Style & Design
Originally published on Tuesday, 16th September 2008
Artist Interview: David Farrer
Apart from hosting some of the hottest fashion designers, On|Off also supports new creative talent in art and design from around the world, bringing them all together at London Fashion Week. UJ talks to some of the artists involved this season.
Describe your work and how you have used it to create a piece for On|Off.
We create Animal Trophy heads from sustainable/recycled materials, better than the moth-eaten & ethically dubious real thing. Our plan for On|Off during Fashion Week is to put them ON/the wall & then bugger/OFF. Hopefully they will give the good folk of London something else to think about while schmoozing around the artistically hallowed turf of the Royal Academy.
What is inspiring you at the moment?
Yorkshire & Auntie Irene's 80th Birthday party bash this weekend. Pure unadulterated rock & roll. Not many people (outside York) know that Auntie Irene makes the best sand castles ever & has never lost money on the slot machines. A true legend of our times.
What do you love about London and what are you most looking forward to during Fashion Week?
I love the little nugget of history waiting around every corner in London. Best bit about fashion week is the way it rubs dirt in the faces of those Johnny foreigners who think that England is not cool & that style only
resides in places such as Milan or Paris!
How do you think fashion and art relate?
I think they can both scare or annoy the shit out of 99% of the population. They remind people that they have a pulse and an opinion, which is quite important, if not always appreciated!
If your work could be translated into something wearable, what would it be and why?
Tails. If people were encouraged to wear (synthetic) animal tails then London would be a more colourful & understanding place. Wagging or shaking might avoid nefarious misdemeanours (crime, to use the Œc' word). Also, it would make rush hour on London transport a much more fun experience.
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
Baldness & increasingly erratic behaviour.
Your career highlight so far?
Selling a Toad sculpture to Princess Leia from the proper Star Wars (not the feeble prequels). Maybe it reminded her of Jabba the Hutt or something.
If you could describe Urban Junkies through your art, what would it look like?
Like a fight between a badger & a stoat in a magical Wonkeresque factory that has the ability to make things get bigger & often sillier.
