Artist Interview: Trevor Parker
We asked the following questions:
Where do you get your inspiration from? Who is your favourite artist? What artists’ movement do you feel most inspired by? Tell us about your art, how it has evolved? What do you do with your drawings and paintings? Do you get your hands dirty? Exhibitions that have impressed you? In your view what makes Good Art? What do you like about Kumeu Arts Centre?
His answer:
If I was Martin Creed and presented with these questions before me, then the response would probably have been just one sentence - and that’s a tempting thought!
I’ll think of that sentence as I type my way through this response.
Inspiration for my work is derived primarily through the reading of philosophical or scientific texts. It is the idea that provides the seed for an interpretation through varying mediums.
I have been fascinated by boundaries for some time, and more recently the definition of a hole, which is a space that doesn’t actually exist without a boundary.
I consider boundaries to be an arbitrary concept and therefore, the definition of a hole gets interesting very quickly and warrants further investigation.
When I have the energy, I read Maurice Merleau-Ponty and slowly unravel his theories pertaining to ‘ The Visible and the Invisible”.
I will also consider new scientific theories that arrive on the horizon and sometimes these thoughts become the basis for a work.
I consider visual artists’ work to be similar to that of musicians; we have different needs depending on one’s mood. If we are talking favourite artist,
it’s difficult to come to any conclusion as it depends on that mood, and whether I’m engaging with a work in a gallery or in a book.
For example, the calming and contemplative effects I experienced on viewing Mark Rothko’s paintings in the Tate Modern, London are absent when looking at reproductions of his work in a book.
However, I’m able to interpret Sol LeWitt’s drawings equally from the page or the gallery, as they are not visceral (wall drawings excluded).
I recently travelled to Wellington to see Simon Starling’s exhibition. I know his work well and enjoy his methodology,
which is heavily research-based (as is Nathan Coley’s work, which I’ll refer to later). I was once told that people rarely check things out without hyperlinks, so here’s one:
http://www.citygallery.org.nz/exhibitions/simon-starling-speculum
Also, recently I had the opportunity to visit PICA, (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts) and experience the William Kentridge Installation ‘
The Refusal of Time” which was a fantastic sensory overload of animation, sound and sculpture. I went back several times during that week and had the feeling that I had seen a seminal work.
In part, the Fluxus movement of the 1960s makes a good role model for my practice. Comprised of an international group of artists, composers and designers, they fused different artistic media and disciplines to create experimental and aggressive work that questioned the commercial art sector at that time. Its’ anti-art, anti-commercial aesthetic concurs with my own philosophy to destroy my constructions post exhibition.
The methodology associated with the early performances by Joseph Beuys and works of John Cage inspire my working practice.
It is important that my work remains open to further interpretation and questioning.
Art is not a competition, but there is good and bad art. An analogy to explain this might be the work of Nathan Coley, mentioned earlier.
His 2008 work HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE NOTHING EVER HAPPENS, comprising scaffolding and illuminated text, is taken from the band Talking Heads’ track, Heaven (1979).
This is good art, as it remains open to discussion: bad art would have been “THERE IS NO GOD”. There has to be somewhere to go, something to discuss, alternative conclusions.
In the two years that I have been involved around Kumeu Arts Centre, I’ve met people who are passionate and committed to improving our community.
It’s well documented that the creative sectors provide inspiration outside our mainstream experiences and can strengthen the understanding and exploration of community values.
I’m hoping that the re-development continues at Kumeu Arts Centre and its value in the community isn’t just a bottom line on an accountant’s sheet.
Without that output, our community would be a poorer and more vacant place, left without a platform that allows us to question. Let’s hope that the Kumeu Arts Centre gallery space is improved and brought into line with other “white spaces” around Auckland.
As for the one sentence I would write, it’s probably better if I let Martin Creed write it.
As a postscript, other artists I find interesting are Hayley Tompkins, Conrad Shawcross, Brice Marden, Lucy Skaer and Cornelia Parker.
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We asked the following questions:
Where do you get your inspiration from? Who is your favourite artist? What artists’ movement do you feel most inspired by? Tell us about your art, how it has evolved? What do you do with your drawings and paintings? Do you get your hands dirty? Exhibitions that have impressed you? In your view what makes Good Art? What do you like about Kumeu Arts Centre?
His answer:
If I was Martin Creed and presented with these questions before me, then the response would probably have been just one sentence - and that’s a tempting thought!
I’ll think of that sentence as I type my way through this response.
Inspiration for my work is derived primarily through the reading of philosophical or scientific texts. It is the idea that provides the seed for an interpretation through varying mediums.
I have been fascinated by boundaries for some time, and more recently the definition of a hole, which is a space that doesn’t actually exist without a boundary.
I consider boundaries to be an arbitrary concept and therefore, the definition of a hole gets interesting very quickly and warrants further investigation.
When I have the energy, I read Maurice Merleau-Ponty and slowly unravel his theories pertaining to ‘ The Visible and the Invisible”.
I will also consider new scientific theories that arrive on the horizon and sometimes these thoughts become the basis for a work.
I consider visual artists’ work to be similar to that of musicians; we have different needs depending on one’s mood. If we are talking favourite artist,
it’s difficult to come to any conclusion as it depends on that mood, and whether I’m engaging with a work in a gallery or in a book.
For example, the calming and contemplative effects I experienced on viewing Mark Rothko’s paintings in the Tate Modern, London are absent when looking at reproductions of his work in a book.
However, I’m able to interpret Sol LeWitt’s drawings equally from the page or the gallery, as they are not visceral (wall drawings excluded).
I recently travelled to Wellington to see Simon Starling’s exhibition. I know his work well and enjoy his methodology,
which is heavily research-based (as is Nathan Coley’s work, which I’ll refer to later). I was once told that people rarely check things out without hyperlinks, so here’s one:
http://www.citygallery.org.nz/exhibitions/simon-starling-speculum
Also, recently I had the opportunity to visit PICA, (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts) and experience the William Kentridge Installation ‘
The Refusal of Time” which was a fantastic sensory overload of animation, sound and sculpture. I went back several times during that week and had the feeling that I had seen a seminal work.
In part, the Fluxus movement of the 1960s makes a good role model for my practice. Comprised of an international group of artists, composers and designers, they fused different artistic media and disciplines to create experimental and aggressive work that questioned the commercial art sector at that time. Its’ anti-art, anti-commercial aesthetic concurs with my own philosophy to destroy my constructions post exhibition.
The methodology associated with the early performances by Joseph Beuys and works of John Cage inspire my working practice.
It is important that my work remains open to further interpretation and questioning.
Art is not a competition, but there is good and bad art. An analogy to explain this might be the work of Nathan Coley, mentioned earlier.
His 2008 work HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE NOTHING EVER HAPPENS, comprising scaffolding and illuminated text, is taken from the band Talking Heads’ track, Heaven (1979).
This is good art, as it remains open to discussion: bad art would have been “THERE IS NO GOD”. There has to be somewhere to go, something to discuss, alternative conclusions.
In the two years that I have been involved around Kumeu Arts Centre, I’ve met people who are passionate and committed to improving our community.
It’s well documented that the creative sectors provide inspiration outside our mainstream experiences and can strengthen the understanding and exploration of community values.
I’m hoping that the re-development continues at Kumeu Arts Centre and its value in the community isn’t just a bottom line on an accountant’s sheet.
Without that output, our community would be a poorer and more vacant place, left without a platform that allows us to question. Let’s hope that the Kumeu Arts Centre gallery space is improved and brought into line with other “white spaces” around Auckland.
As for the one sentence I would write, it’s probably better if I let Martin Creed write it.
As a postscript, other artists I find interesting are Hayley Tompkins, Conrad Shawcross, Brice Marden, Lucy Skaer and Cornelia Parker.
Back