Fake Rothkos using ink on the partitions removed from Paul's well travelled but unloved brief case
My friend Paul bought a new house and asked me to make some ‘art’ for it. This was my brief:
“ I don’t want anything like that shit you normally do...I don’t want a bloody vacuum cleaner attached to the wall that switches on every time I open the door or any crap like that! “
I’ve known Paul for 20 years now – he likes giving people feedback.
I asked him what he did like and he said:
“ I went to Tate Modern recently and I quite liked the Rothkos!”
In the past, I’ve heard Rothkos described as ‘exclusive corporate wallpaper ‘. This was a tough starting point for me. I also felt that what he really wanted was someone else’s art, not mine.
A theatre director with a side hustle in management training, Paul leads quite a hectic life. He’s always getting on a plane to jet off somewhere. I’ve gone with him a few times and it’s quite stressful. Always scribbling last-minute notes with his pen, it often feels like Paul is ‘winging it’ and making me do stuff I’m not sure about. Once he made us get on a coach to a conference centre from the airport without paying. The driver asked for our tickets, and Paul pulled a random piece of paper from his bag and waved it in the driver's face. Eventually, he just gave in to Paul’s sheer force of will. A win, until we discovered later that there had actually been a limo waiting for us.
It struck me that Paul’s life is in complete contrast to the contemplative mood of a Rothko painting. Maybe he’s trying to make his new house a calm space; an attempt to self-medicate with art.
I asked him to give me any old hand luggage, and he gave me 3 flight bags. I turned them into Rip-off Rothko’s. He liked them. Later he gave me a well-travelled but unloved briefcase (gift from his ex-wife). It had stains from long discarded leaky pens. I cut out the canvas-lined partitions to make another triptych using inks.
I had to rethink my attitude to making art for the home. Ideally, I want people to buy artwork from my back catalogue and have something of mine they can marvel at. Paul didn’t want a visual example of me being a smart arse; he wanted Business Class Rothko Wallpaper with a Ryan Air price tag (Baggage allowance exceeded).
“ I don’t want anything like that shit you normally do...I don’t want a bloody vacuum cleaner attached to the wall that switches on every time I open the door or any crap like that! “
I’ve known Paul for 20 years now – he likes giving people feedback.
I asked him what he did like and he said:
“ I went to Tate Modern recently and I quite liked the Rothkos!”
In the past, I’ve heard Rothkos described as ‘exclusive corporate wallpaper ‘. This was a tough starting point for me. I also felt that what he really wanted was someone else’s art, not mine.
A theatre director with a side hustle in management training, Paul leads quite a hectic life. He’s always getting on a plane to jet off somewhere. I’ve gone with him a few times and it’s quite stressful. Always scribbling last-minute notes with his pen, it often feels like Paul is ‘winging it’ and making me do stuff I’m not sure about. Once he made us get on a coach to a conference centre from the airport without paying. The driver asked for our tickets, and Paul pulled a random piece of paper from his bag and waved it in the driver's face. Eventually, he just gave in to Paul’s sheer force of will. A win, until we discovered later that there had actually been a limo waiting for us.
It struck me that Paul’s life is in complete contrast to the contemplative mood of a Rothko painting. Maybe he’s trying to make his new house a calm space; an attempt to self-medicate with art.
I asked him to give me any old hand luggage, and he gave me 3 flight bags. I turned them into Rip-off Rothko’s. He liked them. Later he gave me a well-travelled but unloved briefcase (gift from his ex-wife). It had stains from long discarded leaky pens. I cut out the canvas-lined partitions to make another triptych using inks.
I had to rethink my attitude to making art for the home. Ideally, I want people to buy artwork from my back catalogue and have something of mine they can marvel at. Paul didn’t want a visual example of me being a smart arse; he wanted Business Class Rothko Wallpaper with a Ryan Air price tag (Baggage allowance exceeded).
Installed in Paul's house. Real Rothkos are a bit big for the average two bedroom semi whereas the bags were just the right size.
Some of Pauls well travelled luggage
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A picture of Paul getting into a Limo back to the airport with one of his bags on his shoulder. It's actually the same limo we were supposed to be picked-up in when we arrived at the airport.
Detail: Toy aeroplane as a hook fixing the bag/painting to the wall.
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The black border is actualy the inner lining of the bag
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The die-cast aeroplanes are by 'Matchbox'
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It was a green bag but the base of it where the painting is was actually black
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This carry-on bag did have wheels on it but they were too visually dominant so I removed them.
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Paul's briefcase had lots of stains inside from old leaky pens. I removed these three canvas lined partions and made this tryptych using inks.
A red Bic pen used as a hook.
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Black Bic pen
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The remains of the brefcase hung from the wall. Inside is a three-way electrical junction box for the lighting
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Red, black and blue electrical flex to match the three ink colours. The wiring exits the bag after passing through the original pen holders inside the briefcase.
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