Michael C. Thorpe
Michael C. Thorpe is an artist and athlete playing pretend best-known for his quilts. We met him in 2022 and traded a set of golf clubs for a massive piece in 2023. It’s worth looking up more extended interviews with Michael but we asked him some quick questions about sport and art below.
He played college basketball at Emerson College at has shown art in galleries and museums across the US and world. Michael's art has become a fixture in Whim's "Free Golf" putting green installations in NYC. "Whim Water Bugs" (2023) and "the fool always wins" (2024) were on the walls of our last two free putting greens. Most importantly, Michael has become a close friend of ours and is someone we who we admire most in the world today. @iversonsdurag
A: Creativity and "rules"
Q: I understand you love working in different forms -- performance art, photography, carpentry, experiential art, etc. -- but, what besides your mom’s history as a quilter and your industry success in quilting compels you to keep coming back to it as a medium?
Q: I understand you love working in different forms -- performance art, photography, carpentry, experiential art, etc. -- but, what besides your mom’s history as a quilter and your industry success in quilting compels you to keep coming back to it as a medium?
A: It's my native tongue
Q: What does “for people who might like golf” mean to you?
Q: What does “for people who might like golf” mean to you?
A: They might like golf if they tried it
Q: Describe your recent piece for Whim Golf NYC, “the fool always wins”
Q: Describe your recent piece for Whim Golf NYC, “the fool always wins”
A: Forget what you know, it really doesn't get you far
Q: How have you evolved your working process over the years, both creatively and logistically?
A: By becoming more lawless
Q: When does playing sports feel the best?
Q: When does playing sports feel the best?
A: After the third game, when your legs are back and you sweated out the previous nights alcohol
Q: When does playing arts feel the best?
Q: When does playing arts feel the best?
A: Alone in the studio after you soaked up the outside world
Q: Tell us about your 2025 bar performance / experiential artwork
A: I made a place for my friends and the greater community to come and hang out. best part is money didn't work there
Q: What is the last clothing item you purchased?
Q: What is the last clothing item you purchased?
A: Red strip tye dye shirt in Jamaica
Q: What’s the difference between perception and perspective?
Q: What’s the difference between perception and perspective?
A: Perspective has one more letter than perception
Q: What is the role of the audience or crowd in art and sport?
A: Conversation
Q: When’s the last time you erased something?
Q: When’s the last time you erased something?
A: Great question, I literally don't know. Haha
Q: What matters to you in sport and art?
Q: What matters to you in sport and art?
A: Pleasure
Q: What are you going to teach in your guest lecture at SAIC?
Q: What are you going to teach in your guest lecture at SAIC?
A: How to become lawless
Q: Rattle off some artists and athletes you’re paying close attention to or learning about lately
Q: Rattle off some artists and athletes you’re paying close attention to or learning about lately
A: The entire whim golf research and development team
