Image Search Interview

what was your inspiration for this show, if there was one?

well, there wasn't really any one particular artist who i feel directly inspired these works. It's more of a response to the way I go about collecting inspiration, I look to films or the internet.

was there any intention for the show?

I didn't initially set out with an absolute goal for the show. It's turned out as an affirmation of my struggle with post-modernity I guess. I mean, painting as a modernist isn't enough anymore, it's all been done. But then post-modernity doesn't really sit very comfortably with me. What seems to have happened is I've turned the irony of post-modernity back on itself, and created some kind of mad unending irony onion.

So with irony hiding underneath more irony, does your work actually mean anything?

Some of the pieces comment on fairly specific aspects of contemporary art and culture. But mostly, its an ironic complaint.

An ironic complaint?

yes, well I'm complaining about the state of contemporary art, and the institutes that uphold it. But at the same time, by complaining, I hope to be accepted into the canon.

You sound confused.

I am.

Ok, so tell me about the red film stills

They're all characters in films that I have been able to relate to at some time. whether or not that can be considered a good thing is debatable. They're all these kind of anti-hero, young male figures, all very confident. I find these paintings quite uncomfortable, that may just be my relationship to them though.

Yes, I think it's just you, I think they sit really well.

Well, it wasn't the image itself I find uncomfortable, the images are striking in all the right ways. But they're not my images, really. I should be the thanking Kubrick and Danny Boyle. I mean the fact that I felt I had to make these paintings makes me feel a little unsettled.

Cool, so would you care to explain the triptych of triptychs

They're a direct response to the way that News is presented in 'The Media'. All the stories are presented with equal significance, so unimportant things such as 'How Do Tiny Turtles Walk on Sand' are presented as equally important as 'British Troops Prepare for an Afghan Offensive'.

I didn't get that from them at all, until you just told me.

I guess that's just what they mean to me, how they came into being. They can also be looked at in a wider context. These paintings of seemingly unconnected images can be seen to mirror the current saturation of images that is all around us in cities. There are so many things, not just advertisements, but architectural styles, anything, they all in habit the same spaces, and affect one another.

So are you trying to change this saturation of images?

If I was then I think making three three-part paintings would be counter-productive. No, I'm not trying to change the world, I'm just trying to see it and make sense of it.

But don't you think you have a responsibility as an artist?

No. I don't have any more responsibility to change the world than anyone else does. The difference between artists and everyone else is that they're so egotistical that they think everyone else should be able to see the world as they see it. I'm not an artist because I want to change the world, I'd have to be a scientist or politician.

Do you know what you're going to do next?

Sort of. I'm going to explore the grey areas between painting and sculpture, I've already started down that road with the petri dishes. And most importantly I'll be trying to stay away from any form of irony.

Cheers

yeah, bye.