Artillery Editor Tulsa Kinney

I Actually Drove a Forklift

Tulsa Kinney is editor and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based contemporary art magazine Artillery. Before moderating the Zócalo/MOCA panel “Is Art Our Last Safe Space?” she talked in the Zócalo green room about her past job driving a forklift, and why the Los Angeles art world isn’t as unique as it could be.

Q:

What salad dressing best describes you?


A:

Vinegar and oil. It’s the only thing I eat. I’m half-Italian. Vinegar, full of piss and vinegar. [Laughs.]


Q:

How did you get into trouble as a kid?


A:

I guess I got into trouble mainly when I was beginning to be pubescent, so I did things I don’t want to say right now. Probably also making jokes, talking out of turn—that kind of thing.


Q:

What’s your hidden talent?


A:

Being able to get people and strangers to talk, getting people to open up.


Q:

What’s the biggest change in the Los Angeles art world over the past two decades that no one really talks about?


A:

In the last two decades, the Los Angeles art world has sadly become not as unique as it could be, and it’s fallen into the current trap of being very money-driven and following the trends of the [broader] art world. L.A. could have been actually a little more of a leader in starting the trends.


Q:

How would you describe your style?


A:

Understated, in a way. People would probably laugh about that because I’m usually the loudest at a party.


Q:

What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?


A:

I worked in an electrical factory for a year and a half. I did the rote—over and over and over. I actually drove a forklift at one time in the factory, too. I got promoted. Working in the tool supply area, driving the forklift, is probably the strangest job I’ve ever had.


Q:

What’s your favorite under-the-radar spot in Los Angeles?


A:

The Huntington Library. I love going into the gardens and going to see The Blue Boy [the portrait by Thomas Gainsborough].


Q:

Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail?


A:

Anthony Ausgang. He’s an artist.


Q:

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?


A:

$10,000 from my mother-in-law when my car got totaled.


Q:

How do you pass the time when you’re stuck in traffic?


A:

I listen to the radio and daydream.


*Photo by Aaron Salcido.