By Jen Hitchings

Jane Fine and James Esber, invited me up to their Williamsburg rooftop to discuss GO! Brooklyn Art, the borough-wide open studio event/contest for a show at the Brooklyn Museum stirring criticisms, excitement, and curiosity. One reason for skepticism is that 1,806 artists registered for it, while 4,500+ did for Bushwick Open Studios. The most compelling reason for interviewing them was that Jane is participating in GO! and James is not, despite having been collaborating under the alias J. Fiber for years, sharing a studio, and being married. Jane and James have both been working artists in Brooklyn since the late eighties.

Jen: So Jane, why did you choose to participate, and James, why not?

Jane: After thinking about it, I ended up feeling like if I didn’t participate and I saw whoever got the show and felt like there work was awful, I know I would’ve been kicking myself for not doing it.