Working with light can be problematic, as the works needs to be either extremely bright or in a space that is not very brightly lit. I did make a work using light for the Landmark show in November 2017, which was just about OK as I found an area, which was dimly lit but, in the main, the spaces are far too brightly lit. I like to make works using battery power rather than mains, so the intensity of light available to me is limited. Therefore, I’m left constrained to working with movement.
I’m not a fan of inspiration, I like to think that my ideas are mine and not attributable to other artists’ work or things that I have seen or heard.
I simply think: what can I do that I have not done before? I never make the same work twice. I think, then I think some more and then after some more thinking ideas begin to formulate.
I visualize them. I play with the visions for a while in my head and then do some more thinking. Then I start to consider how such things could be made and think some more. When I finally have the idea and how to make it in my head, I start making it. There is no inspiration involved it’s more like analytical logic.
I have found that many people do not recognise that what I make is art. I have a work in my front room, which I am fond of and still derive great pleasure from. It was described by a Turner Prize finalist as being “not just a great work but epic”.
I had occasion to have an out-of-hours doctor visit me. He looked at it and asked “is that a device for detecting aliens?”
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Please click the arrow in the centre of the frame to play the video.
The pointers twitch at regular intervals but which one twitches and in which direction is chosen at random. These meters are not just any meters but are part of my personal history.
Another of my favourite works was made for a show in Queens Wood in Highgate. It’s an interactive sound work. There is a Y-shaped path at the bottom of a hill with a long-deserted paddling pool at the top of the Y. There is a motion detector situated to detect movement at the junction of the Y. If movement is detected, the sound of children playing in a paddling pool can just be heard wafting from the other side of the pool. If you stop moving, the sound stops. When you move again, it starts again. It freaked a few people out.