DOUGLAS WHITE / RE-ENCHANTMENT

[MONIKA BIELSKYTE / THE LAST TIME I WAS IN YOUR STUDIO WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT YOUR PAST – I BELIEVE THERE IS A STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ARTISTIC WORK YOU DO NOW & YOUR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES.

DOUGLAS WHITE / I GREW UP IN A PRETTY RURAL AREA & SPENT A LOT OF TIME OUTSIDE IN THE WOODS WITH MY BROTHERS OR ON MY OWN. IT SEEMED NORMAL AT THE TIME BUT NOW I REALIZE WHAT A PRIVILEGE THAT WAS - EXPLORING, BUILDING DENS, FINDING STRANGE PLACES & THINGS. I REMEMBER COMING ACROSS A DUMP OUT IN THE WOODS WITH MY BROTHERS. IT WAS SO EXCITING & FORBIDDEN. I LIKE THE IDEA IN SOME OF THE OBJECTS THAT I APPROPRIATE, THAT THEY ARE FORBIDDEN IN THE GALLERY (OF COURSE THEY ARE NOT REALLY). I REMEMBER FINDING A TWISTED TWIG WHEN I WAS ABOUT SEVEN YEARS OLD, IT WAS STRANGE & MAGICAL TO ME. IT LOOKED JUST LIKE A DROWNING MAN CLINGING TO A LOG, HIS MOUTH GAPING IN A CRY. I DOUBT ANYONE ELSE WOULD SEE THIS IN IT. MY MOTHER STILL HAS IT…ONE DAY SHE TOLD ME SHE HAD GOTTEN RID OF IT, IT WAS THAT CLASSIC CHILDHOOD SCENE OF SEARCHING THROUGH THE TRASH FOR SOMETHING THAT IS SO PERSONALLY PRECIOUS, BUT MEANS NOTHING TO ANYONE ELSE. I REMEMBER THE SICKENING FEELING OF LOSS, DREAD THAT SUCH A MAGICAL THING WAS GONE. WE FOUND IT.
NOW I LIVE OFF EXACTLY THAT PROCESS OF EXPLORATION, THE EXCITEMENT. I STILL GET THAT FEELING OF DREAD WHEN I THINK I HAVE MISSED OUT ON SOMETHING. I WONDER WHAT I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IF I HAD BEEN ABLE TO TELL MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SELF THAT I WOULD END UP MAKING A LIFE DOING EXACTLY THAT. WHEN YOU’RE A KID MAGICAL THINGS ABSOLUTELY EXIST, CERTAIN PLACES & EXPERIENCES ARE SO FULL OF WONDER & DREAD. WHEN I WENT TO THE HAIRDRESSER HE USED TO TELL ME THERE WAS A DRAGON THAT LIVED IN THE BASEMENT. IT WAS DIZZYINGLY EXCITING, I COULD NEVER SEE IT BECAUSE IT WAS SLEEPING, OR TOO DANGEROUS - THE FABRIC OF LIES WAS SO SIMPLE & EFFECTIVE. YOU CAN NEVER GET THAT FULLY IMMERSIVE SENSE OF WONDER AS AN ADULT, BUT YOU CAN PROVOKE ITS MEMORY, & I THINK THE BEST ART DOES. MY FAVORITE WORKS PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR WONDER, BUT THEIR FABRICATION LETS YOU SEE THEIR WORLDLINESS - THAT THEY ARE VERY HUMAN CONSTRUCTS — AND THEN IT IS UP TO YOU AS THE VIEWER. THEY ARE A PORTAL INTO WONDER OR SADNESS & YOU GET TO FLICKER BETWEEN THAT STATE & THE REAL WORLD.

[...]

MB / IS THERE A DESIRE TO BRING BACK TO LIFE DISCARDED REALITY & SAVE WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE LOST?

DW / IT’S MORE SOME SENSE THAT THEY ARE ALREADY LOST. TO USE ONE OF MY MUM’S EXPRESSIONS, THEY’VE ‘GIVEN UP THE GHOST’. I’VE NEVER REALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT PHRASE BUT IT SEEMS APT HERE. IT IS AS IF THEY HAVE CEASED TRYING TO CONFORM TO THEIR GIVEN STRUCTURE, GIVEN UP TRYING TO BE WHAT THEY ARE MEANT TO BE, & RETREATED INSTEAD INTO SOME ULTERIOR FORM OR POSSIBILITY. IT IS AS IF THEY WERE RESTLESS IN THEIR GIVEN STATE. THIS IS WHERE THEY COME ALIVE.

[...]

MB / THERE ARE NO DIRECT ALLUSIONS TO DEATH IN YOUR WORK, BUT THERE IS A STRANGE FEELING OF MOURNING.

DW / I THINK WHAT IS LOST IS THAT SENSE OF WONDER I WAS TALKING ABOUT. NOT IN SOME KIND OF ROMANTIC, EYES-WIDE IN BEAUTY SENSE, BUT IN A MORE UNSETTLING, UNCANNY SENSE THAT THERE ARE FORCES AT PLAY, THAT ARE LARGER & STRANGER THAN WE KNOW...]


/ EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH DOUGLAS WHITE BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE.








BLACK & WHITE IMAGES / PRODUCTION SHOTS FROM DOUGLAS WHITE’S RESIDENCY & SOLO EXHIBITION MASQUERADE AT MALTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRE, AUGUST 2009. PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOUGLAS WHITE. ALL THE WORKS WERE CREATED OVER A SIX-WEEK RESIDENCY PERIOD AT THE GALLERY USING MATERIALS FOUND ON THE ISLAND. THE PRINCIPAL MATERIAL WAS THE DRIED-OUT HUSKS OF PRICKLY PEAR CACTI DISPLAYED ON A NETWORK OF STEEL ARMATURES. THE TITLE OF THE EXHIBITION WAS DERIVED FROM MASQUERADE, THE CHILDREN’S BOOK BY AUTHOR & ARTIST KIT WILLIAMS PUBLISHED IN 1979, WHICH SPARKED A WORLDWIDE TREASURE HUNT BY CONCEALING CLUES TO THE LOCATION OF A JEWELLED GOLDEN HARE, CREATED & HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN BRITAIN BY WILLIAMS.

COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS / BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE TAKEN IN DOUGLAS WHITE’S LONDON STUDIO IN AUGUST 2009. ELEPHANT MASK - FROM SOLO EXHIBITION ELEPHANT TOTEM SONG AT PARADISE ROW, LONDON, MAY 2009. THE TITLE OF THE EXHIBITION WAS DERIVED FROM THE POEM CROW’S ELEPHANT TOTEM SONG FROM THE COLLECTION THE LIFE & SONGS OF THE CROW (1970) BY TED HUGHES


/ ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE002