SeanFuckingGammon is a Canadian artist based in Windsor, Ontario. I thought I’d catch up with him.
First off, we’ve known one another for a seriously long time and I suspect I’m among others who had no idea you not only were into creating art, but that you were talented as well. There seemed to be nothing, then there was madness. You were pumping out pieces at an alarming rate and you don’t seem to have slowed down. Am I right here? How and when did this all begin?
Let’s see…when we were back in university together, way too long ago, I had my heart set on becoming a writer. So I wrote and wrote and wrote for years and years and years. And never really shared any of it. After many years, I decided that I fucking hate writing and gave it up. I literally threw out all of my notebooks and I don’t regret it at all. Along the way, I also made some failed attempts at becoming a filmmaker and an abstract painter. I kept most of those.
About ten or fifteen years ago, I made my first collage for a group show with some of our old friends. I was really satisfied with it, but still had my sights set on other things, so I just moved on. Years later, I thought, “I should start making collages again”. So I did. A couple years ago, I went through some major changes in my life. I felt like I was at some sort of crossroad and was feeling kind of lost. I threw myself into making collages and found that I was deeply satisfied with the results.
The other reason no one knew about my work was that I resisted being online for a long time. Now, I’m hooked. I’m online for hours, daily. When I finish a new piece, I can’t wait to share it with everyone. That’s maybe not a traditional approach to the art world but I feel like the world has changed greatly with the invention of the internet and that artists should change with it, or get left behind.
What medium are you generally working in?
For whatever bizarre reasons, I primarily do collages on skateboards. I love them and I get great responses from more people than I ever thought possible. I have done some collages on canvas and will probably do more when I feel like it. I also still dabble in film making and photography. I have a digital camera that I absolutely love and I play around with it a lot. I also like turning my collages into other things, like stickers. I love the street art phenomena and try and contribute whenever possible.
Are the decks functional?
The decks are fully functional. If someone wanted to skate one, they could. The collage on the bottom would probably be ruined, but yeah you could skate them. I would rather they just put one on their wall. They’re more for decoration.
There is so much going on in each of your pieces that makes them unique. There is also a sense of rebellion and humour unifying them all. What’s going on inside that brain of yours?
Oh geez, I generally have something different to say with each individual piece. There’s definitely some rebellion. I think that advertising has infiltrated our lives way too much. It seems like everything is an advertisement anymore. With the invention of those phone scans, we’re seeing advertisements within advertisements. I fucking hate it. As long as the advertisers bombard us with advertisements everywhere we go, I’m going to use their ads to make art. I’m not always trying to say something with my art though. Sometimes I just want to make something cool to look at. Maybe out of things that aren’t cool to look at? I do try and infuse humour into everything I do. Life to me is completely absurd. I try and make fun of it wherever possible.
Where can people check out your work? Are any pieces available for purchase?
People can check out my work at deviantART or Facebook or Twitter. I always share all of my artwork on those sites. No boards are for sale yet. I really want to have enough boards to fill a gallery and have a solo show. It’s just a personal goal of mine. I figure I’ll need 30 or 40 boards to do it and will be ready by the end of the year. After that, I’ll begin selling them.
Anything you’d like to end with?
I’d just like to say thanks to you and everyone else that supports me or has supported me. Thanks to all my friends on deviantART, Facebook, Twitter, Catapult Magazine, Yareah Magazine, Obsolete Skateboards, Common Ground Gallery, Phog Lounge, Artcite, Vaughn Beneteau, fucking everybody! It’s been a wild ride so far and I am not going to slow down for anyone or anything. You haven’t seen anything yet. Thanks Laura!
Thanks Sean.
awesome artwork and interview!