Billy Craigan-Toon

You’ve just graduated from NTU. How is life after university?
Although I’ve been working in a kitchen for minimum wage, it feels quite fruitful at the moment. After graduation, my biggest concern was that I would fall into the trap of working a job I hate and dedicate no time to my practice. What I’ve learned is that, as a young artist with no funding, you just have to work around work, be as proactive as possible and make ideas happen.

Tell us about your art and the themes it explores…
The medium I use is either film or performance. Each piece has a different concept behind it, but always gravitates towards choreographing a staged event, be it a group of people sweeping floors simultaneously or just a little gesture. I try to keep my work minimal and simple, but also humorous. In terms of the themes my practice explores, I’m not trying to crack any kind of code or express anything that I have locked inside, therefore there’s no heavy thought process behind it. My art is more about exploring how we deal with certain issues. It’s a creative outlet.

Your work is all about coordination and repetition. How do the public respond?
It depends on the performance, but usually these repetitive, synchronized movements seem to mesmerize the audience, even though the actions they are witnessing are essentially boring. I always thrive to achieve a certain simplicity and sleekness in my work, which can become very powerful to watch. I choose to stage my performances in unconventional and unexpected spaces, so the public is immediately drawn in.

Some still see fine art as inaccessible. Can performance art bridge the gap?
There are performances that can be pretty uncomfortable to watch or simply make no sense, so they’re quite hard to engage with. I’m always trying to do work which is easy to read, mainly because art that is hard to understand makes me frustrated. I want people to get my work immediately, while challenging them intellectually as well. As I mentioned before, humour is really important in my work, I think it puts people at ease. If all else fails, if the work is a little bit funny then it was worth doing.

Do you ever read those lengthy artist statements in art galleries?
Honestly, I don’t. I don’t like writing about my practice either. However, I’m happy for other people to write about my work, I think it makes more sense that way. Of course, as an artist it’s important to understand and contextualize the ideas behind your pieces, but I find writing about your practice, especially at an early stage when you are still exploring, to be a bit cringe-worthy.

Photo: Raluca Moraru

What are your biggest influences?
You are always going to see and experience things that will naturally inspire you, but I don't think I could list my top three artists that influence my work. That being said, someone whose work I admire is the artist duo Paul Harrison and John Wood. Their practice takes mundane and simple actions out of context and explores them in a performative way.  There is a cleanliness to their work I aspire to, without wanting to mimic them.

You have your residency at Backlit gallery in a shared studio. How is it like working in a space with such creative energy?
It’s important to be around other creative people. I want to be able to share ideas and get feedback on projects I’m working on from likeminded individuals. That’s why I think taking a residency in a studio is pretty important, it stops you from being reclusive, which can be dangerous for a young artist.

Talking about Backlit, your work is featured in their latest exhibition Bunch of Fives. What’s the crack?
Bunch of Fives is a members’ show which opened on Saturday 7 February. Each artist involved was given £100 to produce a piece of work. I wanted to do a video piece and a friend of mine mentioned how more and more cameramen now own drones, so I hired one. I had two friends walk aimlessly around the gallery, dressed up really silly. The drone would follow them around and whenever aware of its presence, they would run off. The piece is an exploration of how drones now have the power to instil fear into people - it is shot in a style that aims blurs the lines surveillance footage and video game reality.

How does it feel working as an artist in Nottingham during such an exciting time for the city?
I chose to stay in Nottingham after finishing university because I am familiar with the city. If you are thinking about pursuing a contemporary art practice, Nottingham is perfect. It has cheap studio spaces, plenty of galleries and the creative community works really close together. If I wasn’t here, I’d be scared I wouldn’t be doing much in terms of doing my art. At the moment, I’m trying to get as much as I can out of living in Nottingham.

You have recently collaborated with menswear fashion brand Universal Works for London Fashion Week. How did that opportunity come about?
David Keyte, who is the Creative Director of Universal Works, saw my degree show piece entitled Painters and contacted me in September last year about working together. Although their clothes have been in London Fashion week since 2009, they have only been invited to do a presentation this year. As you can imagine, this was totally new ground for them and they wanted to do something a bit different than just a standard presentation. I think what they like about my work was the simplicity of it and thought it would translate well into a fashion context.

Photo: Raluca Moraru

Could you talk us to the process of putting the performance together and working with such an established brand?
Working with them was really fun and I would tribute that to the fact that it was a guinea pig project for both them and myself. The whole concept behind Pass came after our second meeting and draws on inspiration from previous performances I’ve staged. I initially found myself looking for dull, domestic chores to make use of and then the idea of using the collection itself as a tool came about.  The performance is pretty simple: there’s a dozen men standing in a circle and passing clothes to each other. The movement is visualised by a particular orange coat, one of the key pieces in their collection, that you can see travelling from one person to another. I worked on the performance for eight weeks and a large amount of time was dedicated to making the movement look effortless, which proved tricky at times.

Menswear is having a moment now. Do you think the Menswear Fashion Week circuit will ever become as popular as its womenswear counterpart?
It’s really hard to predict. I guess there’s always potential for it, but I’d be tempted to say that womenswear will always have an edge.

It was only recently that Kanye West x Adidas launched at New York Fashion Week, with a show staged by Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft. Do you feel like there’s a market for collaborations between fashion houses and artists?
It’s not necessarily a new thing for these collaborations to take place and I do think there’s a market for it. It’s very dependent on the artist, I suppose. For example, almost all of Vanessa Beecroft’s performances involve displaying nude or semi-nude models in a very static manner, so it makes a lot of sense for her to collaborate with fashion companies. I think this sort of collaborative work happens for a variety of reasons: sometimes the designers want someone else’s creative input in a collection or fashion show. Other times they use an artist’s brand and following for commercial purposes.

What do you like to wear?
Nothing to flashy. Just clean, simple stuff. For me, it’s more about what I don’t like to wear, I’m way more likely to spot something I would never wear than something I want to buy instantly. I don’t have any specific brands. I don’t really shop for clothes, I just seem to acquire them.

Any advice for young artists out there hoping to have their big break?
Get your heads out of the clouds! Seriously now, I’m not very good at giving advice but I’d encourage them to try and be proactive. If you enjoy being an artist then go for it, but if you’re in it to get paid, you’re in the wrong industry.

Billy Craigan-Toon's website