George Rippon & Nan Goldwin

In this weeks lecture Brussels based artist George Rippon spoke to us about his art. He started off speaking about his life, and how he was quite a naughty kid who was kicked out of schools, meaning he had to work constantly in various jobs. He eventually became a studio manger where artist Nan Goldin worked, and she was as huge influence on Rippon, inspiring him to move to Germany and go to art school there. I decided to have a look online at some of Nan Goldwin's work. She is an American photographer whose work explores various topics such as LGBT bodies, moments of intimacy, the HIV crisis and the opioid epidemic. Her photos are real, raw and captures the cool moment. This is something I connect with as I love capturing the moment in a pure way. A couple of quotes by Goldwin "I just get inspired to take a picture by the beauty and vulnerability of my friends", "My desire is to preserve the sense of people’s lives, to endow them with the strength and beauty I see in them. I want the people in my pictures to stare back." I'm so pleased that I've found a new artist I can connect with as a lot of the time my inspiration comes from my gorgeous friends and the beauty I see around me. This has inspired me to look through all the pictures I've taken over the years that has 'captured the moment' and create something cool and eccentric with it to add to my portfolio.

Back to George Rippon. He explained that he makes space for making his own narrative, based on the person looking at it. He collects receipts, post cards etc that are all personalised about the individual and the interior of himself. One installation he made was a series of “containers” to help what he was trying to express. This was a personal attempted expression to open up about himself, which I think is so honest and beautiful. Our work is similar in the sense we both like to express ourselves through the form of art, however his art is more made up of installations, and mine is through paintings and video installations.

Another installation he spoke about was a sculpture called “tree” dysfunctional. It was made up of burnt wood joined in the middle which is an abstract depiction of his family. His parents are divorced, and he's sadly experienced two serious traumas in his life, and that is what the burnt ends represent. It's almost a "fantasy" of what would happen if his family came back together. This sculpture at first glance looks slightly bizarre, but once I knew the meaning I thought it was a really expressive and unusual way to show his emotions and how he's feeling. Even though our art styles are completely on other ends of the spectrum, the way in which he uses the power of art to express his life and how he sees it, resonates with me as I'm an artist who wants to express myself and how I see the world. Another sculpture is called “egg”, one natural egg and one that had been broken and cleaned, he wanted to convey that nothings perfect and things come where it comes from. There was a small story involving the steel rods, him sitting inside of a trashcan from his school, the steel rod going down the middle, and the fake egg at the top to represent his philosopher. Never seen an egg in artwork before, and I'm not sure I fully understood it, but I guess that's the joy of art! After this exhibition he exhibited his art more and more. All objects that are used in his work are recycled, which I love as every little helps to save the planet🌎

Rippon sometimes includes other artists in his exhibitions to network and to help out. Inside buckets were personal narratives for him. started to minimise sculptures, funny collection of buckets, became a 'physical thing'. In 2019 around Christmas time he made a piece called “daddies” which was mannequin heads all in a circle. Again, slightly bizarre and not something I'd be fasianated by at first glance, but once I discovered the meaning and thought about what else it could mean I thought it was subtle and clever. The mannequin heads represented a sense of togetherness and figuring out what’s going on in someones head. This is something I can associate with as I've done a project before exploring mental health, and not knowing what's going in someones head. It's actually quite a coincidence as I've had a full sized mannequin sat in the corner of my room for months and I've had no idea where to even begin with it! This has inspired me to try something similar out to see if it works for me. The mannequins he used were trying to convey a clock or calendar, with a sun dial effect with low light hitting it. They're all staring at each other, no eyes, ears etc. Rippon describes this as "breaking down the generation before you."

I enjoy his thought process, and I find it so fascinating how his ideas are so bizarre and random. I’d never be able to come up with such obscure sculptures. I decided to go a long to the Q&A session this week as I wanted to know what inspired him to become an artist and what he enjoys the most about it. He said that his creativity began when getting a camera in the early 2000s, and being surrounded by and growing up with creatives kick started his passion for art and made him want to take it seriously. He took pictures of his friends and his life around him. He said that at the time people were capturing their glamours lifestyles, but he found it funny as he was taking similar style photographs of his "boring life". He also mentions that sometimes he finds it hard judging what's important in the moment, but through collecting objects, taking photos, and through the editing process, he felt as though it helped him with structure and motivation. I asked what he enjoys the most about being an artist, to his first response being "freedom". He also likes the fact no ideas are wrong, everything in art is open for interpretation. Rippon also says that standing back and looking at the final product makes you think "WOW! Look what I've done there". One thing I’ve taken from this artist is to explore, take every opportunity and be determined! This lecture has also inspired me to want to look at how I use space more and showcase my art in a more unusual way. Furthermore I definitely want to edit some old photographs I've taken over the years, as I can help use that for motivation.