PIERRE ANDRE ANSWERS FAD’S QUESTIONS

1. When did you start to make art?
I have envisaged many of my projects over the last twenty years but it is only recently I have made them physical.

2. How did you evolve into a professional artist?
I have no formal training or school in art, so my journey to where I am now has been fairly organic.

3. What drove you to make art as a professional vocation?
I kept many ideas for such a long time, that eventually I had to act upon them.

4. Explain your inspiration?
I am inspired by the theme of lines.

5. In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
I take a both observational and archival approach, and explore a variety of themes through different sorts of projects..

6. From Ideas to production of art – how? And why?
I have a strong visual sense of what I want to achieve. From that moment of conception, I am prepared to utilise any medium and method available to me to achieve my original vision. Lifelines was mylongest and most difficult project to date. It is a series of 365 photographs, a different photo taken of the same baby every day for a year.

7. Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
I like to think of myself as an artist in the modern sense of the word, meaning I am not restricted to one medium or style. All my work is interchangeable in its form. For instance, my Marmite project could
be adapted to make a large freestanding sculpture in Trafalgar Square,or I could take the concept of it’s physical evolution and document it using video or animation.

8. Which artists would you most like to blatantly rip off?
PASS

9. Why is your art made?
My observational approach means that in a sense I see myself as a historian, archiving aspects of design evolution that could be overlooked by generations of tomorrow.

10. What does being an artists mean to you?It is an outlet which gives me the freedom to release my visions with no restriction.

11. Are you happy with your reasons for making art? i.e Are there any trade offs that make life hard?
I am just translating what I am seeing when I look at products, people and construction. I will not rule out looking at darker aspects of society in the future, perhaps through a medium such as photojournalism.

12. When does your art become successful?
For me, my self satisfaction with a project is a good benchmark for its success. On a broader scale, presenting a concept which encourages people to think of an evolution, or assumed progression in a new way is equally satisfying.

13. What is art?
Art is a word made of three letters A-R-T

14. How do you start the process of making work?
I have no set methodology; I am equally likely to sketch an idea on paper as I am to use creative software such as Illustrator.

15. Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?
As I am yet to work with galleries, I am at liberty to price my own work depending on the production cost and timescale.

16. What is your next; move,project,show etc?

I hope to work with a gallery to extend my scope and reach out to a wider audience. At present, I am working on a project titled ‘21Sport’, which is a modern reinterpretation of a ping pong table.

17. What are the pros and cons of the art market?
The art market has an air of eliteness which is something that I am trying to counter with my venture ‘Art Menu’ www.art-menu.com. This aims to make art accessible to everybody, regardless of their knowledge or background. I think a good aspect of today’s art market is that it has evolved to the point that artists can make a living from their work and gain recognition and a degree of success in their lifetime, as opposed to posthumously which has so often been the case.

18. Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
I can not isolate a single piece I wish to be known for, I would prefer to have an entire retrospective that was respected, each piece within it praised for its own merits as well as its relevance to my work as a whole.

19. Any routine in making your artwork? If so what?
I have no routine whatsoever. It is entirely spontaneous. For me, routine stifles my creativity.

20. What has been the biggest break in your career?
So far, the time I finally accepted my self as an artist was the biggest moment in my career.

21. Who has been the biggest influence on you?
Each day I am influenced by my surroundings. I never know what will inspire me next – it could be anything from a building to someone I pass in the street. I never think ‘artistically’ – an idea just hits me.

22. How many artworks have you given away and to whom?
If I could, I would just give it all away. I have exchanged some my work with other artists, so whilst I may have not gained financially, I have gained mutual respect which is priceless.

You can view work on www.whateverprojects.com