in vinyl, resin and other materials. The site completed its three year run in May 2017.

Soundvision

In 2001 Norris founded his signature gallery, Soundvision, a project space which focused on sound-related work, installation and performance. Soundvision was recognized as one of the "10 Best New Places in Portland" by The Oregonian. The gallery featured audio/visual and multimedia work with a focus on installation, 2/3D by artists including Terre Thaemlitz, Robin Rimbaud, Cary Leibowitz, and Janek Schaefer. The space also played host to a series of performances including Belgian composer Vidna Obmana, Illusion of Safety, and Ethan Rose. The gallery closed in November 2003.

Published works

Norris released his first monograph of photographic imagery from the series, "Shooting Blanks" on May 1, 2018. This collection of constructed photographic images was presented at the Tacoma Art Museum and Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, OR. The limited edition version of the book was printed in only fifty copies to include an original 8x10 print. The series depicts the detritus of industrial signage in the urban landscape and was developed after the artist traveled to over a dozen U.S. states to capture images for an earlier photographic series, "No Sign".

Discography

In 2003 Beta-lactam Ring Records released Norris' compilation The Tribryd Installation Soundtracks. This collection of soundtracks, were based on his photographic works of the urban and industrial Pacific Northwest and the trio of resulting installations. In 2006, Innova Recordings/American Composers Forum released mixed, reconstructed versions of compositions by eleven sound artists including Nobukazu Takemura, Andrew Lagowski, and Troum. Norris' photographic work has been depicted as cover art on several recordings across many genres and international labels since 1999.

Awards