Publishing
Q&A
2006
Q&A was initially published as a zine in 2006, dedicated to our cultural icons of the past, present and future. Its aim was to investigate the psyche of those individuals who shape our cultural and social landscape. And to entertain, enlighten and inspire the reader.
An experiment in simple magazine-making, using the Q&A formula as our primary method of investigation, the paper features interviews with Terry Hall, Susan Hiller, Amos Vogel and Peter Saville. The paper also included work by Jocko Weyland who created a series of short stories for us; Jon Link from Modern Toss who drew portraits of the contributors; and artwork from Seb Patane.
It was given away for free through art institutions and quality bookshops such as the ICA and Koenig Books.
Following the publication the style of the sharp and fast interview exploded, it suits our speedy minds and screen sized vision. The coming commonality of the style of the interview put me off to be honest and I never produced another issue. However, it continues to be one of the most valuable and searched for pieces of content I own. With this in mind I think it’s time to dust the cobwebs off the questionnaire and bring it back to life.
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I am Alexandra Shulman and I edit British Vogue
What came first? The chicken or the egg?
The egg
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
I have fed the cat, written to my son’s housemaster, drank coffee, read magazines, signed page layouts, driven to work, written emails
Where do you go when no-one is looking?
A bath
What is your earliest memory?
My sister arriving at the front door after her birth with a red tricycle heavily clouded sky
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
I am at my desk in a pink office. Outside there are high office blocks and a heavily clouded sky
Were you a popular child?
Yes
Do you scare easy?
I am scared most of the time
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Patti Smith was one of my first influences
Where is love?
Love is often where you give it
Who did you spend last night with?
I spent last night with David, my boyfriend, and our friends Dick and Edina
What do you do for fun?
I see friends for fun
What is your number one priority?
My son
Why do you do what you do?
I do what I do because it is what I do and I enjoy it
If a tree falls down in a wood but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
It’s a good question. I don't know the answer
Who do you like to talk shop with?
I talk shop with my colleagues
What would you like to be better at?
I would like to be better at conversation
What is your favourite smell?
I love the scent of narcissi
What quality do you most like in man?
A sense of humour
What is the quality you most like in woman?
In a woman I like empathy
How do you know when something is finished? How can you let go of it?
I have no problem letting go of things. They are finished when I finish them. It seems clear to me and although you could obviously start it all again if you did you wont achieve anything
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Somebody you love being mortally ill
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
I would love a painting by Peter Doig
Where do you find most pleasure?
I find most pleasure in family
What’s your favourite public place in London?
Kensington Garden is my favourite public place
What’s your favourite private place in London?
My garden
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
I think humanity’s greatest failing is the constant urge to possess more but it is also one definition of being human
Beauty, intelligence or humour? If you had to choose.
Intelligence
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
If It Be Your Will by Leonard Cohen
Is life serious?
Yes and you only get one run at it
Do you trust yourself?
Totally, implicitly
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Washing my neck, eating a sparse breakfast, thinking about how to answer these searching and profound questions
What is your earliest memory?
When I was three, my father read me a particularly relevant chapter of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. I cannot deny that I was strangely moved Do you believe in life after death
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
I would like to take Hitler out, first to convince him that a Jew can be a good guy, secondly to kill him
Were you a popular child?
Yes, I had two close friends, 26 who were indifferent to me, 5 who wanted to kill me
Do you scare easy?
Well. Anything that comes up to me rapidly, and is large, scares the Dickens(?) out of me
If you could make any one thing free for all, what would it be?
Love
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 100 years, what would it have been?
Adolf Hitler
Which public space do you like best?
My bench in Washington Square Park
Which private space do you like best?
The bathroom
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Yes. Libertarian Socialism
What do you do for fun?
Answering questionnaires. Making love. Reading the New York Times
What one thing would improve the quality of your life?
The absence of ‘can’t’, of politicians, President Bush
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
I am not sure. Bertholt Brecht, perhaps
What was the first thing you produced/participated in that you are particularly proud of?
Marching with my parents in a Socialist May 1st celebration in Vienna aged 11. We marched past the Austrian Parliament and I remember the exact refrain of the Socialist International that we all sang
What is your number one priority?
To fix what is wrong with the world, the domination of the rich, the poverty and misfortune of the poor, of all races. This has been my life-long concern, if not an obsession
What makes you tick?
My heart. It will do so as long as I live. (This question is really below your otherwise very high standards.)
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
Anybody willing to at least listen to — if not embrace — my seemingly outlandish ideas
What is your principal defect?
My unflagging optimism. Obviously unwarranted
What is your most marked characteristic?
Unquenchable optimism, marred by increasing pessimism
What would you like to be better at?
Influencing people to do better by others
What quality do you most like in a man?
No idea. Perhaps compassion, strength, ability to love
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
No idea. Perhaps smiling warmth, comradeship, ability to love
What is sexy?
If you don’t know I feel truly sorry for you. Why, man, woman; it’s what makes the world go around. I would not, could not, live without it. Come on now, stop kidding
What is your favourite sound?
You got me there. Well… oh, I’ve got it: my favourite sound is the warmth, intelligence, forbearance, so marvellously revealed in President Bush’s immortal speeches, particularly when he concentrates — as he loves to do — on America’s greatness, forbearance, overall Godliness. Watch out Al-Qaeda!
In a parallel universe what are you doing right now?
How I’d very much like to be able to be there right now, so that I would answer your questions truthfully. But — just wait — I’m working on it
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The utter misery and degradation experienced by our poor, by the natives of the world, by all the truly disadvantaged of the world. Somebody should make a count of them. Afterwards, totally emaciated by this effort, he would be unable to truly help them
Do you collect anything? If so, what?
I used to collect memories of, or copies of, the best films I have ever seen, old girlie magazines, complete editions of political magazines, coloured pencils, unanswered mail. Now I collect old age insurance
If you could turn back the clock, would you do anything differently?
Of course. I must let you draw your own conclusions. I have given you sufficient hints
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
A well-executed portrayal of President Bush
Which book do you keep returning to?
I hesitate to choose between The Phantom of the Opera and The Bible
What was the last film you watched, and was it any good?
The American Presidency: Lincoln to Bush and no, it wasn’t
What do you predict for America?
I am a tea-totaller and hence unable to predict the future
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
Try again
How will your epitaph read?
‘Here lies an honest man’. You could also add: Yes
What is love?
Come on now. You must be kidding
Is life serious?
Yes, very, and there is nothing we can do about that
If you were to ask any two questions of any two people, what would they be and whom would you ask?
1. a) Are you happy? b) Are you making somebody else happy? I would ask these two questions of my dear wife Marcia…. But, come to think of it, instead of waiting for an answer to the second question, I would smile sheepishly and sweetly and say, ‘My dear I know…’ 2. Sigmund Freud. I wonder if during his strolls through the neighbourhood he remembers a little boy who could often be found playing in the park on the corner of Waehringer- strasse and Nussdorferstrasse, in the Ninth District. If he and the boy had talked, the old bearded one might have asked the boy in question about his sexual problems, but being only eight or nine years old at the time, thankfully I had none. He lived on Berggasse, we lived on Pichlergasse. Vienna in the 1920s was such a beautiful place
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
That’s a very good question, I wish I could answer it with confidence. I was a lecturer last month and this month I am not entirely sure.
Do you trust yourself?
A fuck of a lot more than I trust anyone else. There are however aspects of my life that I trust myself to mess up. I have 100% faith that I will continue to procrastinate and generally under achieve. Then again I am also pretty straight forward — if I say the check is in the post then it is.
What came first? The chicken or the egg?
The egg — the universe is one huge fuck — the egg is the issue of that union
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Edited my suitcase to 16 kilos of clothing I wont wear, had coffee with a pornographer friend of mine and got on a plane to Miami.
Where do you go when no-one is looking?
Cake shops, I brazenly go to cake shops as well, and I like to sneak into the cinema alone in the afternoon.
What is your earliest memory?
Floating above my father as he prepared breakfast I had a lot of out of body experiences as an infant
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
I am flying over Virginia — it really could be any landmass that adopted the feudal system actually. I happen to know its Virginia since I just checked on the journey map thing on my screen
What do you like the look of?
Films: This Must be the Place Miami Beach: will be there this evening The café Spuntino in Soho: it look great but I have never been in as yet
Were you a popular child?
Not really in terms of having lots of friends — I tended to have just one or two kindred spirits in tow I was a little odd as a child – I suppose that is what is wonderful about being an adult – that we can move and change and find that we can make lots of friends with similar outlooks. I remember hearing someone in an AA meeting saying how happy he was socially now he had come to AA and ‘I wish I could have known you all when I was a teenager’ I thought ‘Columbine’
What sustains you?
Cake, humour, money, magick & friends
Do you scare easy?
Not any more
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Charles Manson — he got a lot of press in the 1970s, not all of it unattractive to me as I watched from the stifling confines of my grandparents sofa in Lancashire
Where is love?
Everywhere
What’s under your clothes?
10lbs of winter fat that I intend to leave in Miami
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
I am an initiate in the early degrees of a Thelemic Order so I am exploring that right now
What two colours should never be seen?
As a rule the colours of food do not belong in other places such as on clothing or walls, they could occasionally contribute to paintings or pictures
What do you like most about fame and success?
Not something I can answer — I would like the freedom of finance that could come with success
Who did you spend last night with?
Alone in a cinema watching The Ballad Of Genesis & Lady Jaye
What do you do for fun?
Eat cakes, drink tea, gossip, fuck, dress up, laugh, talk, write
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
Financial freedom
What do you predict for London?
Increase in cost of living, continued disruption due to road works, Olympic games and other bad ideas but ultimately it will remain one of the greatest cities in the world
What is your number one priority?
The welfare of those I love
Why do you do what you do?
Money or love
If a tree falls down in a wood but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
Yes, watch the film Antichrist; the phrase ‘nature is Satan’s temple’ resonates to me; I photograph trees at night, they amaze me
Who do you like to talk shop with?
Well lecturers who hate the management at the university we work at, it makes me feel less alone and victimised
Where to go for the best late night cocktail in London?
The last drink I had was 6 years ago: a Marguerita straight up in The Wosley
What is your most marked characteristic?
My bittersweet humour I imagine
What would you like to be better at?
Starvation
What is your favorite smell?
Jasmine in summer, tuberose in winter
What quality do you most like in man?
To be a fantastic fuck
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Humour
What is sexy?
Love is sexy, lack of inhibition and connection is sexy also
How do you know when something is finished? How can you let go of it?
Well, I tend to fall into things and storm out of them. No one is more surprised than me to hear the sound of a door slamming behind me as a stalk out in indignant rage. I think its about a tipping point, one day I care, the next I couldn’t give a toss. I don’t really hang about long in bad situations (that don’t pay) these days.
Do you have a short anecdote for us? Or a joke?
100s of anecdotes — I think in anecdotes, it’s a survival strategy. See my blog.
What is your favorite sound?
The Moonlight Sonata when it goes up an octave — sooo moving
In a parallel universe what are you doing right now?
Watching myself from the wings… I am my own understudy
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Addiction
What do you regard as your greatest achievement?
My son
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Nothing actually I am not materialist in that sense — I tend to like disposable items — perfume, clothing, things that don’t last, I will leave little behind me
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
Well I guess one of those multi-million pound Bacon triptychs so I could sell it or if I really had to hang it Nan Goldin’s photograph of Greer.
Which image do you keep returning too?
Henry Wallis, The Death of Chatterton, 1856 at Tate Britain
Where do you find most pleasure?
In my mind
What’s your favorite public place in London?
The walk I do with the dog through St James and into Green Park
What’s your favorite private place in London?
Maybe the cinema at Soho House. I don’t have a membership but my friend takes me , the pool at Shoreditch [House] is nice also
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Organised religion
Beauty or intelligence?
Intelligence is beautiful
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
Is life serious?
Some of the time when I forget its supposed to be a game — in fact perhaps life is frivolous and I am just prone to forgetting
What is love?
An emotion
Who are you? And what do you do for a living?
I am Bob. I am an Artist
Do you trust yourself?
No. Never
Who did you spend last night with?
My Dog
Were you a popular child?
Yes, extremely. I was a bit like Noel Coward. Telling jokes, everybody laughing
What do you like most about fame and success?
Imortality
Do you scare easy?
Almost never. I am very good under fire
What work of art makes the most sense to you?
Art must never make sense. Art that makes sense is very very boring
Which public space do you like best?
Ground Zero. It’s so tragic. I hope they never build on it
Which private space do you like best?
The Leytonstone Center for Contemporary Art. It’s a shed in our garden
If a tree falls down in a wood but no-one is there to hear it does it make a noise?
The important question is ,Would anyone care?
What else do you like about fame and success?
The Glory
What was the first thing you made, participated in, that you are really proud of?
Depford X
What do you do for fun?
Admire myself
What have you eaten today?
Kippers for breakfast; lunch with my art dealer, braised steak followed by rice pudding and figs; for dinner an early pheasant with bread sauce sent down to us from a friend who owns a moor in North Yorkshire
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
A more central location, however the common is convenient for walking the dogs.
What do you predict?
Repetition
What is your number one priority?
Avoiding tiresome people, not working for others
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
Paul Hedge of Hales Gallery. We both like food, poetics and Politics
What is the key to life?
Food and Art
What is the best thing money has bought you?
A villa in Siena
What are you wearing?
Silk pajamas What two colours should never be s
What is your principal defect?
To be pleasant to complete idiots
What is your most marked characteristic?
My long elegant nose
What quality do you most like in man?
I don’t like men much but cufflinks are good
What quality do you most like in woman?
Strength
Please describe the space you are in, or the view from your window?
Our Library. Wood Panels, aspidistras
What is your favourite machine?
The central heating pump
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
Never ever work for someone else. Get a self- employment number from the tax man
When is the right time to stop?
Keep on till you drop.
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
Cosey Fanni Tutti. Luckily being myself provides me with enough to continue that way
Do you trust yourself?
Implicitly
What came first? The chicken or the egg?
Urgh
Which image do you keep returning too?
None that I'm aware of
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Interviews and answering a pile of emails
Where do you go when no-one is looking?
I go where no one can look — into the long grass
What is your earliest memory?
Being pushed in a pram with my elder sister holding onto the handle walking alongside
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
My office overlooking the fields of corn
What do you like the look of?
Cats’ eyes
Were you a popular child?
Popularity never hits my radar — thankfully. As a child I had many friends and outrageously excitingly good times.
What sustains you?
Love
Do you scare easy?
The loss of those I love scares me
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Helen of Troy
Where is love?
Deep within
Are you lucky?
No
What’s under your clothes?
Nothing
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Only in humanity's innate resolve to short circuit its horrendous path to destruction.
What two colours should never be seen?
Tan and orange
What do you like most about fame and success?
I hate those terms and what they’ve come to represent. I’m not famous and success is elusive
Who did you spend last night with?
Chris Carter
What do you do for fun?
Things I’d never disclose
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
To eradicate my heart defect
What do you predict for London?
Meltdown
What is your number one priority?
Happiness for those I love
Why do you do what you do?
I have no choice. I can live no other way
If a tree falls down in a wood but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
Yes
Who do you like to talk shop with?
No one. It's hideous
Where to go for the best late night cocktail in London? Or a pint in the afternoon?
I don't drink alcohol
What is your most marked characteristic?
Determination
What would you like to be better at?
Running
What is your favourite smell?
Hyacinths in bloom
What quality do you most like in man?
Those that are silent
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Strength
What is sexy?
The signals and movements that are subconscious
How do you know when something is finished? How can you let go of it?
It feels right and resists further intervention
Do you have a short anecdote for us? Or a joke?
No
What is your favourite sound?
Silence
What are you reading, or who or what do you like to read?
I usually have two books on the go — one factual and one fictional for escapism.
In a parallel universe, what are you doing right now?
Flying unassisted
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Total loss of all hope of humanitarianism
What do you regard as your greatest achievement?
Being alive
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Lots — too much really. Mainly from the ‘30s, ‘50s and ‘60s
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
None
Where do you find most pleasure?
Home or a deserted beach at around 5pm
What’s your favourite public place in London?
Victoria Park (in the ‘70s)
What’s your favourite private place in London?
Our old flat in Crouch End
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Selfishness
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
Something chosen by Chris. My funeral wouldn’t be about me
If you were to ask any two questions of any two people, what would they be and whom would you ask?
I’d ask Sleazy if he liked what we’d done with Desertshore. I’d ask my mother if she'd like to come visit
Is life serious?
It can be when people inflict pain (in all forms) on others.
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
I did 30 drawings. I did a phone interview with a person from Australia. I answered my e-mails. I ate some food. I took a shower
What is your earliest memory?
Three years old. Looking out of the window at the garbage collectors
Do you believe in life after death?
Not as such
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
Tony Blair and George W. Bush. I’d take them to a really rough pub I know in the East End of Glasgow and I’d leave them there.
What came first,the chicken or the egg?
The chicken, no, the egg, no, the chicken, no, the egg, no, I don’t know.
Were you a popular child?
I wasn’t unpopular
What is the meaning of life?
There are lots of meanings. Choose the one that suits how you are feeling on any given day.
Do you scare easy?
Yes If you could make any one thing free for all what would it be? First-class healthcare
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 50 years what would it have been?
The privatisation of public utilities
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
I subscribe to The New Statesman
What do you like most about fame and success?
That I don’t have to worry about money
What do you do for fun?
Play football. Go to gigs
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
A good night’s sleep
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Adam Ant
What is your number one priority?
The thing at the top of the list
Why do you do what you do?
To avoid being idle
If a tree falls down in a wood but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
Of course it does, well actually maybe it doesn’t, but no, it must do mustn’t it?
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
People who can tell me things I don’t already know
What is your most marked characteristic?
My height
What would you like to be better at?
Speaking French
What quality do you most like in man?
Kindness
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Kindness
What is sexy?
Dresses are sexy (on women)
Do you have a short, short story to tell?
Graduation ceremony of the Rotten Fruit High School for Ants (RFHA) is terminated by stamping child. 87% of graduating class are killed
What is your favourite sound?
The kettle boiling
In a parallel universe what are you doing right now?
The same thing back to front
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Losing at home to Scunthorpe United
Do you collect anything? If so what?
I’ve never really collected anything except records, and I only really have them to listen to rather than to have. I’ve started to collect art in the last few years, but I only have a handful of pieces
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
Any figurative painting by Philip Guston
Which book do you keep returning too?
The dictionary
What was the last film you watched, and was it any good?
The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Crap
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Greed
Please describe the space you are in?
I am in my studio which is a large room in my flat. It is painted white and needs tidying
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
The Final Countdown
Is life serious?
Serious enough
Tell us a joke?
Donald Rumsfeld briefed the President this morning. He told Bush that three Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone’s amazement, all of the colour ran from Bush’s face, then he collapsed onto his desk, head in hands, visibly shaken, almost whimpering. Finally, he composed himself and asked Rumsfeld, ‘Just exactly how many is a brazillion?’
Who are you? And what do you do for a living?
My name is Elein Fleiss. I am a 38 year-old woman. I publish a magazine, I write, I take photographs
Do you trust yourself?
Not enough
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Breakfast, email, reading news online (Libération, Le Monde, The New York Times), laundry. It’s now 10:30am; often I am just waking up at this time
What is your earliest memory?
Picking up my newborn brother and mother from hospital with my father, in a cab. I was four.
Do you believe in life after death?
No
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
I wouldn’t want the historical figures I admire — all artistic (Tolstoi, Blok, Tsvetaeva, Arendt, Brodsky…) — to see the world as it is today
Were you a popular child?
Only to a few people
What is the meaning of life?
Creation, knowledge and love
Do you scare easy?
Yes, very easy. But I’m not afraid of illness and craziness
When and where were you most happy?
If I had to choose a place, it would be during most of my trips to Japan. But memory lies
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 50 years what would it have been?
Disappearance of love
Which public space do you like best?
The street
Which private space do you like best?
My home
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Yes; things are getting worse
What do you like most about fame and success?
I hate it. Everything that goes with success (I never got fame) — servility, indulgence and flattery — are weapons that annihilate freedom, inspiration and discernment
What do you do for fun?
I manage my life in a way to make nearly everything I do fun, or at least pleasurable
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Beside my friends, Marguerite Duras
What was the first thing you produced/participated in that you are particularly proud of?
Creating Purple Prose in 1992 when I was 24
What is your number one priority?
Reading
Why do you do what you do?
Sharing what I like and the way I see things. Resisting the world as it goes and its ideology
What is your principal defect?
I don’t see my life and what I do in terms of successes and defects
What is your most marked characteristic?
Resistance; for better, for worse
What would you like to be better at?
Studying, thinking and putting thoughts into words
What quality do you most like in man?
Intelligence
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Intuition
What is sexy?
Intelligence associated with spontaneity and charm
What is your favourite sound?
Music
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Japanese wood dolls
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
Japanese wood dolls, and the many contemporary works of art I own held in storage
Which book do you keep returning too?
At the moment, Aleksandr Blok, Writings in Prose, translated in French
What was the last film you watched, and was it any good?
The Godfather I, II and III. I absolutely loved the first one, I liked the second ok, and loved the third. I watched one a week at a movie theatre in Paris (where you can still see many old movies) and during the last two weeks I was filled with wonder
What do you predict for America?
The worst; the American people will get fucked even more through the use of propaganda (political and capitalistic) resulting in growing ignorance and acculturation
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Humanism
Please describe the space you are in?
A large window (plants behind it), off-white thick cotton curtains (opened), high ceiling, white stoned floor. To my right, dark grey shelves up to ceiling, with art books, magazines, cds, a stereo which is now connected to my computer (playing Tom Verlaine live, I recorded on an Internet radio station), office supply, photo boxes, dictionaries, my wood dolls collection (5 pieces) and an old mirror. Behind me, more shelves, up to waist and above it, what I call ‘my wall’, taped photos (mine and others), postcards, drawings, texts and the only artwork on my walls, a Louise Lawler piece from 1987, tes-vous heureuse? (Are you happy?). Two faces stands, Keith Richard on the cover of Façade (#14, July ’83) and an old black ß white photo of Elizabeth Taylor. They both have an intense look and expression, and they’re not smiling. I am in my office (11 square meter), which is as you enter my apartment and where I spend most of my (awake) time
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
If one really wants success, I’d advise this person he’s a jerk. In case this person would rather prefer achievement (accomplishment), then I’d advise them to follow their desire and their heart
Is life serious?
Yes
Tell us a joke?
I’m the worst person for joke; I don’t know any and I usually don’t understand them.
What is love?
A beautiful movement of the soul toward one person, or better, others
If you were to ask any two questions of any two living people, whose work/life you admire, what would they be and whom would you ask?
To a gardener: What’s the best time in year to prune the plants on my windowsill? To a tennis player: What’s wrong with my drive?
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I am Hannah Perry and I am an artist
Do you trust yourself?
Sometimes What came first? The chicken or the egg? The dinosaur
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Made a mess in the studio, cleaned it up, listened to music, exported a video, ate some ice cream and some toast, listened to more music, downloaded some stuff and called a cab because I am about to go an install a show
Where do you go when no-one is looking?
McDonalds
What is your earliest memory?
Jumping up and down naked on my parents’ bed
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
I am in my warehouse in London, looking out of the window wondering whether this rain is ever going to stop
What do you like the look of?
Wet-look hair gel
Were you a popular child?
Yeah, but really shy
What sustains you?
Cigarettes mainly
Do you scare easy?
No, i think i have only really be scared once in my life. I worry which is different
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Dr Dre
Where is love?
I don’t know, if you find it let me know
What’s under your clothes?
A fatter version of me 1 year ago
Does Death scare you?
Not at all… at the moment
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Humanity and emotions, that is all
What two colours should never be seen?
That usually refers to clothes right. I nearly always wear black because I have no idea about these things
What do you like most about fame and success?
The things that you produce existing in the world after you don’t
Who did you spend last night with?
I went to a private view and met friends that I haven’t seen for a while
What do you do for fun?
Chatting and dancing with friends and stimulating people.
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
Having enough money to pay the rent on a more regular basis
Why do you do what you do?
Its the only thing that would have me
If a tree falls down in a wood but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
Yes… no wait, no. I mean yes… or er no
What is your most marked characteristic?
Optimism apparently
What would you like to be better at?
Spelling, grammar organization and remembering things — all the classic traits of a dyslexic person
What is your favourite smell?
Petrol
What is sexy?
Confidence mixed with kindness
How do you know when something is finished? How can you let go of it?
Ah, the age-old ‘cooked’ or ‘over done’ debate. Well, usually there is a deadline involved!
What is your favourite sound?
Bass
Do you collect anything? If so what?
I collect everything!
Which image do you keep returning too?
A photograph I took 7 years ago of an 8-year old boy holding a weed leaf
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
Juicy by Notorious BIG
Is life serious?
Only when you piss people off
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
Lucy Kumara Moore. My CV is quite multifaceted, but I think what I am always doing is responding to and reflecting upon contemporary culture. At the centre of my writing, curating and publishing work is my bookshop, Claire de Rouen.
Do you trust yourself?
Yes, I do now. Since becoming a mother last year, it has been essential.
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Breast feeding, water, coffee, SSRI pill, breakfast, outdoor swimming, clearing up after the night before, stuck in a traffic jam, painting, laundry, cooking with one hand, laughing, bathing my son and putting him to bed, listening to an interview with a painter and an avant- garde jazz radio show, endless snacking and tea. Please list the contents of your fridge
What is your earliest memory?
Eating outside in a large group, all of us sitting on the ground, the unbroken earth, in Indonesia, with my hands, as a two-year old.
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
At my kitchen table, late at night. The table is new and very beautiful.
What do you like the look of?
The future.
Were you a popular child?
No, I was shy and sensitive.
What sustains you?
I think the fact that each day offers an invitation to begin again.
Do you scare easy?
Yes!
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
I think Yves Klein was a major force. I saw his exhibition at the Hayward Gallery when I was 14.
Where is love for you?
Within oneself.
Are you lucky?
Yes, very lucky to have what I have in life, although I never win the lottery or anything like that!
What is the most magical, psychically charged item of clothing you own?
A 19th century necklace made by an Italian jeweller called Carlo Giuliano. He made many beautiful things for the Pre-Raphaelites. He explored Neo-Renaissance and ‘archeological’ styles.
Where do you place your faith?
In compassion and equivalence.
What two colours should never be seen?
The colour of nuclear fallout, the colour of poison.
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
A calmer mind.
What is your number one priority?
My son.
Why do you do what you do?
It connects me to people and brings them pleasure and creative sustenance.
What is your most marked characteristic? What traits are you most grateful for? Share a defect?
I suppose I’m a workaholic. I think this is a defect. I’m most grateful for my capacity to inspire others. And that I can make a good painting.
What would you like to be better at?
Tennis. What is your favourite smell? Gorse flowers.
What is sexy?
Jordan Pickford.
What is your favourite sound?
My son’s laughter.
What are you reading?
Second Place by Rachel Cusk.
In a parallel universe, what are you doing right now?
Writing a PhD on feminism and time.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The feeling you have when you’ve hurt someone.
What do you regard as your greatest achievement?
Making my family happy (when I do).
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Books, books, books.
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
A small vintage print made in Chelsea Reach nightclub by the photographer Tom Wood. But if it really could be anything, it would be Bernini’s sculpture of Apollo and Daphne.
Where do you find most pleasure?
Sleeping next to my son.
What’s your favourite public place in London?
The Ladies pond on Hampstead Heath.
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Violence.
Which 6–12 tracks offer you most pleasure right now?
Any of the tracks on NTS’s radio show, Raga Vibrations, a monthly selection of Indian music curated by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Greg Davis.
If you were to ask any two questions of any two people, what would they be and whom would you ask?
Can you teach me all you know about painting? John Currin What do you want to tell me? My older self.
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I don’t do much else except work, so I suppose I’m a writer
Do you trust yourself?
That would be very foolish, wouldn’t it?
Where do you go when no-one is looking?
I used to go into the wardrobe, but it’s too full of clothes now
What is your earliest memory?
Soaring through the air in a giant navy Silver Cross pram. A hand grenade had exploded near it. The pram landed, bounced, and saved me
What do you like the look of?
Monkeys, moles and Donald Sutherland
Were you a popular child?
I was extremely shy, so I have no idea whether I was popular or not, I never talked to anybody
What sustains you?
Food, Vaseline and plenty of tap water
Where to go for the best late night cocktail in London? Or a pint in the afternoon?
If you’re having a late night cocktail in London, it doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you are getting served
Do you have a short anecdote for us? Or a joke?
Can I tell you a story instead? Mama started it. Piero pushed it. Sophia dodged it. Papa stayed out of it. And Annunciata, well, Annunciata always finished it
What is your favourite sound?
A quare thick Belfast accent
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Poverty
What do you regard as your greatest achievement?
Escaping poverty, but not forgetting it
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I’m Penny Martin and I edit a magazine, sometimes write articles and do interviews, and from time to time, give talks
Do you trust yourself?
In most situations, yes. I’m a bit susceptible to accepting dares if I've had a drink. So that can be a bit of a danger
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Met my new accountant, had a commiseration lunch with myself, answered 10 days' worth of email, met friends for coffee
Where do you go when no one is looking?
East Neuk of Fife in Scotland
What is your earliest memory?
Sliding my fingers under a door to open it
Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window?
I’m looking out of a large Victorian sash window onto the side of the huge portico that fronts St. George’s Bloomsbury
What do you like the look of?
Straight lines. Modernist things
Were you a popular child?
Not unpopular but probably too interested in adults and adult things to be a particularly good friend to other children
What sustains you?
Kindness. Intelligent people
Do you scare easy?
Yes
If you could make any one thing free for all, what would it be?
Healthcare. Education. Housing. All the good, socialist things
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Margaret Thatcher is the first public figure I can remember apart from Daryl Hall and John Oates. But Janet Street-Porter and Wendy Craig were probably the most influential on me
What’s under your clothes?
Lejaby. Hanro. Fogal. Good, simple foundation garments
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Yes, I’m Scottish. We’ve no end of opinions and ideologies
Who did you spend last night with?
My husband, our cat Betty and Homeland
What do you do for fun?
There is a lot of extreme fun to be found in the kind of work I do (parties, spectaculars, travel, amazing people to meet). So away from work, I really enjoy humdrum things: TV, cinema, allotment, swing park. I love going down the swings
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
A complimentary Addison Lee account
What do you predict for London?
An amazing new Tube line that provides a comfy seat from Ealing to Holborn in 20 minutes flat
What is your number one priority?
Peace of mind
Why do you do what you do?
I’m easily bored and I need to be constantly learning
Who do you like to talk shop with?
Oooh, everyone! Other editors — Jop Van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers (Fantastic Man, Butt Magazine), Susie Rushton (The Independent) and Tyler Brûlé (Monocle) especially – and I meet the stylist Simon Foxton for breakfast every Sunday. He’s always full of scandalous industry gems
Where is the best place to find a late night Cocktail in London?
The Connaught Bar is great for a cheeky late night drink but I've definitely tasted the best Negroni at the St. John Hotel. In truth, though, you're most likely to find me at the Red Lion in Ealing
What is your most marked characteristic?
Over-excitement? Pedantry?
What would you like to be better at?
I’m a shocking though enthusiastic singer. I wish I could sing What quality do you most like in man? [Do you mean as a race or men as a sex? I'm assuming the latter] Certainty, strength, humour, kindness and intelligence combined. It’s not too much to ask, luckily enough.
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Warmth
What is sexy?
Self-possession, among other things
What is your favourite sound?
The giant seagulls landing on the roof at home in Scotland
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Boredom and insecurity in my experience. Poverty and poor health are presumably far worse, though Do you collect anything? If so what? I have a large collection of Vogues that I no longer add to. I used to be a museum curator so I’m quite wary of collectors
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
I don't really covet art for myself
Which image do you keep returning to?
I love the school portraits of my brothers and I
Where do you find most pleasure?
I’ve learnt not to find too much pleasure in work. Or at least, I’m learning
What’s your favourite public place in London?
I love the pond at the back of Pitzhanger Manor in Walpole Park
What’s your favourite private place in London?
Simon Foxton's shed
Beauty or intelligence?
Intelligence is always beautiful
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
Oh, it’s a toss up between I Won’t Share You, The Smiths, My Way, Frank Sinatra and La Vie En Rose (Grace Jones’ version)
Is life serious?
It was. I’m trying to make it less so
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I am Peter Saville, and for a living I am Peter Saville. I should expand: frustratingly, I don’t have a single job description. People seem to have different perceptions of what I do based on how they met me in the first place. Some people think I am a typographer, which I am not. Some people now seem to think of me as a ‘pop philosopher’, which is a lot closer from my own point of view. I see myself as somebody who thinks about the time and place in which I exist. Occasionally people still ask me to design a record cover, and can’t imagine that I would have no interest whatsoever in doing such a thing. I earn my living now where I can find it, and where it can find me, and it is very, very diverse: this time last year I was making a statement through the medium of a sports shoe for Adidas and at the same time I was working with Manchester City Council on the perception of Manchester and its future. People expected that I would produce a graphic solution in response to the given question, or challenge, but this was not my response. Instead, I did what I always do: I sat down and thought what does it mean to me? That activity was really no different to what I did in Manchester 25 years earlier, when I thought what could a record label be? What should a record label be in the late 20th- century postmodern era? What might a record label be? I think about things in the context of time and place. Unfortunately not enough people realise this and it’s only later they notice that perhaps something bigger was in mind. Maybe even then they didn’t get it, but their audience did. This is unfortunately my biggest burden. The only people who actually book me to do what I do are people who know me really well, and I end up doing it in this ‘friends’ category. I’m not a commercially or professionally perceived brand guru or something like that, and of course I don’t really want to be so anyway, but sometimes I think it would be helpful because I am tired of being insolvent. As you get older having no money is less edgy and more scary, darker and less playful. Being insolvent at 50 is worrying and, for me at least, a little bit ironic
Do you trust yourself?
I trust that I will still do some stupid things that I shouldn’t do. Quite harmless things — for instance I sat here till three o’clock last night knowing that the builders would turn up by 7.30 am, and at eight they would turn on a pneumatic drill. I should have gone to bed an hour earlier at least. I trust myself to do the same stupid thing tonight. I can trust myself to buy things that I don’t really need — luckily Anna [Saville’s partner] stops me quite often. I am getting a bit better at not doing things that I don’t want to do, I’ve always been a bit anxious about not pleasing other people, so I’ve often said I’d do things that I can’t do. I have two older brothers, and when you have older brothers you kind of don’t speak your mind, and find other ways to get what you want. I have learnt over the years that not being clear, and not speaking out, is a bad thing, so I am trusting myself now to be a little bit clearer, a little more frank and a little less concerned about offending people. And I trust my values, which I didn’t know I had. My old friend Ben Kelly [architect and designer of the Haçienda], who always considered me as some spoilt bourgeois boy, said recently that I sounded like a socialist and he couldn’t believe it. So I trust that I do have some values, and they’re not easily manipulated and I’ve realised they’re not for sale
Were you a popular child?
I tried to be. Being the youngest requires some strategies
Is there one particular work that best describes you?
There is a piece of work that I did 20 years ago that sums it up perfectly, and I know that it is the signature work to my personality, and that’s Power Corruption & Lies. It’s the juxtaposition of two values in balance, and I realise that partly comes from where I grew up, the landscape and culture I grew up in
Do you scare easily?
On my own yes — if someone else is with me I am ok. Anna and I got trapped in the lift the other day and there was nobody else in the building and it freaked Anna out and I was quite calm. But I can’t watch a horror film on my own, they really unsettle me — the same applies to science fiction, I do that terrible childlike thing of channel swapping. We are strangely drawn to these scary things knowing that it’s not a good thing to watch them. When I was in Los Angeles [while working for Frankfurt Balkind], I had a house up in the Hollywood Hills and for a good six months I didn’t even have a phone, let alone armed response as all my neighbours did. I’d go back there alone at one in the morning, and I was scared, I was very nervous. Los Angeles at night, driving at night alone, requires that you have your wits about you, and just going into an empty house at night in the hills with the neighbours a good fifty yards or so away…. So I took to not going to sleep until dawn, I’d stay up watching films instead
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last fifty years what would it be?
Possibly the smugness of capitalism. I’d quite like to say market forces, but market forces are market forces, you can’t put a stop to them. But one of the things that has given free rein to market forces is the smugness of capitalism, that attitude of ‘well it’s the only way isn’t it?’. Capitalism covers such a multitude of sins and abuses. To a large extent it is the only way, but it needs enormous levels moderation and management
If you could make one thing free for all what would it be?
A roof over their heads. Obviously healthcare and education are vital, but if you have nowhere to go the other things don’t even come into play. It is not difficult to get into that situation at all, and it’s really scary not having anywhere to just safely be whilst you try to get it together to move to the next stage in life Is life serious? It is to me. I am a bit serious, I’m probably very serious about superficial things, and I can be quite superficial about serious things, but ultimately, yes, it is serious.
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
Capital. Because I am actually quite happy with the quality of my existence, and I have quite sufficient cultural capital, but some security in the way of bankable capital would be nice. There are a lot of things that I used to want, which I don’t particularly need anymore, but I am very, very insecure in today’s London, and some capital would help me in that
What is the first thing you participated in that you are particularly proud of?
I won a trophy for show jumping when I was about 11, and I was very proud of that. When I was a bit older I also won some trophies for model car racing. I guess the first thing on the public stage was Factory Records — that step into the unknown. For me the seminal moment in Factory was when I’d done the cover for Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division’s first album. I completed the cover without hearing the record, and when I took the artwork over to Rob Gretton [Joy Division’s manager] to show it to him, he’d just received the test pressing of the album. I didn’t know whether I wanted to listen to it — to be honest I wasn’t sure I could sit through 40 minutes of Joy Division, which at that time was a raw, less- formed thing, but I’d just done the cover so I couldn’t really say no. So I sat down with Rob in his front room and he put Unknown Pleasures on, and within seconds I knew that I’d had the fortune to be part of what would be the best album of the New Wave. What Martin Hannett [the producer] did with Joy Division was astonishing, just utterly, utterly astonishing, and to feel that I was involved in that, associated with something that I knew was going to be very, very important, that was an amazing moment
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
Which shop?
What is sexy?
Very tricky one that, very tricky indeed. We all have things we find sexy that are idiosyncratic, completely customised to the individual. I remember one night at dinner with my best friend Trevor [Key] and Brett [Wickens], my assistant at the time, we entered into this silly conversation about what was sexy — I won’t incriminate myself here with what I said. Trevor, who was a sort of older brother figure to me in London, just sat there and shook his head, really disapproving, and he said ‘do you wanna know what the sexist thing on earth is?’ and we were both like ‘yeah, go on then what?’, and he said ‘being in love’ — and we were silenced. And he’s right. And if we want to talk about surfaces and situations then there are endless choices, but they’re idiosyncrasies. As a totally, totally reliable quality: being in love, and all the other things won’t work if that common ground, common wavelength, isn’t there
What is your favourite word?
Boulevard: I love the word boulevard
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
I will tell you a story. One day in the late eighties I was visiting the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands with Trevor to photograph a kinetic work by Jan van Munster for the cover of Joy Division’s Substance. We were there when the museum was closed — it was just us and the cleaners, and while Trevor was setting up I wandered off around the building. It was nice to be there alone, to enjoy the space, and I had no idea what was in the collection. I remember wandering down one corridor with work by Picasso and Juan Gris, when I took a turn into a room and it was full of Van Goghs. I found myself surrounded, completely unexpectedly, by paintings by Van Gogh. I knew the work from books, but I’d never seen one before in reality. Something happened to me that day that had never happened before or since in a museum: I had to touch one of the paintings, and there was one in particular, of a field — I felt kind of compelled. In fact I wanted to put my arms around it, but I thought that was going too far, and I wasn’t sure whether there were any cameras around. So I touched it and there was a undeniable physical presence of the maker in that work, in fact it was astonishing, there was a personality – a person, even. It was as if the energy of the person was there in the surface of that painting. And I stood there looking at all these works and coming back to this particular one, and looking around again, and suddenly — ‘oh, now I get it’. At that moment I understood why somebody would steal a famous work of art, which I could never understand before — I mean, you can’t sell it, you can’t show it to anyone, why do they do it? But I realised when confronted with these Van Goghs that just to have one of these in a cupboard that you could go and sit with it would be astonishing. So a Van Gogh would probably be the thing to have
Which piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
On Some Faraway Beach, by Brian Eno, from Here Come the Warm Jets. Or perhaps the theme from Moonraker
Which historical figure would you like to meet, and what would you like to show them?
I don’t have any particular characters I am obsessed with, though I have gone through phases of passing interest in different people over the years. I’ve had a Warhol phase, an Yves Klein phase, a Napoleon phase, all people I’ve realised I could learn something from. It would be interesting to take Leonardo on a airplane, or see what he made of modern technology. Or to hear Warhol’s thoughts on our celebrity culture, it’s only 15 or so years since he died, but I am sure he would have some quite astute comments to make about what’s happening now
What do you like most about fame and success?
There are a lot of things about it that are not so fab… people tend to think that it must be all fun, but being famous does not bring security or piece of mind. You become a target, for good and bad. You get publicly critcised, and you get all sorts of hearsay. I was out one evening when somebody came up to me and asked ‘Is it true that you go to sex parties in Italy every month?’. I couldn’t even begin to work out where that had come from. I think ultimately the best thing about fame is that it shows you’ve made some step into the uncharted. Very few people become celebrated without some step into the uncharted. You believed, and you were right — you took a chance and it worked. I know a good person to bring back — we’ll take Vincent van Gogh to Sotheby’s. Mind you, I think it would probably break his heart.
Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I'm princess Julia aka Julia Fodor and I do a variance of things for a living… DJing, a bit of writing on occasion, some modelling, appearing in videos, online campaigns. Things you do for a living means you get paid for them doesn't it? That means I do a whole load of things for pleasure too as I don't seem to get paid for those. Perhaps I will in the future.
Do you trust yourself?
Isn't there a proverb attached to that something like ‘If you can't trust yourself who can you trust?’ Did I just make that up? You got to trust your own sense of judgement even if it turns out a bit skewiff I suppose that's the learning curve. You've got to take that leap of faith in yourself, what else have you got. Oh and don't worry if you actually do fuck it up.
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Not being much of a morning person I’ve set a vague routine but also includes endlessly scrolling on social media and thinking about what to post or reposting other people's stuff. Then I like to do some exercises to maintain myself. Emails, paying bills, admin. Then it’s lunch. Please list the contents of your fridge
What is your earliest memory?
Falling down the stairs and splitting my head open which I didn’t have stitches for. I still have a very faint scar in the centre of my forehead I can feel. I remember slipping and knocking my head of the sharp corner of the arm of a settee, the sensation of warm blood trickling down over my face and a sense of panic as a plaster was secured over the gash. Please describe the place you are currently in, or the view from your window
What do you like the look of?
Living in a whole house with a garden. A small dog. Wearing interesting clothes with a backstory attached to them. I like looking at books, reading, delving into gossip. Looking at art and having art around me. Watching TV of all kinds. Other people’s way of dressing, makeup and expression. I like the look of everything!
Were you a popular child?
No, I was excruciatingly shy. Very quiet. As I worked things out I kept myself to myself, observing the world going on around me. I was never in a gang or really had a best friend in my school life. I was insecure, frightened of saying anything.
What sustains you?
The idea of doing something that communicates something positive or reflects something other people can relate to. Creating stuff, discussing stuff. Laughing a lot. Being amused.
Do you scare easy?
Not sure, I think I’ve built a barrier up around me as protection. I learnt to deal with predators, I’ve put past frightening experiences to rest. I’ve not really dealt with some of them but I'm trying. That's scary, just dealing with scary past experiences. Life’s one big scare fest on occasion.
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
I’d say Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.
Where is love for you?
What kind of love? I love my friends, I love things around me, talking to people I love.
Are you lucky?
I wouldn't say I’m lucky, not sure I even believe in luck, I think I'm a realist in that you are the instigator of your destiny. There's something to be said for manifesting your dreams. No one is going to hand anything to you on a plate as much as it might seem. Being in the right place at the right time, now there's something in that… I’ve just changed my mind, fate, destiny luck, roll the dice and see where life takes you.
What is the most magical, psychically charged item of clothing you own?
I always find this type of question hard to decide on. I love all my clothes for different reasons. The hang of hem, the craft entailed, the general look of a garment and functionality. The back story to a designers concept is always a revelation. I'm interested in process.so in answer there's no one garment because they all have something that attracts me to wearing them.
Do you subscribe to a particular belief system?
No, I detest any sort of organised religion. These things are big business and ways to brainwash and control the mass. And yes I've done the research and quite understand why humans find solace in their chosen belief systems.
What two colours should never be seen?
Nothing is out of bounds for me. In the past style etiquette was of the utmost importance, things like matching handbags and shoes. And I love this idea being an avid fan of anything camp. The ritual of dressing has evolved and style boundaries are forever shifting. I love a fashion clashion.
What do you have planned for when we are able to be together again?
I shall be working, my work is quite social so there's that.
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
Money makes the world go around.
What do you predict for London post-pandemic?
An initial splash and then a slow revving up as this country emerges post pandemic and the realities of Brexit Britain under the Tory government. Everything seems to be all about control under of the spread of Corona which I get, but also some basic human rights, protest laws, travel, higher taxes etc. that whoever voted for Brexit we are now dealing with, it’s all intertwined. London will be a less busy place, less visitors and less people wanting to live in London as it’s so expensive to live here and actually you can live outside of London and do the same things with a semblance of balance.
What is your number one priority?
Laughing… Surviving mentally.
Why do you do what you do?
What else is there to do? I like to do things that challenge me, stretch my imagination. Motivate me and create something fruitful.
What is your most marked characteristic? What traits are you most grateful for? Share a defect?
Quite enthusiastic about creating stuff, gossiping, trying to make things go forward always learning, being open minded and seeing different points of view. Not being stuck in any one place. I’m probably quite bossy and impatient, I want things to happen yesterday but I’ve learnt to pace myself.
What would you like to be better at?
Learning to be comfortable in my own skin.
What is your favourite smell?
Tuberose.
What is sexy?
Actually being true to yourself.
What is your favourite sound?
Don't think I’ve got one favourite sound. I’m attracted to different kinds of music electronic mainly. The sound of nature is always a relief.
What are you reading?
I tend to dip in and out of book reading. I like a research book or personal accounts. Man Enough To Be A Woman by Jayne County reprinted on Serpent Tail books.
In a parallel universe, what are you doing right now?
Hard to imagine a parallel universe that isn't idyllic isn’t it. Humans always wish for some perfect existence. Some Valhalla, a utopia somewhere with no pain or anguish. Problems wafting away.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Dealing with personal anguish, the cruelty of the human experience. That bloodthirsty & territorial side of humans.
What do you regard as your greatest achievement?
Just being able to exist with humility.
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Subconsciously I do collect things, mostly clothes, art objects, music. I try to edit things as I go along, I'm terrified of hoarding. There’s a fine line from a hoard to an archive.
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
I’ve got a few treasured art pieces.
Where do you find most pleasure?
Achievement, succeeding. Communicating and being part of something. Dressing up and finding new treasures to wear. Getting a look. Haha I love the ritual of dressing.
What’s your favourite public place in London?
Do you know what… I really enjoy a cottage tour via the parks. What is humanity’s biggest failing? Not tapping in to nature. Humans’ hideous and basic traits, killing each other in the name of religion, land, the earth’s riches. Not making good and considerate decisions.
Who are you? And what do you do for a living?
My name is Susan Hiller. I am an artist
Why do you do what you do?
I came back to art after a long detour into other fascinating kinds of work, but for me there isn’t any other way to be who I am. When my work goes well there’s a deep and peaceful sense of having spent time on something worthwhile.
Do you trust yourself?
If I can dig deep enough yes, otherwise, no
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
I got up late because it’s Sunday, had 4 cups of tea and then began an excited email exchange with my a/v [audio visual] assistant in Berlin about a new project I want to finish later this month when I go there to work. Then I realised I had a lot of other unanswered emails and what I call ‘admin’ to deal with, so plunged into it. I have a show opening soon in Montreal and I hate the proposed invitation design, so I began to redesign it. Then I browsed a couple of art magazines I received this week, read an interesting article about the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry in Miami, my home town, which I left decades ago and now want to catch up with since I’m showing work there in December, got upset by some other articles because they distorted the past, thought of writing witty retorts but decided not to, read the entire monograph on Lee Lonzano I was given last Tuesday in Basle (brilliant, sad), paid some bills online, took a short lunch break of delicious duck and bean soup David made, then carried on with emails etc, etc. I’m going out to dinner with friends later on. A nice quiet day
What is your earliest memory?
I remember incredible colours a prism cast on the floor on sunny days and how I wanted to sit inside them. I remember playing behind the sofa, noticing the brocade pattern, how the texture made pictures and discussing this with my imaginary friends Sawby and Giffy. I have another memory which could be earlier, lying in bed and chewing on the leather tongue of my favourite bear; the flavour was intense and wonderful and I can still almost taste it
Do you believe in life after death?
When I was a child I was convinced death was something to look forward to, but I learned this upset people so kept quiet about it. Now that I’m getting older I don’t have the same sense of happy anticipation, more of an anxiety that I might find out all about it sooner than I want to. I hope I die in a lucid state, so that I can at least experience the transition to — whatever — annihilation or bliss or some kind of cosmic classroom to learn where I went wrong
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
Well I always wished I could sing, so maybe I could show Bessie Smith how things have got better for many black musicians and what a huge influence black music has had. I don’t know where we’d go out to, maybe for pizza
Do you scare easy?
I worry about sharks every time I swim in the sea
If you could make any one thing free for all what would it be?
Justice
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 50 years what would it have been?
The combination of modern technology with cruel ideologies
Which public space do you like best?
I always feel good when I walk into the entrance of Tate Turbine Hall Which private space do you like best? My tiny workspace in Berlin
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Yes, different ones on different days. I guess I think something like ‘instinct’ or ‘temprement’ underlies all my beliefs and gives them a kind of consistency
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
Living in a world where things were getting better not worse; politically, economically, environmentally
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
I remember my father showing me a reproduction of Diego Rivera’s The Flower Carrier and telling me about the Mexican Revolution and that although the flowers in the painting were very beautiful, what the artist wanted us to feel was the heavy weight of the enormous basket being loaded onto the seller’s back. He used to show me pictures in a big book of reproductions, and there was always the idea there was more to see than just a beautiful image. Two pictures I distinctly remember were Bellini’s Doge Leonardo Loredon, and Watt’s Hope. My father also admired Norman Rockwell and subscribed to the Saturday Evening Post just to see the covers he painted for the magazine, which I came to know well. But on my own I came across a reproduction of a moody, mysterious blue and violet pastel of flowers by Odillon Redon which seemed to me to exist on an entirely different level
What was the first thing you produced/participated in that you are particularly proud of?
I still remember proudly an early painting that won a prize when I was eight. It was round; a view through a Chinese ‘moon window’ like one I’d seen in a museum What is your number one priority? To try to finish what I started
Why do you do what you do?
I came back to art after a long detour into other fascinating kinds of work, but for me there isn’t any other way to be who I am. When my work goes well there’s a deep and peaceful sense of having spent time on something worthwhile
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
People in my head What is your principal defect? Periodic discouragement leading to laziness
What is your most marked characteristic?
Intensity, or so people tell me
What would you like to be better at?
Dancing and singing
What quality do you most like in men?
Humour, generosity of spirit and intelligence
What is sexy?
In art, I would say, sharing secrets
What is your favourite sound?
My son’s voice and David’s voice — almost indistinguishable from each other
In a parallel universe, what are you doing right now?
I’m a prima ballerina
Do you collect anything? If so what?
I was born a collector; pencils, baseball cards, dolls, etc, etc, etc, which turned into other kinds of collections later on and became important in my work. Now I limit myself to a compact collection of green buttons, although even as I say that I realise it’s wishful thinking because of course I am still collecting other things, small- scale African polychrome sculpture, religious talismans, but more slowly
What do you predict for America?
I made a small piece about this recently, combining the last scene in the original version of Planet of the Apes with a soundtrack of Hendrick’s Star Spangled Banner
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
Religious bigotry
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
Never follow advice, make it up for yourself as you go along
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
I can’t just have one piece! I’d like to have Bessie Smith singing Gimme a Pigfoot and A Bottle of Gin, Je Vous Connais Milord by Edith Piaf, The Queen of the Night’s Aria sung by Joan Sutherland, something from Light on the Desert by Um Kulthum, a traditional setting of Blake’s Jerusalem, and a boy treble singing Mendolsohn’s Wings of a Dove — from the abject to the sublime in songs that always make me shiver as though a threshold has been crossed…
Is life serious?
Are you kidding?
Tell us a joke?
I just did
If you were to ask any two questions of any two living people, whose work/life you admire, what would they be and whom would you ask?
I’d like to ask artist Tom Phillips, whom I’ve never met — What’s the best piece of work you’ve ever made? Is it also your favourite piece? What’s your favourite work by anyone else? And a musician friend, Tom Verlaine, the same
Who are you? And what do you do for a living?
My name is Terry Hall and I am an all-round entertainer
Do you trust yourself?
I could never do that
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
Smoked four cigarettes and opened my mail
What is your earliest memory?
Trying to throw myself off a wall to avoid school
Do you believe in life after death?
No way
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
Alexander Graham Bell. I would like to show him a mobile phone and then give him a good slap
Were you a popular child?
I was a lonely child
What is the meaning of life?
There is no meaning, that’s why it’s cool…
Do you scare easy?
Say boo! and I jump
When and where were you most happy?
Barcelona, European cup final: United: 2, Bayern Munich: 1
If you could make any one thing free for all what would it be?
Food
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 50 years what would it have been?
Bono forming a band
Which public space do you like best?
Old Trafford
Which private space do you like best?
My mind
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
Drink water… eat food… breathe a lot…
What do you like most about fame and success?
Champagne, birds, and Peter Stringfellow
What do you do for fun?
Fun?
What one thing would improve the quality of your existence?
An alternative to lithium… that works!
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
George Best
What was the first thing you produced/participated in that you are particularly proud of?
Gangsters: The Specials
What is your number one priority?
To sort my teenagers out
Why do you do what you do?
There’s no choice
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
David Cassidy… It’s an imaginary conversation
What is your principal defect?
There isn’t one
What is your most marked characteristic?
My charm
What would you like to be better at?
Ice hockey
What quality do you most like in man?
Silence
What is the quality you most like in woman?
Wit
What is sexy?
A two a.m. picnic
What is your favourite sound?
The tannoy at football
What is your favourite word?
Twat
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Manic depression
Do you collect anything? If so what?
American outsider art
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
Rothko
Which book do you keep returning too?
The Yellow Pages
What do you predict for America?
Greed and growth What is humanity’s biggest failing? Humans
Please describe the space you are in?
A dark green room, a rusty day-bed, rugs, big window, books, an ice hockey game
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
If at first you don’t succeed, forget it
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
If You Go Away by Scott Walker
Is life serious?
No way!
Tell us a joke?
Waiter walks over to a table of Jewish mothers having dinner and asks ‘is anything ok?’
What is love?
Love is blind
If you were to ask any two questions of any two living people, whose work/life you admire, what would they be and whom would you ask?
Patti Smith and Audrey Tatou: Do you fancy a drink? Will you marry me?
Who are you? And what do you do for a living?
My name is Thurston. It means: ‘Thor’s Hammer’, like the stone of Thor, Thor’s stone, Thurston. Not to be confused with Thornton or Thurman. I play music. Pretty much
Do you trust yourself?
Absolutely not, which leads me into a weird relationship with myself. All I think about is ecstasy, not the drug, but the term of existence
What have you done since you woke up this morning?
I woke my 11-year-old daughter from slumber to prepare her for school. Made her pancakes, set her on her way, cleaned up the kitchen, wrote a cheque for the couple who help with the housecleaning once a week, purchased a 7” by Joe Colley on eBay, checked out what was going on at the Hanson Records Yahoo chat list, peered at some emails, decided to answer these obtuse questions
What is your earliest memory?
Hands and knees, pre-verbal, on a hallway floor, maybe on some grating, looking up and laughing at my brother and sister who were holding up a brown shoe in front of me and saying ‘shoe, shoe’ and knowing that they wanted me to repeat it, learn the language, but feeling I already knew and it was just funny and I wasn’t ready to do the tongue thing just yet
Do you believe in life after death?
Yeah, I think so. I don’t ponder it so much, but I am a believer in metaphysics just by dint that there’s been a history of other-world/next life interaction with this realm
Which historical figure would you like to take out, and what would you like to show them?
By take out, do you mean on a date? Or do you mean like an assassination? If a date it would be Ted Berrigan, the late, great poet of nyc. I would like to have him over for dinner and hang out and talk about the wild litany of Mimeo poetry magazines of the late 1960/1970s
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Well that would be something as boring as learning some move on the computer: last night I was mocking up some CD cover concepts for a new Sonic Youth record and I had to find out how to create a border for printing and so I did. I learned something new. Snore
Were you a popular child?
Yeah I think so, though I wasn’t popular in any orthodox way — not for sports or any aptitude as such. I had more of a class clown vibe which made me popular but I certainly wasn’t a stud, though in retrospect I think I could’ve been more of a ladies’ man if I had the wherewithal
Do you scare easy?
I used to more. Now I figure it’s conquerable nine times out of ten. Used to be mortified of flying but now I rest in the hands of fate and chant that fate is in a pleasant mood (Sun Ra reference)
If you could make any one thing free for all, what would it be?
Free healthcare should be an essential right here in the USA
If you could have put a stop to any one thing in the last 50 years, what would it have been?
The development of religious fanaticism into political effrontery
Which public space do you like best?
I like the park, the San Francisco Golden Gate Park, where in 1968 you could be a hippy and smoking weed and having sex either there or somewhere nearby
Which private space do you like best?
A bedroom where you can either sleep, fuck or watch films in a prone position, or read
Do you subscribe to a particular belief?
No, I don’t, except maybe kindness trumps all, but that’s a fairy hippy thought I guess, but I do find it works and feels good
What do you like most about fame and success?
It gives access to situations where you can compare life notes with other artists you admire from a distance. That is always thrilling. To be watching a great film and admiring the director’s work or the actors, and then hearing that they in turn are enthusiastic for your work, and then you meet and sometimes that can be awesome
What do you do for fun?
I like to collect records, cassettes and literature — I’ve always done that for fun
What one thing would improve the quality of your life?
Oh more coin, definitely. Then I could really build an empire of releasing great records and books without having to worry about the return. I’d like to just lose money doing this without the worry
Who was the first cultural figure to influence you?
Hearing rock ‘n’ roll records my brother would bring home in the ‘60s: The Kingsmen Louie Louie definitely was where it kind of started. That was where I wanted to be, still is
What was the first thing you produced/ participated in that you are particularly proud of?
As a thirteen-year-old I played Bluebeard in the school stage production of Bluebeard’s Ghost. I was nominated by an outstanding margin. That took me by pleasant surprise and I dove into the role, acting like I’ve probably never acted since. It was in the local paper and everything. I think I knew I could be excellent then, particularly as an actor, which I never pursued coz I love rock ‘n’ roll more
What is your number one priority?
The welfare of my daughter
Why do you do what you do?
There is an ineffable quality of connectivity to an immortal life force I get from participating in music creation. I subscribe to the Albert Ayler title: Music is the Healing Force of the Universe
Who do you most like to talk shop with?
Kim, Jim O’Rourke, Jutta Koether, Byron Coley, Heather Leigh Murray, John Olson, Mike Connelly, Lydia Lunch, Richard Prince, Vito Acconci, Dan Graham, Tom Smith, Don Fleming, Mike Watt, Dave Markey, Christina Carter
What is your principal defect?
Uncoordination in my fine motor skills
What is your most marked characteristic?
My height
What would you like to be better at?
Singing
What quality do you most like in a man?
Modesty
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intellect
What is sexy?
Well, the two things above, modesty and intellect. Physically, whoa — I mean, I don’t just like one aspect of sexiness, but I am certainly more into, shall we say, Buxomity than Slenderifousness
What is your favourite sound?
There’s a perfect electric guitar string resonance with an amp when the strings start resonating in response to volume and distortion that when it hits right and you can control that as a player — that sound is the sheeit for me
In a parallel universe what are you doing right now?
Secret
What makes you tick?
PMA (positive mental attitude), inspiration, diet
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Loss of love
Do you collect anything? If so what?
Mentioned above
Which work of art do you most covet for your home?
Art from Kim and Coco
Which book do you keep returning to?
I don’t keep returning to any book — I have so many I want to consume that to re-read something is beyond comprehension, and for me, if anything a setback in what I need to accomplish as a reader
What was the last film you watched, and was it any good?
Mike Mills’ film called Thumbsucker, and yes, it was good. I had read the book and liked that. I like the writer Walter Kirn, and was surprised and delighted that Mills was directing a feature of Thumbsucker — he did a good job and Lou Pucci, the actor, was perfect in the role I think
What do you predict for America?
Either get off the course of right-wing rule or suffer stupidly
What is humanity’s biggest failing?
The ability to rationalise the art of the swindle
What is the best bit of advice you can give to someone who wants to succeed?
Make your own records, whatever, and create your own industry
What piece of music would you like played at your funeral?
Little Johnny Jewel — Television
Tell us a joke?
No
What is love?
Life energy in its most exalted state
If you were to ask any two questions of any two people, what would they be and whom would you ask?
Gerard Malanga: What was it like to stare into the face of Edie Sedgwick? Keith Richards: What was it like to stare into the face of Anita Pallenberg?
