"I WOULDN'T GET ON A PLANE THAT ALREADY LOOKS LIKE A PLANE CRASH"

This suggestion for a design using the olympic rings appears not quite to have been to Tracey Emin's liking....
There were others, for instance she seemed to have been more in favour of the simpler and more colourful one.
Quotes from athletes cover the plane as well.

These memorable words were uttered by Turner Award nominated Tracey Emin when she saw one of Martin's design ideas for the Great Briton's air plane design project. Well... she is known for her sardonic witticisms! I am finally allowed to say a few words about the outcome of the contest as the winner has now been officially announced. Sadly, it was not Martin but an industrial designer/artist, Pascal Anson, who is already well established and whose furniture is on display in prestigious places. I'm sure his designs are extraordinary.

This is a detail of one of Martin's abstract and digitally based images
 from a series called "Unlikely Realms".
His ideas for the British Airways air planes were related to this,
but he was going to add the human touch of the brushstroke
to the designs. The software is only a tool with which you create
new and fantastic 2D and 3D objects to be used in images.

My impression of the contest when we found out about it was that British Airways wanted to encourage people of all walks of life to contribute with something exciting, and that this would be an opportunity for them to get recognition and a career boost of sorts. There was an art, food and cinema section. Instead of choosing some young exciting talents they went for people who are already well established within their fields. To me that looks a bit like a safe bet. 

Martin received a package from BA with instructions and a model airplane to play with... (ok just joking!)

Don't get me wrong - Martin and I both got a lot out of this exercise, which helped us both think deeply about what we want to say with our art. He was chosen as one of the ten people who actually got an interview with the panel of judges (including Tracey Emin), and this seems to me to indicate that he really has a wealth of ideas to offer the world! As we talked through his concept and I tried and challenge him with tricky questions, he came up with wonderful ideas of how the Olympic ideal can be seen as a universal theme of man overcoming adversity, challenge and gravity - and we can see this in the human endeavour of flying aircrafts, too! The material as opposed to the immaterial, or how the two really go together... these are great thoughts and I know he would have been fantastically erudite if he had been chosen (as the process is made into a film of sorts that will be shown on the in flights). 

So one could say, why bother when you have to be famous in order to become more famous, and though we are sad about the outcome we still feel it was an interesting experience. We regret that it cost us a lot of money that we don't have, it would have been great to get a little pay on which to survive over the next year, and maybe some thrilling experiences, but on the other hand Martin now has time to dedicate to his true calling.

Martin has written about his experience here, it's a lot funnier than my account...

ARTISTIC COLLABORATION WITHIN THE RELATIONSHIP

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2011

Firstly, being in a relationship that revolves around art has re-ignited an interest within me. I feel that my life is heading back towards the arts after a long period of other concerns. My initial studies in art history (about three years in total)  when I was very young were successful enough but I then went onto making art myself while intellectually speaking being more interested in spirituality. Now it's all coming together in a new synthesis. 

We've talked a lot about working with joint artistic projects, but we have not had time to realize the more subtle ideas. One way in which we regularly engage in co-operation is by being each other's critics and mentors. Usually it's about to reading each other's articles and artist statements. Martin has worked extensively on large project run by British Airways for the Olympics in London in 2012. Twelve of their airplanes are to be decorated with one design. Regardless if he is elected or not, the project has given him a new skills and something to show for. I pressed him on what he really wants to say with his art and it has become an interesting exchange on the synthesis between the material and immaterial sphere (physical and spiritual) which in a sense could be applicable to the contest theme. The advantage of having an artistic partner is that you can start a discussion about art and ones own intentions any time at all. We need to encourage the other, but also pressure them just a bit where you see that the others could do even better. There is no point in just patting each other on the shoulder with a lame "yeah it's really nice honey." This is extremely important when it comes to art because it is about reaching other people through as clear  a communication as possible. No one wishes to hear or watch something vague and watered down. 


We filmed a presentation video (which was not obligatory but something the panel encouraged you to do) with my simple Nikon D90 camera, and Martin has put together everything in Windows. In comparison with many other artists in the videos (many a bit waffly) I think Martin is straightforward and succinct as he sticks to the brief and the questions asked. It's meant to be a presentation of him as a person, not so much about the ideas he has for the design.

Perhaps the fact that I walk around with my camera and often shoot Martin has made him more at ease in front of it. He would need that confidence during the job. Martin is a "second generation artist," and we hope that he will not be subjected to age discrimination. There is a tendency in the art world to encourage young talent but I hope that Martin will join the "the-strong-in-their-50s-group.


Watch Tracey Emin's example video about the meaning of art!

I know of two couples who make art in an intertwined way which makes it impossible to tell which bit was created by which party. Gilbert&George, the famous gay couple from London, and a successful couple Elena&Michel Gran from Russia. Martin and I hope to do a collaborative piece based on a book of poems about the wives of famous men distributed during the great book distributing event last spring - it was given out by a gallery who will create an exhibition of the works.