Grant Woolward is one of the more intriguing Youtube artists. The Japan-based, University of Virginia educated user creates videos on a wide range of topics, in a wide range of styles. Whether he’s sending up famous speeches or blending Beatles songs together into a delectable truffle, Woolward always seems to hold the viewers attention, sometimes for as long as 6 minutes. I recently had an opportunity to “sit down” with Grant and ask him about his creative process. His answers to my meddling questions were just as thought-provoking as his videos.
What made you want to start a YouTube channel in the first place?
Back in 2007, when I was supposed to be studying biology, I wrote several pieces for piano and decided to post them on YouTube, but I didn’t start making videos on a regular basis until about a year-and-a-half ago, after watching MysteryGuitarMan’s videos.
By Elizabeth Downing Johnson
11Points.com creator Sam Greenspan is the most knowledgeable guy about everything, ever. Except cats and Star Trek. I had the opportunity to ask him 11 questions, (of course it was 11) so I did, and he answered them with his characteristic good-natured charm and cleverness. You might remember when I did a review of his book 11 Points Guide to Hooking Up. I was a fan then, and I’m even more of a fan now, especially since he answered my questions thoughtfully and thoroughly, and didn’t once ask if I was dropped on my head as a child. Read on to learn more about Sam.
1. Do you make lists for everything in your life (grocery, Christmas card, apocalypse survival kit, etc.) or do you save that for your website and book?
Making 11-item lists has become a creepily subconscious habit. Like I try to extend to-do lists to 11 and such now. I also spot 11s everywhere, like Jim Carrey in that movie “The Number 23″. Which I didn’t see, but I think I got the gist from the trailer.
Reality may bite, but that bite may not be as big as you expected. We are constantly bombarded by television ads for fast food chains that leave us with mouths watering and eyes wide. The promise of hot, tasty food in large quantities is a hard temptation to turn down. Sadly, the truth behind that delicious image usually doesn’t live up to the hype.
An Interview with the Artist Himself
I’ve looked at your website, and at your little corner of Gawker. Your chalk art fascinates me. You use a temporary medium to capture a temporary state – the shadows that fall in the evening and at night. What made you think of starting this project, and what was the first thing you decided to capture that way?
From geeks to the obese, home-schoolers to binge-drinkers, Awkward School Pictures (ASP) has captured the classic, cringe-worthy characters of our academic careers. We point, we snicker, we email each other links with subject lines like Check out this freak! Is it high school all over again?
