Demis Roussoss
Vom shit dog #1.
The Nocturne of Idle
1.If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
Well, I already do film & TV things in addition to my art practice. Most of these are based in animation, and mostly I collaborate with a chap called Alasdair Brotherston. We work with a production company called Trunk. If we’re being less rooted in reality, which is always nice, I’d probably want to be a singer or a chef. I think most tellingly it would always be something were things are getting created.
2. Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
Hard to condense, but ultimately I enjoy making the monumental profane and the profane monumental. There is a strong presence of play and fun with my work, but at times it can also be incredibly dark or melancholic. That sort of duality within one work is something that I really value.
3. How do you start the process of making work?
That really depends on the medium that I am working in. Ideas I generally have sprawled about on bits of paper – noted down as and when they arrive. I’ve never really been one for sketchbooks as such. If I am doing a drawing or a painting I may just start with a blank piece of paper and see what happens. I’ve recently been doing these very intricate pen drawings though, comprised of thousands of little fingers – as these are so concise I’ve started mapping them out very loosely in pencil first – which is very new for me. For collaged works I’ll collate together a body of stuff, which I paint then draw over. These then get cut out and the next process is collaging them together into a larger form – usually a wreath shape. If I am doing a sculpture I normally know from the off set what I intend to make. A film based thing, usually calls for a lot more pre-production – it just isn’t practical to fanny about in that area, especially if you are on a live action shoot in a studio where money is being chewed up by the second.
4. Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
I’d say so. It is hard to tell when you are basically creating thing based on your own whims and ideas, but in general I see my work as having “an end point” which is being exhibited in a show, or being looked at on line – or both. I always liked that phrase “a song is not a song until it is listened to”. Of course there are some things that never make it out of the studio, that are only ever seen by me – but of late I’ve been less self critical of things, sometimes I’ve chucked out things which were probably actually quite good. The on line sharing of images – be it on facebook, flickr, tumblr, wherever – is really interesting. Sometimes a work that you have poured over and spent a fortune on can be met with a rather muted response (views, or likes), then something you weren’t sure of can be met with a barrage or praise. In that sense it is a bit of an extension of the shared studio environment you can experience at college.
5. Name 3 artists that have inspired your work?
Claes Oldenberg, Duane Hansen, Leon Bakst – from a very early stage, and more latterly Öyvind Fahlström, Dario Argento, and The Knife.
6. Name 3 of your least favourite artists.
I don’t want to get into a beef with anyone alive, or dead.
7.?What defines something as a work of art?
You can choose to call anything you like ‘art’ – artistic merit can, arguably, be found in anything. People have argued about this for donkeys years, and will continue to do so until the sun destroys the earth. I just make the stuff.
8. In times of austerity, do you think art has a moral obligation to respond topically? It can, I personally don’t see or feel any reason to. I don’t feel obligated to reflect our times through my own work. I think we have journalists to do that, and I would rather be seen as a diversion.
9. Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
The Jeff Koons ‘Cicciolina’ phase looked like a laugh. In all seriousness though, er, maybe Holbein when he was looking at his ‘Ambassadors’ picture and thinking “back of the net”.
10. What is your favourite ‘ism’?
Dadaism – people just seemed to open a fair few doors but also had fun in doing so.
11. What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?
John Beagles, of Beagles & Ramsey, wrote a great essay about my work for a solo show a while back. He said, amongst other things, that I was “part of a tradition” which sounds nice. I think. I also got described as “equal spoonfuls of hilarity and horror” in a review once, which I also enjoyed. I’m not here to judge other people’s intelligence. I do wonder if Carol Vorderman would like my stuff though.
12. And the dumbest?
I was enraged by a review, of an experimental – ever changing – month long show that I was in. The reviewer came in on day three and wrote up a rather negative reaction to it. It seemed like he just didn’t get the concept at all, I described his review of the show as being akin to questioning the merits of a snow man five days after it has melted. He may have just disliked the concept of the show, which is another matter altogether. No one ever likes to read a bad review, but at the same time it is good to not just read the praise.
13. Which artists would you most like to rip off, sorry, I mean appropriate as a critique of originality and authorship?
I don’t knowingly ever rip anyone off, but I do always seem to have a ghost hovering over my shoulder – the end bit of ‘Akira’ where it goes all blobby and tits up. That is wonderful.
14.?Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
Yes. I have books of my work which can be bought for £10 – not everyone who has the good sense to appreciate it will follow that up by being able to afford an original. To look at my website is free of charge. I also value to merit of being able to offer prints as well as original drawings. I’d say my stuff is fairly accessible to most budgets. It would, however, be stupid to not try and cover all the bases though.
15. If Moma and the Tate and the Pompidou wanted to acquire one of your works each, which would you want them to have?
The most expensive ones, of course. I do consider the ‘Vom Shit Dogs’ as a calling card of sorts, so maybe three different versions in each place.
16. What’s next for you?
I have a solo show The Eyes Turn’d Inward for the Nightmare was Real’ at Vane Gallery in Newcastle 10th May – 30th June
Then I’m looking forward to a 3D animated feature film about Graham Chapman (of Monty Python) coming out in September in the UK and U.S – I co directed a 7 minute section of it, and spent months drawing for it…my arm nearly fell off, so it will be nice to see it on the big screen with silly glasses on.
