His stuff is visually exciting, pleasing, often spur-of-the-moment. I love the fact that lots of his work clearly comes to him that second, he doesn't over think it, he just goes and does it. The fat cars are amazing. His inspiration comes from everyday situations and concerns. And a great deal of 'what if'. I like the idea of playing with the things we interact with every day.
This reminds me of my 'jug' project. I want to present ordinary objects in an extraordinary way, make you think again about them or their possibilities. I only choose objects because these are the things we come into contact with everyday in the city, in city life, and we really don't notice them, they are just utensils. Just like a pavement or road is a means to an end. Except they're not, they are things in themselves, and life is more exciting when you can see these things in depth. Not all the time, but some of the time. I think a work has done it's job when afterwards, you see a broom and you think, 'but what if it was pinning a flip-flop to a wall?'
This is a good quote from... well you'll see.
“Often our view of the world is overshadowed by the minds ceaseless ability to categorize and store information. Without this ability, we would scarcely be able to walk down our block without falling over with amazement at each blade of grass poking through the soil, at each tree rising to the sun. It is this ability to process and disregard information that enables us to move through the world, but it is this same process that can stop us from seeing the beauty all around us. To take away the tool of sight is not a blinding, but instead an opening of another quieter vision, an effort to feel the beauty around and inside of us. This freedom to see with a deeper vision is what I strive for, to break away from all that is cluttered and un-essential, leaving behind what is beautiful.” - Brenton Bostwick
His square suits remind me of David Byrne (of talking heads) in this video of a mock-interview (below). It's unbelievably magnificent. "I try to write about small things, paper, animals, a house, love is kind of big. I have written a love song though; in this film I sing it to a lamp."
He also wears the suit onstage in 'Stop Making Sense'. For me it represents so many things: The little man trapped inside the huge corporate world (suits) that swamps his personality, individuality and movement, the personae we put on or play, how our fashion choices instruct the world how we want to be seen and how we see ourselves, how we dress for certain situations or people. How little of ourselves there is in our clothes. How anonymous clothes can make a person.
While wearing the suit his arms always hang limply by his sides. His tiny head appears to declare that his intellect or sense of himself is underdeveloped, or that he has a pea-brain. "I wanted my head to appear smaller, and the best way to do that was to make my body bigger. Because music is very physical, and often the body understands it before the head." He also is a fan of not over-thinking things. I think writing a song or making artwork is very similar, often you do just write it, and understand later.
The multiple archetypal interviewers (who he also plays) mock the standard interview characters that hosts play and the inane questions that they often ask. This way Byrne declares himself not willing to play up to his fame. He has mastered the 'pop star' game, he is both star and anti-star, and at the same time his own fame-generating machine. By parodying the situation, he reveals its inherent falsity.
"The better the singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying. So I use my faults to an advantage." This quote relates to everything I'm doing right now.
