You may have seen approx 3,000 pictures of the man I am interviewing.

You’ve probably seen Jonathan Keller because he’s taken a photo of himself every day for TEN YEARS (he started when he was 22!) and, I have an unconfirmed suspicion that he has single-handedly started the “I Take a Photo Of Myself Everyday for X Days” YouTube boom. (If you want to do it yourself, this program might help.)

Anyway, the brilliant part about JK is that the video isn’t his only project. He is a project man. And, as usual, I’m having a hugely hard time selectively picking things to show you. Basically, I want to recreate his web-page on my web-page. Not practical. Or legal. So you should just visit it.

1. American Sign Language Alphabet Matchbooks (This is actually how I discovered Jonathan’s web-page. Later, I found out I had seen 3000 pictures of him on YouTube.)
2. Daily Photo Project (video below)
3. Random Comments, such as those found in this Random Leftover Survey
4. Photobooth project from fromktoj.com, which is actually a project by Jonathan’s wife. Photobooth key is so pretty! ALSO, I WEAR LIME GREEN.
5. How to Hold a Design Poster (hahaha! TRUE!)
6. Songs About Rainbows (or, as I like to call it, How to Ruin your Entire Filing System)
7. Box Bots, robots made of cardboard boxes (you can submit your own!)

I wanted to ask Jonathan about a billion questions about his photo project, then decided not to, and then ended up asking a few anyway. Luckily, he has (quite humorously) answered photo-project FAQs (er, AQs) on his web-page (seriously, go read it, my interview is very informative, but this is funny!).

According to his web-site, five years ago he was quite the internet star (as interpreted by me based on the number of emails he received never mind his youtube views), so I imagine with about 1000 more photos under his belt he’s quite the star now. Moral of the story: I consider myself lucky that I even got through the massive spam filter I hope he now has installed in his email.

“From 2003 January 01 to 2003 July 11 I received 2111 eMails to my website account. 613 of which were real eMails from people about the site, with 35 containing ‘love’. 1498 were junk eMail, 10 of which were apparently sent from the future (2038), and 59 containing ‘love’.” -JK (PS I made the graphic with Daytum)

How would you describe your art projects to someone who hasn’t seen them?
Ah, my elevator pitch is a tough sell. Thankfully I can just pull out my iPhone and show people. In the event that I, God forbid, don’t have my mobile portfolio, I begin by saying that most of my projects lie near the intersection of design, code & craft and are dictated by some sort of logical system. But in my systems, logic does not beget sense. In fact, the end result is often an amplification of the simplistic nature of the system’s assumptions and interpretations. Accumulation, iteration and revaluing the mundane also factor in often. When that explanation leaves one befuddled, I say “I’ve taken a photo of myself every day for the past 10 years. There’s a video of it on YouTube.”

When that explanation leaves one befuddled, I say “I’ve taken a photo of myself every day for the past 10 years. There’s a video of it on YouTube.”

What’s with the “c71123″?
When I was 5 years old, my father asked me to remember the numbers of three cows (the ‘c’) that needed to be bred (he was a professional artificial inseminator). The numbers were 7, 11, & 23. Being the math/number dork that I was at that age, I set out to remember those numbers for as long as I possibly could. 27 years later they hold a certain amount of nostalgic appeal. I knew the odd alphanumerics would be available as a URL, while also subtly referencing spam and numbered email addresses like hotgirl69@email.com.

What’s your favorite project you’ve done?

My favorite project is perpetually the one I just finished and put up online. There is nothing more satisfying than getting work out there for others to see. Though, to answer the spirit of question, I’d say the Princess Peach shirt as it encompasses most of the interests I’ve been involved with since I was young while also achieving what I desire for all my projects.

Which is your favorite box bot?

Like most things subjective, it’s hard to choose a single one. Overall, I like the way the beer and cigarette packages turn out. Odd, since I’ve never smoked and drink rarely. If I had to choose one to be my friend, it’d have to be the Dos Equis bug, while my mortal enemy would be the ogre Mr. Guinness. I think I can safely say that my least favorite is Boston Lager. A black mark on the otherwise shining beer genre.

What project has gotten the most reception from the public?

It’s quite humbling to be able to say that millions of people have seen a project I created.

The Adaption to My Generation (a daily photo project) by far. Check out the number comments on my site for proof positive. I’ve been fortunate enough to be featured in some very public spaces online and off and it’s quite humbling to be able to say that millions of people have seen a project I created.

What’s your process for taking photos of yourself?
The process for taking photos is fairly simple. First is to find a white wall. At home, this is easy, as it’s the same place every day. When away, I find the closest thing to white as possible (e.g. this one was in a blue tent ). The nice thing is that the flash usually washes the background out nicely no matter what. Then, I hold the camera out in front of me and snap. I’ve gotten pretty adept at framing the face well enough, though if my aim’s a little wanky, I’ll take another shot. Digital cameras are awesome that way. In terms of the time I take the image, it’s usually after I get home from work, though if I know I’ll be out and about, I try to make sure I do it in the morning. Trust me though, I’ve cut a few evenings short to be able to get a photo that day.

For a person who is not all that invested in “the process”, but rather “gettin’ it done”, there’s a certain amount of melancholy associated with the realization that “gettin’ this project done” actually applies to one’s mortal life.

What are you favorite artistic tools?
The internets, code, Sharpies, and misery.

What are you creatively inspired by?

• Mishaps
• Misunderstanding what I’m looking at and then deciding that ‘what I thought it was’ is a superior idea.
• Collections
• Spite
• The universe’s laziness (small-world syndrome)
• The everyday
• The every day
• Cleverness

What is on your walls at home?
Have a gander:

As you’ll see, very little currently. I used to have a huge collection of embroidery I bought at thrift stores behind my computer when I had a studio space, but not here in a shared home space. What is there is a Sharpie rip-off of Daniel Eatock’s Pantone pen prints, rulers, earbuds, and two wonderful drawings by my friend Ulli.

Life story in a paragraph.
Born and raised by a nurse and a genetic engineer in rural Minnesota, I spent the better part of my youth on farms. During my free time, I would practice simple math in notebooks. As the third of four children growing up in small town surroundings, I was compelled to establish my own identity outside of the prescriptive norms.

After graduating high school in 1994, I attempted to put a large chunk of land between myself and my hometown by attending the Rhode Island School of Design. I had planned to study Architecture. Within the next few years, I finished my undergraduate education in Interactive Multimedia at the Minneapolis College of Art + Design.

Evading the sinister allure of the San Francisco dot-com boom, I worked for 5 months as a janitor in Antarctica.

Evading the sinister allure of the San Francisco dot-com boom, I worked for 5 months as a janitor in Antarctica. Then, letting my obsession with extremes guide me, I moved to New York City and worked as a freelance designer. In 2005, after a brief but passionate affair with Pittsburgh, I began working towards a Masters degree in 2d Design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. MFA in hand, I returned to New York to join my wife, Keetra Dean Dixon, to pursue a lifestyle of making and doing. In other words, I’m back to being a freelance designer while also showing work as a prototypical artist.

Anything else?
It’s a privilege to be able to do what I do and it’s amazing when it seems to affect others.

Thank you so much for the interview Jonathan! Later this week, I’ll tell you what he’s currently obsessed with. In the meantime, go to his web-site.

Other Posts You Might Like:
1. Fantastic(al) Sand Castles!
2. Girl Effect Video
3. Bottle Cap Crafts Tutorial
4. Espresso Book Machine
5. Happy Haunakka, Channukkah, uh, Hannauka, eh, you know…