Karl Jensen

When artist Karl Jensen constructed the set for the first Music Now festival in 2006 his studio was unavailable to work in. So he designed and built it in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn kitchen. “Things got a little hairy,” recalls Jensen, “it took weeks. I had three assistants working there. Stuff was all over you couldn’t get around. It’s a good thing I’m skinny because for the last month I had to slip sideways just to make coffee in the morning.” It was also a technical challenge. There were over 50 pieces to the backdrop pattern, each one had to be cut accurately and tracked. And there would be no way to know if it would all fit together until the actual installation (happily, it did). Transport was another issue. A crate would be too large to fit down the stairs so one had to be built on the sidewalk. “And it nearly buckled the roof of my car, too.” But it all had a happy ending. “Cincinnati was great,” says Jensen, “everyone was so enthusiastic and helpful. I started out hiring two assistants and in the three days it took to install I ended up having more people volunteer than I knew what to do with. It was just great.”

Jensen is looking forward to working in Memorial Hall. “What an incredible place, the way the space flows between the different levels and through the arches. And all that decoration. It’s kind of mournful –but it also has great dignity and was obviously made with heartfelt love. I can’t wait to work there.”

When Jensen is not working in Cincinnati he makes sculpture and architecture in New York City.