wat is art?

TR: what is art anyway?

MT: Art is something that sits inside many things. There is an art to conversation. Some people have it, some don't. There is an art to selling something someone doesnt need. Sometimes Art resides in a painting, photograph or certain sequences of sounds. Why this is the case no one knows. Art is as much the process as the end result.

If you took a painting, a great one, and burnt it with an audience - the painting would no longer exist, but perhaps the Art would have changed from painting to the Ash of what was once great.

Thats Art, its slippery.




TR: You work across a lot of mediums, including music, video, and design. What motivates you?

MT: Well, for me it is to leave a legacy of something behind after my inevitable death at some point in the future. A day spent doing nothing is truly a wasted day.


TR: What surprises you about other peoples reactions to your work?

MT: When people say they are transfixed by my music. Or when they genuinely burst out laughing at my tshirts or videos. Having people say they are my greatest fan (i already have that happening woohoo!) Having met people over the world now, its just great to have all these people who look at my stuff and can in some weird way identify with it.

TR: Are there any subjects or inspiration that you keep coming back to?

MT: I have so many influences, and i often just shuffle and change between them. So for my music, having world music sounds is something i love coming back to. Merging electronica and phat loops with instruments in a way that they were not intended for is a lot of fun for me. I cant see myself stopping that anytime soon.
Likewise with my tshirts - I think i'll always come back to my hand drawn works whilst im scribbling in front of the news or something. So whilst i may experiment with vectors and 3d programs, its my most basic of skills in drawing that i come back to. So more robots, crazy beavers, mutants with many fingers, birds with attitudes and dr seuss style neon fish.

TR: Where do you see your art evolving to?

MT: More live shows! moving the music out of the studio and internet and into the real world. Adding visuals to the show in a similar manner to my videos i produce now, but done in real time like the music. More tshirts ! many more tshirts.

Ideally, and in the long term, i want to get into the computer game music area or the music for films - cinematography. Composing music for films or games i believe would be great fun and my music is well suited to it.

Visit Muscularteeth at Redbubble
watch his videos on YOUTUBE
hear his music on REVERBNATION

I like illustration, but I never finish anything. I make videos sometimes. I don’t use my flickr the way it’s meant to be used. I also have a blog.
Here I am doing the dishes.
Does 2 make a series? If so, then consider my series entitled: What are elephants?



TR: How would you describe your work, Paul?

P McC: Oh I think the best word to describe my work is haphazard. I’m all over the shop, no central theme or focus, or even technique. I’d say it’s all fairly dark, in the sense that even the cutest little robot monster is a little bit evil inside. But it’s all really just silly.

TR: You often use pastel shades and simple colour structure. Is this something that you do consciously?

P McC: Yes, I’m conscious of my limited pallet. I’ve never been great with colours, so I try to limit my use of them, I figure if I use just a single colour then I’m less likely to screw it up. Also, my canvas, being primarily shirts (which come in a limited range of colours), dictates to a certain degree the rest of the pallet.

TR: How important is it for you to include a message or social commentary in your artwork?

P McC: Sometimes it’s the only thing that’s important, other times there’s no message at all. Sometimes I do my scribbles for no other reason than I just wanna doodle something, other times I have a very specific reason for doing something. While social commentary is an important part of art, I don’t think it should always be the focus, otherwise it’s boring. There’s no reason to be a sad-sack all the time.

TR: What surprises you about other people’s reactions to your work?

P McC: Well, I’d have to say the biggest surprise is that people buy it. I’ve also managed to make connections with people through these scribbles, and that is nice.

TR: Would you call yourself an Illustrator?

P McC: The term illustrator denotes a level of professionalism that I sadly lack. I therefore cannot and will not refer to myself as an illustrator until I actually illustrate something like a book. I’m secretly working on making this a reality at the moment. Shhh… secret.

TR: what does the word ART mean to you?

P McC: Absolutely nothing. :D

Art is either subjective, in which case it’s meaningless—just a word, or it’s an actual level of achievement that can be measured objectively, in which case I want nothing to do with it. So where does that leave me? I have no idea.

I’m pulled in both directions. I want to side with those that say art requires proper training and skill. That there is a line we can draw to determine what is or isn’t art. That art used to actually stand for something. People used to give there lives to art, spent their entire existence refining and creating great masterpieces… but then, the world we live in at the moment doesn’t allow a person to exist solely for one purpose. While that means that we may not produce the “geniuses” that previous centuries produced, how could we? How can any average person be so irresponsible? I think the democratisation of art is a good thing. I have limited respect for elite artists who were afforded the opportunity to create what they did, when so many people were never given an opportunity.

Umm… that and, I can’t afford a University arts degree.

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