Andy Scott feature

The Heavy Horse outside Glasgow

If you ever thought the sheer size of public art was due to some arbitrarily stubborn whim relating to the creative vision of the artist, then prepare to be disappointed.
"People want to know where the hell all the money went," Andy Scott laughs. "It has to be visible."
Visibility is certainly a key factor in the sculptor's work. Indeed, most would find the sight of an extravagant steel creature rather difficult to ignore.
The internationally renowned artist was commissioned last year by East Staffordshire Borough Council to construct two large sculptures for Uttoxeter.
The two pieces have been positioned at either end of Town Meadows Way, with the intent of creating a 'point of arrival' into the town.
Intensive research went into planning the two sculptures with the help of Uttoxeter's locals. Workshops in local schools and an exhibition at the Midlands Grand National soon inspired a number of designs based on local people's thoughts and impressions of Uttoxeter.
"We got a very positive response from the locals," says Andy. "We tried to incorporate their ideas so that the pieces have a degree of relevance. You have to be sensitive towards the ambiance of a town. You don't want something that is too out of place.
"So it was important to engage with the local people to find out what makes the town tick and how they want to see Uttoxeter represented."



The Angel of Thanksgiving in Belfast

The main themes that were voiced by the locals throughout the consultation process were that of Uttoxeter's rural location and agricultural history, particularly surrounding the old cattle market, and an equine inspiration, due to the prominence of Uttoxeter Racecourse.
As a result, the first roundabout features a centaur, with a raised wing to indicate speed, and the hybrid man dressed in the distinctive garb of a jockey.
Whilst the wing is an obvious nod to Uttoxeter Racecourse, it is also a direct response to local street names. When conducting research in local schools, many school children mentioned the number of streets that are named after birds.
“I thought it was a subtle way to reference that,” Andy explains. “Of course, there is the nearby River Dove too, and I also reference one of my own favourite sculptures, a Victorian bronze called ‘Perseus Arming’ by Sir Alfred Gilbert.”
Furthermore, the finished sculpture of the centaur will incorporate stars as an allusion to jockey silks, as well as having celestial and astronomical suggestions.
Meanwhile the second roundabout exhibits a bull, signifying the town's agricultural past. Posed towards the other sculpture, its heavier bulk acts as a balance to the centaur.
The Staffordshire knot will be included in an extravagant floral garland draped around the bull’s neck.
“This is my idea of suggesting a celebration of respect for nature and livestock that we usually take for granted,” confides Andy, “and hints at ancient multi-cultural mythologies and customs.”
Both structures are made of galvanised, welded steel and lit up in the evenings.
The money for the two sculptures was earmarked specifically from the Tesco development in Uttoxeter.
"I'm delighted to have the two pieces in Uttoxeter and can't wait for people to enjoy them," says Andy. Apart from an artist’s impression of the structures, details were largely kept under wraps before the grand unveiling.
"I like to put different aspects of narrative into the sculptures," he remarks. "Hence the inclusion of the Staffordshire knot into the bull, or the wings on the centaur. It allows the public to invent their own interpretation of the artworks.”



Arabesque in Queensland, Australia

And while it is important to Andy to integrate ideas from the public in his work, he is keen to stress his own artistic licence too.
“I like to incorporate suggestions from local residents but it can often lead to a situation where the artwork is trying to please everybody, and in the end the quality of the sculpture is diluted. It is increasingly important to me that the artworks are distinctive and a fair representation of my own practice as a professional artist, not simply a fabrication of the ideas of others.
“There is no artistic challenge in that. I take hints and ideas, and then work them into my own impressions of what would make a valid artwork for a particular location.”
Andy's phenomenal portfolio of work really does speak for itself. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1986 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Sculpture and a post graduate diploma the following year.
He is an associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and has so far created over 70 public sculptures and architectural detailing commissions, in a variety of media for a broad range of clients.
The production of the centaur and bull for Uttoxeter has been a lengthy process.
Once the piece has been designed, a full-size steel linear frame is made that creates the structure to which small steel plates are formed.
"That stage is critical in the design of the sculptures and is done free-hand," Andy adds. "I am proud to say we don't use any computer aided design, it is all bespoke."
The steel sections are then cut and formed around the frame, and any further design decisions are made at this stage.
Finally, the sculpture is galvanized and ready to install.
"It is months of hard labour," Andy stresses. "That makes it sound easy, but it takes a long, long time."



The Pheonix in the Easterhouse area, Glasgow

Uttoxeter should be proud to have such a distinctive artist constructing such works of art for the town. Andy's prodigious output has included work that has travelled as far afield as Belfast, Brisbane, Scotland and Spain.
His first influential piece was The Heavy Horse in Scotland. Situated on the edge of the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh, this model of a Clydesdale horse has become one of his best known constructions.
Other dramatic sculptures from the artist include a fiery phoenix in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow and Arabesque, an enlivened sculpture of a horse for an exhibition at Currumbin Beach in Queensland, Australia.
East Staffordshire Borough Council are confident that Andy's work for Uttoxeter will be regarded with the same respect as his other structures.
"This has been a long and detailed process but we felt it was worth the time and effort to try and engage the whole town in the project so people in Uttoxeter can feel proud of these sculptures," says Councillor Bernard Peters, the deputy leader for service commissioning.
"Andy is an internationally renowned public artist with a particular talent for capturing the magnificence and beauty of these majestic animals, and I am sure the finished works will be every bit as stunning as those he has created for other towns and cities."
"I'm looking forward to coming to Uttoxeter for the installation," Andy concludes. "It's a charming town. I really do enjoy the excitement of working on public art. I feel it is our duty that art should be seen by as many people as possible, and I am always on the lookout for new challenges.
"I am a great believer in art having the widest audience possible."



Andy Scott at work in his studio

Hoofy

A few weeks ago I was commissioned by Dazed & Confused, a publication that I have a huge amount of admiration for, to interview the artist Iris Schieferstein, who breathes a new sense of purpose into the lifeless animals that construct her artwork. These tools are taken to the laboratory of the artist, where they are recomposed and stitched together with the mastery of taxidermy. The creatures do not appear deformed or lacking in grace, but instead are of a measured and sublime physical shape that leads the observer into a surreal and fabled reality. The artist discusses life, death and getting her knuckles rapped by the police in her homeland, Germany, below or you can travel to Dazed & Confused's website and read the piece there.



What attracted you to working with dead animals?
My interest in using animals began in 1990. I was thinking about what we eat whilst I was preparing some fish. They are like garbage. They can’t eat or sleep or whatever. Then I started with chicken, because they look a little bit human-like. I started using them because of the nature of making and fixing, but also to create another material from the animals too. Of course, you could create them for a practical purpose, but for me it’s an artwork.

Do you think your art re-animates the animals in some way?
Somehow, it looks alive. In the beginning I put them in liquid, and straight away there seems to be a life. This is a very old, traditional thing; like if you go to a museum. I work in a very traditional method. You’ve had the Egyptians and the Greeks who used to preserve animals in the past, and I think somehow my work reminds you of that. It’s a game of thinking, ‘what is behind that?’ It will always figure in our history.

Do some people find your work shocking?
There might be some people who find it shocking, but it’s not really all that shocking because you can feel it everywhere; what you eat, what you’re wearing… This is all animal. If you worked in a slaughter house, then that experience would be shocking. I don’t think I’m shocking. I just try to get in touch with people in a different way. The audience can approach it from any direction they want.

Have you ever faced any criticism for your art?
When I began working with dead animals I would pick them up from the street. But these animals are protected by the government in Germany, and so after ten years they tried to put me in prison. It’s forbidden to show them or make art with them in Germany. All these free animals that used to live in the city or the country… You can go to jail for almost six years for doing what I did. It’s absolutely absurd. On the other hand, they will cut the horns off of a cow in Germany. I cannot follow or understand these things. There are so many rules in Germany that are absolutely stupid.

What dictates how one particular animal will be used in a piece?
It really depends on what’s in my mind, but they are always more than one thing. It depends what influence you have in your circle and what you’re looking for.

Is your work open to interpretation?
Absolutely. I always try not to explain. Somehow I like to think of my artwork as a kind of explanation in itself. These are my words to use, to show people what you can think, or to send them in another direction. If something touches you, you just start thinking. Every artwork is carrying something for the people that decide to get in touch. I hope that people do get in touch with my artwork and feel inspired by it, and perhaps start to question certain things.

Barewall gallery feature

YourTube

Poppa Pop is a bit of a busybody. Tomorrow's an important business day, that requires heading first class down to London. Apparantly he spent the afternoon heckling with whoever's in charge down south to move the appointment to 9am. 'Are you sure you can get down here for that time?' the voice on the other end of the line pondered out loud. 'HA!' snorted Poppa. 'Of course I can get down there for that time, there's a train that leaves here at 5:55am!' He eats early morning's for breakfast.

£170 later, first class ticket clutched in his hands as he walks through the front door, I can barely suppress a smirk when I casually inquire as to whether he'd heard about the tube strikes today...?

As he orders me to go and find the quickest route from Euston to Canary Wharf stat, I can't help but marvel at the wonder that is the tube map. Like a retro mosaic in 80s strobing, I can think of no other image which better summarises London. If you want to really experience the super city-slick living of our capital, what better way than the underground pandemonium of the tubes? Tourists might flock with their Kodaks round their necks to get snap-happy with the towering presence of Big Ben, or gallavant to the West End to enjoy a musical or two, but it is those angular and controlled contours in every dominant shade that really shape the city.

Central slices through the middle, while the Hammersmith and Metropolitan line slither by barely noticed. Complain about the stuffiness, smell of urine and bastard buskers all you want, this is the stuff that LDN is made of. Isn't it about time a map of the tube is hung in the National Museum of Art?

Carole Baker interview

The black billowing cloud

I always tend to be wary of things when they're considered popular. There's something inside me that ticks like a bomb, albeit one that is cushioned by a hundred used mattresses, or spun in bubble wrap and then discarded at the bottom of nobody's basement; but my body still tenses at that consistent, however muffled, ticking. It's as if I think no-one and no thing can be truly popular without some form of deception or cruelty or foul-play taking place. I don't judge myself to be naturally distrustful. I believe in many things, I suppose - what about you?

Upon waking to the news of the volcanic ash that's drifting ever closer, my immediate thought was of Don DeLillo's White Noise, and the airborne toxic event that he describes.

'...we saw a remarkable and startling sight. It appeared in the sky ahead of us and to the left, prompting us to lower ourselves in our seats, bend our heads for a clearer view, exclaim to each other in half finished phrases. It was the black billowing cloud, the airborne toxic event, lighted by the clear beams of seven army helicopters. They were tracking its windborne movement, keeping it in view. In every car, heads shifted, drivers blew their horns to alert others, faces appeared in side windows, expressions set in tones of outlandish wonderment.

The enormous dark mass moved like some death ship in a Norse legend, escorted across the night by armored creatures with spiral wings. We weren't sure how to react. It was a terrible thing to see, so close, so low, packed with chlorides, benzines, phenols, hydrocarbons, or whatever the precise toxic content. But it was also spectacular, part of the grandness of a sweeping event, like the vivid scene in the switching yard or the people trudging across the snowy overpass with children, food, belongings, a tragic army of the dispossessed. Our fear was accompanied by a sense of awe that bordered on the religious. It is surely possible to be awed by the thing that threatens your life, to see it as a cosmic force, so much larger than yourself, more powerful, created by elemental and willful rhythms. This was a death made in the laboratory, defined and measurable, but we thought of it at the time in a simple and primitive way, as some seasonal perversity of the earth like a flood or tornado, something not subject to control. Our helplessness did not seem compatible with the idea of a man-made event.'

So, I guess I believe in fiction.


Banksy: 'They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth. And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilisations to their knees. If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.'

I've always been a fan of Banksy's art, and not just the curious suspicion it evokes in modern-day principles, but the means in which Banksy as an artist operates. To work with the medium of graffiti should be problematic for an artist, what with the obvious time pressures and legal issues that abound, not to mention the notion of whether it should be deemed 'art' at all by many individuals ('People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access'). I'm sure Banksy doesn't call it art. And yet it is obviously the means itself with Banksy that imbues his pieces with something more pertinent. His work is raw and angry, terse but suggestive. They stand as venomous advertisements, motifs of disillusionment and quiet violence. By scrawling it across a battered tube train on the District Line, or the empty canvas of a forgotten white-washed wall in Bristol, Banksy is asking for our distrust to the same degree as all those big-buck businesses are crying out for our hand via their next advertising campaign. His role as a graffiti artist is as much about reclaiming the streets from the rodents as it is about letting them loose from the stinking sewers. Are the rats those corporate companies and politicians that run riot, or is it the ordinary man, left squatting in his own mess? Surely it can't be a coincidence that 'rat' is an anagram of 'art'?


Tonight I will be watching the first televised political debate between the three main parties. I don't know who to vote for. I've questioned whether to vote at all. Then I get angry at people who say they won't be voting because they don't know or understand enough, which basically translates as they haven't tried to know or understand enough. I get angry at people who say they won't be voting because they don't believe it will make any difference, which actually means they don't want things to be any different. Everyone is claiming that this is the most exciting election in a long time because the race is so narrow but, when you think about it, it's actually the most unexciting because people just don't care who wins. The state of things hasn't quite reached the level of an 'airborne toxic event' yet, but it's certainly more than a 'feathery plume'; I'd say it's at the stage of a 'black billowing cloud', but one that is getting progressively closer and darker.

Banksy: 'Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.'

Right to be wrong?

I'm not a cynic. No, really! I'm not. But there's something about February 14th that just does not sit right with me. I can barely stand to look at it, let alone allow it to sit in my lap. Some see candy and flowers and birds. I tend to see so much sugar I wanna be sick, profits that, er... roll like puddings and roadkill (RIP Pidgey).

The idea of romance is vastly overrated, particularly in this day and age. Romance is just not the same, and pledging my allegiance to Valentine's day would be like sleeping with Tiger Woods: just doing something because apparantly everyone else is. Let's take a look at modern love shall we? In the past week we have had the breakdown of John Terry's marriage due to his indiscretions with a teammate's ex-girlfriend; a 19-year-old girl in New Zealand who has sold her virginity for £20,000 to pay for university tuition fees; and the Pope denouncing equal rights for gay members of the public. Not that I'm condoning the Black-Eyed Peas, but come on: where is the love?

And it's reasons like this that make real love today so important. We don't need it to be sold to us. I'm a single man, but if I was lucky enough to find someone that little bit more sparklier than the average chap, I wouldn't want it shoved down my throat in the shape of some over-priced, over-iced cookie. Love is not a business, and thus businesses need to mind their own business.

The solution? Aside from embracing spinster-hood in all its vodka-fuelled glory, I would suggest a trip to Liverpool's A Foundation on the night of the 13th or 14th. Presenting an alternative view of love, it promises to get your heart racing in other ways, through a mixture of live art performances and installation pieces. Titled 'Wrong Love', DazedDigital have interviewed Travis Street, the Texan artist who's put together this true labour of love http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/6449/1/Wrong_Love

50s pornstar at the gym

How do you know I don't mean the 2050s?

Shortbodies

If only shorthand was taught like this...

'James'
It's my name, don't wear it out. For some unknown reason Blogger has reverted the image back to its original formatting and won't let me flip it, so you'll have to make do with craning your necks 90 degrees to the right.
No socks were harmed in the making of this art.

'Amy'

A perfect example of 'y' saying 'i', this is the wonderful Amy Stocking, poet extraordinaire and mystic temptress of the Black Country. You can read her work and musings on life by clicking here: http://showponytrot.blogspot.com/