James Elphick Interview by Performing London
|
|
It isn’t easy creating and producing your own events.
I thought I would combine theatre, performance, live music, live art, creative craft makers and all the different cultural things that are out there under one roof for one night. I didn’t know what I was doing exactly, it was just me with this crazy idea.
Bouncing your ideas of other people can help
You need to talk to people about your ideas, because they can see your ideas outside of your head, outside of your box and they will show it to you from a different perspective and be able to give you valuable feedback. But first you have to be careful of who you are talking to. Ideas have a habit of once released into the wild, finding new homes and becoming other people’s projects.
And the Internet is not just for looking at cute cats, it can be a great source of help
I used the internet essentially to source other people who were interested in getting involved in different aspects, either helping with stage management or performing and being involved to some extent.
Collaboration is a good way to create unique and interesting projects
I think that collaboration is an art form and all my projects collaborate with other artists to create something specific for the events and that really helps make each one special and unique.
So, yes, I work with different creative’s on each project. For example, The Goblin King’s Masquerade Ball combines a hidden narrative with live performance, theatre, visual art and live music in an experiential way. Step inside a world and then you’re taken away for a few moments, hours, or an entire night! It is what I have always wanted to do, give people a worthwhile distraction.
Remember that from small things, bigger things can grow and be prepared to follow your project through to the end.
I had heard that Alejandro Jodorowsky had new artwork, and I thought it would be great to do an exhibition, so I put together a whole show about the panic movement. Unfortunately, Alejandro couldn’t be involved in it, but he said he was wiling to show his own work in a solo exhibition. So I ended up creating two exhibitions and then we had the film screenings and it started to grow and became bigger than I really anticipated. It was a very chaotic time, creating these eight events but it was very creatively charged and gave me so much more experience and now I am pretty sure I can manage any project, no matter the size, that comes my way:
Dealing with 60/70 artists? - Not a problem!Organising a festival? - Easy!
Give emerging talent a chance to shine.
I love it, I go to the degree shows and MA shows and just scout for people and new talent that maybe want an opportunity to show something. I always find some incredible talent. Even though I do work with some big names, I always try and work with, and have an aspect of, up and coming, struggling new artists.
Give people something to talk about, broaden your experiences – don’t be safe!
The reason I put on Modern Panic is because it is shocking and provocative and people leave the gallery thinking about something and not just ‘oh, there’s a pencil drawing of a dog’ or ‘there’s some abstract typography’
Ideas can appear from anywhere – be prepared!
Sometimes I can be having conversations with someone and it can be about something completely irrelevant but then it will just connect in my head and I will be like ‘wait! I have to write this down’. You have to write these things down, you must write it down, write all ideas in a little book or they will just escape again. I have had ideas when awoken from a dream thinking ‘that’s amazing, no one has done that yet’ or sometimes I will get in the shower and I am just relaxing and ‘ah! An idea!’ hahah, another one! They are always in the back of my head though, I am always thinking about stuff, creating ideas, concepts.
Don’t get frustrated if it looks like the project will not happen.
Some of your projects will never come off the ground, it is not that they will never happen, but perhaps the time isn’t right, perhaps the people weren’t quite right. I am resurrecting some of the projects that I left in the past, as I have found better connections, people that are really interested and want to be involved, so I am slowly re-exploring them.
There is a theatre project that I have been working on for three years that has never quite happened, but I have come up with another idea as a stepping-stone to reach that final goal. It can be a case of trying out new teams and new creative people and seeing if it works, if it doesn’t work, never mind try again later. I kind of see it as development stages, if you are doing a big project, why don’t you try a faction of it, a smaller section and see if it works.
Always get things in writing!
I try to make sure that I write everything down or have an email correspondence about what has been agreed. In a meeting or on the phone people will promise you stuff, but get it in writing and do contracts with people as well, and lay out what you expect from them you may not be able to do anything with it, but it creates a professional standing between you and them.
Be prepared for unsociable hours and an inability to separate your free time with work time.
The problem is I am a workaholic with creative projects. Everything revolves around art and making connections. I work pretty much all the time. I just came back from Spain, where I shut my phone and internet off for five days, it was amazing, I could actually relax…I did, however, go and see the Dali exhibition.
It never shuts off, really once you start doing these things, it’s all collaboration essentially, so every connection you see potential possibilities that you should try and explore, even though it may come to nothing.
Always remember why you do it?
I chose to do what I love and it’s been tough, and it is tough, but you know I am still here, I’m still doing it, so I must be doing something right. Even if I am not making a fortune today, tomorrow I will! You have to find the balance between creativity and the big ideas and the small dollar. Some of my projects are really out there and some of them are a bit more commercial.
You never know, you should go for every door that opens.
I thought I would combine theatre, performance, live music, live art, creative craft makers and all the different cultural things that are out there under one roof for one night. I didn’t know what I was doing exactly, it was just me with this crazy idea.
Bouncing your ideas of other people can help
You need to talk to people about your ideas, because they can see your ideas outside of your head, outside of your box and they will show it to you from a different perspective and be able to give you valuable feedback. But first you have to be careful of who you are talking to. Ideas have a habit of once released into the wild, finding new homes and becoming other people’s projects.
And the Internet is not just for looking at cute cats, it can be a great source of help
I used the internet essentially to source other people who were interested in getting involved in different aspects, either helping with stage management or performing and being involved to some extent.
Collaboration is a good way to create unique and interesting projects
I think that collaboration is an art form and all my projects collaborate with other artists to create something specific for the events and that really helps make each one special and unique.
So, yes, I work with different creative’s on each project. For example, The Goblin King’s Masquerade Ball combines a hidden narrative with live performance, theatre, visual art and live music in an experiential way. Step inside a world and then you’re taken away for a few moments, hours, or an entire night! It is what I have always wanted to do, give people a worthwhile distraction.
Remember that from small things, bigger things can grow and be prepared to follow your project through to the end.
I had heard that Alejandro Jodorowsky had new artwork, and I thought it would be great to do an exhibition, so I put together a whole show about the panic movement. Unfortunately, Alejandro couldn’t be involved in it, but he said he was wiling to show his own work in a solo exhibition. So I ended up creating two exhibitions and then we had the film screenings and it started to grow and became bigger than I really anticipated. It was a very chaotic time, creating these eight events but it was very creatively charged and gave me so much more experience and now I am pretty sure I can manage any project, no matter the size, that comes my way:
Dealing with 60/70 artists? - Not a problem!Organising a festival? - Easy!
Give emerging talent a chance to shine.
I love it, I go to the degree shows and MA shows and just scout for people and new talent that maybe want an opportunity to show something. I always find some incredible talent. Even though I do work with some big names, I always try and work with, and have an aspect of, up and coming, struggling new artists.
Give people something to talk about, broaden your experiences – don’t be safe!
The reason I put on Modern Panic is because it is shocking and provocative and people leave the gallery thinking about something and not just ‘oh, there’s a pencil drawing of a dog’ or ‘there’s some abstract typography’
Ideas can appear from anywhere – be prepared!
Sometimes I can be having conversations with someone and it can be about something completely irrelevant but then it will just connect in my head and I will be like ‘wait! I have to write this down’. You have to write these things down, you must write it down, write all ideas in a little book or they will just escape again. I have had ideas when awoken from a dream thinking ‘that’s amazing, no one has done that yet’ or sometimes I will get in the shower and I am just relaxing and ‘ah! An idea!’ hahah, another one! They are always in the back of my head though, I am always thinking about stuff, creating ideas, concepts.
Don’t get frustrated if it looks like the project will not happen.
Some of your projects will never come off the ground, it is not that they will never happen, but perhaps the time isn’t right, perhaps the people weren’t quite right. I am resurrecting some of the projects that I left in the past, as I have found better connections, people that are really interested and want to be involved, so I am slowly re-exploring them.
There is a theatre project that I have been working on for three years that has never quite happened, but I have come up with another idea as a stepping-stone to reach that final goal. It can be a case of trying out new teams and new creative people and seeing if it works, if it doesn’t work, never mind try again later. I kind of see it as development stages, if you are doing a big project, why don’t you try a faction of it, a smaller section and see if it works.
Always get things in writing!
I try to make sure that I write everything down or have an email correspondence about what has been agreed. In a meeting or on the phone people will promise you stuff, but get it in writing and do contracts with people as well, and lay out what you expect from them you may not be able to do anything with it, but it creates a professional standing between you and them.
Be prepared for unsociable hours and an inability to separate your free time with work time.
The problem is I am a workaholic with creative projects. Everything revolves around art and making connections. I work pretty much all the time. I just came back from Spain, where I shut my phone and internet off for five days, it was amazing, I could actually relax…I did, however, go and see the Dali exhibition.
It never shuts off, really once you start doing these things, it’s all collaboration essentially, so every connection you see potential possibilities that you should try and explore, even though it may come to nothing.
Always remember why you do it?
I chose to do what I love and it’s been tough, and it is tough, but you know I am still here, I’m still doing it, so I must be doing something right. Even if I am not making a fortune today, tomorrow I will! You have to find the balance between creativity and the big ideas and the small dollar. Some of my projects are really out there and some of them are a bit more commercial.
You never know, you should go for every door that opens.
Issue 1: Edinburgh Festival Special, Print Version - August 2013.
Interviewed By Helen Simpson
Source : http://performinglondon.com/issues/
Download pdf version :
Interviewed By Helen Simpson
Source : http://performinglondon.com/issues/
Download pdf version :
| performing-london-issue-1.pdf |
