Meet Peter Kalisch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Kalisch.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I came to Los Angeles with the goal of being a famous artist. After working in the scene for a couple of years, I began to understand that narcissism is an epidemic in our society. In this way, my work has shifted and become reliant on a sense of vulnerability in order to make it authentic. I began to move from making visual art to making primarily performance-based work, due to the excitement of the sense of danger and fear that it took for me to perform live in front of an audience. Performance made art exciting and riveting for me. I began to incorporate noise music into my live performances, and have since been picked up by a label and started to make music without relying on a performative element to make it enjoyable. I just released my first album on the label Obsolete Units, which you can find on their Bandcamp page.

Please tell us about your art.
I make primarily performance art and music. Most of my work deals with themes critical of our postmodern consumerist society, and our need to reinstill a sense of purpose in our lives. I find this lack of a sense of purpose to be contingent on our dependence on technology, as well as our obsession of consumption. Additionally, narcissism plays a big role in my work. I am also very critical of many hedonistic aspects of gay male culture, and my work uses sexuality in order to point out how sex is an underlying form of mother nature’s eternal reign. We indulge in sexuality in a multitude of ways, from how we present ourselves online to how we interact at bars/parties, but we forget about how it is the most basic form of our primal human experience. Sexuality is at once our means of creating life, but it is also the underlying force that causes oppressive governments and dictatorships to occur.

Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned since working in LA is that most people only care about themselves. LA is the type of city where people move here to pursue their dreams, and oftentimes this pursuit of success can make them do irrational and insensitive things. This is a good default position to take in every situation, in order to protect yourself from being used by others. You have the duty to yourself to protect your art, that is your responsibility. Just because you do things for other people, does not mean they will return the favor, even if that’s the right thing to do. Expect nothing, because expectations often lead to disappointment. Keep your blinders set on your goals, and listen to others advice, but do not let their advice override your intuition. Follow your intuition to the grave. You do not want to look back on your life in 50 years with any regrets, so go as hard as you can, no matter if people criticize or misunderstand it. Be a good person and do not be afraid to be vulnerable. Vulnerability equals authenticity, and people respect it more than you may expect.