Vasen – Crisp Magazin https://origin-ls.ato.vision Junges, kritisches Kunstmagazin – herausgegeben von ato Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:00:15 +0000 de hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 https://origin-ls.ato.vision/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cropped-Crisp_C-1-1-32x32.png Vasen – Crisp Magazin https://origin-ls.ato.vision 32 32 Questions for the artist James Beatham https://origin-ls.ato.vision/und-du-so-james-beatham/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 11:23:44 +0000 https://ato.vision/magazine/?p=8981
Schwarz-Weiß-Zeichnung von James Beatham

Drawing 1

Aside your artistic work, what was the most notable side job you’ve ever worked in?
I worked as a pot washer in Montreal. It was very long hours, late at night, and very grimy. I had just read George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London though and, because of that, I completely romanticized the experience. I suppose it’s notable because thinking about it, it was objectively awful, but there’s still some part of the memory that I look back fondly on. 

In which moments do you regret being an artist?
I regret being an artist when I go see some terrible show at a respected art institute. It makes advancing as an artist feel like a completely opaque endeavor. Seeing work you think is shit being celebrated by the established art world is dizzying in that it undermines any sense that you could strive towards making your art better and will see progression as a result of this.

Eine bemalte Vase des Künstlers James Beatham vor weißem Hintergrund
Eine bemalte Vase des Künstlers James Beatham vor grauem Hintergrund

Chain Pot and Ghost Pot

Can one tell you’re an artist?
By the matted paint in my hair and shifty look in my eye.

What work of art were you last moved by?
I’ve been listening to The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth by Headache a lot recently. The lyrics are kind of goofy and funny but the whole thing still manages to feel meaningful. It’s both irreverent and serious at the same time. I think that makes it able to touch on something that is generally difficult to articulate.

Ein bunt bemalener Teppich des Künstlers James Beatham

YOLO Carbon Princess and Mining Fountain

Which exhibition did you like recently?
Ron Nagle at Modern Art in London.

What was the funniest reaction to your art?
I went back to visit my secondary school some years after graduating and I found out that they had hung an old piece of my work up on the wall upside down.

What profession would you have liked to pursue in another life?
Engineering. Seems like a really nice blend of technical and practical knowledge with artistic, creative thinking.

Rot-schwarze Illustration des Künstlers James Beatham

Drawing 2

Which taste of art drives you away?
I really don’t like art that is overtly trendy. It seems very insincere.

Which trend have you deliberately ignored?
The role of the virtual in everyday lived reality has become the focus of a lot of contemporary art. Much of this work is consciously presented in a virtual aesthetic, using 3D renderings in order to announce its virtualness. I think this trend confuses the appearance of the virtual over the actual experience of it. When building virtual spaces in my own work I try to avoid this.

Drawing 3

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