Jack Carden - Aukland, New Zealand
Creative medium: Artist
Do you think there is a tendency to take art too literally?
For sure. Art is a brilliant tool to convey pressing and important issues - but sometimes art can also be fun. Just fun. Nothing more. An escape from the mundane, the bitterness of reality, a breath of air. Doesn’t need to be analysed and broken down as tho it is incredibly deep…
How important is it to you that your art is understood and appreciated 100 years from now rather than the present?
I would love for my art to be appreciated 100 years from now - who wouldn’t? But personally, it is more fulfilling to see the way it is understood and appreciated now - in the present. Because… well… I’ll probs be dead in 100 years innit, so what’s really the point? Doesn’t make much of a difference to me. Fuck it, the day I die feel free to burn all my art.
What artist living or dead are you most inspired by?
What creative advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?
10 years ago, my art was very similar to what it is now - dark and fucked up. I loved drawing. I drew all the time. I was real creative, but after a while I began to think that if I couldn’t do picture perfect hyper realism, then I would never be “good” at art. If I could go back and tell myself that that didn’t matter, to focus on the creative and emotional side of my art, then I would be sitting here today with hundreds of more artworks under my belt.
What do you feel is the most misunderstood aspect of your work?
People often say “wow this kid is so pretentious and his art is shit” … others kindly defend me - but what these lovely people don’t seem to realise is yes, I am pretentious - I’m a fucking artist. “Pretentious” and “artist” are practically synonymous. If you’re an artist and you aren’t being grandiloquent, then you are doing something wrong. And If you’re not using words from thesaurus.com like “grandiloquent”, then you’re not being pretentious enough. Nothing in my work isn’t deliberate, including any element of pretentiousness. that’s what’s beautiful about it.
What job would you have if you weren’t an artist?
I originally I wanted to go into Astro Physics. But due to a time tabling issue, I ended up having to take art instead of chemistry in Year 12. That and I realised that I was shit at maths… if it wasn’t for that stroke of luck which propelled me into the art world, I’d probably be miscalculating trajectories and causing satellite crashes right now.
Do you ever see yourself releasing a completely written work of art like poetry or essays?
I’m so dyslexic that I think if I ever did release an entirely written work, I wouldn’t be able to read it myself. At least in my art I can get away with it not making sense. But, yes jokes aside, I do love writing and poetry and think it’s very plausible that would one day release entirely written works. The power of words is parallel to the power of imagery - its combining the two that excites me most.
Do you believe art requires a due date?
I think an artist should push them self to make as much work as they can. The more work one produces, the better their art becomes. The more time they spend making new art, the better they refine their craft. I don’t think that art “requires” a due date, but I’ve never been one for obsessing over one work for too long.
What do you see as the next step in your evolution as an artist?
