Sam Brown

By Hyland Mather

Adam Culbert, a.k.a. Sam Brown, creates work via his Web site ExplodingDog.com from phrases that visitors to his Web site send him. His work began in 1998 as sort of an experiment in a new Web interactivity that would eventually serve as one of the influences to the modern day concept of folksonomy or the “social Web.” Culbert’s digital and pen drawings are sublime in their simplicity and have, over the past several years, found a loyal fanbase among the otherwise fickle Internet culture constantly hungry for the latest buzz. Hyland Mather, owner and curator of downtown Denver’s Andenken Gallery, interviews Culbert for NeoAztlan. – Steve Peralta

Hyland Mather: So Sam, how you livin? How is the new addition to the family?

Sam Brown: It is good. It is quite busy having two children. But we are having fun.

HM: Okay, let’s get down to brass tax. For those readers who don’t know and love you yet, where did you come from? Where did ExplodingDog.com come from? History, baby.

Sam Brown
“It’s Just Me”, 2007

SB: Back around 1998, I was making animations of little stick figure dogs and I was making dog sculptures. The ExplodingDog.com Web site was going to be the companion site to those videos and dogs but after working on the site for a few months, I realized it was a mess. So, I took it down and I put up a few drawings that I had made and said, “If you email me more titles, I will draw more pictures.”

It was very basic interactivity.

Since then, ExplodingDog.com has been the pretty much the same, I just have seven years worth of work on it.

HM: You were a pioneer Web success in the art world. You really capitalized on the venue very early on. How did it come about that your work found its first and most powerful home on the Web?

SB: I think I was lucky and had good timing.

When I started doing ExplodingDog.com much of the art that was on the Internet was about the technology and the possibilities of the Web. I did not have the intelligence or the technological background to do any of that. So, I just tried to transfer what I was doing offline onto the Internet.

HM: I see your style bit all over the place. What do you think about that?

SB: For the most part I don’t really care. It only bothers me when I see someone selling stuff with my drawings on it. Or I have seen people that have artwork which seems very likely to have been influenced from my art and when asked about it, they insult me. That kinda sucks.

But so many people have similar influences. It would make sense that others would come to similar conclusions.

If you Google the t-shirt site Threadless.com for ExplodingDog, you will come up with hundreds of discussions where artists are accused of ripping me off. I find it fascinating because sometimes it seems like they are, but many times I can hardly see any resemblance to ExplodingDog and I feel bad they got accused of ripping me off.

HM: How many books do you have out now?

SB: Right now, there are “Amazing Rain,” which is a story, and “Thinking of You,” which is a collection of some of my favorite ExplodingDog drawings.

There is also a story book, “Wish For Something Better,” which is out of print, but you can download parts from the Web site. If everything goes as planned, there should be a few more coming out this year.

HM: Your illustrations effect a lot of people in a lot of different ways, but two views seem to dominate. First, the jackass opinion, “Those are just stick figures, I could do that” and “I can’t believe the emotions and depth of these simple drawings.” I want to know where you stand on this.

SB: I was always really into the artist Sol Lewitt and he would have drawings where the title would be something like “horizontal lines five inches long.” Then the drawing would be just that – “horizontal lines five inches long” – but it would be wonderful.

The title and the drawing would both be the same thing, but the disconnect between the two would make it awesome. ExplodingDog is like a backwards, goofball version of that. You have to be able to see the disconnect to make it awesome.

Sam Brown
“Is She Out There?”, 2007

HM: The colors are bright. The landscapes are wonderful. How come so many of the themes are so heavy?

SB: Some of the themes are heavy but there is also much silliness. Some of the drawings that are really heavy are also really silly but I don’t think that always come across to every viewer. That is part of my failure as an artist.

Even looking back that happens to me. I thought “Amazing Rain” was heavy but also hilarious but as it gets older it is less and less funny to me and more heavy handed and serious.

HM: I have a pretty nice collection of ExplodingDog stuff. I have a few books; I have a few of the really nice prints from the high resolution versions of the drawings on your site; and I have some pen and ink drawings on paper. You also have some cool e-dog sculptures. What is your favorite medium right now considering you are active with so many?

SB: I don’t really have a favorite but they are all connected to the Web site. Like when I make the metal dogs they are an actual physical object but the way most people see them is through the photos on my site. One of the deciding factors for what I am going to do depends on time and what resources I have available.

I would love to make more books, but they are expensive and take quite a bit of time to make so I am limited to how many books get made.

HM: Last question: When is ExplodingDog going to take over the world completely and what is the plan of attack?

SB: I have no idea. but I do have quite a few projects planned for the next couple months.

Visit the ExplodingDog Web site at http://www.explodingdog.com/.

Images courtesy of artist.

Hyland Mather is part owner and curator of the Andenken Gallery in Downtown Denver.

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