Joseph DeLappe – Art and Cake

Joseph DeLappe
UK/Scotland
Age 61

What keeps you excited in the studio?
I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I do, I love engaging new ideas, processes, and working with others to make things happen. As I get older I feel my ideas are just as strong as they have ever been, if not better informed by experience. The making and the sharing of the work is what excites me, and working to answer the forever question of how art can help change the world.

Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed?
There is a definite progression of ideas and projects, yet there has always been a consistent thread of engaging with new technologies in a critical and thoughtful manner (I began working with computers in 1983 as an undergraduate design student, soon found myself more interested in my studio art electives than in my design studies). I can see major turning points in my work for certain – leaving graduate school in 1990 and making that first piece outside of that very rarefied context, to a disastrous flood of my studio 15 years later- there were certain key points and experiences that have greatly informed my practice. The 9/11 attacks and the unfortunate reaction by the US gov’t, invading Afghanistan and then Iraq were both pivotal in my full embracing being a political artist/activist – the resulting works since then have been key towards becoming the artist I was meant to be (which is of course still evolving).

What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
Crucial and peripheral – we exist in such a visual culture, with so many distractions, short attention spans, divisions – the arts should be more important than ever but I am not sure that is the case. I hope what we do as artists can reach people, help them think about the world differently or to better understand what it means to exist in such a fraught context – and perhaps encourage changes for the betterment of all. Lofty ideas balanced with a certain realism but hopefully not pessimism. Art is by it’s very act of creation hopeful, otherwise why do it?

What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Don’t make “art magazine art” – in fact, don’t read “art magazines”, read and absorb culture from as many sources as you possibly can – watch trash tv, go to weird conventions and events – inspiration for your work can come from so many places – if you really want to make something new and interesting inspiration will likely be found away from the “art world”.

Does age matter in art? Why or why not?
Yes, sadly enough, ageism is a fact of life in the “art world” – as you get older, the residencies, the grants, the shows, in general seem to go to younger artists – while there are exceptions, this is primarily a young person’s field.

What can we look forward to from you next?
I’m quite active in my work just now, not slowing down a bit, in fact likely ramping up my creativity as I seem to have more ideas for projects than ever. I’m currently working on a project that involves turning one year’s worth of collected personal, non-recyclable plastics into a wearable costume, a Ghillie suit – this I will wear on a 200 mile performative walk across Scotland from my former home in Dundee to Gairloch in the NW Highlands. Gairloch is the home of the “Ghillie Dhu”, a legendary fairy from Scottish folklore, who is the basis for the invention of the modern Ghillie suit – he is a friendly forrest dwelling fairy covered in leaves and bark. I intend to make an augmented reality avatar of the Ghillie Dhu to walk with me on my journey, I will leave him in the wood at Gairloch at the end of my journey. I’m hoping to do the walk in the Spring of 2025. This will be the third in a trilogy of durational performance projects, the first being “The Salt Satyagraha Online: Gandhi’s Walk to Dandhi in Second Life” (2008), the second “Project 929: Mapping the Solar” (2013). I’m also working on various video projects, some anti-AI performances, and paintings of people in VR.

Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life?
I’ve read some information recently that noted that the most productive time in one’s life cant be in their 60’s and 70’s, I hope that is true.

http://www.delappe.net
@josephdelappe