Can an object exist without communicating anything? Without conveying some message about itself? Could I remove or neglect to include a message in an artwork I create? An uninteresting object fails to communicate but that is likely because its messages are tired or mixed Other things, though we may simply not have the perceptive capacity for in the same way that we have no taste buds to detect water
Art complicates, where words simplify Art offers possibility, not definition Writing and speech belong to the language of instruction, description and history Art inhabits a different place: the language of gesture, ambiguity and negotiation It is the language of animals where is impossible to be silent
Humans rely on verbal language to navigate the social dimensions of the world, for the obvious reason that by creating stereotypes (or set and defined meanings to symbols) we are able to bypass processing the huge quantities of information the world presents. This has the unfortunate result that we are by necessity liable to trust statements while often failing to recognise obvious evidence to the contrary.
Animals, unable to understand human language, are under no such illusions. Animals must be ruled by whips, fences and coercion, whereas humans can be ruled by misconceptions and stereotypes.
The Lino blocks are carved by hand using flooring vinyl, rather than artist’s linoleum, because of their large size. The vinyl is much harder than linoleum so I heat the block with a hair dryer to soften it while carving. One block takes about sixteen hours to complete. They used to take me much longer, but I have learnt through practice to move more steadily and can be less cautious. While I carve, a studio-mate is working on a logo design for a coffee roaster. Another is photographing a pair of shoes. Another is detailing windows for a home renovation. The mechanics in the workshop below our studio rev motorbikes while the cleaner vacuums the floor, both of which drown out the sound of my hair dryer.
