TUESDAY TALK - SIMON PATTERSON

 

 

Simon is a YBA in the 80's

If you can survive the first couple of years out of college as an artist then you can make it as an artist.

Simon placed his slides randomly into the projected to encourage him to talk differently about his work.

Public art works are problematic - temporary works are more enjoyable.

His smoke scenes, he made them a spectacle rather than an artwork (smoke grenades)

Spinal tap map with groupies shown at uni, the work was more for the staff as they would relate to it and the students would have to learn about it!

His work is currently in the Holden Gallery as part of the Diagrams exhibition. The chemical periodic table of elements.

Did some work on kites where he would create them to resemble particular artists work and then place their names on the wall around the kites.

Mythologising of the West. His girlfriend has a great interest in the West and she believe that all things have come from this, I.e. sci-fi, fiction etc etc.

Who is the work for? Simon talks to the people in the area he knows a piece will be installed.

Note for Patti, the speakers on the window which transmit different sounds to different areas of the glass pane.

He likes the artist who reads out the football results or games and then relates them to Pantone colours, synaesthesia.

QUE FOR ME - what systems are in use now, I.e. the Pantone book, versus the change in how we are taught to use things. Knitting machine, you would have someone come round to your house to demonstrate the workings of the machine or could buy an instruction video. These days we refer to YouTube for this. What else has technology changed in this way and how can this be adapted to our world now?

Simon designed The Great Bear, London Underground piece. He says it is strange for an artist to have an artwork that people recognise before they know who the artist is.

Que from the audience about art dealers. Simon says that most art dealers he has dealt with are weirder than artists, they were more than likely artists in the past themselves. He says they are domineering.

Simon thinks that it is not good to get caught up doing the same piece of artwork over and over because it works. You need to keep the mind moving. I.e. when he had produced the periodic table it worked and so he continued to create more but slightly varying. His girlfriend told him enough was enough and suggested he tried something new!