In an era where artists are celebrities by default, the Bruce High Quality Foundation is something of a departure from the norm. Little is known about the New York art collective who go to great lengths to preserve their anonymity. The group was formed in 2001 and consists of many artists outside of the group’s core. Some of their art is a ‘reaction’ to existing works, and the group have gained notoriety for their humorous and entertaining take on art. The group is named after Bruce High Quality, a fictional character who supposedly died during 9/11, and they have established their own unaccredited art school, the Bruce High Quality Foundation University.

Dazed Digital: Bruce High Quality is a fictional artist, but how do you imagine him to be?
Bruce High Quality: Dead.

DD: BHQF is made up of different people - how do you decide on who can join the collective?
Bruce High Quality: BHQF is not a membership organization. There is a small staff that organizes projects that frequently involve many other people, sometimes hundreds of people.

DD: Is it difficult for you to work anonymously? Do you ever wish you could claim credit as individuals for the works that you’ve created?
Bruce High Quality: No, it isn't difficult. We generally don't make public appearances, and we only give interviews via email. It makes sense to credit collaboration with works that have been developed collaboratively.

DD: When creating your art, is it always a collective decision?
Bruce High Quality: It's art by committee. Our work is a pure expression of the collective unconscious. Plus fart jokes.

DD: You were described as “the darlings of the art world” by New York Times’ Julia Chapman. What makes the BHQF different to other artists?
Bruce High Quality: Art is purposeful purposelessness. But we also have a mission. We think the institutions of art would do well to learn from works of art. And so we function simultaneously as both - artist and institution.

DD: Do you take inspiration from any other artists or influences?
Bruce High Quality: We're big fans of Andy Warhol and his Foundation.

DD: Your work is often a reaction to other pieces of artwork, such as The Gate: Not the Idea of the Thing but the Thing Itself, which was a reaction to Robert Smithson’s Floating Island. How have the original artists responded to your pieces?
Bruce High Quality: Bob was totally into it.

DD: Your work is often quite satirical and you have been described as pranksters- is it difficult to get people to see the meaning in your work?
Bruce High Quality: The thing with jokes is that if people don't understand them, they aren't good jokes.   

DD: You’ve founded your own university. What are the key principles that you instil into students with regard to art? And what are your views on traditional art education?
Bruce High Quality: Contemporary art education generally speaking has the right idea - it's all about individual expression measured by group critique. What exactly constitutes a solid critique is a bit up for grabs, and sometimes it seems we're learning more about how to talk about art than anything else - but helpful accidents only happen when we go out on a limb and open ourselves to the minds of others. What bothers us about most institutionalized art education is its incoherent relationship to the larger art world. It simultaneously promotes embarrassing professionalism and embarrassingly thin anti-capitalist ideology. Meanwhile most schools are charging law school tuition to a bunch of future fry cooks. Muddled ethics ought to at least be interesting. 

DD: How do you see the art world progressing in the future?
Bruce High Quality: In the future everyone will be a foundation.