William Hundley & David James
Red dragged me into Halcyon to show me these predator/prey paintings and I agreed with his verdict--a bunch of penguins standing around with question marks over their heads was truly rad. Here's what they had to say about art, life, and concrete. WH: A while ago my buddy David James did a drawing of a badger with a question mark over his head. I thought it was hilarious. It also had an owl swooping in for the kill on the badger. What if the owl had an exclamation point over his head? We looked through tons of national geographic magazines and saw punctuation everywhere. We envisioned question marks over everything and everybody's head in natural and urban landscapes. W&A: You mentioned Adbusters as an influence. We're big fans at Whiskey and Apples, too. We were just arguing last night about whether their work leads to action or just entertains. What do you think? DJ: I believe that a lot of what I am seeing out of Germany, UK, and well, our stuff in San Marcos, Texas appears to be influenced by Adbusters-type publications. So I say yes, some people will act, and their voices will get heard. Others will not, and remain silent till such time as they deem important.
WH: I go through that magazine without ever reading an article sometimes. Just reading the sequence of visuals is very informative. Adbusters is the self-proclaimed journal of the mental environment. Life and art are all about action and reaction. Adbusters is an action and it creates all kinds of reactions. I think they have planted many seeds in thousands of minds. I can't wait to see what comes of it all. You mentioned the film "Baraka" as a big influence. What other influences from film, music, or art are you guys tapped into right now? Anything off the radar? DJ: I read a small book By Neil Postman entitled Entertaining Ourselves to Death. The book is a historical and social account of how television/media influences our life as well as the entire human culture. Other books such as Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Gerry Mander, sparked my interest, but seemed to be missing some hardcore philosophical undercurrent. Baraka left me sitting there alone in my room with the TV off, I was just thinking about how man and nature interact with each other. The messages one takes from things like Adbusters, Baraka, etc. are important because these mediums are a platform to project ideas and, more importantly, to personalize the message so that the audience walks away with either a "?" or an "!" over their head. It's up to them to decide: act or don't act. In the context of all the animal scenarios, we felt the television with the exclamation point and the viewer with the question mark was the most hard-hitting painting. Ever since I saw that, I've been seeing the question mark over myself in all manner of daily activities--driving, buying a magazine, talking to a girl. You mentioned "expanding the body of work." Where do you go from here? How far would you take it if you had unlimited resources? WH: Basically we all know that there is mostly shit on television. We wanted the original series to really focus on nature and animals. The ideas I am working on now are much more to do with people and all the various scenarios. I would like to buy the rights to famous photographs, paintings, and footage and insert the proper punctuation. A capital building with a exclamation point over its head and a group of people with question marks over theirs. Hordes of paparazzi with exclamation points over their heads surrounding one beautiful female actress with a question mark over her head.
Heh, you could also put the paparazzi with question marks and the actress with the exclamation point. So what's it like making art in Austin? Is there any kind of community or scene that you feel helps each other out? WH: Austin isn't a trampled city like most. It has a laid-back spread-out feel that is very welcoming. I have done video work for Austin Museum of Digital Art on numerous occasions. They have a cool scene going on right now and are definitely one of the power houses here in town. I would like to see them get more into the gallery and installation side of the art. I was also involved in a couple Supplemen-t shows. The guys running that operation are fun to work with, very open and intuitive. They are headed in a unique direction. DJ: As far as events or happenings that catch my eye, things in East Austin are picking up steam. The local press gave the whole scene some well-deserved exposure. There are about 30 live/work spaces on the east side and a whole set of different crews that collaborate with each other that are producing stuff worth checking out. Have you worked with any non-visual artists (musicians or writers) or do you plan to? WH: I love working with musicians. I have made a few music videos and projected at some shows. I will be working on a DVD project in the next few months with Eric Day and other various local musicians. I've recently broken into some new video work. I have been putting kicking legs coming out of peoples heads. They are surreal portraits of my friends and have an odd erotic feel. They are really bizarre to watch and have really opened up a new avenue for me aesthetically. DJ: The large music scene and visual artistry makes for a powerful combination. Having spent nearly a decade in the area, I relish the notion that all of us who strive to create are part of something bigger…something more collective. I would love to organize a multimedia event…not anything like SXSW, which is a great thing to have in your backyard every year, but something that incorporates painting, sculpting, and music. With the right forum it would work. And with my own space I would be able to experiment to work out the kinks. (Can you tell I am justifying reasons to quit my job, change locations, buy some chickens, and set up shop?)
So they made you take down the Halcyon exhibit because you wanted to hang mounted animal heads with the paintings? WH: We thought that was hilarious! Have you found a place that will let you hang animal heads with your paintings yet? WH: I'm sure somebody out there will let us.
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