Avery Singer Offers Advice to Aliens Visiting Earth

If aliens arrived on Earth, what would be your advice to our new visitors? 

It’s cool that you had enough knowledge of physics to safely enter Earth’s atmosphere. What else did

you learn in school on your planet?

Are there any fictional characters who you wish were real?

All the characters from the video game Final Fantasy VII (1997), particularly Cloud Strife.

Do you have a desert island book?

Journey to the End of the Night (1932) by Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

Are there any quotes you live by?

‘The only thing you need to ask yourself when you walk into an exhibition is: Is this artist a shyster, or are they a thinker?’ That’s a quote from my former sculpture professor, Niki Logis.

What’s your favourite street corner and why? 

On Staple Street in Tribeca, New York, the neighbourhood where I grew up, there’s an iconic skybridge that connects two buildings. It’s an amazing architectural detail.

Who do you admire most in history? 

Lou Andreas-Salomé.

What makes someone an artist?

Their intention.

This article first appeared in frieze issue 221 with the headline ‘Questionnaire: Avery Singer’.

_{Main Image: Avery Singer, China Chalet, 2021. Courtesy © Avery Singer, Hauser & Wirth and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin; photograph Lance Brewer}