Royston van der Kerkoff's Blog

(My Career as an Artist)

It’s a sad day when you have to retire from a much loved and passion filled career. The same can’t really be said when a potentially much loved and passion filled career that hasn’t yet started comes to an end. It’s sad, but not in the same way.
Such is the case with my career as an artist. I don’t draw. I tried to teach myself, and as someone who believed they couldn’t draw at all, I was quite impressed with the best of what I did. But it was painfully slow, and showed no signs of getting more natural, so I let it go. Similar story with painting, though mainly with the slowness. I wasn’t impressed with any of my paintings.
And so to sculpture. Well, I don’t know how I feel about my sculpting skills. I’ve never sculpted. In fact, I’m not sure if the idea I had in mind for a piece of art would even be classed as a sculpture at all.

I was going to create a huge head with all of the plastic packaging that life these days tends to produce. The head would be based on those created by the Rapanui. Probably more commonly known as Easter Island heads.

I was inspired by a series of videos I’d watched on the Internet a few months ago. Most of us are aware that we as a species are doing a lot of damage to our environment. Not destroying or killing the planet though. That’s a stupid idea. What we’re causing damage to is our own eco-system. Even if we manage to destroy ourselves and all the other animals and fish and plant life, the micro organisms will still be there, and will continue their process of evolution. They may or may not evolve into anything we’d recognise. They and the evolved future versions are hardly likely to care though are they? And the planet itself will just carry on. Until it doesn’t.
In our short lifetimes though, and more particularly, the most recent generation or two of our species, we’ve added a new pollutant. Not the only one, it’s one of many, but it’s one that’s overlooked by just about everyone, but is potentially as dangerous as many that people rant and rave over, if not worse. And as one in an arsenal of pollutants is a capable weapon in the race to destroy our habitat.
Until the damage that plastic is doing becomes more widely known, it’s never going to induce the fear and campaigning that the likes of nuclear waste, carbon emissions, CFC’s and the like do. But it could be worse than them. It’s actually poisoning the seas.
Yes, a throwaway line at the end of a paragraph there, so I guess I should reiterate that. Plastic pollution is poisoning the seas.

So to do my bit in raising awareness of this problem, I had the idea of saving all the plastic waste from anything I buy, and forming it into an artwork in the shape of an Easter Island head. Possibly even life size, though that would have taken some research on sizes, and as they are pretty big, probably many years of collecting packaging. And of course learning from scratch how to be a sculptor. A sculptor of plastic in fact.
But, after collecting four bin bags of plastic to use in the project, it sort of stalled. I haven’t been well, which would have paused any process I’d have been in the middle of, but really, I just lost the desire to do it. And also, felt that there are better things to be doing with my, now limited, energy. I have a tendency to have a lot of ideas, and then none got the time they deserve, so when it came to prioritising, the plastic head was too far down the list, and got shelved.
If anyone likes the idea, feel free to use it. I shouldn’t imagine anyone would of course, as the original creative idea in any art should come from the artist.
No, I don’t have the energy, or drive to make the Easter Island head a reality. Just another of many ideas filed in the ‘not enough…..’ tray. Whether that be enough time, energy, inclination, quality. It’s an overflowing tray.

Of course that doesn’t mean that the problem isn’t there anymore.
I don’t have the specific links to the videos I mentioned earlier, about the problems of plastic pollution, and the related issue of the North Pacific Gyre, or ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’, but a quick search found these, and a search on those relevant terms will link to as much information as anyone could need (like these from a very quick search):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg

Documentary in 3 parts:

http://www.vbs.tv/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-2-of-3
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-3-of-3

I don’t feel that there’s anything I can do to help the environment. I don’t think there’s time to make things better in my lifetime. Some birds in the Pacific will die off. Some of the sea life will also become extinct. The damage done by plastic pollution will reach a tipping point. Whether that will be before or after the tipping points are reached for other pollutants, carbon dioxide, methane released from the Siberian permafrost, global warming generally, reduced biodiversity, mass bee population decreases, human overpopulation…… and on it goes. Lots of tipping points to reach, and we’ll reach them all.
All those past civilizations grew and then faded, the Rapanui among them. We’ll do the same, this time probably for the first time on a global scale. And then those that are left will start again. We’ll evolve again, and while we do, so will the rest of the life forms on the planet. Well, apart from those we’ve driven to extinction of course.
It’s just the way we are. Any altruism and civilised behaviour is just a thin veneer on one variety of primate and it’s natural animal instinct. You only need to watch the news and see what we’re capable of in ‘normal’ life, let alone under the pressure of conflict and disasters.
It’s cyclical. We’re nearing the end of our cycle. How soon? Who knows. It could be decades. There may be something the planet does before we even get there. For all the worry of our self inflicted problems and destroying our own habitat, one good volcanic eruption in the right place would top it all.

(This is an older post from a blog I’d put aside for ‘proper writing’, then never did anything proper that wouldn’t fit here anyway. So it’s here now, and the other will be closed.)

I’ve been following the latest Antony Gormley project “One and Other“, where a different person gets to be a living portrait of present day Britain for an hour each over a 100 day span.

I wrote about my initial impressions early on in the process, but after a full week, how much more have I learned? Well, not a great deal I don’t think. I’ve been enjoying it, and found it a comfort to have a look at every now and again during the long nights of this current insomniac phase, but I think it’s confirmed initial ideas more than told me anything new.

In spite of a few people doing the same things, I don’t think there should be any worries about variety across the plinther spectrum. Obviously I haven’t seen everyone who’s been up on the plinth, but I’ve caught quite a few, and taken screenshots of most of those, and there’s been a few surprises already. Singing, dancing, painting and generally interacting with the crowd were probably the most obvious that were bound to happen, but writing a play, campaigning against female genital mutilation and making a Gormleyesque bread man sculpture were possibly less expected.

There have been a lot of people campaigning for a cause, again covering a broad spectrum of styles, from taping up their own mouths to getting a crowd gathered and dancing the Time Warp with them. So far though, where plinthers have been pushing an idea or organisation, it’s been largely for a charitable cause or a right thinking ideal. How long that lasts though is still to be seen. The longer the project goes on, and the more publicity and momentum it gains, the bigger the temptation to turn your hour into a marketing or advertising exercise will get. Who will be the first to sell themselves during their hour in the spotlight?

Over this first week, it’s been very apparent that there’s a point late at night were the plinthers are more likely to become the watcher. A natural tendency though, when the audience in the square has all but disappeared through the early hours of the morning.

With the whole event streamed over the web as it happens, there is a second audience in addition to those physically close to the action, and there’s a lot of comments and opinions freely given. Personally, I’ve been following the twitter comments, mainly with the #oneandother tag. It’s interesting to see that the usual taking of sides that happens in web comments is yet to really take off on this twitter #tag. With 100 day project though, I suspect it’ll kick off a few times.

One thing that I suspect will be one of the first to cause friction is the desire some watchers have to be entertained at all times. Others see that it’s not a talent show, and some of the plinthers are being rather than doing. Sadly, I think there could be a mismatch in momentum between those interested in art, and involved in the project, and the demands for now, now, now entertainment in a short attention span society. One of this evenings plinthers was sitting reading, and was constantly harrassed by one drunk in particular demanding to be entertained. But given a lot of virtual watchers inability to grasp that ‘just being’ is as valid as anything else, what hope for a drunk at 4am on a Tuesday morning?

I’m a natural pessimist, and I do worry that on some of those long summer weekend nights, things might get a bit hairy. Flashmobs, and other events in Trafalgar Square could cause friction with plinth watchers. I think it was the Jesus army that were competing with the plinthers on Saturday afternoon, and there was a surprise addition for a guy who was up there in a suit, but with his bike (?) when an air ambulnce paid a visit.

So far only about a twelfth of the time has passed, so there’s time for many more Pigeon outfits, paper plane throwing, ballon releasing (don’t people relise what they do to birds?), reading, writing, sitting, possibly more tents, tai chi and teaching. Definitely a lot of dressing up.

..and maybe even another haircut or two?

I’m not sure whether to write any more about this. I’m bound to have a look every now and again, but you can only watch a small fraction of the total, and I feel that the next really interesting phase will be the last few days. There will be changes of feel and style among plinthers before it gets that far. There’s the darker nights still to draw in by the time it ends in October don’t forget.

Then the real work probably starts for the people behind the project, producing whatever book/dvd/permanent website they come up with. The plinthers are already archived on the current website, but in the same way that you can’t watch it all live, you can’t watch them all back either. It’ll be a long time before the dust settles and we really know how it all went, and what it all meant.

Of course, having been interested even before it started, having now watched the beginnings of it all, the resistance to applying that I had months ago has gone, and I’ve done it. I don’t whether getting a place would be good or bad news now. What would I do?

Well, if I do get a yes, I’ll write before and after blogs I’m sure. And one thing I definitely won’t be doing is talking on my mobile phone. I know it really is a sign of how we live today, so should be a part of this portrait, but my I was already bored of it before I got into the swing of watching. (I think at least my first three tweets were on the subject).

Anyway, one that I missed was Godzilla, but geraldc was definitely a favourite among the #oneandother twitterati, so I’m off to watch his youtube plinthers diary.

A bit like the visit to Cedar Farm, I only had a very vague idea of what was supposed to be happening today. Something about an art gallery, and something else, and maybe more……..? I really should put a bit more effort into knowing what my day will be like. Mind you, I should put more effort into knowing what I’m doing with my life full stop! It’s on a laid back, slowly spiraling journey towards disaster at the minute.

I think I had the idea we’d park somewhere in town, and be wandering around Albert Dock for a bit, including the Tate maybe, and that’d be about it, so first stop being just off the dock road was a bit of a surprise. You’d never find the Ceri Hand Gallery by accident, being an anonymous warehouse door, in an area with a lot of anonymous warehouse doors. The place is a bit tardis like though, and even knowing it was a gallery, I was a little surprised at the feeling of opening out into a big space as we went up the stairs from the small reception area.

I’m afraid the current show there wasn’t really up my street, but have added them on twitter, so will keep an eye out for anything that’s more my thing.

I’m still waiting for a chronic fatigue specialist to get in touch, but I’ve been learning to pace myself anyway in the meantime. So finding out we were walking into town was a surprise, but I figured unless I’m willing to end up housebound, I have to do some physical exercise at times. All a bit hot and sunny for me too, but some of the party were hungry by the time we got to the Tate, so we went straight to the cafe, which gave me a chance for a sit down, and a couple of coffees with my chips.

It’s a long time since I’ve had a proper look around Tate Liverpool, and I’m not sure if I thought the same thing then, but I was surprised that even without a big show on, there’s art in there from some really big names. Magritte, Matisse, Picasso, Koons, Duchamp, Gormley, and a load of others that even a philistine like me would know. I’ve forgotten some of the very famous as well, so the list is way longer than that.

I always feel a bit odd in galleries though. Lots of art needs you to know what it’s about to then appreciate it properly, but you can make a judgement on whether you like anything anyway. I usually only like a few pieces, and that was the case today as well. Interesting though, and we’ll be going back for the Colour Chart exhibition during the summer, and I’ll have a look at the rest again then. Maybe take a note pad, and write about the items while I’m there, rather than try and remember it all at the end of the day.

Interesting day. Tiring too, but worth it I think.

I’ve been trying to get my writing head fully on though, and as I have an idea (yes just the one) for an art project, going to galleries doesn’t help much. The other constant call from the back of my mind is to do something musical, but that’s a hot potato for me at the minute.

So I’ve now decided. Writing only for six months (will put 4th Jan 2010 in diary), even if that includes writing about my art project, or about music, but only writing for now. I find it far too easy to want to switch to something (anything) else than what I’m trying to concentrate on. I’m part of the short attention span civilisation. Sad that that’s the only way I really feel I fit in with my fellow humans, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. Just need a bit of discipline for a while, and then when the six months is up, I’ll allow music making and art projectery to commence. Maybe as hobbies, or if the writing’s going well enough, and the world is gagging for a song and an…..art, then who am I to keep it from them?

Looking forward to this now.

Let’s get writing!