I was lying on my mattress the other night watching a open-hand-size huntsman repeatedly navigate the upper levels of the four walls of my room. He's been around for a week or so now and we've decided on a mutually beneficial 'no provoke', silent, arachnoid/gentlemen's agreement. Still when he saunted up to the roof and crossed over into a space hovering directly above my head, I decided it would be wise to move temporarily to a different spot.
Lying there, I suddenly remembered that I used to read and collect National Lampoon humour magazines in the mid seventies. I used to really enjoy reading them. I don't know what happened to my collection - lost in transit, I suppose. I've lived in and moved out of thirty or forty abodes since then. I now live in a rented room with my computer, an open suitcase and a mattress. Streamlined, you could call it.
Since my teens, I have always been a high input person. Books, comics, magazines, movies, TV series, the net... I like to absorb - concepts, words, visuals, stories. I always try to find stuff that is quality. Stimulating. As a teen it was paperbacks found in the second hand store in Hiroo, Tokyo, by writers like John Fowles, Alister Mclean and James Clavell. Comic titles like 'Challengers of the Unkown', 'Sgt Rock' and 'Swamp Thing'. Then there were mags - National Lampoon, Reader's Digest, Time, Esquire, Details. Mixed in with all this was Japanese game shows, comedies and kickboxing shows.
Around 18, I discovered with great delight the art film, late night double feature cinemas and saw groundbreakers - and lifechangers - like El Topo, Eraserhead, Performance, Clockwork Orange and Nashville.
I also have always loved, sitting and watching people. From Shibuya station in the early days, to nights on the streets in Kings Cross in my twenties (observer, not hooker) to walking through neighbourhoods in the US, South America and South East Asia in my travels. To this day, I spend hours at a time in libraries, wherever I am, several times a week: absorbing. I also love their serenity and solemness.
Point is, it's little wonder my visual art output is voluminous. (3,000 plus artworks in the last 22 months). A lot goes in. A lot comes out. It needs to. I really enjoy making pictures. From nothing to something. A simple magic. Soul soothing.
Lying there, I suddenly remembered that I used to read and collect National Lampoon humour magazines in the mid seventies. I used to really enjoy reading them. I don't know what happened to my collection - lost in transit, I suppose. I've lived in and moved out of thirty or forty abodes since then. I now live in a rented room with my computer, an open suitcase and a mattress. Streamlined, you could call it.
Since my teens, I have always been a high input person. Books, comics, magazines, movies, TV series, the net... I like to absorb - concepts, words, visuals, stories. I always try to find stuff that is quality. Stimulating. As a teen it was paperbacks found in the second hand store in Hiroo, Tokyo, by writers like John Fowles, Alister Mclean and James Clavell. Comic titles like 'Challengers of the Unkown', 'Sgt Rock' and 'Swamp Thing'. Then there were mags - National Lampoon, Reader's Digest, Time, Esquire, Details. Mixed in with all this was Japanese game shows, comedies and kickboxing shows.
Around 18, I discovered with great delight the art film, late night double feature cinemas and saw groundbreakers - and lifechangers - like El Topo, Eraserhead, Performance, Clockwork Orange and Nashville.
I also have always loved, sitting and watching people. From Shibuya station in the early days, to nights on the streets in Kings Cross in my twenties (observer, not hooker) to walking through neighbourhoods in the US, South America and South East Asia in my travels. To this day, I spend hours at a time in libraries, wherever I am, several times a week: absorbing. I also love their serenity and solemness.
Point is, it's little wonder my visual art output is voluminous. (3,000 plus artworks in the last 22 months). A lot goes in. A lot comes out. It needs to. I really enjoy making pictures. From nothing to something. A simple magic. Soul soothing.
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