Peripheral
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Contemporary Art
inevitable outcome. What I mean by this, is that there may be a particular challenge for me in producing a piece of art that cannot be categorised. Of course, this is an impossible task in the sense that, if we see something which is completely beyond our comprehension, we will rapidly search our personal filing systems within our minds to find associations which will permit us to quickly categorise anything we see. That said, I suspect that I want to make a piece of art where chance plays a role so that objects, images or text are selected at random and fused into a single piece or installation that is, somehow, coherent, so that it does not present as surreal or disorganised but allows belief: what do I believe this to be? Another aspect of my work that I would care to develop is the role of text and I would not be surprised to find a satirical edge pervading through those texts. The kind of literary fiction, poetry and other forms of writing that I like present a sense of meaning that is felt, but at the same time, literally out of reach as though there is an invisible bridge of energy connecting different elements that somehow produce a complete picture.
other times, I may have considered it, or parts of it, too obscure. In this sense, there is a debate to be had and a dynamic one at that. When I gave a talk about my work at Spike Island in Bristol last November, I tried to achieve a balance between setting the scene of each piece of work. I talked of the context without over explaining or trying to suggest a particular interpretation. In terms of my own ego and ambition, I am aware that there is a professional audience made up of other artists, curators, writers and collectors and I would care to be taken seriously by them by extending my practice and contributing to critical debate. Interestingly, the exhibition in Berlin is in a privately owned art centre rather than a white cube commercial gallery. The location is superb, so I will take into account how to present work in the space that will reach out to people passing by as much as a more professional audience. In terms of the development of my work, I see it as a kind of research which may take a number of paths and directions - ultimately heading for a focused arena of creative activity - and this process pulls my decision-making and language along behind what is, certainly at times, experimentation which may succeed or may fail.
In my mind and in my studio, I have the elements to start new work but, much like a writer writing a work of literary fiction, once the characters are created and develop form and substance, they might just take over and decide where the story is going. Thank you again for this opportunity to share my thoughts.
In practice, then, there is a dynamic at work which continues to evolve. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Phil. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving? Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts with you. As you know, the issue of categorisation is one of considerable importance to me and increasingly in recent times, I have thought that I have not pushed my exploration with sufficient rigour to push it against what may be seen as an almost
SPECIAL ISSUE
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator design by Dario Rutigliano, curator peripheral.arteries@europe.com
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