Artist Interview - Jack Marder

Description of Work

 We hope to use a total of three or four pieces of Jacks work most probably the purple based pieces. These consist of mixed media with thick layering of paint on board and metal varying in size and style. The pieces we chose will be no bigger than A2.

How it links to Ethereal

This interview has allowed me to have a deeper understanding behind the theory and concept of Jacks work and what the colours and style represents to him personally and what he is trying to present to the viewer. The concepts exploring that of emetic mess, art therapy experiences, cellular and growths links to Ethereal. It fits in perfectly with our theme of Ethereal due to the colours and fluidity and will be a strong visual asset for our exhibition.

Interview 

Julia and Bianca had a interview with Jack Marder about his work and how it links to our theme of Ethereal and the context and concepts behind it. The interview went as follows:
 

• Size of pieces- we looked at big pieces and agreed that the dynamics of the pieces were really important (which was the key to our success in the first module) and that too many big pieces wouldn't have any balance to the exhibition.

•  Method of creation- his work is about purging, cleansing and changing- some canvasses are a means to 'throw up' emotion and memory by physically making that movement with the paint (the photos below show clearly in the spattered and thickly layered mark making) He made several of these pieces, all incorporating different media, colours, textures and items. From his workspace we deducted that the main elements are glitter, acrylic paint, brusho (pigment powders) small objects, confetti, and salt. He has made a shrine as part of his work, which no longer exists, and has used letters from his childhood as influence in his work- we talked about his time in Art therapy and how it has affected this journey of work. He is looking towards the next stage of the project, which is finding the 'cure' to the disease represented by the earlier pieces of work, by using anatomical drawings, translucent papers such as tracing paper, and overlaying them on crystals.

•  Salt- This element of the work is something that I feel will be an important thing to reference in things such as the press release and when advertising our exhibition. The salt in nearly all his pieces is from our first module, as Faith donated the bucket to him. It now has all manner of glitter and confetti and other items added to it, so is certainly not the pure element that we needed it to be in the last module, but it has gone on its own development and journey, and Jack has said that we can borrow it back for the exhibition! I like the idea of the salt returning to us, and being used again as a vessel to 'hold' and surround pieces of work. It has a different meaning now, and would string together all the different pieces really nicely, so this is something really strong and unorthodox to consider!

•  Displaying work- We asked Jack about how he would hang his work, not for artistic reasons but for practicality, as the pieces which we seem to be interested in are board-based, and have thick, heavy layers on them. They are also slightly bowed because of this, so do not lie totally flat against the wall when hung. I feel like we have 3 choices of 'how' to hang the pieces ('why' and 'where' we hang them is what the curation part of the module requires) anyway, the three choices i think we have are 1.) making them wall based but floating away from the wall using a wire hanging system or a piece of wood on the wall which would give the impression of floating. HOWEVER- option 2.) When the pieces of work were laid down on a nearby plinth, the texture popped out from the surface of the board. Jack, Bianca and I discussed how having some/all of them horizontal would suit the pieces of work, and, thinking about the lighting in the space, the texture would create shadow and give great beauty to the piece. They are quite pool-like and the unorthodox perspective of looking down on the work would play with the viewers perception of paintings being 'wall based' Option number 3.) would be to stand some of them up around the inner 'tent' space, at different angles, leaning against plinths, possibly laid on the floor, and balanced with salt.

•  Overall, I would say the 'not using the walls at all' idea, lends itself very well to his work as the best way to view these pieces really seems to be when they are laid flat. It will be a case of arranging them on the day of install: I liked the idea of having a couple of plinths that are the exact dimensions of the pieces (like those shelves with the bags on from Mona's last lecture) and when they sit on top all you see is the piece of work stretching to the edge of the plinth.

• We also talked about how his work is going to develop in the next few days/weeks- Level 5 assessment is next tues/wed, so between now and then he was thinking of cutting a couple of the pieces into lozenge/tablet shapes, which link to the idea of disease/cure in his work. We could use these in a more sculptural way, as they would be interesting to stand or lean within the tent structure.