The last few years have been an uphill struggle. Having kids rocked our world in amazing and extreme ways. Creativity and sleep deprivation don't sit well for me. Then there was the job situation. I had two design agents whose businesses went to the wall in the early stages of the recession. Dave did hourly paid lecturing, the cuts meant he lost two thirds of his hours. Whilst I was knee deep in nappies, he became a supply teacher, we compromised our ambitions, our lives became a parody of 1950's domesticity. Supply teaching is a fickle world and in between waiting for the phone to ring, I've done all that I know how to do and plodded on, designing and creating.
So why the sudden outpouring? I've taken life on the chin. No one said living by our creativity was going to be easy. Everyone loses and then finds themselves when they become a parent. One of my main reasons for creating the life I have, is as an example to my children. I want to empower them to live a life that is true to their soul. To equip them with the skills to not just be an efficient cog in an economic machine. I want them to be humans!
Which brings me forward to the impetus for this outpouring. I read the following interview with Antony Gormley in the New Statesman.
The NS Interview: Antony Gormley, Artist
This article was written by Samira Shackle and published in the New Statesman.
“You should definitely cut defence before you cut art”
Were you always going to be an artist?
No. It wasn't one of these things where at the age of three I knew that I was going to be a painter. Far from it. It was a slow realisation that I couldn't be anything else.
No. It wasn't one of these things where at the age of three I knew that I was going to be a painter. Far from it. It was a slow realisation that I couldn't be anything else.
Did your upbringing have an influence?
I was educated by monks [at Ampleforth College] - I thank them dearly for the education they gave me, but I am no longer a Catholic. But, having been one, I have, in the words of William Blake, to make my own system or I will be enslaved by another man's. I think that's what I am doing - trying to construct my own system. It's a dangerous thing for an artist.
I was educated by monks [at Ampleforth College] - I thank them dearly for the education they gave me, but I am no longer a Catholic. But, having been one, I have, in the words of William Blake, to make my own system or I will be enslaved by another man's. I think that's what I am doing - trying to construct my own system. It's a dangerous thing for an artist.
Do you see your art as having a purpose?
I used to think that the great thing about sculpture was that, like Stonehenge, it was something that stood against time in an adamantine way, and was an absolute mass in space. Now I try to use the language of architecture to redescribe the body as a place.
I used to think that the great thing about sculpture was that, like Stonehenge, it was something that stood against time in an adamantine way, and was an absolute mass in space. Now I try to use the language of architecture to redescribe the body as a place.
Why are you so drawn to the human body?
It's funny, I'm not that interested in it as a body: I'm interested in it as the place where we all live. It's the collective, subjective condition of a human being.
It's funny, I'm not that interested in it as a body: I'm interested in it as the place where we all live. It's the collective, subjective condition of a human being.
You often use your own body in your work.
It saves a lot of hassle. Why make another body when you've got one already? It releases you from the stranglehold that art has had placed
on it, more or less from the Renaissance, which is the making of the perfect copy.
It saves a lot of hassle. Why make another body when you've got one already? It releases you from the stranglehold that art has had placed
on it, more or less from the Renaissance, which is the making of the perfect copy.
Are you a victim of critical snobbery?
It is impossible to escape. If your work doesn't speak to people, it's beyond comprehension and risible, but if people engage with it you become tarred with the brush of populism.
It is impossible to escape. If your work doesn't speak to people, it's beyond comprehension and risible, but if people engage with it you become tarred with the brush of populism.
Is connecting people with art important to you?
It's wonderful to see art in a museum, but it is institutionalised. I don't like the idea of the artwork as something that requires special conditions. I would like it to be universal.
It's wonderful to see art in a museum, but it is institutionalised. I don't like the idea of the artwork as something that requires special conditions. I would like it to be universal.
So, the idea is that art belongs to everyone?
Each one of us is a creative, responsive individual. You can't push people into the position of being dumb, of being consumers of spectacle. For me, it's very important that art becomes commonly owned again.
Each one of us is a creative, responsive individual. You can't push people into the position of being dumb, of being consumers of spectacle. For me, it's very important that art becomes commonly owned again.
Would you say this is a good time for art?
Oh, very. British art has come of age. We had always been apologetic. We aren't any more. There is a sense that the visual arts in Britain are setting the agenda for people all over the world. It's never happened before.
Oh, very. British art has come of age. We had always been apologetic. We aren't any more. There is a sense that the visual arts in Britain are setting the agenda for people all over the world. It's never happened before.
Has the art world become overly commercial?
I think that you could say markets follow energy. If there wasn't the energy, there wouldn't be anything to sell. But I think you can always tell when artists are more interested in money than they are in discovering and using their voice for its own sake.
I think that you could say markets follow energy. If there wasn't the energy, there wouldn't be anything to sell. But I think you can always tell when artists are more interested in money than they are in discovering and using their voice for its own sake.
Should art mix with politics?
Art and politics are inextricably linked, and art has always been an arena in which human freedom has been tested and extended. That's what my Fourth Plinth project was all about - a test site for human identity and for the demonstration of our liberties.
Art and politics are inextricably linked, and art has always been an arena in which human freedom has been tested and extended. That's what my Fourth Plinth project was all about - a test site for human identity and for the demonstration of our liberties.
What do you make of the coming cuts to arts funding?
Disastrous. You should definitely cut defence before you cut art. Art is the way that an individual and a nation express their vitality. Without it, we might as well not be alive.
Disastrous. You should definitely cut defence before you cut art. Art is the way that an individual and a nation express their vitality. Without it, we might as well not be alive.
Should the arts receive special protection?
The idea that somehow art should be cut in the same way as everything is just completely and utterly indefensible. It is as if somehow we are having to be buried as well as being told that we are poor and starving.
The idea that somehow art should be cut in the same way as everything is just completely and utterly indefensible. It is as if somehow we are having to be buried as well as being told that we are poor and starving.
Can philanthropy fill the gap?
That's wishful thinking. The American model, where national institutions and their boards are in some way influenced by the largest funders, is open to extreme abuse. I would never discourage philanthropy, but there is a huge difference between patronage and state funding. The state has a duty to be a good patron.
That's wishful thinking. The American model, where national institutions and their boards are in some way influenced by the largest funders, is open to extreme abuse. I would never discourage philanthropy, but there is a huge difference between patronage and state funding. The state has a duty to be a good patron.
What do you think of the coalition so far?
I'm waiting.
I'm waiting.
Do you vote?
I certainly vote. I continued to vote for Labour in the last election.
I certainly vote. I continued to vote for Labour in the last election.
Is there a plan?
There was a plan to try to be a good artist. And that's still the project.
There was a plan to try to be a good artist. And that's still the project.
Is there anything you would like to forget?
I deeply regret the loss of my eldest brother. I don't ever want to forget him, but I regret that he died.
I deeply regret the loss of my eldest brother. I don't ever want to forget him, but I regret that he died.
Are we all doomed?
It's up to us.
It's up to us.
Defining Moments
1950 Born in London
1971 Completes degree in archaeology, anthropology and art history at Trinity College, Cambridge
1977-79 Attends Slade School of Fine Art
1994 Wins Turner Prize with his terracotta sculpture series Field
1998 Made Officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to sculpture
2010 Signs an open letter to Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary, protesting at arts cuts
His comment that, 'There is a sense that the visual arts in Britain are setting the agenda for people all over the world', struck a cord. In the run up to the general election, I watched Youth Question Time on BBC3. Rory Bremner was on the panel, responding to a question on youth unemployment. He praised Britain's world standing in the visual arts, and proposed the creative industries as ripe for investment as an industry that could build Britain's economy and give us a unique field of excellence on the world stage. Instead, the Government bailed out the banks.
Why is our arts cultutre so undervalued? Why are we content to sit in our garrets and be sidelined as insignificant. I work my butt off to earn money doing what I do. I work for nothing, only making money when I sell. There is no minimum wage in this house. And now I am angry! I've kept my motivation but around me I see efficiency drives squashing our arts resources into a lump on the side, not the vital, intrinsic, human centre of our society. As Antony Gormley said, 'The idea that somehow art should be cut in the same way as everything is just completely and utterly indefensible. It is as if somehow we are having to be buried as well as being told that we are poor and starving.'
1971 Completes degree in archaeology, anthropology and art history at Trinity College, Cambridge
1977-79 Attends Slade School of Fine Art
1994 Wins Turner Prize with his terracotta sculpture series Field
1998 Made Officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to sculpture
2010 Signs an open letter to Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary, protesting at arts cuts
His comment that, 'There is a sense that the visual arts in Britain are setting the agenda for people all over the world', struck a cord. In the run up to the general election, I watched Youth Question Time on BBC3. Rory Bremner was on the panel, responding to a question on youth unemployment. He praised Britain's world standing in the visual arts, and proposed the creative industries as ripe for investment as an industry that could build Britain's economy and give us a unique field of excellence on the world stage. Instead, the Government bailed out the banks.
Why is our arts cultutre so undervalued? Why are we content to sit in our garrets and be sidelined as insignificant. I work my butt off to earn money doing what I do. I work for nothing, only making money when I sell. There is no minimum wage in this house. And now I am angry! I've kept my motivation but around me I see efficiency drives squashing our arts resources into a lump on the side, not the vital, intrinsic, human centre of our society. As Antony Gormley said, 'The idea that somehow art should be cut in the same way as everything is just completely and utterly indefensible. It is as if somehow we are having to be buried as well as being told that we are poor and starving.'
1 comment:
What a great post! I like the Gormley mind, don't you? I wonder if some of the best art ever isn't created in this kind of environment - when passions are raised and anger rises to scratch the back of your throat. I am trying to direct my energies artistically.
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