Everyone is Eating or being eaten
(2013) [performance] |
Artists Talk: materials
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The materials are often of little value or importance to me. Yet once transformed as artworks they become like fetish objects. I have inexplicable attachment to them regardless of the ‘actual’ value of the materials themselves. I accumulate materials as I go, as I need things, as the materials are dictated by whatever idea I am putting into action. I have been known to learn whole new techniques for a single piece of work. Leftovers are discarded, or hang around for a while, ‘just in case’, but generally once the artwork is complete I move on and abandon the now ‘old’ materials. I appreciate it is not a very economical way of working.
3. please could you discuss any correlation between ideology and materials in your practiceIn my practice ideology is a totalitarian leader and my materials are its people! The only time that materials may change the imbalance of this relationship is if it is simply not practical to proceed with the materials initially intended. However, in these cases, often the ideology of the work dictates the materials so strongly that the work must be deserted rather than compromise the strength of the concept, due to insufficient significance of materials.
4. do you consider what you materials might look like in the future, or are you just thinking about how they look when you use them? for example, do you consider whether the materials might change?Rarely, I think this is mainly because very few people actually own my work currently. Before someone had bought my work I didn’t think about it at all. Now it seems more of a responsibility to consider. To some extent I have a Duchampian attitude to the lifespan of an artwork. Once it is out of my hands it has a life of its own, I wouldn’t refuse going back to a work which had been damaged, but it was would be a big decision to do so and would depend on the circumstances. However, in my performance works I am less concerned about the longevity of materials. Largely my performances are very short and any ‘end product’ would more likely be a film or photograph, which in the digital age can only be lost by carelessness.
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Daphne Dress
(2013) [Screenprint on chiffon, ribbon] |
5. are your materials significant in how you identify yourself as an artist?
Unfortunately yes, it seems very old-fashioned to say so but deep down I probably identify myself as a painter as that was my first discipline. It is not that I don’t paint, or won’t paint anymore, just currently I have not had any ideas in which it would be essential. Yet, despite object making recently I certainly don’t identify myself as a sculptor. Often I feel an urge to go back to drawing, and I do. I feel most like myself as an artist when I am drawing. There is something irreplaceable about going back to basics.