FEATURE
Q&A With Vantage Event Structures MD Matt Bowler ScaffMag caught up with Matt Bowler MD of Vantage Event Structures to find out more about his trajectory into the world of fine art and collaborations with artists such as Graham Hudson, Carsten Holler and Eyal Burstein, with whom he’s worked on numerous art projects.
M
att, you run a scaffolding firm and events company, yet you’ve collaborated with some big names in the art world – how did this come about? “To be honest, by saying ‘screw it, let’s do it!’ and saying yes to projects that I think most scaffold companies would have shied away from. But it’s not like marketing to event companies or festivals. With artists they tend to come to you, not the other way around.” You’ve worked with British artist Graham Hudson several times, can you tell us a bit more about that? “The first time I met Graham was at the Milton Keynes Gallery in 2009, when Graham was building an art installation ‘A
Considerable Extension in Time and an Insignificant Extension in Space, ‘ which was a multi-level scaffold structure that the public could walk around on and that filled the entire gallery. “It featured artefacts such as record players, bits of sticky tape and played records and stuff on monitors. We were asked by the gallery to help Graham. Me and him got along, on a personal level, plus I was young and keen and willing and he responded to that and it just developed from there.” And you’ve worked together quite a bit now? “Yes, we’ve worked together on seven projects over the past 10 years, the most recent being last year for Burberry, where we built a giant scaffold artwork in their flagship store in London.” Using scaffold to create art is very different; what was your first reaction to Graham’s work? “I liked it, I thought it was great. Since I’ve got to know Graham and worked with him, I’ve become a big fan of his work. I don’t 100 % get it, but it doesn’t matter, because it looks cool. He’s different to work with, he’s not blue collar, he’s not the standard customer, so, it’s refreshing to work with an artist, rather than a Project Manager or safety official for example.” And you’ve been abroad for projects, right? “Shortly after the project at MK Gallery, Graham asked us to go to Switzerland, where we rebuilt a conceptual Elephant &
40 | Spring 2019
ScaffMag.com
