Images Above Dave Sinnott working on his sculpture for his Gola Advert see final ad below
As you know at FAD we like to help emerging artists on their way to fame and fortune , hence the reason for our involvement in Freerange and The Other Art Fair plus our work with DegreeArt.com and New BloodArt.com.
But the other day we came across this site from Gola and their Student Ambassador project where they enable students to showcase their fellow talented students and up and coming talent from the worlds of music, art, fashion and film..
One of the talented students who caught our eye was David Sinnott who was not only showcased but got a job working on a Gola Advert !
Anyway we managed to catch up with him last week as he was putting the finishing touches to his graduate show and ask some questions about him and his work .
1.If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
If I wasn’t an artist I still think I’d be doing something creative. Film has always interested me, not so much being in front of the camera but behind it. I’ve done a few art films over the years but nothing worth calling myself a filmmaker over, but it’s definitely something I’d pursue. I feel like the ability to tell a story through film is a real talent.
Dave Sinnott in his Gola Advert
2. How did you become involved with Gola?
Back in September 2012, I was approached by one of Gola’s student ambassadors, Rebecca Roslyn, who interviewed me on being an art student and what my work was about as part of their ‘Born In Britain’ campaign. A month later I was asked if I wanted to take part in the next stage of their advertisement campaign; an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. The whole premise behind ‘Born In Britain’ is to unearth young British talent in the creative worlds of art, music, fashion and film and I was honoured to be asked to represent the field of art.
3. Can you tell us more about your work and the main ideas you like to express?
The animal form has become more important in my work, questioning the changing role of the animal in contemporary art. Currently, my latest installation piece entitled ‘Menagerie’, being exhibited at Leeds Broadcasting Place as part of my degree show, is based on a ‘behind the scenes’ of a Natural History Museum. With in the installation I’ve sculpted several fake taxidermy pieces that range from a life size rhino head to a swordfish, all wrapped in cotton twill to hide the animal completely and leave only a suggestion of shape underneath.
I do have a methodology for myself; where by I get people to give things to me and then out of these donated items I respond to them how I think is appropriate and create something three dimensional out of them. Not necessarily always an animal, sometimes my sculptures are less figurative but still retain an organic or animalistic quality. These donated materials can be anything from bits of clothing or fabrics, just everyday objects really. When the Gola opportunity came along it was perfect as it epitomised everything about the methodology behind my practice. Gola sent me hundreds of recycled shoes and let me have the creative freedom to create something imaginative and unbound. Each shoe was individually cut up and flattened to clad the sculptures in feathered effect as an abstract interpretation of the Gola Wingflash logo.
4. How do you start the process of making work?
A piece of work always starts with what material I’ve been given. My donated items dictate what I’m going to make, and whether it’s the colour, texture or size, I respond to it how I feel appropriate. I don’t tend to draw out my ideas or plan them, I learn by making and if the sculpture fails, it fails, I move on to the next idea. A wire armature or framework is essential, and acts like a drawing for me. I then apply mod roc over the wire to strengthen and flesh out the body. The finishing touches are obviously the materials that have been given to me. Once I was given an old, green leather handbag that I fashioned a hummingbird out of. Each feather was individually cut out and painstakingly glued onto the framework.
5. You work in 3D have you thought about Rapid prototyping/3D Printing?
Interesting question. I don’t think so, only on the premise that I love the physical process of making sculpture. I like problem solving and trying to figure out how things work three dimensionally. Also there is a certain quality in something that is made by hand that would be lost if it had been programmed and ‘printed’ into shape.
6.Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
Hands down I think it would have to be Andy Warhol at the peak of his artistic career in the early 1960’s. With so many different social and cultural changes at that time I think it would have been such an interesting period to be a working artist.
7. What was it like being part of an advertising campaign?
Very Surreal. I was honoured to be asked to take part but there was a part of me that was like ‘Can I do this?’. I had never done anything like this before or on this scale, but the entire proceedings went better than I could of imagined and I learnt a lot. They had commissioned me to create a piece of art but fundamentally its main purpose was to be shown on an advertisement, so it was an unusual process. But the team at Gola were really supportive of what I was about as an artist and how I worked. I got the chance to work with the photographer Brian Spranklen, which was incredible. I believe the best ideas come from working with different creative people; we had a good dialogue going about a variety of artist influences and how we were going to showcase my work at its best for Gola’s photo shoot. I learnt a lot about how lighting can change the effect of a three dimensional work and how to capture a sculpture at its best through still image.
8. Do you want to pursue a commercial art or fine art direction?
Trying to break into the fine art world is very difficult and extremely competitive, so I think I would pursue a career in a more commercial art direction but still be very grounded with in a fine art context. I think what was successful about the work I did for Gola’s advertisement campaign was that I treated it like one of my projects and didn’t go down an obvious commercial route.
9. Who are your top3 artists?
American artist Mark Dion is a personal favourite. He has a dark sense of humour to his work that I can really relate too, and his installations and taxonomic style have become very influential to my own practice over the past year, especially for my degree show piece. Tara Donovan is another installation artist who I’ve admired since seeing one of her pieces at London Frieze Art Fair back in 2011. She uses everyday objects like paper plates and pencils and creates incredible visually stunning sculptures. I love her use of the mundane and making it extraordinary and Donovan was one of my points of reference whilst creating the works for Gola. British sculptor Laura Ford has always been a massive inspiration for me, and for that reason she’s in my top three. Ford creates larger than life animals that appear to be made out of wrapped fabrics, almost like giant stuffed toys and her sense of playfulness is a quality I really respect.
10. What’s next for you?
Well I graduate in July and then the world is my oyster. I may return to education and do a Masters but not for a few years. I kind of want to get out into the world and travel, continue making art and get some real experience behind me. I’ve been looking into jobs in different creative industries as well as art residencies and internships but I’m keeping my options open. I’ve already been commissioned to make another two sculptures for Gola to be showcased at PITTI, a prestigious trade show in Italy. Already this has been a pretty incredible year with the Gola campaign giving me opportunities so hopefully it can only go up from here. It’s a scary and uncertain thing to be entering the big bad world, but I know for sure that first and foremost I will always be an artist.
cargocollective.com/davidsinnott
www.gola.co.uk/borninbritain
www.gola.co.uk/borninbritain/david-sinnott/
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