Image:the struggle medium: refined ash of 100 Mein Kampfs, resins date: 2011
The London Art Fair will unveil the most provocative work by Little Whitehead at the at the SUMARRIA LUNN Gallery, a Bible cast from the ashes of 90 copies of Mein Kampf. The sculpture is bound to enrage Christians fundamentalists, Little Whitehead claim that “to some extent, it doesn’t really matter that it’s made from the Bible and Mein Kampf. The two books can merely exist as symbols for powerful and commonly adopted ideologies and more importantly, their destructive capabilities.”
Craig Little, 29, and Blake Whitehead, 25, began working together after graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 2007.
What’s the inspiration behind your latest work?
The fair brings together some old and some new work. For most of the new work we’ve been burning stuff, refining the ahes and casting the ash into moulds of other objects. We came up with the process during the summer whilst working on a large figurative piece. We’d been asked by another artist to collaborate with him by taking part in a piece of work that’d be posted back and fouth between us and him. We really didn’t like what he sent us and we were getting pissed off with the figure we were making, so we vented our frustration on his piece. We ended up smashing it up, then burning it, refining the ashes and turning it into a perfect cube. After thinking about it, we thought that it could be an interesting way of working, destroying and making anew.
How do you think art history will view you?
We really haven’t ever thought about it. If you start worrying too much about what the public or critics or anyone will think about your work, you could easily end up either not making anything or making something to please someone else. It’s best just to do what you want.
What was the feeling, and what did you do to celebrate, when you sold you first piece of art?
It was a sweet night. We were at a dinner for New Contemporaries opening and we were told before sitting down that we’d sold some stuff to Saatchi. We didn’t really believe it as we’d had a long running personal joke that we were going to sell some stuff to him. We ended up sitting next to Mike Nelson at the dinner, which was good cause he’s one of our favourite artists. We even asked him what work was his in New Contemporaries, but we were just fucking with him. We ended up pretty drunk, on free booze to boost, so yeah, it was good.
Who was your biggest inspiration when you started?
Michael Landon, Michael Ironside and Randy Quaid. True sources of inspiration.
Which artist(s) do you secretly admire, but are too embarrassed to say?
There aren’t any artists we wouldn’t admit to liking. We have many guilty pleasures but no artistic ones.
Do you enjoy the lifestyle of an artist?
It’s good. Obviously no guaranteed income can be a bit of a pain, but it beats the hell out of working some crap job. Although, with a crap job you can walk away at the end of the day, get by doing very little, not really giving a toss. As an artist it’s harder separating yourself from work, much to the annoyance of our girlfriends.
What’s your favourite drink?
Juice is our thing. We were even thinking about launching our own range of Juice. Our tagline was going to be ‘Dry? Drink Whet!’ We share some favourites, Mountain Dew, Ice Tea, Irn Bru, Expensive German wheat beers, Long Island Ice Teas. Recently we’ve reintroduced ourselves to Budaberg Ginger Beer, Apple and Mango Juice and Lilt. We also like milkshakes, you can’t beat a smooth glass of cold Nestquick…..ah! The other day we were actually talking about what we’d spend our money on if we made a bit, and we thought about blowing it all on a substantial amount of juice.
Does the unknown of the future scare you?
The known past scares us a lot more………
How do you think future technology will help you and others create art?
If someone develops a ray gun that shrinks and enlarges stuff that could be invaluable to our practice, also a time machine and teleportation device would be good.
What’s the best thing about the art world to you?
Beating people up visually………
Who among your peers do you think is underrated or unknown?
We don’t really know many artist who started out at the same time as us. We didn’t study art at uni, so the friends we graduated with are all working in more commercial design/art fields. We also haven’t ever shared a studio, so we don’t really know that many artists at a similar point in there careers. We do like the work of Francis Thorborn and Craig Dow, who run Field and the Bunhouse Bandits in Peckham. They’re both good and very committed artists.
everyday people treat you when you tell them that you are an artist?
We work mainly in a small, post industrial town on the south east of Glasgow. The closest thing to an art scene there is the occasional amature art exhibit at the library. It’s easier not bothering to tell folks you’re an artist. It just always leads to difficult questions and misunderstanding. It’s not like London where most people understand ‘artist’ as a valid ‘career’.
What’s your biggest beef with the artworld?
We reckon every artist would say this, but galleries taking 50percent. It means we’re left with 25% each. Proportionally it’s like saying the galleries contribution is double our individual contribution. It’d be ok if you were selling loads of works for millions, but it makes being an emerging artist very difficult.
