David Begbie in Conversation
Have you always had a preoccupation with the human form? Since when?
Yes, despite the trends during my Art School years for non-figurative,
abstract, minimal and multi-media activities. There are two main
reasons for this preoccupation:
1 Because I can only work on things and subjects which I have a feeling and passion for.
2 I like to be involved in what interests me, not
necessarily what is fashionable and popular - therefore my
commitment as such enables me to explore the possibilities extensively.
Would you say you are not interested in current trends?
I take notice. It is possible that my art influences trends in
some respects - this should be true of any contemporary activity which
integrates into the culture. Trends are often inventions based on a
desire for society to categorise - or in some cases a way of justifying
plagiarism. In general Artists work with a very individual approach.
When did you first start working in Steelmesh, what year?
I discovered the particular properties of steelmesh in 1977 at art
school, at that time, I was working with more conventional solid
materials - such as plaster, wood, bronze, stone and fibreglass casting.
One of the reasons for steelmesh in art schools is because it is a
traditional material for armature (the structure used for plaster
sculpture where chicken-wire composes the basic skeletal form).
I thought these unsophisticated armatures were completely unappreciated
as a potential art form and decided to reinterpret the guts of the
sculpture, as I saw it - a strong and important statement in it’s
own right. At the time, I had no idea that this observation would
eventually be the basic ‘armature’ of my future work and career.
In my own work I was composing figurative sculptures in space frame
structures (still present today), and unlike conventional compositions,
I was screening off the object with semi-opaque materials such as:
frosted glass and plastics, cloth and fabrics and, of course,
steelmesh. It was during this period I discovered that steelmesh could
be modelled to a degree of sophistication - you can imagine the
excitement, when I merged the object with it’s diaphanous screen so
that they became one statement.
This was important for it’s sheer sculptural economy and stunning
visual succinctness and has continued to be an inspiration for me
since. The idea I was working with, and continue to work with today,
sprang from the initial discoveries about the material at that time.
All visual media is about the transformation of an ordinary material
(industrial, domestic or otherwise) into a language expressing and
communicating in a way that no other medium can.
What are the unique/special properties of the Steelmesh?
Firstly, the mesh is manufactured flat off the roll and is a uniform
grid structure machined with a relentless integrity. When the mesh with
all it’s lines stretch into three dimensions, it has the psychological
effect of creating a completely new type of space - that is space it
newly occupies when stretched.
Secondly, it is transparent - 90% thin air, yet it has as much,
and possibly more, presence than a conventional solid form.
Because of this, I have been able to introduce the use of lighting as
an integral part of a particular composition, combining two and three
dimensions by using shadows - an optical fusion of image and
object.
Do you sculpt a series of bodies or are they one off creations?
I often work on more than one at a time - that is variations of the
same idea. Working with more than one sculpture enables me to
achieve subtleties in each individual version which would otherwise be
lost if each facet was contained in one piece.
Basically, it stops me from overworking one piece, so that I can bring
out particular characteristics separately over several subjects.
Therefore, each sculpture is obviously unique.
How do you respond to a specific commission - do you find a brief challenging or limiting?
Mostly commissions are a challenge - it’s often more difficult -
but it does mean that my activities are more expansive. Commissions
require me to stretch my vocabulary and invent new designs or
solutions. Every single situation is different leading me to discover
new forms and ways of working the material. Even though I have an
extensive vocabulary from the work I have done, I am always
looking for new directions.
For example, with the Natural History Museum, my commission was to deal
with the human element for the Primates Gallery. In addition to my work
being an actual primate activity of today, the involvement led me to
think and rethink my own condition, as well as the technical and
aesthetic challenge of installing a three part scenario mounted on
glass. Here,the emphasis was on the transparency of my work in relation
to the Pawson Williams overall concept of reclaiming the original
character of the space, ie. the architecture of Waterhouse. Often
commissions are site specific, with these spatial constraints I am
further challenged.
Do you look at the work of other Artists much?
Of course, but not just other artists, I look at all visual and
other media - Television, Advertising, Video, Music, Film, Theatre,
Dance and so on.
Where do you study Human Form?
Sometimes I use models. I am generally very aware of people -
body movements and expression. Artists develop a way of
seeing for their own purposes. Good sources of day to day study are:
social contact, working out in the Gym, the use of photos, TV and
video, plus an unknown degree of subliminal intake. I am also inspired
by the work of Artists such as: Rodin, Michelangelo, Medardo Rosso,
Egon Schiele many other painters and obviously my contemporaries. My
sources perpetually evolve along with my experiences.
Would you say you have a preoccupation with Health and Fitness?
Yes, well not a preoccupation, I am very interested in anatomy and it
is a way of learning how my own body works - not just
functionally, but also how we express ourselves on every
level through body language.
We confront the world with our bodies on many levels, what we
individually look and feel like, and how we see each other, is
astonishingly important.
I am interested in how partial figures/fragments can become powerful
forms of expression. I often deal with heads, torsos, hands
and feet separately, because they can say very different and
surprising things; particularly if you understand that a torso has its
individual character and ‘personality’.
In the past you have been compared to Rodin and Michelangelo, how do you feel about these comparisons now?
Obviously there are similar concerns, particularly as Rodin was
the first and most successful artist to consciously use a
fragmented form as his subject, he also went on to deal with
emotional, physical, passionate and violent expression.
Using wax as his medium, Medardo Rosso has been an intriguing
influence. The majority of his mature works appear ‘softly
eroded’ or transformed as if by the elements and evocative of the
mysterious workings of the imagination - half formed personalities from
the deep subconscious. I look to Michelangelo who was the exponent of
exaggerated physical form (mannerism).This is because I often have to
exaggerate physical features due to the inherent properties and the
nature of working with the steelmesh. My concerns are precisely
contemporary in that I am transposing a modern industrial material, in
a mannerist way, but by no means, the same fashion as Michelangelo,
because my influences are from a much wider context in today’s society.
My sculpture is completely different because of the nature of the
material although the results do strike the same chords.
Is this the reason for your success?
My work is successful because it is a fascinating mix of classical
qualities with a contemporary material. It is sculptural economy
and succinctness with an ebullience of content and subtlety. It is also
a marriage of figurative and minimal art.