https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=dFsW9_QyAhc
So you saw the contest announcement on Twitter? Yeah. See I don’t even remember how we announced it, but obviously we use Twitter I kept the screenshot I don’t remember much of this at all Yeah And I remember why I wanted it so bad. I wanted it because I wanted to make you smile. I I Wanted you know, why did you care about that? So first of all, did you you knew about me? Yes before that how you about you before that for a long time But I never followed you because I’m not following everybody. It’s just a habit So, how did you know? How did you come across my work Lawrence Fox? He sent me the link on the same day and And that day I was thinking why are you but you say sorry sorry to interrupt you but you said that You when he sent you the link, did you already know about my work? Yes, you did. How did you fall? And so what the video videos or had you read my previous book? Lectures no lectures. I was listening to your art lectures. I see. Okay, you were listening to my lectures on art Oh, yeah, you you you gave a lecture in Toronto Museum, I think yes That’s the one I love I’ve listened to it three times. I think I think that was in Ottawa At the National Gallery Now you did one at the National Gallery and I did one on the meaning of music at a museum in Toronto But that’s not the one you’re referring to no. I wish I could find it. I need to find it. I need the links as well So I went ahead I went downstairs And I knew I can do that in enjoys so what I did at the time I would do photo montages black and white photo montage meaning Meaning I would make a list of keywords Something I need for that and I knew I need the sky. I knew I need a guy and The special character not just any guy I wanted him to be proud and What’s the word a slightly arrogant This was the first rule the first Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement and I sent out suggestions, right? I the suggestion was the Tarot card Yeah, you sent one tarot card from the rider deck. I believe it was the rider deck. So I would create that and then I would just start searching the web and That could be a photo that could be part of the painting I would just collect in very chaotic way very neurotic and chaotic for three four hours. I’ll just Pick up the stuff everything I see everything I see useful everything I see fit I would collect Then I see playing page that is scary and I knew that I’m gonna see 12 Not one usually I see one. I would have to deal with 12 and I knew I can do it But usually I’ll drop myself into the well I’ll just drop myself into something impossible and see if I can survive That’s what I do So I photo montage this out of pieces just like the mosaic. That’s why That’s why I spoke of making a mosaic from center out. I would find the heart of the image and I’ll work towards the edges Then I’ll have to flawlessly Integrate them into each other. There are probably hundreds Yeah, there is a hundred pieces here from all sort of sources And why did you decide to use a photo montage rather than draw my thing? It’s my thing. He told me just do your thing. That’s how you see things Okay, so show bring the image up again, let me let me make some comments about it and I can tell you okay, so I like The melody of the main figure there’s something musical about it and about the way that I guess it’s the it’s the lines of the Standing figure and the dog and the butterfly it fits harmoniously together and you you got it right to have him looking up into the sky like he’s preoccupied and Even though he’s hypothetically a Even though he’s hypothetically about to Step off this clip cliff the way that you produce this is similar to the way that I write because I Collect all sorts of things and then I array them and then I edit them and edit them and edit them and edit them and edit Them until I and until I can’t edit them anymore and then I’m done So when I saw this The first thing I believe I thought was that it was beautiful and that that that was a Necessary criteria for for for my satisfaction And it was there’s nothing about your drawings that are foolish or trivial and so and I like the classic element and So when I saw this well I was very happy I thought well that’ll be a beautiful addition to the To the book So you sent the fool? You speaking my language first of all every word toward that’s exactly how I feel I had to create Shape wise something harmonious perfectly harmonious It has to be balanced out perfectly otherwise it’s junk and When that’s very difficult to do you see people often when they make a portrait even very talented people Can’t array the multiple if there’s multiple figures they can’t array the multiple figures together so that they look Either like they’re dancing. Let’s say like they’re related to each other properly They look like separate figures sort of stuck on a page and certainly that isn’t the case with your illustration of the fool and Often people would ask me Who I’m inspired by No one They would not believe me It’s definitely look like that or it’s definitely look like door Well, it’s definitely look like this guy and the guy is definitely look like my brother It’s none of those things. I never get inspired by visuals. I get inspired by music Aha So here we come a full circle because I always knew that I have to choose either music or drawings two things and I knew I have to choose because when you’re little grown-ups would say What do you want to be when you grow up which implies you have to choose and I didn’t want to choose Well, it’s so interesting that you think of your drawings musically Given that that’s how they struck me and that’s how they struck you The word to word. So what I do is I put my music and They work only to music nothing else. I have no ideas and I’m trying to turn my head off I’m not thinking during this chaotic Speaking I have to analyze like good bad bad bad. Right, right But then when it’s all done it’s pretty much like What actors do master actors with method acting They just collected all this information Yeah, you know everything about they dressed up and they just being and I can’t control this when I attach those things I’m just I’m just the tool. I can’t think Once I started thinking I’m a window right? Well, yeah Mm-hmm thinking is perhaps Reserved for critical judgment rather than creative production yeah, you have to open yourself up to a kind of attention and it’s interesting that you know, you say you you collected a very large number of items to work with its initial overproduction followed by selection and that’s another thing useful for people who are listening to this or watching it might want to know like when I write I write way more than I keep and Then I can select and so I don’t constrain myself to begin with I can write down whatever I want knowing full well that I’m Going to modify it or throw much of it away So I sent like I had images in mind photographs paintings that that captured the theme of what I wanted to portray in the illustration for the chapter and so as We progressed through the 12. I had sent an image or two or three perhaps I don’t exactly remember that sort of hinted at what I was looking for and so when you you worked off that initial suggestion But you produced something that was in that vein but not by any means the same thing So let’s go through let’s go. Let’s show everybody the illustrations one by one and talk about each of them So we saw number one the fool Yeah, I had much more obviously I had much more I had mountains I had excess stuff and I always minimize it Not necessary out not necessary out. They simplified it completely