Art is not just about having nice pictures to hang on the wall and admire from a far, marvelling at the genius of the one. It hasn’t been for some time I know, the art world has become this all encompassing environment, where we become engulfed by the piece, taken away, removed from the dangers and despair of daily life.

            This is what I aim to achieve with every piece I produce, an evocative, interactive, fun environment, which may or may not have a serious meaning behind it.

I mainly focus on sound sculptures as an initial base for my explorations, as I feel this is such a powerful and evocative sense that can be manipulated in so many different directions, taking people into place where they thought they would never go.

            Throughout my practice I have explored many ways of integrating sound into my work both electronically or through producing simple objects. Whatever method I use the main purpose is for it to be interactive.

            For example the sculpture trail in Hebden Bridge I was part of in 2004, I made a series of simple sound making sculptures which were spread over the outdoor landscape. They looked interesting from an aesthetic point of view but when they were interacted with they came alive, and everyone had fun playing with them, and it brought complete strangers together.

I remember on the opening day, the rain was teaming down all day, another typical British summer when one family, mum, dad and young daughter started playing with one of my objects, seeing what it did, what sound they could make. Then a few moments later a couple in there twenties came along and started playing on another object. Within moments they where tying to harmonise with each other, trying to creating a tune. In an area of wild natural forest beauty, where these two groups would have been lucky to say hello to each other in passing on a normal day, here they were making music together and loving the experience, even though they were getting drenched in the process. The work brought them together, no other medium I know has this ability and these moments are the reason why I create art in the first place. This was only a fleeting moment, but the experience would have lasted in the minds of the participants for a long time.

That is what art should be about, creating an experience that lasts in the minds of those involved and of course pieces like this are forever changing no two experiences are exactly the same. Thus making the memory of the piece exclusive for those involved so consequently giving them a slight feeling of ownership towards the work. You may think there is a slight risk in taking this approach, what if no-one interact? In my experience the human race is so curious that they have to try, take a little peek and once one starts, everyone gets involved, and then the fun really begins.

So as a summary, I make sculptures that look interesting and intriguing from a far, but they come alive when you interact with them, in a fun and evocative manner. Life should have as much pleasure in it as possible, so this is what I try and create with my sculptures, not stuffy pieces that gather dust on the walls.