“Courage is grace under pressure” – Ernest Hemingway.
This year, I have been lucky enough to travel at length with and because of my art; to places as far reaching as Cape Town and New York. Last month my ever-expanding journey found me train-hopping and drunk-cycling through the flat terrain of The Netherlands. The trip joined the dots to a number of significant characters and places for me throughout Holland. First stop was Rotterdam to install a solo exhibition at Opperclaes Gallery. The show titled ‘Keep Smiling’ kick-started a month of happy ramblings.
After a week of studio/gallery working/partying in ‘The Roffa’, I jumped on a train and wound-up in Amsterdam, a hedonistic capital, a theme park for drug and sex enthusiasts. Amsterdam is only really as enjoyable as the people you are with; as fun loving as it seems, it can also be a very dark and freaky place. I was accompanied by my trusty attorney: a moustached, post-punk eccentric named Jorrit Spoelstra. Jorrit is also a film and trouble maker. The two of us were welcomed by sunny, funny smoke filled narrow streets. I spent two days painting the wall of Abraxas Coffee Shop, organized and sponsored by No New Enemies, my host and muse, the wonderful Maximiliane Meissner, and her handsome and talented rocker counterpart, Jeroen.
After two days solid painting I relaxed by losing myself with Manchester folk-rock pioneers, The Travelling Band. The Travelling Band are good friends and collaborators who happened to be touring Europe with their awesome album ‘Screaming is Something’ (for which I made the album artwork). We drank drinks until drunk and danced with devils ‘til the dawn broke our shadows and sent us separate ways. Sleepless and full of holes I continued on to Arnhem, comparatively a very small and quiet city, which was exactly what I needed. I stayed with Hans and Roos, the dream team that makes up Subwalk gallery. During my mini residency at Subwalk I made screen prints, drew ever increasingly detailed descriptions of my trip, and ran a workshop making zines and exploring analogue possibilities.
The tripping touring also included an excursion to Doel; an abandoned, ghost town, village, just outside Antwerp. A street artist paradise, street upon street of empty buildings. Adorned with a catalogue of the who’s who in the international street art scene. I painted for the afternoon with Antwerp’s British born Mark ‘Mass’ Goss. The sun was strong and the winds kept low. Perfect conditions for painting al fresco and a sweet way to end the last leg of my trip.
The Dutch Courage tour ended back in Rotterdam, taking down the ‘Keep Smiling’ show. I was also invited to be a guest speaker at ‘Image Festival’. The last few days were spent eating, drinking and not sleeping. Feeling the need to mark this point in time I got all tattooed up by my buddy Hans Pasztjerik who runs ‘Stay Classy’ tattoo studio. I also got to practice my tattoo skills by inking some original artwork into his upper thigh.
I sailed back to London with a car full of artworks and a bag full of hangovers. In just under one month I had utilized, trains, planes, bicycles, cars, boats, trams, and of course my good old human feet.
In conclusion, it is possibly that toughest time to be a full time artist (of any kind). We live in a crazy age, loaded with weapons of mass distraction. We are the immediate generation, we need things now, we need things fast. And it is difficult to keep up.
Everything is immediate, food, music, movies, the list goes on and gets longer every day. We crave quick fix, drive through, while-you-wait services. Everything you can imagine is created, recorded, uploaded, consumed and then judged, or ‘liked’ (With little cost and all in the space of a few minutes) This is wonderful news for anyone seeking attention or trying to promote something they have created. This is a dream come true for the self-employed. We are all linked; we are all on the same page.
The flip side is that whilst everything is immediate and ultra-accessible, things immediately become disposable. We are hungrier than ever for the newest, biggest, fastest thing, and as soon as we eat it, we spit it or shit it out to make way for the next course. We are eagerly waiting the next big thing. It is harder than ever to make something with staying power. Nothing stays still for long enough to really appreciate.
The solution is to keep going. As Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going”, right? The trick is to enjoy the ride. Use both immediate and lasting media. Upload and upgrade as much as possible. But make sure, as in analogue photography, that you allow things to ‘develop’. The best things take time. Time to create and time to appreciate.
Whilst my good friends The Traveling Band are enjoying increasing downloads and online sales of their studio album, they are also famously ‘travelling’ with their music, touring and performing live. I applaud and apply this hobo/travelling ethic and aesthetic to my own practice. The role of artist is ever changing, from painter, printer, designer, illustrator, traveler, explorer, adventurer, criminal, writer, talker, performer, thinker, mover, shaker.
Whatever works…keep making things, and keep making things happen.
BY DAVID SHILLINGLAW
