When I'm in Sydney, a city I have adopted as my own, I see street artist Will Coles' work all the time. Not in galleries or in shows, but below my feet or above my head, stashed or stuck somewhere guerilla style. Like walking to work, there'll be a balaclava, an improbable one that on closer inspection has eyes and lips. Or around Redfern, a pair of cast concrete gloves, or a drinks can. The sort of thing that blends with an urban environment, the sort of thing that can look so much like lost property or garbage - until you realise it's a treasure and, in many cases, attempt to steal it. Will claims to be the "most stolen artist" - but how the principle of theft accords with something abandoned is an interesting one.
I like to see Will's creations; when I spot them, the pieces smile at me. Attempting to gouge them out of where they have been installed often ruins them so I once reached out and Will immediately gifted me two skulls. Each, turned in profile, declares a cheery motto: LOL says one. YOLO exclaims the other. I'm a fan of Stoicism and these skulls are classic memento mori. I have faced a lot of deaths in my life and the skulls are wry and funny to me. Laugh out loud? It's better than the alternative.
A Will Coles sculpture. Image: supplied
Will Coles is the 40th in my series of creatives to take five questions.
When my creative process is stuck, I reach for... the whisky! Kind of. I go to one of the manky cafés near me and sit and think. It's better if there's some life to the café, people in the background, silence is no good. Then I can start having ideas and working on them, tweaking them. I'll make lists of work I need to start or finish or that I've done this year then see if they spark an idea or if I see weaknesses in them in how to make better versions or even a completely different version of that idea.
Will Coles' work can be grotesque, dark and humorous. Image: supplied
The weirdest thing about being a creative human is... the bizarreness of something that is basically useless (but isn't). The more you think about it the more you realise it affects every other element of life. The greatest scientists would have had favourite paintings or music and this would have been part of their thought processes, directly or indirectly. But then it just sounds like I'm trying to justify what I do in a very conventional way.
Part of “the weirdest thing” is the NEED most artists feel to HAVE to do what they do. We'll turn down or walk away from well paid work because it feels pointless in a life where so many of us need to feel a reason to exist. Everyone should be trying to make the world at least a little bit of a better place for our existing or we're just another oxygen thief!
Will Coles' sculptures are often small scale and imitate found objects, frequently with a subversive twist. Image: supplied
The most unusual object in my house is... kind of weird but poetic in a way. I bought my wife (!) the set of dentures that belonged to the last lighthouse man on the Orkney Islands. They are still in the packet he'd sent to London to have them repaired in the 1930s. There's a quiet life behind that very personal object.
The dentures in question, a gift to Will's wife. Image: supplied
I celebrate my achievements by... drinking and taking pills with friends! Not sure what my “achievements” are, most of them are gradual. I get shortlisted for loads of arts prizes but never win, always the bridesmaid never the bride! Part of my practice is Street Art (Street Art and Gallery Art) and some major art museums refuse to have any Street Art in their collection because it bypassed their corrupt circle-jerk system in the first place.
I know of lots of art museum directors and arts curators that have my work but would never include my work in their shows, it's all very classist. But I don't need “stuff" so I celebrate with friends.
Something in the world that already exists that I wish I had created is... art wise “The Dying Slave” by Michelangelo, now THAT is art! Or maybe the Dada art movement. Or maybe something useful like the wind turbine so I could own a patent that people could use for free.
Find out more about Will Coles at his website Will Coles and follow him on Instagram WT (@mrwillcoles) • Instagram photos and videos. Will Coles' work is available to acquire through M Contemporary: Will Coles Art For Sale | .M Contemporary.
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