Tom & Joanne on their Work

Tom & Joanne - On Their Work - 15/10/09

With Tom and Joanne, we discussed their work and their proposal for the art project for the London Olympics 2012. Tom and Joanne showed us how they made public art and their relation with the public and with the interactions of the public with their art. They pointed out a very interesting and quite daring approach. They said that they were glad that sometimes no one wanted to come and see their work and did not want to interact with the art. They explained how one of the most interesting points of interaction with art is the lack of interaction with art.

Public art is something really essential for Tom and Joanne, and so is the interaction of spectators with the artwork because then, they become a part of the art. It has taken a while to sink in my head and understand that comic books and my research into comic book narration is so closely linked to public art. The comic book is nothing but paper without the reader. The interaction with the world and the very nature of comics being published makes them part of public art.
They have inspired me to make comic books even more public, looking for more interaction with the public and almost forcing comics to those who pass in front them. Their work inspired me to spray paint short comics onto the wall of the squat behind my home. The council area where I live is not inhabited by what could be considered as the comic book reading market. Thus painting them on walls is bringing the comic book medium in its most basic form to the people that pass in front of that wall every day.
In relation to what I have been doing, this is the "analogue" (hand-made) answer to the webcomic. It is publishing basic comics of the internet and in a medium that anyone can access free. Although webcomics need the viewers to access the works via the internet, creating by that a filter of "internet needed" to view the webcomics, but it creates a very easy way to get feedback and comments making the interactive part of public art quite simple to manage and easy to gather. Thus making the viewer an active interacting figure with the artwork, commenting, submitting answers, joining an active conversation and also being able to submit not only a textual response but also links to their own artwork, creating a net of public art on the spot.

This can also happen in spray painted comics. Nothing (a part from the law) is stopping viewers to become active participants and modify what has been originally done. Just like what happened to Tom and Joanne's pyramid public art sculpture. Participants adding their marks to the initial artwork claim a part of the work as theirs and have an artistic say in the works. This almost takes the public art close to collaborative art.