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Your early work involved stick figure porno and Kermit giving it
to a teddy bear, but it has evolved into the creation of highly
sophisticated drawing mechanisms. At what point did you decide to
"sell out" and "go mainstream?"
Shit!! DID I!!!??? Nooooooo!!!!!!
. . .
Do you recognize the distinction between "Artist"
and "Designer?" Do you consider yourself more a part of
one world than the other?
Yes, I do recognize that distinction. I get annoyed
when people refer to me as a designer or as an illustrator. But
I wish I didn't. It doesn't really matter. Just some construct I
have floating around in my head that I always wanted to be an artist,
and that people calling me a designer or an illustrator takes away
from that. I don't think it really does, but I can't help it.
I would rather have patrons (the way painters do),
but the way it is going right now is by no means torture. A lot
of people who are coming to me for work are letting me do almost
anything I want, which is great.
. . .
Do you find it inhibiting that the conferences
you've attended are very industry-centric?
I don't really care. Any excuse to get a free vacation
is good for me. The conferences have little to nothing to do with
when or how I make my work anyway. Its just fun to go and see all
the people that I know from around the web. It's like summer camp!
. . .
How do you think the "net.art" and
commercial worlds fit together, and which do you think will have
the greatest impact in the long-run?
Not sure. The net.art scene is too insular and ironic
to do anything very impactful, and the commercial world online is
too cheesy and trendy and rarely has a shred of content.
There are plenty of people who are doing personal
work that does not fit in at all with the net.art scene, but also
have nothing to do with the commercial world. I think these unique
oddballs are the ones who will have the most impact on both the
Art world and the Internet as a whole.
. . .
Your work is very much about drawing, but you
do it in a very contemporary way. Are you influenced by any other
contemporary drawers/painters?
I really Like Takashi Murakami, and Sarah Sze, and
the kids from the Neasden
Control Centre. There are lots of others, but these ones stick
out right now.
. . .
You've said your work is highly influenced by
electronic music. By this do you mean the big-beat stylings of Fat
Boy Slim?
No! I fucking hate Fat Boy Slim. Him and Ben Afleck
are my two most hated humans on the planet. They are, in fact, the
same person. I would punch him/them if I had the chance. When I
hear Fat Boy Slim's music it makes my skin crawl and my eyes go
bloodshot, my hands ball up in fists and my knuckles turn white.
If you are reading this (either of you, Ben or Fat Boy) then go
EAT SHIT!
But I do think it is crucial to bring outside influences
to any medium. If all I did was try and make my stuff look like
other people's websites it wouldn't be very interesting or personal
would it? I react to the world in a really physical way, so my animations
have a lot of that in them. I get a kick out of trying to give other
people the same feelings through my work.
. . .
How interesting do you find the "pop,"
trend-of-the-month design work?
I like it for its punch but it is boringly predictable.
But then again, "pop" styles on the Internet are still
underground in terms of mass pop culture. If I walk down the street
and ask someone who designgraphik is, 99% of people won't know what
I'm talking about.
It does influence me quite a lot, but in an indirect
way. It sort of warps whatever ideas and imagery that is going on
in my head at the time. No much more than any other one source of
influence though.
. . .
You studied at NSCAD but didn't finish. What
role do you think schools have in regard to making Art on the Internet?
I don't think that very many Fine Art schools are
teaching new media very well. They need a juicy batch of artist/programmer
profs who really know what they are doing. Most of the people qualified
for the job are just working in the field and probably wouldn't
take the time out to teach. School is great, I just think that if
you want to make art with computers, then you better be prepared
to learn the formal side of it on your own or take computer science
before you go to art school.
The schools I went to were very valuable to my work
now, especially Central Tech in Toronto. It was there that I really
learned how to draw. NSCAD was good too, but I was so interested
in learning how to use computers at that time that it was as if
the volume got turned down at the school. I couldn't get all that
excited by reproducing 70's conceptual art, when something fresh
and uncharted was opening up in my brain because of computers. I
was a little unsure about that at the time - I kept thinking that
maybe my stuff wasn't valid because it didn't have an ironic chuckle
attached to it.
. . .
Thanks James! I'm really looking forward to seeing
who you'll profile for Step 2 of this Chainletter!
[INTERVIEW
CONDUCTED VIA EMAIL AND PHONE, JAN. 2002]
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