Simon Franklin is the first artist to show at ‘watch this space’ We asked him some questions to get an insight into his practice and art, come down to the gallery to see his work. The gallery doors open tonight !
Your practice is innovative and contemporary in the use of placement and material, but the use of traditional hand making is also seemingly integral to the work. Where does your subject in art come from and how do you work?
I’ve always enjoyed making things from scratch, I was told recently that that sort of practical interest could relate to my father who is an engineer, and although we are worlds apart in what we make or do, I think that the same process of practical problem solving whilst making, comes through. With regards to where the subject matter comes from, I looked at what interested me, I was really interested in abstract art all the way through my art education, from early Russian abstraction, through to constructivism and minimalism/modernism. I am interested in 1950’s modernist interior design, particularly that of Dieter Rams. I am also really interested in strength and appearence of material, somebody like Roni Horn is a great advocate of this, a lot of her sculptural work focuses on the material being the subject matter as well as the physical matter, and how a material can appear unlike itself. This piece for example, is solid brushed copper, but the finish on it, the shape, how the light hits it, all create this illusion of weightlessness and fragility, and I feel like this is all being created by just allowing a material to be honest and shown as it is. There is also a strong minimal, quite masculine aesthetic about this sort of work, which is where I like to bend away from these Ideas by employing quite overtly fragile paper as my material, as well as a more traditional craft based process that does not lend its self to the same levels of masculinity. And on the most basic level, she produces beautiful objects.Are there any artists past or present, that influence your work or that you appreciate a lot?
Besides the afore mentioned, I really like the German photographer Thomas Demand. He makes scenes that are taken from media images at key social events over the 20th and 21st Centuries, and recreates the scenes from paper. The scenes he creates are extremely sterile, and devoid of any real detail other than the formal structures of objects present in the original images. I like that Demands scenes only exist as photographs and do not allow the viewer to move around the work exploring it, as they would with sculpture, which throws open possibilities and questions to the making of these objects, have they been completely fabricated or are they nothing more than flat images themselves? I like these uncertainties that he throws up by limiting the visual access to his work. Beyond that, there are far too many artists who I admire and appreciate to list here and now. James Turrell, Felix Gonzalez Torres, Tom Friedman, Jeff Koons, Olafur Elliasson, Roger Hiorns, Sarah Sze, David Ersser…..
The relationship between object and viewer seems to play a big part in your work. What is the contrast between the intent of your work and the perception of your work?
I think that with my work, the key moment of its success or failure is that split second between initially seeing something and registering what it is, and the realisation of what it actually is. That breakdown of the viewers’ understanding of what they are seeing or becoming involved in is important within my practise. I’d like to think that, with regards to how the viewer navigates my work, there is an air of restrained intrigue, as I am a great believer in the traditional gallery ethos of look but don’t touch. But I am also aware that work that is so fragile but looks robust and sturdy invites questions of its strength and almost inevitably, viewers overstep the boundaries and touch/move/damage it. I feel like it is also part and parcel of making pieces that are at ground level rather than on walls or plinths, they are much more susceptible to the dangers of the public. So in the future I plan to play around with this more, to really test people to see if they are willing to interact totally with my work. As, in the past one viewer who was visually impaired, thought one of my paper sculptures was a chair, and completely flattened the whole thing.
You grew up in Corby but moved to Nottingham early on in your career, what effect did this have? Why have you chosen to show again in your home town?
Moving to Nottingham and remaining there after my degree has changed things entirely, there is a really vibrant art scene here, with great support from Nottingham Trent and other local arts organisations. There is a freedom to be able to continue an artistic practise here, where you are familiar with the scene and are able to be supported and interact with what is going on around the city and beyond.
Corby may not have always been a cultural hub for things like the arts and entertainment, but with the Cube and Corby Zone and other small projects and organisations forming, there feels like there is some real vigour and life beginning within the Arts in Corby. And on a more sentimental level, Corby is where I grew up and developed, gained interest in making, and life experiences and interests to draw from. So it feels quite nice to be able to go home to show what I have achieved and how I have developed since I left for university in 2006, to be with friends and family to show what I've done.
Stunt Double
reading material
Spirit Level
Please come along and show your support for local Artists and local community projects.
Sophie & the WTS team
