INTERVIEWZZZ #1 Simon Petepiece
Interview #1
I have been wanting to do something like this for a while because so far in my young career i’ve been fortunate enough to already meet a handful of interesting people who do some pretty cool things.
One of these people is architect turned artist extraordinaire, Simon Petepiece. I first worked with Simon through Congrego and later Raised by Wolves and was blown away by his final product each time. Moreover, I truly believe Simon will achieve greater things and continue his upwards trajectory. It’s his unique use of building materials that draws you in; drywall, ceiling tiles, insulation, lighting panels, Simon’s preferred art store is Home Depot rather than a Wallacks. Art is usually wrapped in delicacy but Simon’s work is a counter point to this notion. For Congrego: Prepense we wanted people to be able to get on stage and dance. While the Gallery personnel were hesitant and worried for the art, Simon, on the contrary, actually applauded the stage use for dancing and even encouraged people to walk up and touch his installation.
That’s the difference.
I sent Simon over a few questions and he sent some ACE answers, making this easy for me. If you haven’t seen Simons work I hope this interview entices you to go check him out.
Thanks again, Simon!
Simon! Do you want to introduce yourself and let people know who you are and what you do?
I guess I would say that I am a visual artist. I think I'm still getting used to that description though. Clearly some weird imposter syndrome shit but it always leads me to some really stupid pseudo existential thoughts about how strange it is to try and explain who you are. Anyways I also used to work as an Intern Architect so maybe “burnt out architect who makes art” is what I should go with. I'm living in Montreal now but I've spent most of my life in Ottawa.
You have a masters degree in Architecture, can you expand on your beginnings and your transformation from aspiring Architect to artist?
A big part of what I enjoyed about architecture school was the opportunities that we had to build things. Historically the program at Carleton was known for having a culture of learning through making and we were really fortunate to have amazing facilities to build whatever we wanted. We had an entire class on chair building and I always enjoyed making models, building installations and spending time in the wood and metal shop.
After leaving school, almost all of my time working was spent on the computer. It was really boring and stressful and felt removed from the actual process of building and making anything. There is a certain immediacy and control that you get when you are physically creating something-- I missed this when I transitioned from school to working full time. It was this desire that drove me to start making things again. It took a while to even start to think of what I was doing as art and to admit to myself that it was the direction I wanted to head in. At that point I had spent the last 7 years working towards being an architect and it was hard to imagine taking a different path at first.
Obviously your degree has had an influence on your work, but what was it about working with an array of rough building materials such as drywall and ceiling tiles that interested you?
Originally I became interested in those materials after reading an essay by Rem Koolhaas called Junkspace. Rem is this kind of supervillain-esque architect that I love and in this essay he has these beautiful descriptions about the strange way in which modern buildings are made. This kinda sparked my interest in shitty building materials like drywall and ceiling tiles and led me to write my master’s thesis on the topic.
I started building large installations out of these materials as part of my thesis and I just got more and more interested in their physical properties as I kept working with them. I was really into this idea that I could utilize the materials to subvert how they are intended to be used. At a certain point what I was doing started to feel less and less about architecture and was more of a fine art project.
I have had the pleasure to work with you on multiple occasions and I’ve seen first hand the level of detail you put into your projects. Does the architect in you force this sort of analytic thought?
Probably a combination of OCD and being fascinated by how things are made -- but these things are definitely stereotypical architect behaviour. A lot of my work is about figuring out methods of transforming materials and it always feels somewhat magical to find a new technique to construct or alter something. I think this leads to a lot of time spent considering and experimenting with ways to make and build things and that gets into the work at times. It's a relief to hear that you think that though, I'm often just worried that I don't have the skills to make things as well made as I would like.
I often joked that it was not an Ottawa event unless you were somehow involved. Can you elaborate on how your installations and work around the city helped you grow as an artist; what influence has it had on your work?
Haha, I definitely had a lot of fun taking part in projects with you and a number of other people last year! I think besides having the opportunity to work on a larger scale, I found that there were unique constraints and prompts that helped generate ideas that I don't think I would have arrived at working on my own. It was refreshing to be pushed in new directions and create work that also had some functional requirements and considerations. I also just really enjoyed making a lot of new connections and feeling like I was a part of a larger community. It's definitely one of the things I am hoping to get to do more often in the future.
I’m personally amped to see more of your pieces being put into peoples’ homes, how has that feeling been for you?
It has been really exciting to see the pieces in other people’s spaces. It's obviously nice to sell some work but also just a really great feeling to know that someone wants to live with the work and have it be a part of their space. I definitely worry at times that some of the work might not be easy to initially imagine in someone's home but at the end of the day I try not to let it influence what I want to make. I'm so used to being surrounded by lots of weird objects and materials at this point that I think I've lost perspective on that anyways.
I see now that you're making “furniture and objects”. For the purposes of this conversation i'll throw it under ‘homegoods’ which I think is a relatively untapped market especially as the pandemic continues. Can you elaborate on your new account @newamericanhouse and what intrigues you about that genre of creating and building?
It's kinda a stereotype for architects to be obsessed with furniture and I think I fit neatly into that box. It always felt like it was all a part of the same interest and just an extension of being interested in art and buildings. There is just something really nice about having a connection and love for the objects that you use everyday and have in your home. I think as a natural extension to that, anytime I need new furniture I end up trying to design and building it myself. It oddly feels very similar to how I approach working on art and it kinda all bleeds together. I often start using the same materials for both functional objects and artworks and they end up influencing each other. The idea to start New American House was just to have a dedicated place for these more functional things and hopefully start having some of the pieces available for people to purchase. It's still early days but it's been encouraging to see that people are interested and seem to like it.
Thanks dude! Any last words? Anything you want to plug? Anything to get off your chest?
Thanks Ethan! I'm excited to see how the newsletter develops and who you talk with in the future. I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone at Congrego, Raised By Wolves and MEMA for all the support over the last year!
Dope!