Artist of the Month-June-Brad Jacobs
Our Artist of the Month for June stepped up at the last moment when we had someone miss a deadline for submission. It was a happy accident as Mr. Jacobs is a frequent visitor to our comment section on the blog but we've never had the pleasure to meet him in person. It turns out he's quite an interesting person and is the perfect artist to feature for June as Father's Day is coming up this month. Be prepared for a little heart melting moment when you read his answer to question seven... We needed a tissue when we read it.
If you ever want to nominate someone for Artist of the Month please email us! (But don't miss your submission deadline, that makes us cranky...)
1. Name, Birthplace, Age
Brad Jacobs, Vancouver, BC, 29
2. How does where you were raised affect your work?
Canadians are very community based. We’re raised to be kind and polite but opinionated. We’re very accepting of other cultures. We love and accept the differences in one another. I think the melting pot of BC has always been prevalent in my work. I grew up eating ethnic foods and learned to speak French and Mandarin as a young child.
My parents encouraged my brothers and sisters and I to be spiritual. But my parents were intellectuals at heart so I’ve rebelled a bit in my adulthood and become a bit of an everyman. I love accessible art and hate pretentious people. This is largely due to my upbringing.
3. Where did you train?
I went to the University of Toronto and studied Art. I interned at MOCCA and worked a few art galleries in Taiwan before moving to Hong Kong.
4. What is your favorite style of Art? Why?
I love installation art, pop art and anything audience interactive. I love art with a sense of humor and art that is affordable for people that work the average job. I roll my eyes at the highway robbery that goes on at the galleries in Central!
5. What was the best show you EVER saw?
My favourite thing I ever saw was real life Kabuki theatre in Japan. Very funny and you could understand the comedy and story even though it was in a foreign language.
6. What was the best show in HK you EVER saw? (You cannot say your own.)
I moved to Hong Kong about a year ago and have been watching a lot of theatre since I moved here. Theatre was sorely lacking in Taiwan. I really loved #hkproblems. I thought it was very clever; I loved the audience interaction and the social media aspect of it.
7.What piece of work are you the most proud of? (please include photo, if possible)
My favorite piece of work is my son. I’m very proud of creating him and being a stay at home dad. Becoming a father has been an amazing experience and changed my perspective on everything; especially as an artist. Every show I see- I think about whether I would take my son to it or not. I don’t party anymore. And being a stay at home dad in Asia where gender roles are still very traditionally defined is quite interesting. I get some funny looks when I take him out at the park in my kangaroo sleeve. He is hands down the greatest piece of art I’ll ever make.
8. What is your process like?
Because most of my sculptures are installations and are on a very large scale, they take months to create. I get an idea in my head that is very abstracted and then build from that idea. I go from sketch, to architect plan, to model, to construction. I work like a set designer on most of my projects; which is why I love set design, and have worked on a few set projects back in Canada when I was in college.
9. What is your dream project?
A permanent interactive Alice and Wonderland installation where a child can walk through a redefined space (like a repurposed factory) and go through the entire story- fall down the rabbit hole, eat/drink me, grow and shrink in perspective, talk to computer projections of the animals that will interact with them, play chess and croquet, write poetry. I think it would be a lot of fun for kids to play in and in Hong Kong where Alice in Wonderland is very popular it would be a very popular attraction to take kids to. We’ve seen with the recent success with the duck that people want accessible art.
I see it as half museum/ half art piece.
10. If you could change one thing about the art scene in HK, what would it be?
EGOS. I have attended a lot of shows in the past year and as a person who is new to this community I’m impressed with the talent of some people but not the attitudes I’m seeing displayed at theatres and gallery openings. People need to check themselves. They’re not inviting to new audience members. I feel like sometimes I’m attending bad high school plays that people are putting on for their friends rather than professional experiences.
Comments
tamara norris
Agree with you totally - ego and art annoys me - especially as someone just about to put on their first ever art show of interactive abstract art - how do you price work when one has the "expected" market rates to contend with and he does one promote their work/shows when the support in this city through most marketing avenues is only for "rich" and well know artists?
02 June 2013
I love the alice and wonderland island idea - collaboration is the key and I would love to get involved!
Brad - I would love for you to come and interact with my art - Interconnected and Intertwined at Part of Gallery in was chai - opening night on June 21st 6:30-11:30 - collaborative creative performances inspired by my work happening between 8 and 9!
Happy Sunday!munch
I have never heard of this asshole. Why are you featuring him and why is he attacking people when he is a nobody?! We don't need people with his negative energy coming into our space.
10 June 2013